MLB Draft 2012: Indians Come To Terms With Top Pick Tyler Naquin

On Friday afternoon, the Cleveland Indians announced that they had come to terms with outfielder Tyler Naquin, the club's top pick with the No. 15 overall selection in June's First-Year Player Draft. Naquin and the Tribe have reportedly come to terms on a deal that would give the former Texas A&M product a $1.75 million signing bonus (pending a physical), which is well below the assigned value of $2.25 million that was given to the No. 15 pick.

Naquin was the second college position player taken in this year's draft and is considered a pure hitter with a great deal of speed and a strong arm. A right fielder at A&M, some have speculated that Naquin's speed may allow him to move to center field in the future.

For more 2012 MLB Draft coverage, stay with SB Nation Cleveland's StoryStream. For more Indians coverage, head over to Let's Go Tribe. And for the best MLB analysis on the web, make sure to visit Baseball Nation.

2012 MLB Draft: Keith Law Says Indians Started "Poorly," But Quickly Rebounded

The Indians puzzled some MLB Draft experts with their selection of Tyler Naquin with the 15th overall pick on Monday, but Brad Grant has demonstrated his ability to hit on the Tribe's top choices. There are persistent questions of Naquin's ability to hit for power, and these concerns led Keith Law to question their Indians' Round 1 choice. But Law thought the Tribe made up for it quickly, by adding plenty of potential in the subsequent rounds:

This started somewhat poorly with the overdraft of Tyler Naquin (1), a plus runner who should hit (albeit without power) but does have to prove he can play center field, since Texas A&M was busy with the 80-run, 20-hit Krey Bratsen out there. However, Cleveland rolled the dice on more ceiling with their next three picks, high school arms Mitch Brown (2) and personal favorite Kieran Lovegrove (3) as well as raw high school athlete D'Vone McClure (3).

On the second day, Grant and company added some intriguing arms to start rebuilding in the minors after the trade of Drew Pomeranz and Alex White last year.

For more 2012 MLB Draft coverage, stay with SB Nation Cleveland's StoryStream. For more Indians coverage, head over to Let's Go Tribe. And for the best MLB analysis on the web, make sure to visit Baseball Nation.

Indians Draft Picks 2012: Nick Hamilton, Son Of Broadcaster Tom Hamilton, Among Day 3 Choices

The Cleveland Indians wrapped up the MLB Draft on Wednesday, and among the slew of players chosen was Nick Hamilton, son of Indians radio announcer Tom Hamilton, who was drafted in Round 35 at pick No. 1,073.

The younger Hamilton is currently playing in the NCAA Super Regional for his Kent State Golden Flashes.

An MLB.com article had this to say about Hamilton's selection:

...when Hamilton was drafted by the Indians in the 35th round, he didn't immediately hear about it. He was too busy at practice.

"My coach [Scott Stricklin] pulled me aside and just gave me a handshake," Hamilton said. "It was really thrilling. It was something I'm never going to forget. But then it was back to practice."

Hamilton, a short stop, is hitting .364 with a .417 on-base percentage. He was the fourth of four shortstops that the Indians drafted yesterday. The Indians took the quartet in the span of six picks.

The Tribe also took a whopping 12 right-handed pitchers Wednesday, including their first Day 3 pick, Cody Penny.

Here is the entire Day 3 haul:

