Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Season 11 - Amateur Draft - First Round Review

These evaluations are based off of my 14 million in Advanced Scouting so there is clearly some error. This is done for fun so please don't take it personally. As always, the names are "clickable" to their player profile.

1. Nashville - Trent Keefe - Unfortunately just got hit with a debilitating injury that will keep him out for this season and a good part of season 12. Luckily he is young and has a good shot to rebound, but he lost 7 OVR points and won't be able to gain any back until a full season from now. Unbelievable split and two plus pitch projections will make him a great pitcher if he can rebound. Questionable STA/DUR ratio is a concern.

2. Chicago - Brent Bukvich - Shutdown closer who should be ready sooner than later. There always seems to be a debate on if it makes sense to use such a high pick on a guy that will only pitch 100 - 120 Innings or so, but the Blue Demons got themselves a guy that can closer down the last two innings of a game and its hard to pass that up.

3. Iowa City - David Rodriguez - Love this pick. Can easily be a #1 starter. Great control, splits, and pitches, what is not to like? Also will be ready sooner than later as he is already 22. Downside is he probably won't hit those projections, but hopefully will come close.

4. Richmond - Eddie Padden - I think cm will keep Padden at SS even though he only projects to be average defensively there. He has a solid bat that it can make sense to deal with some errors. On the flip side, he could be a gold glover at 3B.

5. Helena - Efrain Nakano - Nice pick and I bet the Grizzlies were ecstatic to see Nakano available here as he projects to a top of the rotation type pitcher. An argument could be made that since he is only 20, he is the top pitcher taken so far.

6. Memphis (type D from Season 10) - Carter Stern - Currently pitching in rookie ball where he should dominate as he is probably ready for a spot a couple leagues higher. His righty split projection is a bit of a concern, but the rest of his ratings should make up for it and be a solid starter for a long time. Sooner than later as well.

7. Columbus - Carlos Encarnacion - Health is a concern, but another nice SP selection. This draft seems to have been pretty deep in SP prospects as we'll see them pop up throughout the first round. The Buckeyes are hoping he'll be ready sooner than later as he is coming out of a full stint in college.

8. Cincinnati - Joaquin Bautista - Should be a good to very good reliever once he matures. Awesome control and a dominating Sinker will have to make up for above average splits.

9. Boise - Bill Crosby - Could be a gold glove CFer eventually. Also has the ratings to be a prototypical leadoff guy. Should steal a bunch of bases.

10. Minnesota - Darrell Alexander - Really nice value here to round out the top ten. Great control, splits, and three above average pitches are a nice find ten picks deep in the draft.

11. Seattle - Ronnie Magee - Holding out right now

12. Charleston - Fred Keppel - Should be a solid pitcher for a long time with his nice splits and pitches including a powerful fastball. He should be able to rack up a lot of innings with his STA/DUR combo.

13. New Orleans - Tomas Lucano - Definitely won't be/should not be a CFer in the bigs, but he could be an average fielding second baseman and with that bat, it could be worth it. Worst case, Lucano has a great bat to play a corner outfield position. Should hit for good average and OBP with pop.

14. Charleston (type D from Season 10) - Aurelio Navarro - After going with a SP two picks earlier, the Cougars decide to shore up their bullpen by selecting Navarro. He should be able to pitch a good amount of innings out of the bullpen and really help close out games.

15. Jackson - Charles Dickerson - Holding out right now

16. Memphis - Vladimir Quinones - Quinones doesn't get me too terribly excited due to his sub par glove. He is probably a corner outfielder and only have an average to slightly above average bat.

17. Dover - Joaquin Aceves - Not sure what to think about this pick either. He has a fantastic contact rating, but that is teamed with average power, righty split, and eye. Pretty interested to see how he develops.

18. Detroit - Keith Reese - Would be a really nice pick if his glove was a few points higher. Another interesting decision will have to be made with Reese. Do you deal with his below average fielding at SS to get his ok bat or do you move him to 3B or 2B?

19. Buffalo - Bill Johnson - I really like this selection which is a shame since the Bulls play in the NL East. Johnson projects to have very solid splits and average to above average pitches with good control which should translate into a productive pitcher one day.

20. Arizona - Thomas Obermueller - Love this selection as the Sun Devils get a very nice reliever as we enter the lbottom third of the draft. Could have gone higher and I wouldn't have been surprised.

21. Oakland - Chili Milton - I wish his batting eye was higher, but other owners have had success with below average batting eyes. His splits could make up for it rather nicely.

22. Louisville - Dustin Lefebvre - Another solid SP prospect goes off the board. The only question mark is sometimes SP's that only use three pitches can struggle from time to time, but there are plenty of examples of it working.

23. New York - Elmer Hodges - He should hit for a great batting average with his contact/splits combo. Unfortunately is a bit of a liability in the field and will have to play 1B/LF/DH, but that is one of the reasons he lasted this long.

24. Texas - Giomar Franco - Would be more excited about this pick if his control was higher as sometimes that can prove to be troublesome, but once you get this low in the first round, you have to start rolling the dice.

25. Kansas City - Tomas Ramirez - With his glove rating, almost certainly won't be an infielder and will have to be moved to the OF, but the Wildcats are giving him a shot there. Should be a decent hitter.

26. Huntington - Fred O'Neill - Hmmm...interesting selection. Great contact and power, but an awful lefty split and average righty split, but then a great batting eye. Can't wait to see what happens with him.

27. Portland - Rodney Hines - Hasn't signed and I didn't scout

28. Charlotte - Mateo Miro - (re-posted from Tar Heel Examiner) We were very pleased that Miro dropped to us at #28. Although his splits fell a little bit once he signed, we still have high hopes considering our high school scouting budget is so high. Projects to great control with 4 plus pitches will certainly help get the job done. Miro joins a deep stable of pitching prospects for the Heels.

29. Chicago - Francisco Cordero - Doubtful that his glove is good enough to play the 3B, but should be able to provide some pop from the corner OF/1B/DH positions.

30. Fargo - Rusty Stahl - Hasn't signed and I didn't scout

31. