S60 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 continues to have 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. We'll too busy developing Tim Horton chains throughout America!

1. New York - Milt Baxter (SP) -  At this point I've lost track of how many seasons this franchise has had the #1 pick for but clearly with a sub .250 win %, they are on track for another one. It also cost a bit more to sign this one, at $5M for the future starter. If he meets durability, he should easily log 220+ innings over 33-35 starts a season. Fantastic future control, velocity, and handles righties with ease. A lot of his comps are relievers which just shows you the talent he offers he New York can get the max out of his development. He's in Rookie ball currently, but this owner will have him at AAA for the next 4-5 seasons without a doubt. If you're looking for a starter comp, I'd look at Joaquin Owen or Alcides Johnson; with the control of Johnson and velocity of Owen. He handles righties like Johnson and lefties like Owen. Basically take the best things each of those pitchers does and combine them together. Solid pick - but then again the #1 pick should be a sure thing. 
Initial OAV: 52, Age: 18

2. Pittsburgh - Preston Brock (2B) - What a core Pitt has drafted over the last few years LF Bruce, RF Schneider, and now 2B Brock. Assuming they can find the pitching staff to contend with these bats. Perhaps that's in the cards next year with another top 3 pick - depending on the end of season 'battle' with New York and Chicago; vying for that S61 #1 pick. Brock might have the highest upside in this year's draft and gives off Bernie Mendez vibes but also has a hint of Louie Weiss' early seasons. Makes an easy .290-.300 hitter with 30-35 HR, though doesn't offer much speed. As a refresher LF Bruce - 30 HR on a .260 avg, RF Schneider 35 HR, .295, 35 SB. Add in a power bat that can hit 50+ HR and this lineup becomes very scary. If I were Pitt, I'd concentrate on pitching to go with these bats and then find that power 1B via trade or free agency. Add in one of those defensive first Shortstops that are easy to find in the Rule 5 and you've got the making of a solid team. 
Initial OAV: 55, Age: 18

3. Philadelphia - Nash Selby (SS) - That range will keep Selby from playing Short and given the move off the prized position, the bat makes a little less sense. Though he might make a gold glove elsewhere on the diamond. He's slow though smart on the base paths, offers little power and struggles to make contact. He won't be doing much to keep Philly above .500 even as trade bait. Think Sammy Lorenzo or Brennan Howard - who? Howard at least was able to cover CF for Chicago and Montreal a few seasons back but he handled pitchers better. Believe it or not, Lorenzo managed a .260 career average his years in pitcher friendly Tacoma; that caught me a little off guard as I expect slightly worse numbers. Maybe his speed helped leg out a few more singles than we'll see from Selby. I'd say 0-10 HR, and 0-10 SB from Selby. 

Initial OAV:59, Age: 21

4. Austin - JJ Durham (RP) -  Another #4 pick for Austin; last year they went SS this year going after the pitcher; though never thought a reliever would go this early. Find me a pitcher with a better project first pitch. I'll wait....








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He's just 20 years old and it's already better than most major leaguers. Combine that with spot on control and handling hitters really well you have an ace reliever in your pocket. Might be better than last year's Parrish of Boston. If Durham meets projections he's better than 4x Fireman of the Year, 3x World Series champion Stephen Ramirez. 

Initial OAV: 54, Age: 20

5. Fargo - Josh Whiteside (P) - Sounds like Fargo misses out on their first draft pick, but looking like they'll get a Type D next year at pick #6. With a better draft class that could be a blessing in disguise for the Snowmen!

Initial OAV: - , Age: 21

6. Dover - Marshall Reynolds (SS) - The age old question with EVERY shortstop is will they develop into a major league shortstop or have to shift elsewhere around the diamond. In Reynolds case we think he shifts to Centerfield. But Ms G.O.A.T. what does his bat say? How does a streaky .265 sound with 10 HR? Think Roy Guerrero with A LOT more speed. Not a great comp because Roy was limited in At bats outside of S57 & S58 but he hit everywhere from .214 to .302. Perhaps the speed helps Reynolds leg out a few more singles so maybe a .270/.275 hitter? 
Initial OAV: 66, Age: 21

7. Chicago - Red 'Dead' Clark (P) - We've noted Chicago's direction in a recent blog post; expect the next 5 seasons for this franchise to have picks within the top 5. We'd have to dig deeper but a pitcher with two high pitches seems to be a common theme with this franchise; but that's only at quick glance. Red will struggle greatly against a heavy left handed lineup but see him similar to Hanser Whiten with less strikeouts. That's a 1.35 WHIP, and 3.75 ERA; in a bad year it might be closer to 1.45 WHIP and a 4.50 ERA. 
Initial OAV: 49, Age: 18

8. New Orleans - Pedro Santiago (SP) - Could this be a one season rebuild for NOHD? The control is great but everything else is lacking. Santiago will struggle against both lefties and righties, and might even struggle finding a rotation spot. You're looking at a pitcher with a 6.0 K/9, 1.50 WHIP, 5.30 ERA - adds up to an 85 ERA+ (reminder: 100 is league average). Back to the draft board!

