Next up in the draft recap is the AL East - Atlanta is on top, Burlington and Boston are catching up and Durham is rebuilding. Will this season's draft affect the hierarchy in the AL East? Let's find out!
AL EAST
Atlanta Expos
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Atlanta selected lefty hurler Murray Perry with the 27th pick. Perry is a workhouse with exemplary control, and a nice 4 seam fastball. On the downside, he doesn’t keep the ball down, his splits are mediocre and he doesn’t have a 4th pitch, which may allow hitters to catch on to him as a starter. Still, he’s pretty good for the 27th pick, given what was available. Supplemental round pick Randall Blackley is a nice hitting prospect with major league potential. From there, they got 3 more solid pitching prospects, and a nice hitting DH type in the fourth.
Final Synopsis: A very deep draft for Atlanta – it’s hard to imagine them doing any better given where they were picking.
Grade: A
Boston Massacre
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With the 16th pick, Boston got hard throwing lefty SP Pedro Saenz. Saenz has outstanding control, nice splits, and good pitches. He doesn’t keep the ball down well, which has been a problem for some pitchers in Boston. Still, he projects to a solid #3 starter with some upside from there. 2nd rounder Doug Wilkins is a decent hitting prospect, who could probably be a major league backup. They got some good values in the later rounds with a few decent pitching prospects.
Final Synopsis: A good draft for Boston, but not outstanding.
Grade: B
Burlington Huskies
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Burlington nabbed Endy Price with the #25 overall pick. Price is a reliever who has the durability to put 100 innings per season. He has excellent control, and 2 very good pitches, plus a third not-so-great pitch. His splits are good, but not spectacular. We see him as a great setup guy, although he could close as well. Supplemental round choice 2B Trevor Jordan is a good contact hitting prospect, with some speed and great range. Not sure if he’s a major league starter, but is at minimal a nice big league backup. Supp pick RF Roscoe Johnson is a power hitter who looks like a platoon guy vs. righties. And yet another supp pick Miguel Miranda has power, but will hit for a low average in the bigs – and is a nice fielder that can contend for a gold glove anywhere but SS. Burlington continued to rack up hitters from there, a few which may have a shot at the majors.
Final Synopsis: They added a lot of depth, but after Price, we think they could have done a bit better with their 3 other supp picks. Still their draft has to be considered a success.
Grade: B+
Durham Radicals
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Durham has yet to sign their top 2 picks, SS’s Pep Yang and Rick White. It looks like White definitely won’t sign, but there may be hope for Yang, at least, which would be a big boost for them, as he looks like a legit SS who can hit. Their top signed pick is 3rd rounder Davey Dyer, a lefty SP with good pitches and control and only ok splits – still he’s a nice value for the 3rd rounder. 4th rounder RP Tsubasa Yang is a nice value as well, as he has some major league potential as possibly a setup guy.
Final Synopsis: They actually didn’t do that bad, since their 3rd and 4th rounders are pretty good, but Yang signing would help a lot.
Grade: B-
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