Round 16, Cody Penny, RHP, North Carolina, NC

Round 17, Andrew Calica, CF, Eastlake HS, CA

Round 18, Louis Head, RHP, Texas St. U

Round 19, Colyn O'Connell, RHP, Dunedin HS, FL

Round 20, Nicholas Pasquale, RHP, Diablo Valley Col, CA

Round 21, Joe Sever, 2B, Pepperdine U, CA

Round 22, James Stokes, RHP, Elon University, NC

Round 23, Richard Stock, C, Nebraska, NE

Round 24, Thomas White, RHP, South Georgia Col, GA

Round 25, Cameron Cox, RHP, Weatherford Col, TX

Round 26, Pick 803: Justin Garza, Bonita High School, RHP

Round 27, Pick 833: Ray Castillo, Russell County High School, RHP

Round 28, Pick 863: Joshua Pigg, Franklin High School, 3B

Round 29, Pick 893: Randall Fant, Arkansas, LHP

Round 30, Pick 923: Josh Lester, Columbus High School, SS

Round 31, Pick 953: Daniel Holst, Parkway South Senior High School, CF

Round 32, Pick 983: Paul Hendrix, Howard College, SS

Round 33, Pick 1013: Cory Raley, Uvalde High School, SS

Round 34, Pick 1043: Matthew Fultz, Lee's Summit West High School, C

Round 35, Pick 1073: Nick Hamilton, Kent State University, SS

Round 36, Pick 1103: Benny Suarez, Hill Junior College, RHP

Round 37, Pick 1133: Jacob Morris, Arkansas, OF

Round 38, Pick 1163: Joshua Nervis, Sonoma State University, RHP

Round 39, Pick 1193: DJ Brown, James Madison University, RHP

Round 40, Pick 1223: Anthony Hawkins, Fresno High School, OF

If you want to follow Kent State's postseason baseball run: The Golden Flashes are playing Oregon in the Eugene Super Regional on Saturday night. More on that here.

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MLB Draft 2012: Indians Add Six Pitchers, Four Short Stops In Later Portion Of Day 3

Apparently the Cleveland Indians are looking to add some depth in their organization as the team's later picks on Day 3 have revolved around the pitcher and short stop positions. After selecting 14 pitchers (all of which were right-handed) in the first 25 rounds of the 2012 MLB First-Year Player Draft, the Tribe added six more pitchers (five of them right-handed) in rounds 26 through 40.

After not selecting a short stop through the entire draft, the team apparently decided they needed to stock up as they selected four of them over the course of six rounds.

Here are the names and positions of the newest members of the Indians' system:

Round 26, Pick 803: Justin Garza, Bonita High School, RHP

Round 27, Pick 833: Ray Castillo, Russell County High School, RHP

Round 28, Pick 863: Joshua Pigg, Franklin High School, 3B

Round 29, Pick 893: Randall Fant, Arkansas, LHP

Round 30, Pick 923: Josh Lester, Columbus High School, SS

Round 31, Pick 953: Daniel Holst, Parkway South Senior High School, CF

Round 32, Pick 983: Paul Hendrix, Howard College, SS

Round 33, Pick 1013: Cory Raley, Uvalde High School, SS

Round 34, Pick 1043: Matthew Fultz, Lee's Summit West High School, C

Round 35, Pick 1073: Nick Hamilton, Kent State University, SS

Round 36, Pick 1103: Benny Suarez, Hill Junior College, RHP

Round 37, Pick 1133: Jacob Morris, Arkansas, OF

Round 38, Pick 1163: Joshua Nervis, Sonoma State University, RHP

Round 39, Pick 1193: DJ Brown, James Madison University, RHP

Round 40, Pick 1223: Anthony Hawkins, Fresno High School, OF

For more 2012 MLB Draft coverage, stay with SB Nation Cleveland's StoryStream. For more Indians coverage, head over to Let's Go Tribe. And for the best MLB analysis on the web, make sure to visit Baseball Nation.

MLB Draft 2012: Indians Start The Day With RHP Cody Penny, Add Nine Others Thus Far

The 2012 MLB Draft is moving right along, and teams around the league are adding so many new faces, they're the only ones who will remember who everyone is off-hand. Day two wrapped up with the 15th-round selections, and day three is now underway with rounds 16-40.

At the time of writing, the Indians have already added 10 new faces to the team on day three, starting with Cody Penny in round 16 out of North Carolina. Penny is a right-handed pitcher who is an interesting prospect as a bullpen arm, according to Indians Prospects Insider:

Quick take: Penny looks to be a pen arm in the minors as he has shown the stuff to be a dominant reliever at the college level. He has pitched in 48 career college cames, starting two of them, and has thrown just 41.1 innings with a 5.67 ERA (26 BB, 47 K). He has a fastball that touches the mid-90s and a good spike curve, so if the Indians can develop his delivery and command he has some interesting stuff as a pen arm.

