S58 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 is back to having the best scouts in the league! We'll do the same as last season and add in current ML comps to most players. As a reminder comps are to match their projections as closely as possible and not what they may end up like. It's up to you to develop your own talent, don't come looking for us to do the work for you. Only thing we are good at developing is an appetite. 

1. New York - Chris DeMichele (P) - Second year straight at the number 1 pick and potential they'll make it 3 straight years. DeMichele's low stamina could be a problem but New York could still get a full 32 starts out of him if they lower him down to 80-85 pitches. Not awful, Nigel White did it for a few seasons and still won a few Cy Youngs, though Chris' ratings comp more like a relief pitcher. Think Marcus Owen as a starter, though I'm hesitate to give a WHIP or ERA, since there's no comparison of a relief pitcher with a starter. S56 Arismendy Costilla might be the closest starter to comp, he went 16-9 that season in 32 starts with a 1.28 whip and 3.81 era (114 era+). Where he'll struggle is against lefties. And while he won't strike out too many hitters, the control will be top notch and he won't give up too many free bases either. His sinker and curveball have potential to be tops in the league. With enough money to spend in IFA, we'll see who the Empire pair with the pitcher during the second half of the season. 

2. Colorado Springs - Ali Hall (LF) - Year 2 of the rebuild starts with the #2 overall pick. I can already hear the Loin fans screaming for Ali Hall to be in the Hall! The power is there and if he could only face lefties, he's the best player in Cobbfather history. Problem his, majority of pitchers will be righties and he'll struggle a bit against them. Especially with that low eye and slightly lower contact ability. Either way Hall is a special case that has limited comps so we are excited to add him to our inventory once he makes the majors. I wouldn't even call it a close comp but think Jay Norton, current RF with Salem but with A LOT more power and still better versus lefties. The low contact will likely mean his season to season numbers will be streaky. At best he's an average leftfielder, but with that power he could be a plus defender at 1B without any doubts.

3. Pittsburgh - Reese Bruce (LF) - The highest the Yinzers have picked in quite some time. Historians have written about Robert The Bruce, well I present to you Reese The Bruce, future King of Pittsburgh. I'd consider Bruce a slower TJ Christenson. With the right bats around him, he could easily put up 100 runs, 100 rbis, with 30ish hrs on a .260 average. Defensively he ranks right there with Hall, just less range but he makes up for it with a better glove. He's not quite the next Rip Bromberg Pittsburgh was hoping for, but they are lined up for another top 5 pick next season. 

4. Washington DC - Glen Dean (SP) - keltic44 in his 4th year as owner and doing a good job building up this franchise. We'll see in 10 years if this was the better pick over DeMichele, Dean comps with players like Bennie Swann, Norm Cunningham, and Mike Sappelt. Two of them have appeared in a few all-star games and helped bring their franchises a ring. We'll see if Dean can be that person for the Nationals and bring them out of the gutter! With that stamina and pitch selection, you could easily see him pull an Alcides Johnson and go for 40 starts while throwing 100+ pitches. His weakness like the #1 pick will be lefties. A lefty heavy lineup could really do some damage. But on that note, the guy knows how to keep the ball out of the air. If DC is smart they'll bring up a solid glove first shortstop to further improve Dean's numbers. 

5. Augusta - BJ Magill (P) - College pitcher out of San Francisco Junior College. Many say he was hoping to land with a West Coast team, but he picked the wrong year for that with 5 of the 6 top drafting teams East of the Mississippi. Either way he seems to be hold out Augusta hostage and demanding more money, which the franchise doesn't seem to have cleared yet. We'll see by season ends if he signs. His numbers look decent, but that's just college scouts; their use to the ding of the metal bat. 

6. Dover - Efren Gutierrez (SP) - Another pitcher off the board, this one comps well with #1 overall pick, so well done Dover. He keeps the ball on the ground less but should see more strikeouts than his draftee counterpart. Efren also offers slightly lower pitch quality but fairs better against lefties. His comps would be Carmen Arnold. If trains hard, I could see a 1.05-1.15 whip, with a 3.00-3.50 era. A k/9 could be right around 8-8.5.That's a solid option at the front end of your rotation or a great trade chip if you prefer. We'll see in 10 seasons which of Efren, Glen, or DeMichele end up being the top pitcher in the draft. 

7. Austin - Freddy Smith (SS) - Freaky Freddy is insanely accurate with his throws, don't let him trick you by any accidental drive by fruiting! But sadly that range makes him a minus shortstop. Maybe move him to second and watch him win a few gold gloves? I'd say third, but he just doesn't offer the power you see out of most 3Bs. Makes solid contact, especially versus lefties and has a pretty good eye. I'd comp him to Dee Valle who offers 10-15 hrs paired with 10-15 sbs on a .270ish average. He's not a top of the order bat but definitely worth a look with a high glove. I know a few franchises that would take that even with the errors he'll cause at short. Sorry pitchers! Just look at Hartford's S57 Leonel Martinez, 22 errors in 126 games. 

8. Charleston - Chris Wagner (LF) - Considering how the Hall voting goes, we shouldn't be surprised to see power first type hitters in the early first round. Speaking of Leonel Martinez, he's a good comp here, though Wagner would be slightly better against lefties and a small notch ahead in power and a much better eye. A career season for Wagner could be a .290 avg with 55 hr and 70-75 k with an all-star selection, silver slugger, and a gold glove. Charleston has to be happy with this pick, no doubt. Wagner, the pressure is on!

