of the draft, but none of them higher than 29 and they selected a player with a strong pedigree when they tabbed Noah Naylor, a catcher from Canada, who is the brother of former first rounder of the Marlins (now with the Padres) Josh Naylor.
The high schooler hits left-handed and is said to be a good athlete that some think could eventually be a third baseman with others believing that he could become a catcher over the long term.
Naylor needs to grow into his body a bit to develop power but is thought to have a plus hit tool and I like his arm, although he will have to work on his defense.
Entering this draft, some thought Naylor could be the first high school catcher selected (he turned out to be the second)
and the Indians likely had a player fall to them that you would not have had them getting in most mock drafts.
Naylor does have a commitment to Texas A&M and the Indians will have to deal with that in order to
sign him, but most observers think that Naylor is more likely to sign than not.
Noah Naylor would be more valuable as a catcher than a third baseman and I'm sure that Cleveland will give him a chance to stick behind the plate, but if he hits very well, he might be headed for third base to save the beating that catchers always receive.
At this stage of the draft, I think that the Indians did reasonably well even with the risk of high school backstops.
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