1. RAYS - The Rays as expected pick Tim Beckham, Griffin HS with the first pick. MLB.com has him at 6 foot even but I've seen him listed at 6-2 as well. A five-tool prospect to add to the Rays collection of premium prospects. Buster Posey's bonus demands may have priced him away from the Rays, but drafting a catcher this high might have been a bit of a risk.
2. PIRATES - The Pirates, also as expected, select Pedro Alvarez SB from Vanderbilt. A 6-2,210 power hitter from the left side, has the best chance to make an immediate impact with the bat. A broken hamate bone in his wrist is a slight concern as will be his expected bonus demands, but the Pirates could use his bat soon.
The Royals are on the clock....Posey might be the move here.
3. ROYALS - Royals build for the future with Florida prep 1B Eric Hosmer 6-4, 215, he might have been the best HS bat available.
Orioles are on the clock now...they have been looking at the college pitchers Brian Matusz and Aaron Crow. If it's a coin flip between the two, I would take the lefty.
4. ORIOLES - The Orioles take LHP Brian Matusz from University of San Diego. He's 6-4,200 has good velocity and four solid pitches. Sound like you can't go wrong there. Too bad he didn't last one more pick.
The Giants are now on the clock....One of the college pitchers Crow or Tanner Scheppers from Fresno State would look good here. Justin Smoak a power hitting 1b from South Carolina might help soon as well.
5. GIANTS - The Giants surprise a bit by taking Buster Posey from Florida State. 6-1,205 good defense behind the plate and a solid bat. A little raw, but athletic behind the plate, his bat should have him ready for the bigs in short order.
The Marlins are on the clock....the buzz is they like prep catcher Kyle Skipworth from California and possibly local product 18 Yonder Alonzao from the Univ of Miami.
6. FLORIDA - Marlins pick Kyle Skipworth 6-3,195 C from Patriot HS, (CA) Good arm, good bat. Good pick for the future.
The Reds are on the clock...tough read on the Reds could be Smoak, could be Crow, could be one of the IF's Gordon Beckham from UGA or Brett Lawrie IF from Canada.
7. REDS - Yonder Alonzo from Univ of Miami. 6-2,215 power hitting lefty bat.
The White Sox are on the clock...will be interesting to see if the go for the bat (Smoak) or the pitcher (Crow or Scheppers).
8. WHITE SOX - Sox surprise a bit with Univ. of Georgia SS Gordon Beckham. 6-0,185 decent bat, not a toolsy guy, just a player. Could move to 2B down the road.
The Nationals are on the clock....Tough read on them as well, pitching is an obvious need.
9. NATIONALS - Aaron Crow RHP from Missouri. 6-2,205. Played well in the Cape Cod League, might be the top college pitcher in the draft. Three plus pitches and a power arm, he should rise fast.
Houston is on the clock....can use some power bats, Smoak 1B or Brett Wallace 3B are possibilities.
10. ASTROS - A bit os a surprise, Jason Castro C Stanford 6-3, 215. A good enough lefty bat fills a need for the Astros.
Rangers are on the clock.....looking for pitching possibly a closer maybe Scheppers or Shooter Hunt from Tulane (best name in the draft).
11. RANGERS - surprise, Justin Smoak switch-hitting 1B from Univ. of South Carolina 6-4, 215 with good power.
Oakland A's are on the clock.....Brett Wallace or Conor Gillespie, the college 3B or Aaron Hicks, the prep CF from CA are on the radar.
12. A'S - Jemile Weeks 2B from the Univ. of Miami. A 5-10,175 solid pick, Brother of Brewers Rickie Weeks, not the same type of bat speed or power. Switch-hitter good bat, might move to the OF down the road.
Cardinals are on the clock....LHP Christian Friedrich from Eastern Kentucky is on their board as well as RHP Ryan Perry from Arizona.
