The NL East race has largely been Dover vs. New York the past few seasons, let's see who came out on top in the draft, or if one of the other teams in the division made up some ground!
NL EAST
Buffalo Bisons
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With the #11 pick, Buffalo took RHP Vasco Unamuno. Unamuno is a workhorse innings eater type, who has an elite RH split. He can hold his own vs. lefties too, and keeps the ball on the ground. He has limited pitch selection, but the 3 pitches he does have are good quality. His control isn’t great, which is probably his biggest drawback. It will be interesting to see how he does in the majors, as Unamuno has a unique skill set. We’ll say he’ll be a solid #4 SP, with upside for #2/#3 status. 2nd rounder Jim Bolling is a solid reliever, with outstanding control, good splits, especially vs. LH, and excellent pitch quality. No reason this guy can’t make the majors. For a 3rd rounder, Felix Daily was a good value, and could possibly contribute in the bigs. Their 4th and 5th rounders have a shot at the majors too, making this a deep draft for Buffalo.
Final Analysis: Nice, deep draft, they added some quality arms here.
Grade: A
Dover Diamond Dogs
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With the 22nd pick, Dover selected RHP Nicholas Atkins. He has a great RH split, keeps the ball down well, and his pitch quality and LH split is very good. His is good, but not great. He may be limited to about 175 innings or so due to low stamina, but still, he looks like a solid #3 SP in the majors, and one of the better picks in the 20’s. A nice pick indeed. 2nd rounder Brandon Charles is holding out, and a rival newspaper is holding his scouting report hostage. Bummer. 3rd rounder William Shuck is a good value pick, with an outside shot at the majors. They went pitching the next several picks, they got some decent players, but we’re not sure we’ll ever see any of them with the big club.
Final Analysis: We really like Atkins, especially at #22, but their draft lacked depth.
Grade: B
Hartford Snakes2
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Hartford got SS Albert Looper with the 10th overall pick. Looper has an elite batting eye and an outstanding glove. He has a good arm and accuracy; however, his range appears to be just short of what a solid shortstop would have. His batting eye is the only outstanding quality for him at the plate, as everything else is just okay, but not great. All in all, we’re slightly disappointed with Looper as the 10th pick – he probably should have gone later, but will still contribute in the majors. Supp pick Justin Linton is a speedy player, who has the range of a 2nd baseman, but not the glove. He’s a contact guy at the plate, with a nice batting eye, but only average splits. Their 2nd supp round pick was Dario Kesler, a RF with nice power, but probably doesn’t have the splits to play in the majors. They continued to go with offense the next several picks, and they got a few decent guys, but each had one or two flaws keeping them from being major league quality.
Final Analysis: We feel Hartford could have done a little more with the picks they had, with two supp picks and a high first rounder, it’s a bit of a disappointment what they ended up with.
Grade: D
New York Primetimers
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The Primetimers got speedy RF Lynn Castillo with the 28th pick. He should steal quite a few bases once he hits the big leagues, and has great contact with a decent batting eye and good splits. That equates to a pretty good lead off guy. He won’t be a star, but he’s pretty good for a 28th pick. 2nd round RHP David Alcantara seems pretty on par with what was available in round 2, guys who will decent overall, with a few weaknesses, Alcantara’s being his pitch quality and LH split. Still, he could make the bigs, and was a good 2nd round value. Nothing too impressive after that, but given where they were picking, New York did pretty well.
Final Analysis: NY came away with a couple of decent players picking low, not bad at all.
Grade: B-
UP NEXT: NL South