Tribe signs Draft pick Plutko on deadline day

CLEVELAND -- On the last day Cleveland could sign its selections from the 2013 First-Year Player Draft, the club agreed to terms with a national champion.

Adam Plutko, a right-hander out of UCLA, was selected by the Indians in the 11th round last month. In this year's College World Series -- in which the Bruins earned their first national championship in baseball -- Plutko went 2-0 with a 1.38 ERA.

"[He has a] really good feel to pitch, very successful in high school, a guy we followed through college, too," said Brad Grant, the Indians' director of amateur scouting following Day 3 of the Draft. "[He] has got a lot of success at UCLA."

In 19 starts this year, Plutko posted a 10-3 record and 2.25 ERA. An All-Pac 12 performer in each of his three college seasons, Plutko built a 2.29 career ERA at UCLA, where he's ranked second on the career wins list (29) and seventh on the school's strikeout list (273).

As a freshman, Plutko pitched in the same rotation as Trevor Bauer, the Tribe's top pitching prospect, and Gerrit Cole, who was taken No. 1 overall in 2011 by Pittsburgh.

Plutko was the last Draft pick that Cleveland announced it had signed prior to Friday's 5 p.m. ET deadline. Of their 39 total picks, the Indians agreed to terms with 24, including first-round selection Clint Frazier. The highest pick that went unsigned was 10th-rounder Ross Kivett, who played at Kansas State after attending nearby St. Edward High School in Lakewood, Ohio.