Cleveland Indians Sign 2nd Round Pick Nolan Jones

Cleveland Indians Sign 2nd Round Pick Nolan Jones

Well…that didn’t take long….

The Cleveland Indians have signed their 2nd round pick Nolan Jones, who was the final holdout among the Tribe’s top picks. Word of the signing broke less than an hour after yesterday’s draft update, with Jones announcing it himself on twitter.

With the young third baseman now signed, here is how the Indians’ top 10 rounds look:

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The Indians have gone over slot now by $327,000 thanks to going over by over $1 million to Jones alone. In fact, Jones nearly got double slot value and nearly got more than the Tribe’s 1st round pick Will Benson. The fact that Jones got so much is no surprise, though. As mentioned yesterday Jones was a top 25 prospect in this draft and most felt he was actually better than Benson. Had the Indians drafted Jones at 14 I don’t think many would have batted an eye, he’s that talented and that highly respected.

Jones hit .636 this past season as a senior at Holy Ghost Prep outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He also slugged five home runs in just 19 games. The 18-year-old infielder passed on a scholarship to the University of Virginia, one of college baseball’s best programs. He will report to the Tribe’s Arizona Rookie Level club to begin his professional career.

Now that all the signings in the top 10 rounds are complete, we can get a better idea of how the Tribe did. We obviously won’t know for years if this draft actually was anyone good or not but first impressions are very positive. While 1st rounder Will Benson looked like a reach at first, the Indians were able to follow that up with a talent like Jones thanks to the money well saved. Had the Indians taken a guy like Jones at 14, they don’t get a Benson at 55, at least not with the money they’d have had left.

Next: Indians Recall LHP Morimando; Designate Martinez

There are still several players in rounds 11 thru 40 that remain unsigned and there are still two weeks left before the July 15th deadline. However, the Indians are now a mere $47,980 away from losing a 1st round pick in 2017. Needless to say, the Indians will not risk that for anyone they drafted in the late rounds so expect only a handful of signings more and none for much more (if any) than $100,000. So no Luke Wakamatsu signings this year for the Indians, which is fine considering the haul they got in the top 10 rounds.