2014 MLB Draft: Post-draft Q&A with John Mirabelli Part 2
By Tony Lastoria
June 18, 2014
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Yesterday I posted part one of my post-draft Q&A with Indians Director of Scouting John Mirabelli. In that piece he talked talk at length about a great many things pertaining to the Indians draft this year such as what they have learned from recent drafts, why they were sold on Bradley Zimmer and Justus Sheffield as their top picks, the advantage of having four first day picks, the focus on makeup with their picks this year, how they adjust to the flow of the draft with players coming off the board in front of them and much more.
Today, in part two, Mirabelli talks about the plans of players like Zimmer and Papi and what position the Indians plan to develop them at, their change in philosophy with drafting high school arms, how they manage the bonus pool while they are making picks and the difficulties that come with that, the importance of verbal commitments and getting players to stick to them, the team effort given to this draft by the entire organization and so much more.
Also, be sure to check out today’s signing update for news on all of the recent signings and a comprehensive listing of where the Indians stand with signing or not signing all 42 picks.
Q: You took two corner players in the first four rounds. In the previous five drafts 49 of 50 players in the top 10 rounds were either middle infielders, center fielders, catchers or pitchers. Is the small step away from the middle of the diamond approach with your top picks a change to your draft philosophy or was it just coincidence?
JM: I think it had a lot to do with the strength of the draft. I don’t think there was a lot of middle of the diamond players. I mean, we certainly believe that Zimmer is a middle of the diamond player, but I think this draft was particularly thin after you got by some of those guys at the top like Dee Gordon and Turner. This wasn’t really a deep middle of the diamond draft, so you can only take what is out there. So we evaluated some of these corner bats and like their upside and like their overall offensive potential. We think Papi is going to be an outfielder and not a first baseman, so as a corner option it gives him a little more versatility. I think it was just a function of what was available in the draft this year. There were not a lot of middle of the diamond players, and that is another reason why Zimmer was attractive to us.
Q: So Zimmer is going to be developed as a center fielder and you believe Michael Papi can be an outfielder?
JM: Absolutely. We saw Zimmer play center field all spring. He has great instincts and he can run. He has speed and is kind of a natural fly chaser out there. Papi has played left and right and is a really good athlete. He played first base at Virginia out of necessity, but we think he has enough athleticism to play left field and maybe even right field. But he brings some versatility. He can play all over the place and you can maybe even put him in center for short stints and he might be okay.
Q: You once again took a large amount of players out of California and Texas. Is this just the natural way the draft works with the top players coming from the warmer weather states and where the best talent falls?
JM: That is just a function of the draft. About 25% of Major Leaguers are from California and Texas is probably not that far behind. We don’t go in with any predetermined strategy to take guys from the sunbelt states. We took a couple of guys from Minnesota and Illinois in the first couple of rounds. You can find talent anywhere. That is not part of our process and more a function of the industry.
Q: The Sheffield and Grant Hockin picks are different than in years past because they are more advanced arms compared to the raw high school arms taken with some top picks in some very recent drafts. Is that a change in philosophy to go for more sure things out of high school?
JM: We did change some things with what we look for in pitching. We focused more on the delivery and arm action. I just think with the way they command the baseball and whether there are some secondary pitches in place now. Not necessarily completely finished products, but at least so they have some feel and some present now secondary pitches and an ability to throw the ball over the plate. I think we kind of got a little bit away from the arm strength throwers, particularly in the higher rounds, and looking for guys that give themselves a better chance to be a Major League starter. It comes down to delivery, arm action and secondary stuff. We still think there is some projection to them, particularly with Hockin. I think getting away from arm strength and looking more towards starter attributes is something we definitely made some adjustments with.
Q: Are you starting to feel comfortable with the new bonus pool system?
JM: I don’t know if we are totally comfortable with it because there are still a lot of gray areas that we have to navigate through. We ran into that last year when guys back out of commitments in the top 10 rounds as that makes things challenging for your overall strategy and what you want to do. We have some ideas that we have used to make sure a commitment is a commitment and we can count on that in the top 10 rounds because it does affect a lot of the things you are trying to do and what you want to do after the 10th round. It has just kind of been an ongoing process with this pool. I think as you have seen I think there were over 70 seniors taken in the top 10 rounds this year. That is a big jump from 18 or whatever was taken in the first year with the pool. I think there has been a lot of give and take and a lot of teams trying to figure this out on the fly and trying to take advantage of this system the best way they can and add talent. I don’t think we are completely comfortable yet. We are making adjustments year to year to offset some of the negatives and fill in the drafts how we can.
Q: But I am sure it adds a wrinkle to things having to constantly know what players are signing for as you go through the draft and what is left in the pool?
