Indians select Will Benson

The Cleveland Indians had three picks on the first day of the baseball draft and picked a very interesting player-IF they can sign him....

In round one,the Indians selected Georgia high school outfielder Will Benson.
The 6'6 outfielder is reported to have the tools that remind some of Jason Heyward (also a Georgia high schooler).
Baseball America offers a good news bad news scouting report that touts him as having "the best bat speed in the class",yet questions his hit tool.
The lefthanded swinger has a commitment to Duke and will take a sizable bonus to land,but would add a large outfield talent to a system with Clint Frazier and Bradley Zimmer.

The Indians drafted a first round talent that fell to them in round two on signability issues as Pennsylvania third baseman Nolan Jones was taken as a wedge against Benson going to Duke.
Jones is committed to Virginia and his commitment to UVA is regarded as even stronger than that of Benson's.
Jones is looked as a power hitting third baseman that has the arm and size (6'5) to stay there,although he could move to first base.
Jones will be a very tough sign as he is likely to command more than his slot figure at a little over one million.
Cleveland could be forced into a position of either Benson or Jones....

The final pick was in the competitive balance portion and the Indians took a safe pick and a likely easy sign in Oregon State catcher Logan Ice.
Ice is reported to be a strong defensive catcher,who improved his bat over the term in Corvallis.
Ice likely was chosen there in order to save a little bit of pool money in order to make some sort of run at signing both Will Benson and Nolan Jones.

I will return when I can with the Pirates and Giants picks,but I have to do research for tomorrow's interview for the podcast...