They also have good things to say about some of the other picks - you can find the list here. They're particularly complimentary of outfielder Andrew Calica, who was drafted in the 17th round. At any rate, here's a full list of players taken thus far on day three for the Indians:

Round 16, Cody Penny, RHP, North Carolina, NC
Round 17, Andrew Calica, CF, Eastlake HS, CA
Round 18, Louis Head, RHP, Texas St. U
Round 19, Colyn O'Connell, RHP, Dunedin HS, FL
Round 20, Nicholas Pasquale, RHP, Diablo Valley Col, CA
Round 21, Joe Sever, 2B, Pepperdine U, CA
Round 22, James Stokes, RHP, Elon University, NC
Round 23, Richard Stock, C, Nebraska, NE
Round 24, Thomas White, RHP, South Georgia Col, GA
Round 25, Cameron Cox, RHP, Weatherford Col, TX

For more 2012 MLB Draft coverage, stay with SB Nation Cleveland's StoryStream. For more Indians coverage, head over to Let's Go Tribe. And for the best MLB analysis on the web, make sure to visit Baseball Nation.

2012 MLB Draft Order: Indians Pick 15th Every Round On Final Day

The Cleveland Indians have had a colorful draft so far with tons of different positions being filled including a slew of right handed pitchers. They can continue to stock up on their players on Wednesday as the final day of the MLB draft approaches, consisting of the final rounds, 16-40 in the long, long draft process.

In every single round of the draft after round four, the Indians are given the 15th overall selection. That trend will obviously stay the same and they'll continue to draft 15th in each round until the draft has ended.

Coverage of the third day of draft action will begin, just like it did on Tuesday, at 12 p.m. Eastern time with the best live coverage being provided on MLB.com.

For more 2012 MLB Draft coverage, stay with SB Nation Cleveland's StoryStream. For more Indians coverage, head over to Let's Go Tribe. And for the best MLB analysis on the web, make sure to visit Baseball Nation.

2012 MLB Draft Results: Indians Select 12 New Prospects On Day 2

The Cleveland Indians along with every other team grabbed a ton of new faces in the First Year Player draft's second day on Tuesday. Cleveland went with a large mix of position players andright handed pitchers scattered throughout with the first several rounds being covered on SB Nation Cleveland. Past about round eight though, the coverage dries up as teams start to pick up guys that few people know anything about.

Here's a list of all of the guys that the Indians grabbed in the second day of draft activity:

Round 4, D'Vone McClure, CF, Jacksonville H.S. (Ark.)

Round 5, Dylan Baker, RHP, Western Nevada College

Round 6, Joe Wendle, 2B, West Chester University

Round 7, Josh McAdams, OF, Calhoun H.S. (Ga.)

Round 8, Caleb Hamrick, RHP, Cedar Hill H.S. (Texas)

Round 9, Jacob Lee, RHP, Arkansas State

Round 10, Josh Martin, RHP, Samford University

Round 11, Logan Vick, OF, Baylor

Round 12, Jeremy Lucas, C, Indiana State

Round 13, Tyler Booth, OF, Central Arizona College

Round 14, Scott Peoples, RHP, Western Oklahoma State

Round 15, Nelson Rodriguez, C, George Washington H.S. (N.Y.)

If you want to know more about all of those new players in the Indians organization, they put out an article on Wednesday covering all of them with short bios and tidbits.

For more 2012 MLB Draft coverage, stay with SB Nation Cleveland's StoryStream. For more Indians coverage, head over to Let's Go Tribe. And for the best MLB analysis on the web, make sure to visit Baseball Nation.

2012 MLB Draft: Indians Add Trio Of Right-Handed Pitchers, Baylor OF Logan Vick At No. 353

After going with a pair of position players in the sixth and seventh rounds, the Cleveland Indians reeled off three consecutive pitching selections on Tuesday to keep the 2012 MLB Draft moving in style.

At No. 263 overall, the Indians pulled the trigger on high school pitcher Caleb Hamrick, a 6-foot-2, 210 pound righty from Texas' Cedar Hill High School. The organization followed Hamrick's selection with the additions of Arkansas State's Jacob Lee at No. 293 and Samford's Josh Martin at No. 323, a pair of seasoned college players who were each born in 1989. Lee went 9-1 with a 2.77 ERA over 16 starts with the Red Wolves in 2012, and struck out 86 batters in 97.1 innings.

Next up for the Indians was the selection of Baylor junior outfielder Logan Vick, who hit .344 and swiped 17 bases for a stellar Bears squad this past season. Vick was second on the team with a .436 slugging percentage, and was an extra-base machine over 61 games as he recorded a whopping 25 doubles.

