Thursday, January 14, 2010

Season 7 Draft Review -- Sac Fighting Cornish Hens

In Sacramento we have a team that's been to the WS twice, and has been dominant in the regular season, save for last season's .500 aberration. Usually picking low in the order, let's see how SAC did with a position that is unusually high for them, and one they probably won't revisit for some time.

1st round: Ben Campbell is a solid pitching prospect, who may develop into so much more. At 20 yr old, he already posses advanced control, and looks to continue to develop that control into something typically unseen. To say he can throw it where he wants it would be an extreme understatement. Has deceptive delivery that makes it equally hard for lefties and righties to pick up the ball, Campble is also able to induce groundballs at a very nice rate. Though no pitch makes you stand up and shout "Wow!" he does sport an above average sinker and change-up with a slider that is right behind those two. Throws a curve and a cutter for good measure too just to keep the hitters off balance. Will never be considered an ace, but Campbell has the chance to develop into a very productive MORP or BORP and should have a very solid ML career. SAC has to be quite pleased he fell to them.

2nd round: Brian Frye is an interesting player. Playing 3B now, he probably is better suited to RF due to his glove, though he can still develop what would be an above average arm out there. A solid hitting prospect: Frye won't wow you in BP with raw power and he does struggle with pitch recognition. Frye does have ML talent, though he may turn into a journeyman type player that a team looks to have until they can find something better. Hey, there are worse fates out there.

5th rounder Ronald Galloway wins my sleeper pick for SAC. Needs to develop behind the plate, but Galloway projects to be a very good platoon mate and combines above average power with a good ability to make contact and combines those with an outstanding eye at the plate. So much versatility with Galloway, it will be a real disappointment if he doesn't develop and find his way on an ML roster in some form or fashion.

It's probably in reality a C or slightly better draft, but I'm going to give SAC a B- on the heels of 1st rounder Campbell and for finding Galloway in the 5th round. I think that was great value.