It's on to the NL West, where Sacramento has dominated the standings for several seasons. Did they dominate the draft as well? Let's find out!
NL WEST
Cheyenne Chiefs
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With the 3rd overall pick, Cheyenne took RHP Jacob Tebeau, who looks like he will be a very good starter in the major leagues some day. He has outstanding control, high quality of pitches, great velocity, and a solid RH split. His LH split isn’t great, so lefties may be able to get to him, and he is only average at keeping the ball down. Overall though, we like Tebeau as a solid #2 or #3 in the majors, not quite a staff ace, but still an excellent player to have on your team. Cheyenne got a solid reliever in Jesus Johnson in round 2. His splits are only good, not great, but everything else looks excellent, and he should be an effective reliever in the bigs one day. These were the two highlights of the draft for Cheyenne; they got a decent arm in the 3rd round, and then haven’t signed a lot of their picks through the 10th.
Final analysis: They got 2 very good major league quality arms here.
Grade: B
Honolulu Haoles
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Picking 12th in the first round, Honolulu got 2B Nigel Stevens, who sports a powerful bat with nice splits and good enough batting eye and contact. He should be a solid contributor to a big league lineup. Fielding wise, his range and glove are a slight concern, if he doesn’t fully reach his projections, he may be a liability at 2nd base. Either way, Honolulu still got a very nice hitter here. 2nd rounder LHP Butch Aumont has 2 weaknesses that jump out, his control and his ability to keep the ball down. Everything else with him looks great, but he may only be a long relief type in the majors. No real standouts after that, a few guys could be role players at the major league level, but that’s about it.
Final analysis: Stevens is a nice prospect, not too sure about Aumont, making this an average draft.
Grade: C
Los Angeles Marlowes
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LA had the top pick in the draft and took consensus #1 Yamid Montanez. Montanez is certainly worth of #1 pick status, he looks great across the board offensively, with outstanding contact and batting eye. He doesn’t quite have elite power, but 25 HR per season should be reachable for sure. He is excellent on the base paths as well. Defensively, he shines with a great glove, arm and accuracy. The range isn’t quite where it needs to be for a shortstop, which is the only weakness we can find, if you want to call it that. He’s a nice player for sure. They didn’t have a 2nd rounder due to signing a type A Free Agent. Their 3rd and 4th rounders probably could have some use in the major leagues, but won’t be spectacular.
Final analysis: They got an A+ player with the top pick for sure, we love Montanez. The rest of their draft was a C.
Grade: B+
Sacramento Fighting Cornish Hens
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Sacto’s first pick was at #33 and they landed LHP Dion Hood, who has outstanding control, and nice splits, velocity, and GB/FB rating. His pitch quality is a bit of a red flag, and may limit his success at the major league level somewhat. Supp round selection Nigel Buhner is a quality bat who will kill lefties and has a superb batting eye. Defensively, his pitch calling skills are a tad suspect, bringing into question his ability to be a quality major league catcher. 2nd rounder Dennis Powell has good control, and LH split, and excels in all other core pitching categories, except durability where he is currently at 0, which hurts, but with the right coaching could hit his projection of 2. Luckily, they had another 2nd rounder and got Hades Collins who while he doesn’t quite have the stamina to be a starter, will be extremely effective out of the pen with elite control and exceptional RH split and pitch quality being his main strengths. After that, nothing too impressive, a couple of defensive specialists is about it.
Final analysis: They kind of botched their first 2nd round pick getting a guy with 0 durability, but did get 3 other good players for where they were picking. Collins was a great value late 2nd round.
Grade: B
UP NEXT: NL North