For more 2012 MLB Draft coverage, stay with SB Nation Cleveland's StoryStream. For more Indians coverage, head over to Let's Go Tribe. And for the best MLB analysis on the web, make sure to visit Baseball Nation.

2012 MLB Draft: Indians Select Dylan Baker, Joseph Wendle And Josh McAdams

As the 2012 MLB Draft continues to press on, the Cleveland Indians remain steadfast in their plan to acquire both outfielders and pitchers, and little else. After following up their first-round selection of Texas A&M OF Tyler Naquin with a pair of righthanded pitchers and then a high school outfielder, the Indians furthered the trend on Tuesday afternoon by grabbing another pitcher and outfielder over their next three picks.

At No. 173 overall, Cleveland landed an under-the-radar junior college prospect in Western Nevada CC's Dylan Baker. Here's what MLB.com had to say about Baker's abilities on the mound:

With a strong, durable and athletic build, Baker is what teams want to see on the mound. He could have three at least Major League average pitches with solid average command. His fastball sits comfortably around 92 mph, but he can dial it up to 95 mph when he needs to, and it has some pretty good run and sink to it.

After Baker, the Indians defied logic and broke the trend by taking West Chester University's Joseph Wendle at No. 203, a 5-foot-11, 190 pound second baseman who bats left and throws right. Following the Wendle pick though, Cleveland next set its sights on 6-foot-4 Georgia high school outfielder Josh McAdams at No. 233, who became the fourth high schooler drafted by the Indians this year.

For more 2012 MLB Draft coverage, be sure to stay with SB Nation Cleveland's StoryStream. For more on the Indians, head over to Let's Go Tribe. And for the best MLB analysis on the web, check out Baseball Nation.

2012 MLB Draft: Cleveland Indians Select CF D'vone McClure With Pick No. 143

After selecting right-handed pitchers with their first two picks on the second day of the 2012 MLB First-Year Player Draft, the Cleveland Indians selecting a center fielder with the No. 143 overall pick when they took D'vone McClure. McClure is a six-foot-three, 190 pound high school player out of Jacksonville Senior High School. He is a right-handed hitting, right-handed throwing multi-sport athlete who is praised for his physical abilities. Despite being a football star, he opted to accept a scholarship to play baseball at Arkansas. However, there is a feeling that he can be lured away from college to turn pro.

Here is his scouting profile on MLB.com:

An outstanding athlete who played football in high school but then gave up the gridiron to focus on the diamond and take a baseball scholarship to Arkansas. If he gets drafted as early as it seems he might, he may never be a Razorback. McClure has some tools, particularly with a bat in his hands. He has excellent bat speed and should grow into plenty of power as he matures. Whether he stays in center field remains to be seen, but he could have enough bat to profile just fine at an outfield corner spot.

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MLB Draft 2012: Cleveland Indians Select RHP Kieran Lovegrove With Pick No. 110

After selecting right-handed pitcher Mitchell Brown with the No. 79 overall pick in the second day of the 2012 MLB First-Year Player Draft, the Cleveland Indians decided to select another right-handed pitcher when the team took Kieran Lovegrove with the No. 110 overall pick. Lovegrove is a six-foot-four, 185 pound high school player from Mission Viejo, High School and possesses a mid-90s fastball but is largely considered a project player.

Here is his scouting profile from MLB.com:

This SoCal right-hander has great upside but has been inconsistent throughout his career. His delivery has a short stride and relies mostly on arm action, but he is able to consistently throw his fastball from 90-94 mph. His slider, although inconsistent, has a chance to be a strikeout pitch. His changeup has the chance to be an average pitch but can help complement his fastball and slider if they aren't being commanded well. Lovegrove also has the ability to add muscle to his lean frame, which could mean added velocity. A team that thinks that it could smooth out his mechanics will take a chance on him and could end up getting great value.

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2012 MLB Draft: Cleveland Indians Select RHP Mitchell Brown With Pick No. 79

On the second day of the 2012 MLB First-Year Player Draft, the Cleveland Indians selected right-handed pitcher Mitchell Brown with the No. 79 overall selection. Brown is a six-foot-two, 210 pound high-school player out of Minnesota who has been clocked at throwing as high as 93 miles per hour. In addition to his fastball, he also reportedly has a 75 MPH slurve as well as a slider and changeup.

