Before we move on to the NL, I must apologize to desanders and the Oakland Bruisers, we inadvertenly left them out of their division draft recap, and replaced them with Ottawa. Here is the AL West recap correctly with Oakland in it, and not Ottawa. Again, our apologies for the mixup.
AL WEST
Kansas City Tweakers
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K.C. nabbed hurler Johnnie Kennedy with the 7th overall pick, and he projects to be quite the workhouse that will produce a ton of quality innings every season. He has superb control and splits, and a great 4 seam fastball to go with 3 other very nice pitches, and a fifth one that is just ok. Only downside is that velocity and GB/FB ratings aren’t great, but his other ratings are so good, he will still be a stud. He’s a great pickup indeed. Elsewhere, K.C. got a nice reliever in rd. 2, a pretty good DH in rd. 3, and a couple of defensive catchers to boot. It was a pretty nice draft for Kansas City.
Final Analysis: Kennedy is obviously the crown jewel of the draft, but they got a couple of other decent players who could make the majors potentially too.
Grade: A-
Oakland Bruisers
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Oakland selected LF Ronald Donnelly with the 14th overall pick. Donnelly has a very good bat, with nice splits and batting eye, and good contact. His best offensive rating is his power. Donnelly will be a good major leaguer, I’m thinking maybe .300 BA and 25-30 HR per season, but he won’t be amongst the elite hitters in the league. Still, he’ll be an asset to the lineup. 2nd rounder Ron O’Malley is a righty reliever who has solid ratings across the board, for the most part. The biggest concern with him is lack of pitch quality. Everything else looks good, some I’m guessing he’ll still be effective at the major league level. After that, they got a lot of guys who are close to major league quality, but seem to fall just short. A few of them could probably be used in the majors in a pinch.
Final analysis: They got some solid players here who will help the team, but no superstars.
Grade: B
San Francisco Hammer'd Leprechauns
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Picking 19th, San Francisco got 1B Tom Weston, who projects to be quite the hitter. Most impressive is his contact, which projects among the elite, but he also has very good power, splits and batting eye. I’m thinking a .330 batting average with 30 HR should be very doable for him on an annual basis. 2nd rounder Bunky Musial has great offensive ratings for a catcher and is decent on defense, but then you see the 44 projected durability. Still he could be a major league backup getting 50 or so games in per season. After that, they landed a handful of decent pitching prospects, given they were selected 3rd rounder or later.
Final Analysis: Weston appears to be a hitting guru, and they got a couple of prospects who could be role players in the majors. Well done.
Grade: B+
Vancouver Blaze
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Vancouver had the 26th selection and took RHP Julius Philips. Philips is another innings eater, although his projected ratings probably have him more of a #4 or #5 SP in the majors. Still he is definitely capable of contributing at that level, with solid control, splits, and very good first pitch. Not bad at all for a 26th picks. Vancouver took risky players with their supp pick and 2nd rounder, and it doesn’t appear they will be rewarded, as neither guy looks like they will sign. They got a couple of good value pick in round 3 and 4 in hurlers John Diaz and Lloyd Leiter, so we’ll give them credit for that.
Final Analysis: Philips was pretty good for a 26th pick, but they blew a supp pick and 2nd rounder on guys that won’t sign, it appears.
Grade: C-
UP NEXT: NL West