CIR Draft Information

Wednesday, May 26, 2004

Breaking Down a Draft

CLEVELAND INDIANS REPORT
Special Draft Preview Edition Part II

Welcome to the second edition of the 2004 CIR Draft Preview. Over the next two weeks we'll provide you with all the information that you need to get ready for the MLB draft on Monday, June 7. The MLB draft is the least publicized of the major drafts and, therefore, also the least understood. Perhaps the most frequently asked question regarding the MLB draft is just what do teams do with all those draft picks (this year the Indians have 50 picks)? In tandem, the follow-up question is usually why don't they sign all of those picks? Today, we'll breakdown a draft and discuss what types of players the Indians will be selecting with those 50 picks and whether they really have any intention of signing all of them.

As we move through this exercise, with rare exception, every player selected in the MLB draft this June will fall into one of the following categories: The A-list, The Flyers, The DFEs, The Organizationals, and The Favors. Following is a breakdown of each of these categories.

THE A-LIST
The A-List is the group of players the team wants to (has to) sign. Typically, these are the selections within the first 10 rounds although it could stretch well into the teens. The Michael Aubrey's, Adam Miller's, Ryan Garko's, and Kevin Kouzmanoff's fall into this category. Sometimes these are high-profile, high-cost players and sometimes they are signability picks (i.e., players drafted earlier than their talent warrants due to their lower signing costs). Regardless, failure to sign one of these players means a wasted pick and no organization can afford many of those. Last year, the Indians signed their first four picks and 13 of their first 14 selections. Fourth round pick Brian Harrison from Florida chose to pass on the Indians offer and return to school for another year. That bonus money did not go to waste however.

THE FLYERS
Sometimes referred to as "contingency picks", these are typically high-school players who have a strong commitment to a four-year University and will have to be lured away with a sizable signing bonus. Flyers start being popped on draft day in the teen rounds and the run lasts well into the later part of the second day. Why do teams take a flyer? Because you never know when a 17-18 year old kid will change his mind, especially when you dangle a $300k-$1mil signing bonus in front of them. Not to mention that the potential reward of signing such a player usually far outweighs the signable talent on the board in that round. Flyers are also contingency picks in case a team does not sign one of their early A-List picks. Case in point, Brian Harrison from last year. It's highly likely that once the Indians realized they were going to have a difficult time signing Harrison (or had no chance at all of getting him inked) they were able to use that money (or a portion of) to sign 16th round pick Aaron Laffey (currently pitching for Lake County) who reportedly had a strong commitment to Virginia Tech. That's why you take a few of these guys instead of filling up the system with Joe Undersized First Baseman from Daberkow College. There's plenty of time for that in the later rounds.

THE DRAFT AND FOLLOWS (DFEs)
If you missed the previous draft report FAQ, please visit the CIR website for the definition of a draft and follow. Similar to flyers, DFEs start flying off draft boards in the teens and continue well into the later rounds. They can be players already enrolled in a Junior College (freshman) or high school kids who plan on attending a JUCO school. The advantage to drafting a DFE is that you retain negotiating rights to the player for a whole calendar year (one week prior to the next draft) which you can use to evaluate that player without incurring the expense in player development (although there's certainly an expense in scouting). A DFE also lets a team escape from paying a signing bonus in the drafted season so there are some budget implications in these selections as well. The downside to a DFE is that if the player develops, his signing bonus typically escalates well beyond the bonus that he would have received for the round he was originally drafted. In these instances, the player has the leverage because he can always refuse to sign, reenter the draft, and hope that he goes in an earlier round with a higher bonus. Of course, a team would also have a pretty good prospect on their hands so it's more of a financial issue than a baseball one. Over the past two years, the Indians have signed right-handers Sean Smith and Nick Pesco via the DFE process. An analysis of the 2004 DFEs will be in a later report.

