2010 MLB Draft Results: Grading The Cleveland Indians' First Three Choices

In the 2010 MLB Draft, the Cleveland Indians have three picks in the first three rounds: the 5^th , 55^th , and 87^th picks. As the Indians have a high selection, the pressure is high to pick a future star, and with many options open to them in ace lefties, power hitters, and others, the possibility for a great pick is great.

That being said, the Indians have drafted rather poorly this past decade. Since the turn of the millennium, the following players have been drafted in the first three rounds by the Indians who have made a major league roster: Brian Tallet, J.D. Martin, Jeremy Guthrie, Brian Slocum, Michael Aubrey, Ryan Garko, Jeremy Sowers, Scott Lewis, Trevor Crowe, Jensen Lewis, and David Huff.

That's a lineup that strikes fear into the hearts of high schools and Division III colleges across the country, not so much the hearts of professional teams. Not one of those players is an all-star, and while recent picks such as Alex White, Jason Kipnis, and Cord Phelps are promising, a decent fourth outfielder, number five starter and occasional reliever is not what you search for in those first rounds.

Nearly every other team in our division can at least boast one all-star from their past decade of drafting in the first rounds. The Twins have Joe Mauer, the Tigers have Justin Verlander, and the Royals have Zach Greinke. The White Sox are in the same boat as us draft-wise, but as least they have a recent championship. So, needless to say, it's imperative that the Tribe drafts the best possible player with each of those first three picks.

As a result, I am grading the following three Indians picks based on four factors: Talent, Potential, Weaknesses, and Farm System Depth. Talent and potential are big, and weaknesses looks at the type rather than number of them; some weaknesses are far more fixable. Depth is not as big a concern, but it realistically takes a few early selections out of contention based on the Indians' goals, such as catcher Yasmani Grandal (if Carlos Santana is really the catcher of the future then there's no reason to draft Grandal).

First Round Pick: Drew Pomeranz – 11/22/88–LHP–Ole Miss, Jr.

Talent: Plenty; SEC Pitcher of the Year.
Potential: Could very well be another Cliff Lee.

Weaknesses: A lot of people are going to run on him in the bigs. Not much else.

Depth: The Indians don't have much pitching depth aside from Alex White.

MLB Scouting Report: http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?topic_id=8080130&content_id=7222487  Grade: B+

Since Pomeranz and Chris Sale were the main two people in mock drafts for the Indians, I read up primarily on them, and I ended up being more excited about Sale. Still, they needed to take a top-level pitcher with this pick, and they did so by drafting Pomeranz.

To start with, he faced great talent by playing in the SEC. Granted, Ole Miss has never been a school that frequently gives all-star talent, but they've been improving on that, as last year's NL Rookie of the Year Chris Coghlan went there.

As for Pomeranz himself, his stats and stuff are certainly great. He finished his 2010 season with a 9-2 record, a 2.24 ERA, 139 strikeouts, 49 walks, and an opponents' average of .195 in about 100 innings of work. His stats for the previous two years weren't too bad either.

I do not like his long, overhand delivery, as it seems as baseball is moving back to small ball to an extent, and as such there are going to be a lot of people running on him. He can shorten it a bit though, and it's not a major issue as long as it does not hinder his control. Some scouting reports have his control as a weakness, but it did not seem like a problem, especially considering his low walk and wild pitch counts.

Overall though, it's a solid pick, and the one that the Indians had to make. Not who I would have chosen, but I'll give it a B+ as it is still a solid one. The B+ might be harsh (I'm sure many would give it an A) because he's highly touted and it will be considered a good pick, but when your best pitchers drafted have been Jeremy Guthrie, David Huff, and Jeremy Sowers in the past decade, I have to be cautious.

Second Round Pick: LeVon Washington – 7/26/91-OF–Chipola JC, Fr.
Talent: He can run and hit line drives, certainly.
Potential: Huge. If he can focus on the game and build his power up he can be a steal here.

Weaknesses: Not a very good arm, only okay power at the plate.

Depth: Plenty at outfielder right now, so he'll move to second base with the Tribe, and all teams can use more solid second basemen in farm systems.

MLB Scouting Report: http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?topic_id=8080130&content_id=7733643

Grade: B

Once you get to the second round, one has to look beyond the raw talent, since not as many have that. Instead, one has to start looking at potential, and Washington has that in boatloads. He was drafted in the first round by the Tampa Bay Rays last year, but didn't sign with the team.

One thing you cannot teach is speed, and Washington is definitely a speedy outfielder. His hitting is good right now, but it can be worked on and improved through the minors as he gets used to playing an infield position due to his arm not being all that good.

What concerns me about this pick is sign-ability. He's already decided not to sign once, and being picked much lower in this draft could make him want to play another year at Chipola. Needless to say, he's a risk and a big project. The Indians did take Lonnie Chisenhall two years ago, and he's been good, so they have a good track record with JC projects so far.

I want to give him a higher grade, but he has so many question marks as a result of not signing last year that I can't give him a higher grade than a B simply because I really question if he'll end up signing. If he does, and everything clicks for him in the minors as he develops, then he's going to be a great pick and will have a solid major league career.

Third Round Pick: Tony Wolters – 6/9/92–Shortstop–Rancho Buena Vista High School
Talent: Solid. Very good at fielding and base-running.
Potential: Scouting reports say Dustin Pedroia type, and that

Weaknesses: Size mainly. While he has good tools, nothing particularly stands out at the plate.

Depth: Not much beyond Jason Donald and Asdrubal Cabrera at shortstop.

MLB Scouting Report: http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?topic_id=8080130&content_id=7172549

Grade: A

As an early 18^th birthday present, Wolters gets selected by the Indians. Here is of course the time to start looking at high school talent with great upside, and Wolters definitely has that. Ironically, Washington's biggest weakness is Wolters' strength. He loves the game of baseball, no question about that, and he wants to play, so he's definitely sign-able.

I don't consider size much of a weakness like some do. If he can play he can play, that's what matters. He can already field solidly and shows good strength. He's just turning 18, so he still has room to develop further.

I may have nitpicked the first two, but I love this pick. He can play the game and play it right, and while he may not be great at hitting, he can focus on that in the minors and become great. He's a steal with the 87^th pick, and I could see him in the majors in, at the latest, 2014.

Overall, the Indians clearly were taking the best players on the board at the time, and they did that with all three picks. There are some sign-ability concerns and other nitpicks, but overall I think they had a very solid draft. If all three sign, then this draft gets an A- from me. If LeVon Washington heads back to JC then it falls to a B-, which is still pretty good given how much the Tribe has struggled in drafts.

Hopefully all three actually do make the majors and play well. We now have our main lefty for the future and a solid infield to add in with Lonnie Chisenhall and Carlos Santana. This draft will not solve all of the Indians' problems, but it's a great start.