13. CARDINALS - 3B/1B Brett Wallace from Arizona State. 6-3, 235 power bat. Might not have the glove for 1B. He'll have to hit to move Pujols off the position. Good plate discipline, seemd like a fit for the high-OBP A's.
Twins are on the clock....they could take one of the HS athletes still on the board like Hicks, Lawrie or HS pitchers Ethan Martin and Tim Melville.
14. TWINS - Aaron Hicks RHP/OF from Wilson HS in Long Beach (CA). Great tools as on OF, can pitch as well reaching 95 and cruising in the low 90's. Was picked as an everyday player, so he should project well to the OF for the twins.
The Dodgers are on the clock now...were rumored to be high on Hicks, just selected, may settle for Casey Kelly the SS_RHP out of Sarasota, FL.
15. DODGERS - Etan Martin 3B/RHP from Stephens HS (GA). Could be a college QB prospect. Mid 90's fastball. Interesting pick.
Milwaukee is on the clock....normnally go for the high ceiling guys (Kelly) could also look at the college closers as a need pick.
16. BREWERS - Brett Lawrie C/3B from B.C Canada at 5-11,200, showed power late in a high profile tournament to elevate up the boards late.
Blue Jays are on the clock...Brett Wallace was rumored to be on their wish list, maybe a Connor Gillespie 3B Wichita State as next best available??
17. BLUE JAYS - David Cooper 1B Cal Berkley 6-1,210 LH hitting with legit power. Not much with the glove.
18. METS - Isaac Davis 1B 6-4,215 from Arizna State. Another 6-4,215 LH hitting power guy. Son of ex-major leauger Ron Davis.
Cubs are on the clock....still a lot of pitching on the board.
19. CUBS - Andrew Cashner RHP from TCU a real power arm, projects as a closer. 6-5,190 mid 90's FB with a power slider.
Mariners are on the clock.....were rumored to be high on Cashner, maybe Shooter Hunt here?
20. MARINERS - Joshua Fields RHP Univ. of Georgia legit closer prospect.6-0, 180 but brings heat. 2nd rounder by the Braves last year.
Tigers are on the clock....rumored to like the power arm 100+ of Gerri Cole HS pitcher from CA.
21. TIGERS - RHP Ryan Perry from Univ. of Arizona 98MPH FB and a good slider. 6-4, 200 closer prospect.
Mets are back on the clock...pitching in this spot?
22. METS - Wow!!! Reese Havens SS from Univ. South Carolia. Will move off SS with the Mets due to the presence of Jose Reyes, maybe 2B??
Padres are on the clock...rumored to like Havens who just came off the board and possibly Shooter Hunt as a closer?? Lefty Christain Friedrich would be a good value pick here as well.
23. PADRES - Allan Dykstra 1B from Wake Forest. A 6-5,240 power hitting 1B. Seems like ther have been quite a few of those in this draft.
Phillies are on the clock...they tend to like toolsy prep players, maybe Casey Kelly here or Zach Collier from CA.
24. PHILLIES - Anthony Hewitt SS 6-1,195 from Salisbury School (CT), might be the highest rated pure athlete in the draft, good arm, athleticism could move him to the OF. The bat is a major question mark that will determine if this big-risk turns into a big-reward.
Rockies are on the clock....
25. ROCKIES - Christian Friedrich LHP Eastern Kentucky good K-BB ratio, dominated his level. 6-3,210 lbs. he may have been the 2nd best LHP in the college ranks.
Diamondbacks are on the clock....closers are off the board which is what they were rumored to be interested in.
26. ARIZONA - LHP Daniel Shlereth from Univ. of Arizona, son of ESPN and former NFL'er Mark Shlereth. A mid-90's FB and a power slider should put him on the fast-track to the bigs. Maybe a bit of a reach.
Twins are back on the clock....athletes r' us for the Twinkees.
