Indians opt for left-handed hitters

Indians opt for left-handed hitters
By Stephanie Storm
Knight Ridder Newspapers
(KRT)
The Indians selected two 21-year-old, left-handed college hitters with their first two picks in Tuesday's baseball draft.
Tulane first baseman Michael Aubrey (11th overall pick) and Ball State outfielder Brad Snyder (18th) were recently honored as the top Conference USA and Mid-American Conference players, respectively.
"It is never a needs-based draft for us," said John Mirabelli, the Indians' assistant general manager of scouting operations. "We worked to the strength of the draft."
That would be one deep in college athletes, which typically translates into more mature and more easily signable players.
Like Aubrey and Snyder, each expressing a desire to sign quickly, anxious to get their professional careers under way.
"I was not drafted out of high school, but a lot of it had to do with signability," Aubrey said. "I wanted to go to Tulane, and we stressed the importance of education early."
Aubrey, a native of Shreveport, La., is a 6-foot, 193-pound junior who was a pitcher before batting .420 with 70 runs scored, 20 doubles, 18 home runs and 79 RBI last season.
"I pitched my freshman and sophomore years, but not this year," Aubrey said. "Once this year came along, I figured my best opportunity to make it was with my bat and defense -- that's where my future is."
The Indians think so, too, as they made sure to have Aubrey listed as a first baseman, not a left-handed pitcher as was initially announced.
Snyder, an Ohio product from Bellevue (south of Sandusky near Norwalk), is a 6-2, 200-pounder who hit .405 with 68 runs scored, 25 doubles, 14 home runs and 61 RBI.
His selection represented the Tribe's compensation pick from the Philadelphia Phillies for Jim Thome.
"It's a great honor," said Snyder, who grew up as an Indians fan watching their games nightly on television. "We'd come to Cleveland for games one or two times a a year, and I love Jacobs Field."
The Indians, who had six of the first 109 selections, also took high school right-handed pitcher Adam Miller with the 31st "sandwich" pick.
The 6-4, 180-pounder from McKinney High in Texas just completed his senior season, going 10-2 with a 0.56 earned-run average and four saves in 16 games. In 75 innings, Miller allowed just 48 hits while striking out 117 and walking just 16 batters.
"He's the kind of guy we sort of targeted early in the process," Mirabelli said. "We kind of expected there to be a high school right-hander at 31. Did we know it was Miller? No, but someone would. And we got lucky."
Mirabelli said the Indians consider Miller to be "more advanced than your typical high school player."
But unlike the Tribe's first two selections, there will likely be longer negotiations with Miller, who has already signed to play for the University of Arizona.