9. Mexico City - JR Venters (SP) - Venters could throw 95-110 pitches a game and still hit 35+ starts in a season, but will you be happy with the output? Stating the obvious, Venters doesn't quite match up with the pitchers drafted before him. Control is great, but at best he's average about handling batters. Fantastic velocity that would strike out most players; but unfortunate for him he just hasn't learned to throw those pitches well. If he could improve his pitch quality, we'd like him a whole lot better. But for now, he's slightly better than Elrod Wilson. Now whose Elrod Wilson, only someone in Austin could tell you that. He's the ace of their staff but at best he's league average. A 1.30-1.50 whip to go with a 4.20-4.75 era. But luckily he won't give up many walks. The blog's scouts actually wonder what he'd be like as a relief pitcher. With that stamina and durability, he could throw an inning just about every game. He limits walks, should gets some strike outs; the rest is up to the fielders behind him. But then again, sometimes our scouts are too far outside the box for their own good. 

10. Tacoma - Ryan Lawrence (2B) - Exciting to see Tacoma turning the corner. They are ready to go full tilt! Lawrence of Tacoma of an interesting pick here, but I don't think he's quite the lion tamer Tacoma had hoped for. His glove falls slightly short of being average at second base, so you have to wonder if he'll stick at the position. I'd say his comp is likely a faster Rich Hiller, who has since retired because this is a power first league! Lawrence's lack of power and lower than ML standard ability to hit both lefty and righties will mean he struggles in the majors. In S55, Hiller played in 80 games for 320 at-bats and hit 5 hr on a .288 average. But considering the small sample size, who knows what his real comp would be in a full season. You could look at Valerio Manuel who is far worse versus lefties and he hit .287 over the last three seasons but those were playing half his games in hitter friendly Santa Fe and not pitcher friendly Tacoma. Remove Manuel from the comp list and you get a range of players who had one off seasons above a .270 avg. Our recommendation to Tacoma is to find a City who doesn't have access to the internet and this blog, and trade him there for something better! Really sell up him being the #10 pick in the draft! We hear the people in Atlanta hate the blog still, so try there first. 

11. Anaheim - Gorkys Dotel (2B) - The defensive rating on this guy is a bit crazy. You start to look at him and think 2B as he was drafted but he's going to greatly disappoint. A shift to Left or Right is likely in store for him. His ratings aren't very eye catching but could see him going .255 with 15 hr. We've seen better 11th overall picks but we've seen far worse ones as well. I'd say his comp is Edwar Guerrero who Anaheim will be very familiar with but he's probably more S57 Yoervis Colome due to the better eye than Edwar. 

12. - Milwaukee - Hector Miles (CF) - On the positive note, Milwaukee found themselves a fairly decent centerfielder who should hit around .275 at the back end of a lineup. He'll hit a HR every 16-17 games and while he offers some speed he's not a great runner on the base paths. If allowed to run, I could still see him stealing 20 bases in a good season. He may not be an all-star but he's definitely a serviceable and everyday centerfielder. 

13. Boston - Todd Parrish (RP) - First relief pitcher off the board and what a reliever. This one rivals HoF snubbed Jace Sale - all time leader in saves. his control and velocity combo should keep from many players receive a free base and often times getting a nice quick seat back on the bench. Those who manage to make contact will still struggle as he projects as the best splits in the game. He may only throw two pitches, but he throws them well. With all that great quality why didn't he go sooner in the draft? Well his down side is that low stamina but at least the durability kept him in the first half of the first round. He's likely only going to see 15-20 a game; but will he need any more than 9? Maybe not. On average over the years, owners with similar players...well similar in stamina and durability; not in skill set have used this type of guy for 65-70 games. Let's say that's all he gets, I'd gladly take Parrish for 40% of the games played. If I'm in the market for a reliever in a few seasons, consider me buying. 

14. Tokyo - Roland Lambo (P) - 

15. Chicago - Marc Overbay (P) - The team is trying to rebuild but Shea Crowe had other ideas about it. Now that they've finally (re)dealt him to OKC, they can get on with business and securing an earlier draft pick next season. He'll be lucky to top out at 6.0 k/9 but offers quite a few pitches and a minimum of major league level. Our best comps are Larry Niemann and Randal Foster. 95 pitches a game, should easily make 32 starts but likely ends with a 1.35-1.40 whip and a 4.50+ era. We assume he'll be trade bait but we'll see how things shake out. 

15. Montreal - Tomas Wong (RF) - Not enough poutine for this guy to sign with a Canadian team. Guess FW_K made the....wong choice. Let's see who they grab as a Type D next season with pick #17. 

Recap: 8 pitchers, 3 left fielders, 2 second baseman, 1 shortstop, 1 center fielders, and 1 right fielder. Four of the first 6 players drafted were pitchers! Was a big year for drafting pitchers it seems. Of the first 32 picks, 18 were pitchers. 

Bonus wise it was a mixed bag, with three players signing above slot, lead by Helena's #18 pick who signed for $8.5M! Wonder if he'll be worth it, but I guess in today's IFA market, you'd rather sign your draft pick versus not signing anyone. Colorado Springs ($5M) and Tacoma ($4.5M) both signed over slot as well.  

Let's go prospects, it's nearly your time to shine!! Check back in 10 seasons to see how things turned out and who ended up being the best pick of the draft.