27. TWINS - OUCH!! RHP Carlos Gutierrez 6-3,205 RHP from Univ. of Miami, the biggest reach of the first round so far, plus he's hurt. What are the Twinkees thinking? You can't tell me this guy would not have been there a couple of rounds down the road. This has to be a budgetary pick, with two first-rounders, there must have been birds chirping in the Twins war room, CHEAP, CHEAP, CHEAP.
On a side note this is now beginning to look like an NFL draft with two University of Miami (The-U) players picked so far.
Yankees are on the clock....
28. YANKEES - Gerrit Cole RHP from Luthean HS (CA) huge power arm, 100+ MPH with signability concerns (Boras client) at 6-3,200 he projects as a huge power pitcher down the road.
Indians are on the clock...
29. INDIANS - Lonnie Chisenall 6-1,200 SS with character issues (burglary charge) from Pitt(NC) CC via Univ. of South Carolina. Might be the second biggst surprise in the round. He could have been available to them later.
30. RED SOX - Casey Kelly SS/RHP Sarasota HS 6-3,195 one of the premier athletes in the prep ranks. QB prospect with Tennessee. Raw as a pitcher anbd the bat is the big question mark as a SS, but a premium pick here for the Sox. Son of ex-major leaguer Pat Kelly.
------------------------
That concludes the first round. The compensation round begins in about 15 minutes.
Surprises/Prospects still on the board:
Tim Melville RHP Holt HS (MO)
Shooter Hunt RHP Tulane
Zach Collier OF Chino Hills HS (CA)
Brett DeVall LHP Niceville HS (FL)
Alex Mayer RHP Greensburg HS (IN)
Conor Gillespie 3B Wichita State
Jake Odrizzi RHP Highland HS (IL)
Tanner Scheppers RHP Fresno State
Isaac Galloway OF Los Oros HS (CA)
Roger Kieschnick OF Texas Tech
Adrian Nieto C American Heritage HS (FL)
Jordan Danks OF Texas
Ross Seaton RHP Second Baptist HS (TX)
Daniel Webb RHP Heath HS (KY)
Chris Carpenter RHP Kent State
-------------------------------------
31. TWINS - Shooter Hunt, RHP Tulane
32. BREWERS - Jacob Odirizzi, RHP Highland HS (IL)
33. METS - Bradley Holt RHP UNC-Wilimigton
34. PHILLIES - Zach Collier OF Chino Hills HS (CA)
35. BREWERS - Evan Frederickson LHP Univ. San Francisco
36. ROYALS - Michael Montgomery LHP Hart HS (CA)
37. GIANTS - Connor Gillespie 3B Wichita State (YEAH!!!)
38. ASTROS - Jordan Lyles RHP Hartsville HS (SC)
39. CARDINALS - Michael Lynn RHP Univ Mississippi
40. BRAVES - Brett DeVall LHP Niceville HS (FL)
41. CUBS - Ryan Flaherty SS Vanderbilt
42. PADRES - Jeff Decker OF Sunrise Mountain HS (AZ)
43. ARIZONA - Wade Miley LHP SE Louisiana
44. YANKEES - Jeremy Bleich LHP Stanford U
45. RED SOX - Brian Price RHP Rice University
46. PADRES - John Forsythe 3B Univ. Arkansas Fayetteville
That concludes the First Round and the Compensation Round.
I like the Giants first two picks, this might have been the approach they should have been taking in the last couple of years, Posey and Gillespie could help the big club relatively quickly.
The Giants draft looks good as they seem to have enough pitching in the minors.......bats are needed now,,,
ReplyDeleteNo doubt, and they haven't shown a good history recently of developing hitters, so the approach this year of drafting college hitters (most notably Posey and Gillespie) should have been the approach they took last year and maybe the year before that.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure I ranted about that as they drafted HS pitchers, but maybe someday those guys become top of the rotation aces, or as history has shown, they flop miserably at some point, or succumb to injury.
It just seems as if the organizational planning is out of touch with reality.