Leon Jackson - Cobbfather Post Gazette
Next up in the draft recap is the NL North, currently dominated by Rochester - let's see if anyone is getting closer to giving them a run for their money!
NL NORTH
Ottawa Renegades
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With the 3rd overall pick, the Renegades selected J.R. Offerman – who looks like he’ll be best suited to play RF in the majors. The guy can flat out mash – especially against lefties, but he’ll still hurt righties too. Offerman has the skills to be one of the elite hitters in the game once he reaches the bigs. Unfortunately, he’s gone down with a Foot Strain and will be out the rest of the season, but we don’t see injuries being a recurring issue with him. 2nd rounder Les Holmes is a nice hitting left fielder, who could make the majors. After that, they landed a couple of decent pitchers that may have a shot at making the bigs.
Final Synopsis: Offerman is a stud, Holmes can hit, and they got a couple of decent pitchers. It was a good draft for Ottawa.
Grade: A
Rochester Rolling Rocks
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Rochester, picking 28th snagged Aaron Watkins, a pretty good hitting infielder who can play 2B or 3B. Considering they were picking 28th, and that this draft didn’t have a lot of depth, this was a nice pick at this slot. 2nd rounder Alex Gailard is a decent pitching prospect, with good control and effectiveness vs. right handers. 5th rounder Darron Nielsen is a defensive wizard of a shortstop, but not much of a bat.
Final Synopsis: Rochester had about as good of a draft as you could expect from where they were picking.
Grade: B-
Syracuse Sycophants
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Fifth overall pick Sammy Nelson was one of the most powerful bats available in the draft, he can flat out crush it. He’s got decent contact, and a great batting eye and LH split. A huge plus is that he projects to be good enough to be a decent, although not great, catcher; he also has great durability, which is all the more better. In round 2, they got another power hitting catcher in Erubiel Rosado. They got a few other decent players with major league possibilities, making this a good draft for Syracuse.
Final Synopsis: Syracuse had a very nice draft here.
Grade: A
Wichita Linemen
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Wichita landed Bryan Weeks with the 4th overall pick. Weeks has great power, and decent contact, splits, and batting eye. He is a solid fielder, although may not have quite the range needed to hold his weight at shortstop in the majors. Still Weeks should be a very nice major leaguer one day. 2nd rounder Tim Thomas is leaning towards a basketball career – hey is this the same Tim Thomas in the NBA who’s played for the Bulls, Knicks and about 10 other teams? We’re a little worried about 3rd rounder Shane Gant’s control, which may prevent him from being successful in the majors. Not much else impressed us here.
Final Synopsis: Weeks is solid. They didn’t get much else, but Weeks alone makes the draft at least a moderate success.
Grade: C+
UP NEXT: AL NORTH