JM: Oh yes, it is extremely challenging. In fact we have one person who is totally dedicated to managing the pool as we go. Let me tell you, that might be the toughest job of anything we do on the scouting side. It is a sliding scale of you looking at a board and trying to take talent and then looking to the right and what your pool number is and what you can do with each round. It is a very challenging process. You have to have a lot of things clicking and a lot of people working together from the area scouts to the supervisors to the people that are helping us negotiate signing bonuses. Believe me, it is a very challenging part of the draft.
Q: Yes, even though you get verbals on deals a player can easily back out at any time which can throw a monkey wrench into your plans.
JM: That is exactly right. I am not sure anybody has the answer to that or how to definitively nail that down, but obviously it is a very important part of the whole component, especially if you want to do something overslot or go above the pick in the top 10 rounds. If you really want to have any chance of doing anything after the 10th round you really have to have those picks nailed down. But there are no guarantees as we saw last year. We have taken a lot of steps to try and ensure that, but nothing is ever going to be 100%.
Q: With the limitations on signing late round picks and the money you can throw at them, do you still look for upside guys in 11-40 rounds?
JM: Yeah, we do. It is kind of the same thing with how we took Plutko last year. But it is not the big aggressive way of the past. It is hard to accumulate $750K or $1M underneath your cap space to apply after the 10th round, but we do have a few out there where we think we can be aggressive. Maybe that player’s number comes down a little bit or maybe we can cut some deals a little under in some other places and have some money to spend. It is certainly part of the process, but it is difficult to get a big number late and stay within your pool.
Q: All of the picks are important, but the top picks are the most important and the history of the draft shows that to be the case. The fact you had those four day one picks, was there an extra special effort and focus by the organization to really nail those picks this year?
JM: That was very detailed and focused as we knew we had a chance to have an impact draft. We had a feeling a year ago that this was a potential outcome. The thing I am happy about the most with this draft was the process and the youth. How the players turn out we will see, but I don’t think we can second guess the process that we used. It was very detailed as there was a ton of data and a lot of information. We were really as prepared and as thorough in any of my 15 years here. Not that we were slacking off or dropping the ball in other drafts, but in this draft particularly I though the effort from top to bottom with the area scouts to the front office to everything behind the scenes I felt we were really systematically super-prepared for this draft.
Q: It really was a team effort as people like Paul Dolan, Mark Shapiro, Chris Antonetti, Ross Atkins and tons of people in the front office, baseball operations and player development were in the room assisting with the draft. You guys really seemed to be pooling together all of your resources and it was an organizational effort.
JM: Absolutely. We had a lot of people involved. Some of our coaches and instructors did some pre-draft day video analysis for us. Our area guys took a ton of videos and pictures of all sorts of pitchers and hitters, and we wanted to get some input from our player development staff on things. It was a complete team effort this year more so than any other year I can remember. We had pro scouts do some players and had a lot of different looks on a lot of different players.
Q: The signing deadline is July 18th. It is maybe not as early as you would like, but it is still better than the mid-August deadline from years past, right?
JM: I personally prefer it be July 1st but I haven’t been able to get that passed yet. Let’s get them out and playing. Most of the deals are already done for most teams in baseball. There are still a few guys playing, but let’s get them out as soon as we can to get their feet wet, get them acclimated and in a professional setting and get that out of the way. At least we are getting them out this year and getting time on the field which is important.
Q: Now the focus shifts to the International Signing Period, something you will be very involved with. What is going on there right now?
JM: You are just dotting all the I’s and crossing all the T’s during this dead period. There are still some guys who are still hanging around, but for the most part those things are done. Most of the elite premium players are already committed and ready to make a decision. This is just really a little final cleanup before the actual July 2nd signing date.
Q: With the International Signing Period coming, the trade deadline coming up and all the early work for the 2015 Draft getting underway with showcases and such, this is quite the busy time for you and your staff isn’t it?
JM: You know Tony, it never really stops. I guess there is sort of a lull in maybe September or November, but this time of the year it is June and they are playing baseball in every corner of the world be it amateur, professional, international or the Pacific Rim. It is just wall to wall baseball.
Q: So in the end you feel pretty confident about this draft?
JM: I have a different feeling this year. I have had a really positive sense of commitment from the whole organization and everybody involved. Like I told you, we strive to get better every year and to tighten up this process. I just walked away with this being the best process we have ever had. Now, will that translate into success? I don’t know, scouting is a tough deal. I can look at past drafts and kind of second guess myself, not on the players but on the process with why we took a player here or why we did that. It is going to be hard-pressed for me to be able to second guess our process on this draft. I feel really good about where we are.
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