DETROIT -- Two weeks before the MLB Draft, Indians amateur scouting director Scott Barnsby said that the club's biggest goal was to thoroughly know each player that it was interested in. That meant knowing their stats, their strengths and weaknesses and their signability.
Clearly, they did their homework.
The Indians held a signing ceremony in Goodyear, Ariz., on Friday and inked 32 of their 40 selections, including first-round pick Daniel Espino.
The hard-throwing 18-year-old was taken 24th overall, a spot that had a $2,831,300 pick value, and ended up signing for $2.5 million. According to MLB Pipeline, Espino had some of the best stuff among prep arms in this year’s Draft, hitting triple digits twice with his fastball and getting clocked at a record-breaking 99 mph during the Under Armour All-America Game last summer.
According to MLB.com’s Jim Callis, the Tribe signed second-round high school infielder Yordys Valdes for $1 million, third-round high school infielder Joe Naranjo for $770,000, fourth-round high school infielder Christian Cairo (son of former big leaguer Miguel Cairo) for $955,000 and fifth-round college right-hander Hunter Gaddis for $415,000. All of their top-five picks were ranked among the top 200 amateurs by MLB Pipeline.
Here’s a look at all of Cleveland’s 32 signees:
Rd. 1: RHP Daniel Espino, Georgia Premier Academy
Rd. 2: SS Yordys Valdes, McArthur High School (Fla.)
Rd. 3: 1B Joe Naranjo, Rueben S. Ayala High School (Calif.)
Rd. 4: INF Christian Cairo, Calvary Christian High School (Fla.)
Rd. 5: RHP Hunter Gaddis, Georgia State University
Rd. 6: SS Jordan Brown, Junipero Serra High School (Calif.)
Rd. 7: RHP Xzavion Curry, Georgia Tech
Rd. 8: OF Will Brennan, Kansas State University
Rd. 9: 1B Will Bartlett, IMG Academy (Fla.)
Rd. 10: RHP Zach Hart, Franklin Pierce College (N.H.)
Rd. 11: RHP Nick Mikolajchak, Sam Houston State (Texas)
Rd. 12: RHP Allan Hernandez, Miami Christian High School (Fla.)
Rd. 13: OF Micah Pries, Point Loma Nazarene University (Calif.)
Rd. 15: RHP Trey Benton, East Carolina University (N.C.)
Rd. 16: RHP Jordan Jones, University of Washington (Wash.)
Rd. 17: OF Julian Escobedo, San Diego State University
Rd. 18: RHP Matt Waldron, University of Nebraska
Rd. 19: Kevin Kelly, James Madison (Va.)
Rd. 20: RHP Nic Enright, Virginia Tech
Rd. 21: C Mike Amditis, University of Miami (Fla.)
Rd. 22: C Austin Pinorini, Gonzaga University (Wash.)
Rd. 23: LHP Chandler Fidel, University of Arkansas at Little Rock
Rd. 24: Joab Gonzalez, New Mexico Junior College
Rd. 25: RHP Eric Mock, Penn State University
Rd. 28: RHP Serafino Brito, Rutgers University (N.J.)
Rd. 29: RHP Nate Ocker, College of Charleston (S.C.)
Rd. 31: RHP Jared Janczak, Texas Christian University
Rd. 32 LHP Andrew Misiaszek, Northeastern University (Mass.)
Rd. 33: RHP Kevin Coulter, Mercer University (Ga.)
Rd. 34: RHP Alex Wisely, University of South Florida
Rd. 35: LHP Randy Labaut, University of Arizona
Rd. 37: Jacob Forrester, Central Washington University