Cleveland Indians Agree to Deal with First-Round Pick SS Carson Tucker

The Indians haven't missed on signing a draft pick since Alan Horne back in 2001, and Friday that streak continued as the team was able to come to terms with the 23rd overall pick in the draft in shortstop Carson Tucker. Tucker's brother Cole is currently with the big league Pittsburgh Pirates.

While the Major League Cleveland Indians continue to look ahead to the shortened 60-game season at the end of July, behind the scenes Friday the team made a big move, inking first-round pick Carson Tucker, the overall 23 pick in the draft.

MLB Insider Robert Murray tweeted out that Tucker and the Tribe have come to a deal in which he will get a $2 million dollar bonus.

The 18-year-old infielder, whose brother Cole Tucker is with the Pittsburgh Pirates, hit a solid .390 during his high school tenure in Phoenix, Arizona at Mountain Pointe High School.

MLB.com had Tucker ranked as the 52 overall prospect at the start of the MLB amateur draft.

Cole Tucker was chosen with the 23 pick by the Pirates back in 2014, and he currently is on Pittsburgh’s 40-man roster.

Last season Cole hit .211 with Pittsburgh with a pair of homers and 11 runs batted in, playing in 56 games with 147 trips to the plate.

The newest Indian had committed to the University of Texas, but the $2 million the Indians offered him must have been enough for them to change the youngsters mind.

Many publications had Tucker not going till the second-round, but the Indians did enough homework to think he was good enough for being picked with the 23 pick.

The last time the Indians chose a shortstop in round one of the draft worked out pretty good, as they selected Francisco Lindor back in 2011.

The club has not had a first-round pick come to terms with the team since 2001, when they failed to close a deal with Alan Horne, a starting pitcher who never made it to the big leagues and his career ended playing for Trenton back in 2011.

The team also announced they had come to terms Friday with second-round pick pitcher Logan Allen, as well as fifth-round pick righty pitcher Mason Hickman from Vanderbilt.


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Matt Loede
MATT LOEDE

Matt Loede has been a part of the Cleveland Sports Media for 26 years, with experience covering Major League Baseball, the NBA & NFL and even high school and college events. He has been a part of the daily media covering the Cleveland Indians since the opening of Jacobs/Progressive Field in 1994, and spent two and a half years covering the team for 92.3FM The Fan, and covers them daily for Associated Press Radio. You can follow Matt on Twitter @MattLoede