Draft Recap S53

Gabrielle  O. Alvarez-Tillman - Contributing Reporter.

Yet another draft season in Cobbfather, so let's round up the Rule 4 draft. A few appeared let down by the quality of the draft while others seem pleasantly surprised. Let's dig into it! We'll do the same as last season and add in current ML comps to most players - maybe not all. 

1. Anaheim - Leon Beck (CF) - Quickly shifted over to SS at Rookie league but given his limitations with his arm strength and more importantly the accuracy he'll shift back to CF before reaching the majors if not somewhere else on the diamond. A lot to like for Anaheim with their #1 overall pick, 80 grade contact and eye with great speed should help keep his OBP up. I'm seeing a lot of current Luis Espinosa vibes with more speed and MUCH better glove. 

2.  Helena  - Tim Combs (2B) - You could slab Momma Combs upside the face and little Timmy wouldn't loose his temper, talk about composed! But let's get to the diamond, he'll be a slightly below average 2B. Good contact, hits lefties much better than rights, a decent eye but limited power. It will all hinge on how he develops against Rights. But a comp of Andy Gulan, isn't bad at all. Gulan has been a .280-.310 hitter the last 5 seasons. Likely ends up hitting in the 2 or 5/6 hole in most lineups. 

3. Boston - Bubba Kennedy (SP) - Good thing this wasn't New Orleans selecting here, after being burned by a Kennedy, that last name is as bad as any four letter word in that franchise' clubhouse. Lucky for Boston, this one has the stamina to stay in the starting rotation, durability for a 5 man rotation, and pretty equal splits against both lefties and righties. Hey may not see a lot of strikeouts, but should see the majority of hits staying on the ground. The control leaves a lot to be desired but you might not find a better potential Slider in the game. That said, he'll lean heavy on sliders as his secondary pitches lack use at the ML level. Imagine Frank Kim with less control but a much better first pitch. 

4. Washington DC - Brook Page (SP) - With the 10 straight season in the top 10, DC goes with a starting pitcher. Like Kennedy, Page appears to have the stamina and durability to remain in the rotation who keeps the ball on the ground. Unlike Kennedy, Page will have 0 control issues over the course of his career. The biggest key factor in the success of Page over Kennedy is Page's inability against righties but he'll lean on his 4 Seam, Curveball and Slider; all of which show good if not great ML potential. We'll feeling a lot of Miguel Park here, though Page has potential for better control, more of a groundballer, and a better third pitch; but he won't strike out nearly as many as Park. If he strikes out 40 in a season let's call it a win!

5. Tacoma - Donnie Wilson (P) - Unsigned at the moment, and this writer thinks he will remain so. Did Tacoma math wrong and not leave enough to sign this pick after picking up 14 international free agents? I think Canada is starting to rub off on this club. Do they hate America? Staying away from home grown talent! Most IFAs were standard bonuses outside of two, which were $5M and $8.5M respectively. Maybe if they transferred some money they can sign Donnie 'Don't Call Me' Wilson. A Type D shifts the pick to #6 next year, but paired with what looks like the #1 overall pick, he could be in line for some big improvements next year. 

6. Oklahoma City - Rangel Sanders (SP) - Another starter goes off the board. Hard to argue with a guy named Rangel, I'm sure he will love pitching half his games in a home pitcher's park of OKC. Good health, average major league control, handles righties well but will struggle mightily against lefty lineups. Not much of a groundball pitcher but the park should help limit some of those that might fall for HRs. For a 6th overall pick he doesn't have the pitch quality one would prefer, though his 4-seam should be ML ready. He's a Boomer Pearson, which works since they both have cool names, even if Rangel will struggle a little more than Boom against Lefties. I'm sure Boomer wishes he were in OKC's park and not playing in Colorado where he's already given up 20 HRs this season in 26 games. 

7. Portland - Timothy Wright (LF) - What's with the kids that will let you slap their mommas? Even if Lil Timmy here carries a big bat. With a good combo of power and speed, he'll definitely find himself some playing time, especially against lefties. He's a solid all around player, but where he lacks in defense but should be your average lefty fielder. Surprisingly not a lot of great comps. We could say similar to our #1 pick Luis Espinosa but he's far less contact, slightly more power, and less of an eye; though he has Luis beat in speed. But let's mix it up and call this one Doug Cornelius with a slight bump in power and against lefties, less of an eye, and with a big boost in speed. Side note, Cornelius was the #3 overpick his year. 

