CLEVELAND, Ohio -- By extending All-Star shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera's contract through 2014, the Indians secured the position short term.
Long term, look 20 miles east of Progressive Field. Francisco Lindor, the Tribe's first-round pick (eighth overall) in last year's draft and potential heir apparent, will bat third for the Class A Lake County Captains.
He just turned 18 last November. At a signing bonus of $2.9 million, that's roughly $160,000 for every year of his life. More, actually, because he was 17 when they drafted him out of Montverde Academy in Florida.
Lindor has played five professional games. He hit .316 with two RBI for Class A Mahoning Valley last season. But at the Captains' media day Tuesday, he sounded almost like a seasoned vet, acknowledging what a mind game the sport can be -- and how that's the thin line between a career of bus trips and budget inns or charter flights and first-class hotels.
"The toughest part will probably be the mental side of the game. That's what every player in the minor leagues has to work on, because it's tough," he said. "It's going to be a grind, like our coach said."
Mental, Lindor said, as in dealing with failing seven out of 10 times at the plate, if you're lucky, when you're used to hitting .600 in high school.
As a senior, Lindor, a 5-11, 175-pound switch-hitter, hit .528 in just 53 at-bats. That was apparently enough to tickle the Indians and Florida State, where Lindor was headed on scholarship if the Tribe hadn't signed him minutes before the deadline.
So far, they like what they have seen, especially his confidence at the plate and how he handles himself.
"You can see it right away. He has his head on straight and his feet are on the ground," said David Wallace, the Captains' first-year manager, who managed Lindor at Mahoning Valley last season. "And, sadly to say, that's not all that common with first-round guys."
MLB.com ranks Lindor 32nd among its top 100 prospects. But Lindor, who came to the United States from Puerto Rico with his father at age 12, said he feels no extra pressure being a first-rounder and such a big investment.
"It doesn't really matter what round I was going to be," he said. "It could have been the 50th round. I have to go out there and prove myself, prove to the organization that I can play and let them know that they made the right decision in picking me."
The Captains open the season Thursday at Fort Wayne, Ind. Their home opener is April 12 against Bowling Green (Ky.), an affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays.