Brown has the potential to be a starting pitcher at the next level and has pitched exceptionally well in that role for Rochester Century High School registering a 7-0 record in eight games with a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 77-11. He has allowed only 11 hits over that span and has an earned run average of 0.19 allowing only two runs (one earned) this season.

As of this time he is committed to the University of San Diego to play for the Toreros.

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MLB Draft 2012: Solon's Matthew Smoral Drafted No. 50, Headed To Toronto

Solon High School pitcher Matthew Smoral was selected Monday in the compensation round of the MLB Draft.

The 6-8, 220-pound lefty was drafted No. 50 overall by the Toronto Blue Jays. The compensation round, or supplemental first round, spans picks No. 32 through No. 60.

Smoral missed last season with a stress fracture in his foot, but his upside enticed Toronto enough to use a top-50 pick.

The Plain Dealer caught up with Smoral after his name was called:

"I wasn't really sure what to expect as it went on," [Smoral] said. "They actually caught me off guard. I'm just blessed to be in this situation."

The decision to sign with Toronto or opt for college is uncertain.

"Right now I don't really know," Smoral said. "We're going to talk about it. It's two situations that anybody who plays baseball would love to have."

Smoral has a scholarship offer from North Carolina.

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2012 MLB Draft Results: AL Central Has Outfield-Heavy First Round

American League Central teams -- the Cleveland Indians included -- were responsible for three of the nine outfielders selected in the first round of Monday's MLB Draft.

The Indians selected Texas A&M outfielder Tyler Naquin No. 15 overall -- two picks after the Chicago White Sox took outfielder Courtney Hawkins.

Hawkins, a Texas high schooler, was the Sox's first opening-round high school player in 11 years. With his Carroll High School still in the playoffs, he has hit .437 with 11 homers, 39 RBIs, 56 runs and 17 steals in 36 games. He is an athlete through and through. He played varsity football as a freshman -- Carroll is something of a football factory -- and has even thrived as a pitcher this season. He was 5-2 with a 0.96 ERA and 57 strikeouts in 36.1 innings. He reportedly hit 96 on the radar gun in a recent Texas regional.

The Minnesota Twins, too, took an outfielder when they picked Byron Buxton No. 2 overall. Buxton, a high-schooler from Georgia, hit .513 with 35 RBIs and 17 doubles for his high school club this spring. The Twins had two additional first-day picks, Nos. 32 and 42, which they spent on a pair of right-handed pitchers.

With the Detroit Tigers not picking in the first round, the only AL Central outlier when it came to selecting outfielders was Kansas City, which took right-handed pitcher Kyle Zimmer No. 5 overall. Zimmer, 20, played last season at the University of San Francisco, where he had 104 K's and 17 walks in 88.1 innings. Baseball America rated Zimmer's as the best fastball among college prospects.

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2012 MLB Draft Order: Cleveland Indians Select Next At No. 79 Overall

After making one selection in the first round of the 2012 MLB First-Year Player Draft -- OF Tyler Naquin out of Texas A&M -- the Cleveland Indians will have a handful of pick on the second day of the draft when rounds 2-15 will play out. The Indians will pick next at No. 79 overall and in the same slot -- between the Reds and Nationals throughout the rest of the draft.

The order for the rest of the draft can be found here. The second and third rounds are below:

