Draft Signings

Last night at 11:59 p.m. EDT, was the Major League deadline for teams to sign their 2011 draft picks.  The Indians managed to ink their first round pick, shortstop Francisco Lindor, just prior to the deadline with a $2.9 million signing bonus.  Lindor had committed to Florida State, so there was a slight possibility he could start there this fall (most rumors said that he preferred to enter a Major League system, rather than play at college).  Just prior to the deadline the Indians signed their second round pick, pitcher Dillon Howard ($1.85 million bonus), and pitcher Shawn Armstrong ($325,000 bonus), their 18th round pick.

 The Indians were able to sign 29 of their 50 picks in the draft this year, including 15 of the top 16 selections (the exception was the 8th round pick, Stephan Tarpley.)

Here’s some of the other signings/bonus info that I’ve seen:

7th round pick catcher Eric Haase – $580,000 bonus (when he signed last week, it was the largest bonus given to anyone drafted higher than the fifth round so far this year)

14th round pick pitcher Cody Anderson – $250,000 bonus

19th round pick pitcher Shawn Morimando – $350,000 bonus

41st round pick outfielder Brian Ruiz – from Cleveland – Lincoln West High School

43rd round pick pitcher Geoff Davenport – $100,000 bonus (currently recovering from Tommy John surgery)

Here are the players that went unsigned as of last night:

8th round pick pitcher Stephan Tarpley (Gilbert, Arizona high school)

17th round pick pitcher Kevin Brady (Clemson)

20th round pick pitcher Dillon Peters (Cathedral High School, Indiana)

22nd round pick pitcher Matt Reckling (Rice)

24th round pick third baseman Taylor Sparks (St. John Bosco High School, California)

 25th round pick shortstop Kevin Kramer (Turlock High School, California)

26th round pick outfielder Austin Diemer (Rocklin High School, California)

28th round pick pitcher Tyler Nurdin (Temple College, Texas)

29th round pick pitcher Jared Ruxer (Lawrence Central High School, Indiana)

30th round pick shortstop John Polonius (Genessee CC, New York)

31st round pick pitcher Michael Roth (University of South Carolina)

32nd round pick pitcher Cole Pitts (Colquitt County High School, Georgia)

34th round pick pitcher Tyler Maloof (University of Georgia)

37th round pick pitcher Taylor Starr (Oregon State University)

40th round pick shortstop Matt Eureste (St. Pius X High School, Texas)

44th round pick pitcher Adam Griffin (Forsyth Country Day High School, North Carolina)

45th round pick outfielder Will Jamison (Evangelical Christian High School, Texas)

47th round pick outfielder Cory Embree (Moberly High School, Missouri)

48th round pick pitcher Blaine O’Brien (Keystone College, Massachusetts)

49th round pick outfielder Brian Hansen (Saint Cloud State, Minnesota)

50th round pick catcher Tyler Baker (Shawnee Heights High School, Kansas)

 As  you can see, many of the unsigned were picks later in the draft.  A great deal of these were high school players, who probably want to play college ball for a while and try to improve their draft standing in a couple of years.