Cleveland Indians 2009 Amateur Draft Primer

Cleveland Indians 2009 MLB Amateur Draft Primer
First Three Rounds: Tuesday, June 9th, 6:00 PM
Rounds Four-through-30: Wednesday, June 10th, Noon
Rounds 31-through-50: Thursday, June 11th, 11:30 AM

FIRST PICK: 15th
RECENT FIRST PICKS
2008 - Lonnie Chisenhall, SS (29th Overall)
2007 - Beau Mills, 3B (13th Overall)
2006 - David Huff, SP (39th Overall)
2005 - Trevor Crowe, OF (14th Overall)

Last Year - 2008: Tribe strike gold
Cleveland won big last year in the MLB Amateur draft, after their draft was much criticized, it turned out to be full of potential with the late signings of a few players that were figured to be just drafted and not signed for one reason or another.

Lonnie Chisenhall has looked worth of the first round pick status that the Indians gave him when they selected him out of Pitt Community College (North Carolina). Much was made about Chisenhall's dismissal from South Carolina when he found himself in legal trouble, but Chisenhall has proved to be a Grade-A person and player who has learned from his mistakes.

Last week, Chisenhall made the Carolina League All-Star Team as a member of Kinston. He's joined by fellow 2008 draftee Cord Phelps, who is just one of the many Kinston players that got drafted in 2008.

Joined by Nate Recknagel, Tim Fedroff, Eric Berger, and Ryan Blair, Kinston's team is loaded with 2008 draftees that have done good things. Berger also made the Carolina League All-Star team as a starting pitcher.

This list doesn't include Zach Putnam, who's made a rapid ascent up the Indians organization as a relief pitcher. Putnam saw time in Mahoning Valley last year, made the Kinston rotation out of spring training, and soon after the Indians bullpen imploded, was moved to the position that he was destined for, the bullpen, and begun his ascent up the Tribe organization into Double-A Akron.

Putnam has been a diamond in the rough for the Tribe, a two-way player out of Michigan, Putnam has made eight scoreless appearances out of the Aeros bullpen in his last ten. While he's had a few rough games, when he's on, he's on. Some expect him to be in Columbus by seasons end and could be a serious contender for the Indians bullpen sometime next season.

The Indians had a lot of college players drafted last year, they favor that in the draft. But they took their fair share of shots at some High School pitchers late and ended up coming out with two potential future starting pitchers in Curtis "Trey" Haley and Glenn "TJ" House.

Haley and House were picked 2nd and 16th respectively. It was unknown if the Tribe would have the money to sign them away and prevent them from going to College, but when they freed up some money in the Paul Byrd deal, both Haley, House, and even guys like Tim Fedroff signed their deals, making the Indians draft haul, that much more impressive.

So what's in store for 2009? We can only wait to find out.

BRAD GRANT ON THE 2009 DRAFT PROSPECTS AND MORE

Director of Scouting Brad Grant spoke about the upcoming draft awhile ago and had the following to say. Plus some thrown in opinions by myself. Anthony Castrovince also had a preview out for your information.

*The 2009 Draft is Pitcher Heavy.
*The Draft is always done based on Organizational Need, not Major League Need.
*The Tribe will draft with the way the way the depth goes, so expect the Indians to go pitching heavy after taking position players with their first picks the past few years.
*Grant says that the Indians are not above taking a player that may not slot with their pick money-wise. Don't expect them to overpay for anyone with their pick though, it would be a minimal amount.
*After last year's cash-in, the Indians are working with a budget, so don't expect them to take High Schools that they'll try to entice into signing professional deals.
*Expect the Indians to take a Collegiate player in the first, and for most of their picks, as always.

RANDOM LINKS FROM IPI

It wouldn't be a prospect discussion without a word from the Indians Prospect Insider, The premire place for Indians Minor League News and Notes.

Dennis Nosco has all you need to know about the MLB Draft with an informative piece.

Jump into Draft Discussion at the Forums with the 2009 Draft Thread.

Finally, stay tuned for pick-by-pick notes from the guys at IPI as they happen.

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING: MLB MOCK DRAFTS

There isn't a craze over it like the NFL Mock Drafts, but there are plenty of MLB Mock Drafts out there to take a look at. Here is a compilation.

MLB.com/Jonathan Mayo: Eric Arnett, RHP Indiana
Baltimore Sun: Matt Purke, LHP Klein, Texas (HS)
SportingNews: Tanner Scheppers, RHP St. Pauls Saints: Indepedent League (Orig. Fresno State)
Baseball America, Jim Callis: Scheppers
Sports2Debate: James Paxton, LHP Kentucky
MyMLBDraft.com: Rex Brothers, LHP Lipscomb
MVN Oustider, By Tony Lastoria(IPI): Mike Leake, RHP Arizona State
Project Prospect: Leake
First Inning: Alex White, RHP North Carolina
John Sickels: Shelby Miller, RHP Texas (HS)
MLB Draft Site: Andew Oliver, LHP Oklahoma State

Arnett, Scheppers, Paxton, Leake, Oliver, and White are all mentioned in a little blurb in this Yahoo! Sports piece by Steve Henson.

I'm really liking the idea of Shelby Miller, another Texas fireball pitcher. But we probably won't have the money to sign him. As you can see, everyone has us taking a pitcher and most of them are collegiate pitchers.