Initial OAV: 53, Age: 21

9. Colorado Springs - Ted Payton (2B) - He's no Walter (Payton) or (Ted) Lasso but now officially a Loin. Might lack the range to stay up the middle but worth a shot! His closest comp is fellow 2B Bernie Molina though Payton will struggle a bit more against righties, offers a fair share less power but makes up for it with advance speed that will rival #6 Reynolds. If you temper Molina's .305 career mark you still end up with a .290+ hitter; though don't expect more than 10 HR from Payton at his prime. Steals are always hard to project because you don't know how the manager will run (or not run) his team; but Payton trains with Usain Bolt, let's leave it at that. 
Initial OAV: 49, Age: 18

10. Washington DC - Jerome Baez (SS) - Jerome fielding balls at Short is like watching Javier Baez swing at pitches out of the zone. A shift to Third is in his future. His speed doesn't quite match up Reynolds or Payton but still top notch. All three must have had similar base running coaches growing up as they will struggle a bit there. Unlike the other two Jerome offers a lot more power with that speed though struggles against lefties and righties. Hopefully that power/speed combo will help him in the batter's box. A slightly below contact ability will mean he's streaky season to season. He's likely somewhere in the middle of Ehire Cruz and Aaron Cannon; which is kinda funny to comp consider one had full time at bats and the other was stuck behind HoF Alex Tarraga. .265 with 30 HR is a safe estimate. 

Initial OAV: 60, Age: 19

11. Charleston - Willis Johns (SP) - Willis could probably throw 135 pitches every 5th day and be perfectly fine; and those pitches are decent quality at least the first two, though even his 3rd and 4th are close to ML quality. Every single one of his comps have lesser pitch quality, so keep that in mind. The closest I saw was S54/55 Bennie Swan; which isn't bad considering he went a combined 36-14 those years. WJ won't strike out many players and that might hurt him a bit against lefties, but that control and pitch quality that we mentioned should help. 1.20/1.25 WHIP with a 3.30 type ERA. Solid pickup for Charleston. 
Initial OAV: 59, Age: 21

12. Columbus - Wally Carreon (RF) - Columbus is rolling this season so any college aged help will get to the majors quickly. We are looking at Patrick Brady who unfortunately only three times had more than 200 at bats in a season; with the low contact it was a wide range, .260 to .295 average but was close to 25 HR those three seasons. The lowest average year it was only 15 HR. He won't make any All-Star games, but production is production!

Initial OAV: 64, Age: 22

13. Augusta - Brian Fulchino (C) - Fulchino....bless you....appears to be starting with the least talent of those drafted in the protected picks but as a catcher he just doesn't have the defense that often boosts that analysis. On that note, the pitch calling leaves a lot to be desired and might be better suited as a DH. Problem is, he doesn't bring the power most DH have. His comp is likely Arismendy Butera with less power and makes less contact. So not the best of comps out there; but it will work for now. Think of him as a streakier Butera in that case and knock of a few HRs. Could still be a .295+ hitter that reaches .300+ some years though limit him to 10-15 HR but keep him from running. 
Initial OAV: 40, Age: 18

14. Tucson - Will Wilkins (SP) - Fortunate for Tucson he has 8 different comps, unfortunate for Tucson  the majority were limited to a single season or two. Half of them pitched more than 100 innings so we'll take a closer look at them. That combined for a 1.55 WHIP and 5.50 ERA. That control is a killer even if that first pitch quality is so high. 

Initial OAV: 51, Age: 18

15. Minnesota - Brent Baptist (SS) - Already better than the majority of three of our ML rosters, Baptist heads to Minny after growing up on the outskirts of Detroit. If he sticks at Short he'll be a liability and not have any pitcher friends, so we'll see if he shifts elsewhere around the diamond. Like many before him in the draft, he'll be a bit streaky with that low contact rate but at least he brings some power and speed. I'm liking Jimmie Bryant or Brett Caminiti as a comp, They hit everywhere from .225 to .270 but also averaged 25 HR, he has the speed of Bryant and better base running than both so there's potential that he bumps that average a bit and should add plenty of steals if given the green light. 
Initial OAV: 70, Age: 22

16. Jacksonville - Avery Poreda (RP) - Poreda has above average pitches, even his 3rd is close to ML projected. He'll struggle against lefties and won't offer much in terms of strike outs. I assume if the opposing team has a lefty available to pitch hit, they will against Poreda, especially one with a good eye. Looking at reliever comps only, we see Hector Mota's name the most but also Jerry Ondrusek. 1.30 WHIP, 4.15 ERA with a 6.2 K/9 maybe? ERA+ has him right about 101, every so slightly above average. 
Initial OAV: 53, Age: 21

17. Vancouver - Trevor Bellinger (SS) - Distant relative of Cody, Trevor was saddened to hear he was drafted by a Canadian team. Some say his family even gave him a memorial service in the days following the draft. Canada will be glad to know we see Alex Tarraga as a comp....the year he retired and not all those MVP and All-Star seasons. Think more Rico Campos - from S54-S56 he hit .250-.295 though only added 5-15 HR. The first two seasons were only part time at bats. S56 is likely the one to look towards. 

Initial OAV: 63, Age: 22

And for special inclusion, #20. Boston - Evan Hall (2B) - I looked up scrub in Webster's dictionary the other day and this is what I found:
Scrub <noun> - see also Evan Hall. 
You don't want this guy, don't give him any love. I highly suggest you trade him to Scottsdale the first chance you get. You might get a AAA prospect back, accept it and run! Even if you have to include last year's draft pick to get Scottsdale to take Hall off your hands, DO IT!
Initial OAV: 44, Age: 18

That does it for the protected picks of the draft. Recap: 8 pitchers, 5 shortstops, 2 second basemen, 1 right fielder, and 1 catcher. Mixed bag of position players and pitchers drafted this year in the early picks. Of the official first round, 32 picks; 15 of them were pitchers. 

Bonus wise it was a mixed bag, with three players signing above slot within the first 32 picks, lead by New York's #1 overall pick who signed for $5.0M! Boston's #20 ($3.3M) and Hartford's #30 ($2.3M) were also above slot. To note, Hartford also overspent on #41 pick ($1.8M) and #89 ($1M). Outside the top 32 picks, Santa Fe's #88 ($3.1M) and Minnesota's #106 ($3.2M) were also well above slot.  

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.