This is the first draft for the new ownership in POR. They got off on a very good step with #1 over all choice RF Al James. James is a lefty thrower and batter, and profiles to be murderous on righty pitchers; but should be very good no matter which side the ball is coming from. Though only 19, James shows advanced skills both offensively and defensively and should move quickly. In a weak draft class, this was one of the better players and POR should be excited to have him in the fold.
POR really wasn't able to build off the momentum gathered from the James pick as they lost their 2nd rounder as compensation for signing Junior Koh .
3rd rounder Robb Hall and 4th rounder Ugueth Izquierdo are probably fringe ML prospects at best.
5th rounder Carl Spruill is an interesting choice. He shows great promise as a top defensive SS but struggles at the plate, especially against RH pitching. If he reaches his potential, his defense may be enough to compensate for his offensive lackings, but more likely is that Spruill will turn out to be a solid contributor off the bench as he has some ability against LH pitching; and, as stated before, his defense shows great promise. He could develop into a nice utility infielder.
My sleeper pick is 7th rounder Glen Thatcher. Thatcher isn't very selective at the plate, and struggles some to make contact, but he does have solid power. He could develop into a nice guy to have on a big league bench as he can handle multiple positions and should prove to be fairly effective against LH pitching at the ML level.
Overall, Portland earned a C+ mostly from the James pick and the fact that this pool of draft eligible players was relatively weak overall. I would have liked to have seen more potential everyday ML talent get chosen in the first 5 rounds, but POR did add some solid players that will help fill out their farm system; and combine James with the very solid International signing of Alexi Gonzales and POR does have some higher ceiling prospects they have added to their system.
Here's hoping the new ownership plans to stick around for a while. He's done a good job in his first season with his effort to get talent into a farm system that really needed it.