8. Milwaukee - Fred Russell (SP) - 'Drop Dead' Fred Russell has the health, durability, and stamina to last in a 4 man rotation, but will his talent allow him to be? This guys talent is not allowing a lot of walks and striking out a lot of hitters, two very important things that a pitcher can control himself. He's neither a flyball nor a groundball pitcher and his first pitch curveball is near ML ready now. All that said, he should fair well enough against Righties but lefties will mash him hard. After looking at comps he seems to be your prototypical starting pitcher with lots of comps making it hard to narrow down. Rather than specifics, we'll just name a few: Gerald Kojima, Roy Berkman, Trent Law, Roger Helling, Ray Aaron. 

9. Montreal - Rick Wilkins (CF) - Not a great start for a Montreal team just starting their rebuild, as Ricky 'Don't Call Me Williams' Wilkins is the second player to go unsigned in this draft. Is everyone hedging their bets for a better draft next season? A quick look at the Waiver Wire shows Montreal at the #2 pick next season. It's all about next year, it's always next year. 

10. Huntington - Lonny Martin (C) - Currently unsigned but they also picked up another catcher with pick 28 who signed for slot. Perhaps Martin remains unsigned, but will it become a Type D pick next season? Huntington is making a play for the AL South while a Wildcard slot might be out of the question, having to catch up with New York and Dover. Doable, especially with the recent promotion of stud Japanese 1B Wei-Yin "Yang" Wan to the ML club post All-Star break. 

11. Houston - Ted Nelson (2B) - Considering the prospects in this system I can't imagine another season where we cover them with a top 15 pick; but then again there's only one way to build another dynasty. They currently sit just inside a protected pick at #14, how peculiar. But does this signify a type by Houston's owner? Just this season Houston selected Clayton Helton in the Rule 5 draft, both players make above average contact, less power than my grandma and practically only hit lefties with above average eyes and a combo of speed and base running ability to lead the league in steals if given the green light....and can get on base. Given his OAV, and the reigning Rookie of the Year Carlos Soto at 2B for the foreseeable future down in Space City, expect Nelson to be traded

12. Austin - Fausto Silverio (SP) - Tall slender build projected as a back of a 5 man rotation ML starter. He's pretty even across the board with no one skillset standing out above the rest. Has a lot of Tony Santiago vibes with the exception of a higher expectation to strike more batters out. Maybe that puts him in the Yamil Torres territory with slightly less pitch quality. Either way he should contribute to the ML team when the time comes. 

13. Pittsburgh - Endy Gardner (RP) - The first reliever off the board who is currently closing out games in Low A. Enough control issues that leave him as a head scratcher with the #13 overall pick. Doesn't handle lefties very well unless his stuff is working that day. Sorry Yinzer fans! We'll give you two comps for this one as well. OKC's SuA Gail Gilmore who has been great this season but not so much last. And Tacoma's SuA Andres Caminero. How well he develops that project above average pitch quality will determine how much ML time he'll see, but that Change-Up and Slider combo could be brutal to any hitter when he's hitting his spot. 

14. Dover - Bud Lowery (SP) - The kid from Oceanside with fantastic control, okay 4-seamer somewhat useful curveball and a useless forkball. A forkball, why Bud? You gotta be weiser than that! He should be very consistent against both lefties and righties. I'd look at Randal Foster for an early comp. He's struggled a bit in Mexico City but that 3.13 ERA last season over 224 IP in El Paso is the stuff of dreams this late in the draft. 

15. Tokyo - Justin Carson (P) - Carson is pretty similar to Bud Lowery but should fair better against Righties if he can get his stuff working. His lesser pitch quality could be his demise and he won't nearly last as long into games as Lowery has potential to. Portland's Mike Sappelt is Justin's comp. In true Cobbfather fashion Sappelt has gone from a 3.75 ERA on .241 OAV and 1.30 WHIP to a 5.03 ERA on .258 OAV and 1.32 WHIP this season. If both pitchers could find a way to limit some hits they could definitely get that ERA down. 

Recap: 9 pitchers, 2 second basemen, 2 center fielders, a left fielder, and a catcher. What do you think there is a shortage of in Cobbfather? 

As a bonus, let's take a look at Julio Valdes (C) who was drafted by Huntington at pick #28. This kid can rake! Expect a few HR Derby titles in his career and a good thing he's in the AL, because that range and glove will keep him out of the field outside of resting a starter. The two players he can look at are both on the Atlanta Expos, Kyle Crain and Johnnie Daniels; which is a HIGH ceiling for him. Surprised he slipped this late into the draft. The biggest different between Valdes and the two above, and its a pretty important piece to hitting....his contact. His splits are slightly lower than each as well, so don't expect the batting average to match of the two, but the raw power is still there. 

Let's go prospects, it's nearly your time to shine!!