SECOND ROUND

61. Houston Astros

62. Oakland Athletics (J. Willingham - MIN)

63. Minnesota Twins

64. Seattle Mariners

65. Baltimore Orioles

66. Kansas City Royals

67. Chicago Cubs

68. San Diego Padres

69. Pittsburgh Pirates

70. San Diego Padres (H. Bell - MIA)

71. New York Mets (J. Reyes - MIA)

72. Minnesota Twins (M. Cuddyer - COL)

73. Colorado Rockies

74. Oakland Athletics

75. New York Mets

76. Chicago White Sox

77. Philadelphia Phillies (R. Madson - CIN)

78. Cincinnati Reds

79. CLEVELAND INDIANS

80. Washington Nationals

81. Toronto Blue Jays

82. Los Angeles Dodgers

83. Texas Rangers (C.J. Wilson - LAA)

84. San Francisco Giants

85. Atlanta Braves

86. St. Louis Cardinals

87. Boston Red Sox

88. Tampa Bay Rays

89. New York Yankees (S. Stafford - unsigned)

90. Arizona Diamondbacks

91. Detroit Tigers

92. Milwaukee Brewers

93. Texas Rangers

94. New York Yankees

95. Philadelphia Phillies

THIRD ROUND

96. Houston Astros

97. MINNESOTA TWINS

98. Seattle Mariners

99. Baltimore Orioles

100. Kansas City Royals

101. Chicago Cubs

102. San Diego Padres

103. Pittsburgh Pirates

104. Miami Marlins

105. Colorado Rockies

106. Oakland Athletics

107. New York Mets

108. Chicago White Sox

109. Cincinnati Reds

110. CLEVELAND INDIANS

111. Washington Nationals

112. Toronto Blue Jays

113. Los Angeles Dodgers

114. Los Angeles Angels

115. San Francisco Giants

116. Atlanta Braves

117. St. Louis Cardinals

118. Boston Red Sox

119. Tampa Bay Rays

120. Arizona Diamondbacks

121. Detroit Tigers

122. Milwaukee Brewers

123. Texas Rangers

124. New York Yankees

125. Philadelphia Phillies

For more on the Cleveland Indians, check out Let's Go Tribe. You can also head over to SB Nation's main MLB hub at Baseball Nation.

2012 MLB Draft Results: Cleveland Indians Select OF Tyler Naquin With No. 15 Overall Pick

With the No. 15 pick in the 2012 MLB First-Year Player Draft, the Cleveland Indians selected outfielder Tyler Naquin out of Texas A&M. The mock drafts had the Cleveland Indians seeking pitching with their No. 1 pick, but the Tribe instead went with a pure hitter out of college.

Naquin is a 6-foot-2 left-handed hitter who is being tabbed as somewhat of a tweener. He was drafted in the 33rd round by the Baltimore Orioles in 2009, but opted to go to college. As a freshman with the Aggies, Naquin only hit .244, but turned it around his sophomore campaign to earn All-American honors with a .381 batting average and a national best 104 hits. After playing for team USA in the summer of 2011, Naquin hit .380 his junior season with three home runs, 21 stolen bases and 56 runs scored in 61 games.

MLB Network likens Naquin to David DeJesus, for what it's worth.

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2012 MLB Mock Draft: Indians Taking Chris Stratton In Jonathan Mayo Projection

The 2012 MLB Mock Draft begins today, but there's still time to get one last mock draft out there. The Cleveland Indians hold the No. 15 pick in the draft, and there's a lot of ways they could go with it. They're sitting just over .500 on the season and still have a few holes to fill before they make the jump from "good" to "really good."

One particular hole is in starting pitching - the organization is very shallow on top pitching talent due to some recent trades, so it would definitely be a plus if the Indians can find a good starting pitcher at No. 15. Jonathan Mayo just released his final mock draft, and he has the Indians doing just that:

15. Cleveland Indians: Chris Stratton, RHP, Mississippi State
The Indians are hopeful that a college pitcher they like will get here, and in this scenario, Stratton is that guy.

While that would be a good scenario for the Indians, it's worth noting that they likely wouldn't go with a pitcher if a guy like Stratton isn't available. Meaning that the MLB draft is tough to gauge, and prospects don't pan out a lot of the time. It's not the kind of draft you want to reach for a specific position in, so the Indians would be forced to take a different position.

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2012 MLB Draft Order: Cleveland Picking No. 15

The Cleveland Indians have been a little bit better than many have expected them in recent years. As it stands, they're sitting at No. 2 in the AL Central division with a win percentage just over .500 at .528, with a record of 28-25. They've slowed considerably since the start of the season but are still a team to watch out for, obviously.

They're a team with the odd issue here and there and, as such, really could use a good draft. There's already been some speculation that the Indians could be looking for some starting pitching. Obviously, it's not a smart idea to seek out specific positions in something like the MLB draft, given the unpredictable nature of the prospects and whether or not they'll actually pan out.

