Double-Drafted: Players Indians Drafted Twice

The MLB Draft is three weeks away and while it doesn’t get the usual (over) hype and recognition that the NFL, NBA and even NHL Drafts get, it’s still the lifeblood for teams like the Indians.

Disclaimer: I don’t follow the MLB Draft that closely. I read Jeff Ellis of Scout.com, ESPN’s Keith Law, Baseball America and Fangraphs just to know names. (These are mostly paid sites because good content is actually worth paying for, but that’s for another day).

The point is, a lot these writers are going through a ton of mock draft version right now because the MLB Draft is really hard to predict. One of the most interesting things about the MLB Draft unlike others is that players don’t have to “declare.” Any high school player, junior college player and any four-year college player who has been out of high school three years is eligible. They can choose to have representation or to not sign. And then teams can actually pick them again if they didn’t sign the first time.

It’s not a great predictor of what a team will do but maybe it says something about the team’s scouting in what players they like enough to draft more than once.

Cody Allen is the Indians biggest success in drafting a player twice. Allen was picked in the 16th round in 2010 and he actually transferred schools for the 2011 season, his third different college, and put up way better numbers. The Indians took him in the 23rd round in 2011 because he was a senior and had no more leverage to not sign. To date, of recent double-drafted players, Allen has posted the best bWAR (8.0).

In second on that list (recently) is Mr. “WAR, What Is It Good For?” himself, Jensen Lewis. The Indians took Lewis in 2002 in the 33rd round out of high school. Lewis went on to Vanderbilt and the Indians took him in the 3rd (!) in 2005. Lewis posted a 2.3 bWAR over a brief four year career.

Now it gets ugly.

The Indians took catcher Doug Pickens in the 31st round in 2004 out of high school. They took him again in 2007 in the 50th round and played with the Indians in the minors for four years and never made it above High-A.

In 2005 the Indians drafted reliever Travis Turek out of high school in the 44th round. In 2006 after Turek attended a junior college, the Indians took him in the 48th round. He spent five years in the system and didn’t get out of High-A either.

Michael Goodnight was a big Texas high school right hander that the Indians took in 2008 in the 27th round. In 2010, the Indians took him out of the University of Houston in the 48th round. Michael said goodnight to his career after four seasons and never making it past High-A.

The Indians selected pitcher Burch Smith in the 49th round in 2009 out of high school and like most high school players drafted in the bottom 70% of the draft, he didn’t sign. In 2010 though, the Indians drafted him again this time in the 20th round. Smith didn’t sign and the Indians didn’t go for the trifecta with the Padres picking him in the 14th round in 2011 where he finally signed. He made his big league debut in 2013 but hasn’t pitched in affiliated ball since 2014.

Current players in the minor league system that were drafted twice by the Indians and signed are Justin Garza (2012, 2015), Paul Hendrix (2012, 2013), Andrew Calica (2012, 2016), and Ryder Ryan (2014, 2016). Hendrix was drafted as an infielder, but has since converted to pitcher.

So, the Indians liked a few guys enough over the years to take them twice since the MLB got rid of the “Draft and Follow” option. It hasn’t exactly worked out for them and their drafting over the last five years has had a spotty record with improvement over John Mirabelli run drafts as opposed to the Brad Grant ones they’ve had in the last several years.

The Indians don’t pick until 64 thanks to signing Edwin Encarnacion, so will they double draft anyone this year? Probably. Unfortunately, South Carolina P Wil Crowe probably won’t slip to 64, but if he did and the Indians took him, it would be the third time they chose him (2013, 2016). A previously drafted name who might be there in that range is K.J. Harrison (2014, 25th round).

But, maybe they should avoid double drafting anyone unless it’s a reliever.