Up next is the AL South. This division may have the most talent in all of Cobbfather, with 3 powerhouse teams in Tanker Bay, eh, Tampa Bay, Austin, and Florida and an up and coming team in Little Rock. Let's see how they did on draft day.
AL SOUTH
Austin Rock Stars
 |
| ||||||||||||||
The Rock Stars, picking 27th, landed right handed reliever Hipolito Estrada. Estrada has excellent control and splits, and three very good pitches. He keeps the ball down well also. He doesn’t throw with much velocity, and that is about his only downside. He is very durable, so he should be able to work a lot of the pen. Not quite sure he has closer stuff, as he seems like more of a setup guy. Still, he will be a very good reliever in the bigs. 2nd rounder Carlos Segui is a decent value pick. He struggles with control, but still could possibly be a long reliever in the majors, but likely wouldn’t be used in the rotation. Not much else to speak of here, they got a few defensive specialists, and maybe one borderline decent arm.
Final Analysis: Austin did pretty good for where they picked from in the first two rounds.
Grade: B-
Florida Shark Waves
 |
| ||||||||||||||
Florida owner rawdk has already proclaimed his draft a bust, let’s see just how bad it is! Ah yes, it really is that bad. Although you do have to take into consideration that their first pick was 34th, they could have done better than Clyde Fitzgerald. He is a speedy player with good baserunning skills, but that’s about where the compliments end. He would be a liability in the field anywhere but LF or 1B, and he just doesn’t have the skills at the plate to be even a decent major leaguer, especially at LF or 1B where most teams expect to have a monster bat. It didn’t get much better later in the draft either, but they did get a few defensive specialists, so maybe the draft wasn’t a complete and total loss.
Final Analysis: rawdk’s assessment of his draft was quite accurate
Grade: D-
Little Rock Travelers
 |
| ||||||||||||||
With the #2 overall pick in the draft, Little Rock landed SS Cap Rivera. Rivera projects to be a good major league hitter, but still you’d like to have seen them get a little bit better bat picking #2. Rivera has great speed and baserunning ability, depending on how aggressive they want to be with him, Rivera could steal 50+ bases a season, making him an ideal lead off hitter. Defensively, as a shortstop, we’re slightly concerned about his arm strength. If he hits his projection, he’ll be fine, but if he falls short a few points, it may be cause for concern. Although, it looks like he can make up for a slight defensive shortcoming at the plate, as he is a far better hitter than your average shortstop. 2nd rounder Les Butler is a nice hitting RF, who could definitely start in the majors. Nice value pick for sure. After that, they got a few players who may have a shot at the majors as backups, a few good arms, a nice bat or two, and some good defensive players. I’d call this a fairly deep draft for Little Rock.
Final analysis: Little Rock added 2 quality hitters, and some other decent talent, they have to be pleased.
Grade: A-
Tampa Bay Tankers
 |
| ||||||||||||||
Tampa Bay had the 5th overall pick and landed OF Ollie Brock. Brock looks like he can flat out mash, with great power, an exceptional batting eye, and very good contact. He will give lefties nightmares, and will still be tough for righties. If I had to guess, I’d say .330 BA/.420 OPS/40 HR is quite doable an annual basis. Tampa Bay had a type D selection at pick 13 and took RHP Poseidon Cameron. There’s a lot to like about Cameron. Great RH split, superb velocity, nice pitches, and good control and LH split. His one downside is his durability, which may limit his innings. Still he should be an excellent major league pitcher. I can’t say there’s a lot to get excited about after that, but the Tankers have to be thrilled to have landed two extremely talented players in the first round.
Final analysis: The Tankers did very well with their two first rounders. After that…….
Grade: B+
UP NEXT: NL West