S55 Draft Recap

Gabrielle  O. Alvarez-Tillman - Contributing Reporter.

Yet another draft season in Cobbfather, so let's round up the Rule 4 draft. The blog had to fire a few scouts because budgets are tight, so temper the projections a bit. 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. As a reminder comps are to match their projections as closely as possible and not what they may end up like. 

1. Columbus - Ewell Little (SP) - Little came up big in the draft, having been drafted by the Columbus franchise who put on an extreme fire sale last season. In a league filled with superb hitting, it's nice to see a pitcher at the top of your scouting reports come draft time. Little offers pretty decent command and should own most lefties he faces. The righties on the other hand will be what determines his ability to be All-star starting pitcher. Well that and his pitch quality, which isn't as high as one would like for a #1 overall pick. His comp is Santiago Terrero, who is having an interesting season in hitter friendly Santa Fe.

2.  Dover - Bert Cooper (2B) - If rumors are true, Bert is working with retired 2B Ernie McErnerney. A player many thought should be in the Hall of Fame for his work at second base. Bert might be better than Ernie at receiving balls in the field, but by the end of his career Ernie will have been the better bat. With Bert's eye and contact he shows potential but he's gotta improve those splits otherwise he'll continue to struggle. If allowed to run, I'd expect anywhere from 20-35 stolen bases in a year. This season's Kenny Jacquez is likely his closest comp; which is a hard year to compare given his age and drop in ratings this season. Perhaps Brace Lansing but better contact, far worse against lefties and less speed....so maybe not really a great comp. 

3. Sante Fe - Kristopher Clarkson (2B) - No this isn't the Clarkson who won the inaugural season of American Idol. Yes, this is the first time since S32 that Santa Fe has picked within the top. Playing in New Mexico every hitter gets a bit of a boost at the plate. That bodes well for a player whose comparison is TJ Christenson with less speed and hits righties a few points less. Santa Fe is currently looking at another protected first round pick next season, and with a willingness to speed we should see a turn around for the franchise soon. New Orleans can't hold the division forever!

4. Mexico City - Dan Ford (SP) -  Ford actually projects similar to S55 $36M IFA signing Lorenzo Domingo so I'd give him a little nod over the #1 pick this season. As far as ML talent goes, I'd probably put him in line with Louis Combs who finished S54 5th place in Cy Young voting.  Ford might not quite get to that point with his pitch quality, but if he can pan out to projects we think this is a great add for Mexico City's future rotation. 

5. Anaheim - Danny Jackson (SS) - We are used to seeing Shortstops within the top 5 picks so this is no surprise. His arm strength might move him off the Short and with a lack of power Centerfield might be better than 3B for Jackson. And sadly, he will likely platoon against lefties only given his lack of ability to hit Righties. No great comps but I'd look to Storm Phelps. Jackson with better contact skills and runs the bases MUCH better but see note above about righties. 

6. Tacoma - Scott Stokes (SP) - Second straight year with the #6 pick, decent chance to land the same pick next year (currently at #4 pick). Do you smell that? It's not what the Rock is cookin' but the scent of the Aroma being stoked about this pick and their future front line starter. He might struggle occasionally against Lefties but that's expected as a right handed pitcher. I wish his pitch quality was a bit higher but I'd be happy with a Damaso Ethier comp. The 27 yr old has 5 All-Star appearances, 1 Rookie of the Year, 2 World Series rings, and just this season secured a Player of the Week. In 10 seasons we'll be looking back to see if Ford or Stokes is the top pitcher in this season's draft. 

7. Augusta - Stephen Judd (SP) - May the 4th be with you, I mean 4th pitcher drafted be with you, I mean with Augusta. Judd is clearly below the other three taken before him but should be interesting to see how he develops. He really needs to get that pitch quality up if he's going to survive with the pairing of being a flyball pitcher with low velocity. Jimmy Henry's splits might be a little low for a comp but we think he's the nearest but give Judd a slightly better ERA by 0.50ish. 

8. Washington DC - Brock Hogan (RF) - We covered DC's drafting ability earlier this season so let's see how they made out this year. Like Jackson before him, Brock 'Merry Hill' Hogan is likely destined to be a lefty platoon with potential to be a AAAA player who is traded S58 in a package deal. But if you are looking for what he'll produce, look at Vance DeSclafani as his near floor. 

9. Tokyo - Tom Spilborghs (P) - Took awhile but Tommy finally signed. Quite a few quality pitchers ahead of him, let's take a look at where the bean spiller falls. He shows promise for amazing control and decent velocity to pair with it. Assuming his splits come around, he's Norm Cunningham though slightly worse against righties but slightly better against lefties.  Given Norm's ERA+ of 125 last season, I'd say that's decent quality at the #9 pick. 

10. Milwaukee - Calvin Bourn (2B) - I wouldn't make this an ultimatum but don't expect an All-star from Bourn. Even if he lives up to expectations he's a weak hitting bat that's reserved for back-up role players. Think Jorge Boscan without the pitch calling.  Though Bourn has a TON more speed than Milwaukee's backup Catcher. 

11. Austin - Kane Byrdak (2B) - You might as well bunch Bourn and Byrdak together with The Undertaker's brother being the lesser of the two. This comp is a starter, but only because he offers the glove to man Shortstop, Byrdak won't have that option. Max Hernandez. Austin will look to try again with a similar round pick in next season's draft. Let's hope they can strike gold next season!

12. Salem - Adeiny Santana (SP) - Things are getting ridiculous, now parents are just cramming letters together to make someone's name.  Santana has shown some great control and promising velocity if his pitch quality can develop. I'd expect quite a few flyballs in the neutral park of Salem but hopefully they have some decent outfielders and not a bunch of DH types guys in the corners. His nearest comp is Albert Doubront as a starter. For a 12th overall pick I'd take that. He's not the front line starter but should definitely develop into a mid/back end rotation type. 

13. Vancouver - Rocco Ellenwood (2B) - Already promoted to Low A, Ellenwood was drafted as a SS but quickly shifted over to 2B defensively.  While we like his comp, the blog can't figure out how Francis Jefferson is doing it. His numbers say this season should be more his norm than the previous; especially considering he's hit near .300 for those of those seasons. Perhaps the speed difference will keep Rocco down on earth. 

14. Augusta - Don Rivera (SP) - Type D pick. Augusta's second starting pitcher prospect drafted in the top 15 picks; The extremely low velocity without being a pure groundball pitcher might hamper Rivera a bit, but his livelihood will be determine on his pitch quality of his 4-seam coming around. But that's gotta make you question things, his velocity rating is extremely low and his best pitch is a 4-seasm fastball. Mmmmm... but look at Albert Calderone as his comp. 

15. Montreal - Keith Carroll (SS) - A Canadian team failing to get it done, figures! Good luck with the #16 Type D pick next season. Might a good thing as Carroll didn't look like he'd have the glove to stick at SS, nor the bat for any other position outside of water boy.  And not the good kind like Adam Sandler. 

16. Salt Lake City - Deacon Belinda (P) - The last pick to be covered in our recap is yet another pitcher. All we gotta say is hello Arismendy Costilla reincarnated. Solid pick this late in the round, I'd expect to see him move up some slots in 10 seasons when we do our redraft. Only time will tell!

Recap: 8 pitchers, 2 second baseman, 3 shortstops, 2 center fielders, and a right fielder. Very pitcher focused this season.  Most expensive signing: #2 overall to Docer - Bert Cooper - $6.41M

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