THE ORGANIZATIONALS
Typically college players, usually seniors, these are the "organization" players, i.e., guys needed to fill out rosters in the lower levels of the minor leagues. You generally see a lot of middle infielders, catchers, and pitchers (converted to relief) fall into this category. These are easy signs and the players are usually referred to as "crafty", "gritty", or "hard-nosed". Occasionally, an organizational will break free from this stereotype and develop into a true prospect but they generally have to prove themselves at each level.

THE FAVORS
These are the selections made late in the draft as a favor to a local school, team executive, scout, coach, player, or former player. It seems like the Indians usually draft the best player from Cleveland State (when there's one who is draft-worthy) and that's likely a favor to the CSU baseball program. Mike Piazza is probably the best example of this type of selection.

SUMMARY
The Indians 2004 draft picks will likely report to either Mahoning Valley or Burlington to begin their professional careers. It's the rare player who makes the jump to Class-A ball upon signing. The Valley is considered a "short-season" league and is typically reserved for college draftees and prior year draftees/signees who already have a season of pro ball on their resume. Burlington is considered a "rookie" league and is typically reserved for high school draftees and foreign players making their first appearance in the States. Rosters for short-season leagues are set at 30 players (25 active) while rookie leagues are set at 35 players (25 active). With both teams having players returning from last season in addition to first-year players from the Indians Dominican academy, the Indians would be hard-pressed to find room for all 50 of their drafted players on rosters this summer. Certainly, some draftees could (and do) sit out the summer after they sign (usually pitchers with lots of use in the spring or players with injuries) but this limit on roster spots is one reason why teams do not sign (or want to sign) all 50 of their draft picks. They simply don't have enough room for them in their respective systems. Last year, the Indians signed only 23 of their 52 picks but the key figure is that they signed 13 of their first 14 picks as previously discussed. So don't worry (necessarily) when you hear that the Indians only signed 20 or 25 or 30 of their 2004 draft picks. Focus instead on the early picks, those are the keys.

COMING NEXT: 1999 Draft Review (next Tuesday)
Posted on 5/26/2004

Monday, May 24, 2004

DRAFT FAQ

CLEVELAND INDIANS REPORT
Special Draft FAQ Edition

Note: Most of the following information comes from the CIR Draft FAQ.

Welcome to the first 2004 CIR draft report. Over the next two weeks we'll provide you with all the information that you'll need to prepare for the 2004 MLB draft on Monday, June 7. The MLB draft is the least publicized of the major drafts and, therefore, also the least understood. Today will serve as a draft primer in FAQ format and serve to answer all the questions you may have regarding the draft.

WHEN IS THE DRAFT?
The 2004 draft will be conducted on Monday, June 7 and Tuesday, June 8. Wait a minute, doesn't the draft usually start on a Tuesday? Yes it does, typically the first Tuesday in June. This year, however, the powers that be decided to push back the start of the draft one week in order to allow teams more time to prepare for the draft. This is also due, in part, to the later than usual dates for the regionals in the college world series where a lot of last minute scouting typically takes place.

HOW IS THE DRAFT ORDER DETERMINED?
The draft alternates between AL and NL teams, with the NL team with the worst record picking first in even numbered years and the AL team selecting first in odd years. So in an even-numbered year (i.e., 2004), the worst N.L. team picks 1st, the second-worst N.L. team picks 3rd, the third-worst N.L. team picks 5th, and so on.

Note that this is the last year for the above system of determining the draft order. Beginning with the 2005 draft, teams will draft in reverse order of their won-loss record regardless of league so it's possible for one league to have the first two or three or four picks in the draft.

WHAT PICKS DO THE INDIANS HAVE THIS YEAR?
The Indians will draft 6th in each round. For the first time since 1999, the Indians have no additional compensation picks for losing a free-agent in the offseason.

CAN DRAFT PICKS BE TRADED?
Draft picks cannot be traded.

HOW IS THE DRAFT CONDUCTED?
The draft is conducted via conference call. You can listen to the draft via mlb radio on the internet. Teams are allowed two minutes to make their selections but the draft is typically very fast-paced with Tommy Lasorda generally providing the only entertainment when the Dodgers make their selections.

