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Draft  | Story  | 6/14/2010

Crack of the Bat: Draft Impressions

Patrick Ebert     
A week leading up to the draft, David Rawnsley noted that the second half of the first round would have its fair share of surprise players taken, and that even applied to the first half of the first round.  I haven’t been able to get a good grasp if teams felt the talent was questionable, if those same teams really have to tighten their purse strings or a little of both.
 
Here is my usual baker’s half-dozen of teams whose drafts stood out the most to me, while adding the usual disclaimer that no draft can be graded right after it happened, much less a year or two afterward.
 
Boston Red Sox
The Red Sox swapped their first and second rounders with the Braves and Mets, respectively,  after their own signings of John Lackey and Marcos Scutaro were countered with Billy Wagner’s and Jason Bay’s departures.  They also added two supplemental picks in the process, yet another sign of the problems with the current draft compensation system.
 
However, the seemingly bottomless pockets of the Red Sox allows them to take full advantage of extra picks, and that was no different this year.  With their usual preference toward college players, they took Ball State infielder Kolbrin Vitek with their first pick and Middle Tennessee State outfielder Bryce Brentz with their next.  Anthony Ranaudo was their second of two supplemental first rounders, who at one point in time was believed to go among the top three to five overall picks.  Brandon Workman fell to their pick in the second round, then they took a pair of prep players, Sean Coyle and Garin Cecchini, in the third and fourth rounds, who will be difficult to lure away from their college commitments to North Carolina and LSU, respectively.  Ultra-talented two-sport star Kendrick Perkins was their pick in the sixth before nabbing a pair of polished college pitchers in Miami’s Chris Hernandez and Virginia Tech’s Matt Price.
 
Late round value/sleeper:  The Red Sox didn’t make things easier on themselves by taking a pair of talented prep pitchers that fell much farther than they should in Adam Duke and Eric Jaffee in the 16th and 19th rounds, respectively.  It will be interesting to see which players they are able to get to sign, and while Brentz and Vitek should do so quickly, most of these other players will likely take right up until the mid-August signing deadline.
 
Cincinnati Reds
This marks the second year in a row that the Reds have made my list of teams that don’t get much credit for the talent they develop, but do boast an impressive young ballclub with some key young players fueling their successful season so far.
 
I was most impressed with the Reds for taking a wide range of players, from polished college pitchers to toolsy prep outfielders.  ACC player of the year Yasmani Grandal was their first pick, a switch-hitting catcher with pop that according to rumors was being considered by the Royals with the fourth overall pick the days leading up to the draft.  They followed that pick up with toolsy outfielder Ryan LaMarre and a potential middle infield tandem of Devin Lohman and Brodie Green.  They followed their early run on college bats with a smaller run on prep righties, taking Wes Mugarian, Drew Cisco and Tony Amezcua in rounds five through seven.  They turned back to the college ranks to take successful pitchers Tanner Robles, Kevin Arico and Drew Hayes before picking up toolsy prep outfielder Kyle Waldrop.
 
Late round value/sleeper: The team wasn’t able to lure either Deven Marrero or Stephen Perez away from Arizona State and Miami, respectively, a year ago, but they should have better luck trying to sign Daniel Renken away from his senior year at Cal State Fullerton as a 25th rounder.
 
Los Angeles Angels
With three first-round picks, if the Angels weren’t on this list there would be something seriously wrong with their organization, one of the better ones at developing their own talent from within over the last 10-15 years.  I really like their first of three first-round picks, Kaleb Cowart, who reportedly was not going to sign cheap, and made it clear he hoped to be drafted and developed as an infielder.  We’ll see where he eventually winds up, but I expect them to get him signed, even if it takes until August.
 
Two more Aflac All-Americans represented their next two picks, righty Cameron Bedrosian and Chevez Clarke, as the Angels dipped into Georgia for each of their first-rounders.  They added more tools with Taylor Lindsey, Ryan Bolden and Wendell Soto as well as a few power arms in Daniel Tillman, Donn Roach and Jesus Valdez.  It will be interesting to see if they’re able to get seventh rounder Josh Osich in the fold. He had Tommy John surgery in January.
 
Late round value/sleeper:  11th rounder Jake Hernandez isn’t exactly a late rounder, but it wasn’t expected that he would fall past the first few rounds.  Much bigger things were expected of 15th rounder Carmine Giardina coming out of high school.
 
St. Louis Cardinals
The Cardinals had a pair of sandwich rounders thanks to losing Mark DeRosa and Joel Pineiro in free agency last offseason, and I really liked each of their first four picks, especially the value at where they got them:  Zack Cox, Seth Blair, Tyrell Jenkins and Jordan Swagerty.
 
