Part 5 of the draft recap covers Burlington through Durham. Here's the scoop:
Burlington Huskies
Efrain Martin Burlington Huskies Age: 18 B/T: R/R Born: Ashburnham, MA Position(s): C View Hardball Dynasty Profile
Top pick Efrain Martin has a huge stick, the guy can mash, and projects to have an unmatched batting eye. Good news for Burlington, he looks like he has the skills to catch at the major league level. His weakness is his durability, he may only be good for 110-120 games per year. Still, they’ll get great production in those games. Supplemental round pick Herm Trammell looks like a #3 or #4 starter in the bigs with outstanding control, great splits and a tough splits. He may have trouble keeping the ball down. They added a great fielding shortstop in round 3 in Kennie Cooke who could be a big league backup. The rest of their early picks were pitchers who are fringe major leaguers, at best.
Final Analysis: Martin is a great hitting catcher, and Trammell was a nice value pick in the supplemental round.
Draft Grade: B+
Cheyenne Chiefs
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Top pick Davey Fernandez is a right handed starter with phenomenal control, and 3 dominating pitches. His splits project well. His weaknesses are that he struggles at time to keep the ball down in the zone, and doesn’t have a great injury rating. That being said, he should be a #2 SP in the bigs, with #1 upside. 2nd rounder Esteban Marquez looks to be a major league quality reliever. 3rd rounder Rolando Santayana could be a major league backup. They got a good value pick in 5th rounder Lariel Tavarez, who has major league potential as possibly a long reliever.
Final analysis: Cheyenne improved their pitching in this draft, and had some good value picks. A nice draft indeed.
Draft grade: B+
Chicago Chokers
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First rounder Jesus Sanchez is a shortstop with a great, accurate arm, but below average glove for a shortstop. His bat isn’t all that impressive, and he has some speed. Their 2nd first rounder, Albert Dali is a 2nd baseman who should be able to handle the position fielding wise, has great speed, and should be decent at the plate. Supp pick Jimmy Morton has good control and pitch selection, but mediocre splits and poor GB/FB ratio. He may end up as a long reliever in the bigs. 3rd rounder Stone Grimsley is a decent CF, who could be a backup at the major league level. Eugene Blanton was decent value pick in the 5th.
Final analysis: The Chokers got some good players with Major League potential, but they could have done better with 3 picks in the top 38.
Draft Grade: C
Cincinnati Flying Pigs
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Top pick Tommy Schalik is a hard throwing righty with two dominant pitches and great control. He doesn’t project to have great splits, which will probably hold him back from achieving ace status. Still, he should be able to contribute in the big leagues. 2nd rounder Ray Creek has great range and speed, and is a good contact hitter, but appears to lack the batting eye to be an effective major league hitter. Their other early picks yielded pitchers who are borderline major leaguers.
Final analysis: Schalik should pitch in the majors, but the rest of their draft wasn’t that impressive.
Draft Grade: C
Durham Radicals
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1st rounder Alex Coombs is pure hitter with phenomenal splits and batting eye, and very good contact and power. How effective he’ll be as a catcher is in question, but he could pass by at the major league level if he hits his projections. No matter where he plays, he’ll be a major threat at the plate. 2nd rounder Curtis Sullivan projects to be a very good reliever, and could even close in the majors one day. The Radicals continued to load up on relievers, picking them all the way through the 9th round. And he got some very good values.
Final analysis: Excellent draft, Coombs is a great bat, and they got a LOT of good relievers. Draft might have been better if they diversified and didn’t pick exclusively relievers in rounds 2-9, but they definitely improved their bullpen!
Draft Grade: A-