Cleveland Indians Sign 1st-Round Pick Francisco Lindor

Just before the midnight deadline to sign draft picks, the Cleveland Indians were able to ink their top selection from the 2011 MLB draft, Francisco Lindor.

The Puerto Rican shortstop from Clermont, FL, taken eighth overall, received a $2.9 million signing bonus.

The Indians were also able to secure their second-round pick, right-handed pitcher Dillon Howard.

The question for Lindor and the Indians is: Where in the field will they have him play? He was drafted as a shortstop, but many of the top high school baseball players are shortstops. (Manny Ramirez was a shortstop in high school, if you believe that.)

The Tribe is pretty well set at middle infield at this point with Asdrubal Cabrera (.843 OPS) and Jason Kipnis (.950 OPS). Both of those guys are leaders on the team both offensively and defensively right now during the playoff hunt. Neither guy looks like he'll be giving up his spot any time soon.

Lonnie Chisenhall is currently slated at third base but hasn't torn the cover off the ball so far in the big leagues with just a .680 OPS. I'm not giving up on Chisenhall quite so fast, though. Most players take time to adjust to the elite pitching in the majors.

Where Lindor could end up landing is in the outfield. He's a great athlete and shouldn't have too much trouble making that adjustment. Playing outfield, after all, isn't that difficult.

And outfield is an area of need for the Tribe right now. The starters (when everyone is healthy) are Michael Brantley, Grady Sizemore and Shin-Soo Choo.

I like Brantley a lot, especially as a young player. But we really don't know what the Indians have long term with Choo and Sizemore.

Grady has looked downright terrible this season and has battled injuries for much of the past couple years.

Choo has also had some injury difficulties this year. And more troubling is that after three very productive years, he has struggled hitting the ball with just a .679 OPS. He says that a lot of his issues are mental, stemming from his DUI arrest.

Whatever the case, he isn't right.

Choo and Sizemore are both 29 years old and Lindor has yet to turn 18.

The young product will need a good deal of time in the minors, so there's no need to come to a conclusion on this issue just yet. But it is something that I'm sure Chris Antonetti and his staff will be working on.

In the end, I'm just excited that the Indians were able to secure him along with Howard. Keeping the farm system stocked is the key to a successful franchise.

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