Other picks before the 10th round include toolsy outfielder Nick Longmire, projected left-handed specialist John Gast, Daniel Bilbona and Tyler Lyons.  With these picks they got a little bit of everything, including the polished left-handed bat of Cox, the sinker-slider combos of ASU teammates Blair and Swagerty, Jenkins’ athleticism and power arm and Bilbona’s unmatched command.
 
Late round value/sleeper: Austin Wilson is going to prove to be a very difficult sign as a 12th rounder, and if the Cardinals make this happen they will add one of the most talented overall players available in this year’s draft to their system.  I wouldn’t rule it out, as the use of a 12th round pick tells me they’re optimistic to make this happen.  13th rounder Colin Walsh and 26th rounder Victor Sanchez are more likely to happen, although both could return to school for their senior seasons.
 
Tampa Bay Rays
The rays got excellent value with their early picks, taking a trio of prep hitters in Josh Sale, Justin O’Conner and Drew Vettleson with their first three picks.  For a system in need of some impact bats, chances are they will find at least one from this group, which includes a pair of Aflac All-Americans in Sale and O’Conner.
 
After taking college righty Jake Thompson in the second, they turned back to hitters, picking up a pair of infielders in Derek Dietrich and Ryan Brett with their second of two second rounders and third round picks.  They also got powerful right-handers Austin Wood (fourth round) and Jesse Hahn (sixth round) a lot later than where they were originally expected to go before picking up potential five-tool talent and another former Aflac All-Ameircan Michael Lorenzen in the seventh.
 
Late round value/sleeper:  23rd rounder Kevin Patterson didn’t seem to get the same kind of attention as Hunter Morris did this spring, but the two have been intertwined since their prep days in Alabama.  Patterson is also a big, hulking and intimidating left-handed slugger, and really turned things up during SEC play for Auburn this spring.
 
Toronto Blue Jays
The Blue Jays mark the third of three American East League teams to make my short list of teams whose drafts stood out.  Similar to the Angels as listed above, they should have had one of the better drafts, having three supplemental first-round picks due to the loss of free agents Marco Scutaro and Rod Barajas, as well as unsigned ’09 draftee James Paxton.  In addition, they had two extra second-rounders (Scutaro, unsigned ’09 pick Jake Eliopoulos) and a supplemental third rounder (unsigned ’09 pick Jake Barrett).
 
And they did a nice job making up for lost developmental time by taking Deck McGuire, Aaron Sanchez, Noah Syndergaard, Asher Wojciechowski, Griffin Murphy, Kellen Sweeney, Justin Nicolino, Chris Hawkins and Marcus Knecht with all of their picks prior to the fourth round.  And they still weren’t done, taking Sam Dyson, Dickie Thon Jr., Sean Nolin and Tylor Schreve among their picks in the top 10.  That is a big influx of talent, even if they should have signed more of their picks from last year’s draft.
 
Late round value/sleeper: 18th rounder Kris Bryant was an Aflac All-American last summer and has a strong commitment to San Diego.  Aaron Westlake has enjoyed a nice career for Vanderbilt, and may opt to return for his senior year as a 22nd rounder.  Hard throwing lefty Jay Johnson (26th round) and prep catcher Eric Arce (27th) should have been taken a lot higher based on talent alone, although Arce has some off the field baggage to contend with.
 
Washington Nationals
Having the courage to take Bryce Harper and what it is going to take to sign him is reason enough to make this list, but then they followed it up with college left-handed Sammy Solis, who many believe is still progressing and hasn’t quite reached his potential.  Harper of course has a long ways to go and will need to manage a lot of attention from the media in the process.  The Nationals did draft him as an outfielder, which will help him focus on his hitting and not be burdened by the rigors of catching.
 
I’m not confident they will sign fourth-rounder A.J. Cole, who entered the season as a likely first-round pick, but I wouldn’t put it past the Nationals either, who have a renewed commitment to scouting player development.  Third rounder Rick Hague also entered the spring as a potential first-round pick, and finished the year much stronger than he started it.
 
Late round value/sleeper: The Nats could have found a pair of valuable bullpen arms in the 17th and 23rd round, respectively, in Tyler Hanks and Colin Bates, although given the money needed to sign their early picks they may not be able to woo these two away from Oklahoma State and North Carolina.
 
The thoughts and opinions listed here do not necessarily reflect those of Perfect Game USA.  Patrick Ebert is affiliated with both Perfect Game USA and 5 Tool Talk, and can be contacted via email at pebert@5tooltalk.com.
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