CLEVELAND — With no bonus picks and his team selecting 29th out of 30 teams, Indians’ director of amateur scouting Brad Grant said the organization had to get creative to have an effective First-Year Player Draft.
That, and apparently some more money from Larry Dolan’s wallet.
The Indians officially announced the signings of second round pick Trey Haley, 16th round selection T.J. House and 22nd rounder Bryce Stowell on Friday — the deadline to sign picks from June’s draft. All three players are pitchers.
The Indians don’t disclose signing bonuses, but Baseball America reported Haley’s bonus at $1.25 million, House’s at $750,000 and Stowell’s at $725,000, which are all above slot.
In fact, Grant said Tribe ownership let the team to go “substantially above” its signing bonus budget.
“It was a result of some players we were able to take later in the draft, that we felt their value matched up to their signing expectations,” Grant said. “The Dolans then allowed us to go over our initial budget.”
Cleveland signed it top 16 selections and 30 of its 50 overall picks. Last season, the organization signed 12 of its top 16.
The Indians viewed Haley as first-round caliber. The 6-foot-4, 190-pound Texas high schooler went 8-2 with a 1.55 ERA this past season. The right-hander, who had a letter on intent to Rice University, struck out 98 in 50 innings.
When asked about the Indians going above slot for Haley, Grant said, “There was a recommendation made and then we were able to pay a bonus we felt was appropriate for his talent.”
The lefty House, also a high schooler with a letter of intent to Tulane University, posted a 0.82 ERA this spring. The 6-2, 215-pound Mississippi native was ranked the 39th best high school prospect in the draft by Baseball America. He was also a state champion swimmer.
The right-handed Stowell went 8-3 with 3.26 ERA this past season as a sophomore for UC Irvine. He upped his stock in the Cape Cod Summer League, where his 58 strikeouts were the second most and his 2.36 ERA ranked ninth.
“With those two guys we felt like we were getting a caliber of talent that was way above where they went in the draft,” Grant said. “They slid because of signability issues.”
Haley and House will both report to the Gulf Coast League Indians. House is coming off a bout with mono, so he’s a little behind. Stowell will go to Mahoning Valley.
n THE FIRST ROUNDER — Grant’s take on the play so far of first round pick Lonnie Chisenhall at Mahoning Valley: “He’s swung the bat as anticipated. There hasn’t been much swing-and-miss at all so far and he’s hit with power. He’s been playing a very good shortstop so far.”
nTIRED PRONK — DH Travis Hafner (right shoulder) took about 40 soft toss swings Friday and is scheduled for batting practice on the field today. Hafner’s biggest obstacle right now is building endurance. “I’m kind of on a hitting program where I take a limited number of swings,” he said. “(In the past) you sometimes take 200 swings a day, and now you’ll take 40 and kind of get tired and a little sore.”
n HE’S OK — Manager Eric Wedge doesn’t think LHP Rafael Perez’s heavy workload had anything to do with the reliever’s bad outing Thursday. “He just had an off night, and that’s going to happen,” Wedge said. “He’s been so good for us. You’re not going to be perfect.”
n TRIBE TIDBITS — Jhonny Peralta was back in the lineup Friday after being plunked on his left hand Thursday by Orioles pitcher Daniel Cabrera. ... The Indians honored broadcasters Mike Hegan and Rick Manning before Friday’s game for their 20 years each behind the mic. Both threw out ceremonial first pitches. ... The Angels are making their first appearance in Cleveland since Aug. 10, 2006. Last season’s series was snowed out and played at Milwaukee’s Miller Park.
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