HOW MANY ROUNDS ARE IN THE DRAFT?
The draft lasts 50 rounds or until all teams have passed on selecting a player.

WHO IS ELIGIBLE FOR THE DRAFT?
Residents of the United States, United States Territories (Puerto Rico), and Canada.

High school players, if they have graduated from high school and have not yet attended college or junior college.

College (4-year) players, who have either completed their junior or senior years or are at least 21 yrs old within 45 days after the draft.

Junior college players, regardless of how many years of school they have completed.

21-year-old players.

Teams must provide a list of potential draftees to MLB one week prior to the draft. If you've ever listened to the draft and heard the i.d.'s assigned to each player, you know the reason why.

WHAT IS A DRAFT-ELIGIBLE SOPHOMORE?
A sophomore who turns 21 within 45 days of the draft (i.e., the draft is on June 5 and the players birthday is July 3). That player would be eligible for the draft as a sophomore. Jeremy Guthrie was drafted in the 3rd round by the Pirates in 2001 as a draft eligible sophomore but elected to return to Stanford for his junior season.

HOW LONG DOES A TEAM HAVE TO SIGN A PLAYER?
Teams must offer a contract to a selected player within 15 days of selection or they lose negotiating rights with that player who then becomes a free-agent. Think Travis Lee, John Patterson, Bobby Seay, and Matt White in 1996.

A club generally retains the rights to sign a selected player until one week prior to the next Draft, or until the player enters, or returns to, a four-year college on a full-time basis.

A selected player who enters a junior college cannot be signed until the conclusion of that school's baseball season. The window is from that date until one week prior to the draft.

A player who is drafted but does not sign with the team that selected him may be drafted again in a future year's Draft, so long as the player is eligible for that year's Draft. A team may not select a player again in a subsequent year, unless the player has consented to the re-selection. The Indians had to go through this process with Ben Francisco in 2002 after drafting him out of high school in 1999.

WHAT IS A DRAFT AND FOLLOW (DFE)?
Drafted players who enter (or return to) junior college remain eligible to sign with the team that drafted them until seven days before the next year's draft. Teams often sign these players almost a year later. Draft and follow is the name for this process.

WHEN CAN DRAFTED PLAYERS BE TRADED?
A drafted player cannot be traded until one year after he signs his first pro contract. This is often the reason for PTBNLs (player to be named later) during the summer as teams must wait a full year before dealing a player they drafted/signed the year before. If a player is drafted in June and doesn't sign until August 5, he cannot be traded until August 5 of the following season.

WHAT HAPPENS IF A PLAYER IS NOT DRAFTED?
An eligible player who is not drafted becomes a free agent and may sign with any Club, up until one week before the next Draft, or until the player enters, or returns to, a four-year college full-time or enters, or returns to, a junior college. In the one-week period before any Draft, which is called the "closed period," the general rule is that no Club may sign a new player.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE WORLDWIDE DRAFT?
A worldwide draft to include players from all countries was agreed upon in spirit during the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiations in 2002. The details were supposed to be ironed out in future negotiating sessions in time for either the 2003 or 2004 drafts. As it turns out, the owners and players have only discussed this once since they averted a strike last year and the idea will most likely be tabled until the next CBA negotiations in 2006.

WHEN ARE FOREIGN PLAYERS ELIGIBLE TO BE SIGNED?
Players from outside the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico that are not draft-eligible may sign with major league teams when they are 16, with the restriction that the player must turn 17 by the end of his first professional season.

DID YOU KNOW
The official name of the draft is the Rule IV draft which simply means that the draft is governed by major league rule IV. And now you know how the Rule V draft in December got its name.

NEXT: Breaking down a Draft.
Posted on 5/24/2004

HOME

The CIR is an independent fan website and is not affliated with the Cleveland Indians organization. Please visit the Indians official website at www.indians.com