Still, it's definitely a huge need for the Indians, who don't have premium pitching prospects anymore due to some recent trades. It's definitely possible they seek out the position. As it stands, the Indians pick at No. 15 in the first round, which is not the best, but still a good place to be picking given their standing. Below, the first-round draft order:

1. Houston Astros
2. Minnesota Twins
3. Seattle Mariners
4. Baltimore Orioles
5. Kansas City Royals
6. Chicago Cubs
7. San Diego Padres
8. Pittsburgh Pirates
9. Miami Marlins
10. Colorado Rockies
11. Oakland Athletics
12. New York Mets
13. Chicago White Sox
14. Cincinnati Reds
15. Cleveland Indians
16. Washington Nationals
17. Toronto Blue Jays
18. Los Angeles Dodgers
19. St. Louis Cardinals
20. San Francisco Giants
21. Atlanta Braves
22. Toronto Blue Jays
23. St. Louis Cardinals
24. Boston Red Sox
25. Tampa Bay Rays
26. Arizona Diamondbacks
27. Milwaukee Brewers
28. Milwaukee Brewers
29. Texas Rangers
30. New York Yankees
31. Boston Red Sox

That's the full first round not including the supplemental portion. Cleveland doesn't hold a pick in the supplemental portion, but you can find a link to that order here, regardless.

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MLB Draft 2012: Indians Likely To Seek Starting Pitching

Teams in the MLB draft tend to go for the best player available rather than just going for a top need, unlike in other sports drafts. It takes prospects years to make it into the big leagues and they only do some of the time, so BPA is usually the best system to make sure there is more quality in the system all around.

As the Cleveland Indians website points out though, there is a serious lack of top flight pitching talent in the Cleveland system after a few moves in the past year or two depleted them.

At the July 31 Trade Deadline last summer, the Indians packaged Alex White and Drew Pomeranz -- the Tribe's top picks in 2009 and '10, respectively -- in the five-player swap with the Rockies that brought Ubaldo Jimenez to Cleveland. That removed the Indians' top two pitching prospects with one handshake.

Another highly-regarding starting prospect, left-hander Scott Barnes, has been converted to a relief role and is in Cleveland's bullpen. Austin Adams, who was in big league camp this spring, is shelved after right shoulder surgery. Righty Dillon Howard (a second-round pick last June) has yet to throw a professional pitch.

In that regard, the Indians could look for a top starting pitching prospect with their 15th overall selection. There are plenty of pitchers available for selection up in the top 15 for sure with Mississippi State's right handed ace Chris Stratton being a popular pick in early mock drafts for Cleveland.

With so little depth in top pitching prospects, we might even see three or four of the top round's picks going toward ace prospects so the Indians can get back to the state where they have two guys like White and Pomeranz waiting to get back to the big leagues -- or at least become solid trade bait for another solid guy like Jimenez.

For more on the Indians, head over to Let's Go Tribe. For more MLB news and analysis, be sure to check out Baseball Nation.

MLB Draft 2012: Indians Projected To Take Chris Stratton

With the 2012 MLB First-Year Player Draft coming up on June 4, every club in the Major Leagues will be looking to bolster their system by bringing in as many talented prospects as they can. For the Cleveland Indians, they will look to continue to build upon their upward momentum and bring in players that can help the team's early season success from the past couple seasons translate into postseason glory.

Several outlets have stated that the Tribe will look to improve their pitching staff by selecting a pitcher with their first round selection at pick No. 15. According to MyMLBDraft.com, that's what they see the team doing as the site projected that the Indians will select right-handed pitching prospect Chris Stratton with their first pick.

Startton was a junior last year at Mississippi State University where he was named the SEC's Pitcher of the Year by the conference's coaches. He stands at six-foot-three, 198 pounds and is a two-time SEC Academic Honor Roll selection.

Mississippi State is largely considered to have one of the best pitching staffs in the country with Stratton being it's best arm. Courtesy of the Columbus Dispatch:

"Nobody wants to play the Mississippi State Bulldogs right now, and that's just obvious," said ESPN college baseball analyst Ben McDonald on Monday on the NCAA selection show on ESPNU. "They've got one of the best pitchers in the country in Chris Stratton, and with that pitching depth is one of the most dangerous teams in all of college baseball."

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MLB Mock Draft 2012: ESPN's Keith Law Projects RHP Chris Stratton To Cleveland

With the No. 15 overall pick in the 2012 MLB Draft, the Indians are projected to take Mississippi State pitcher Chris Stratton according to ESPN's Keith Law.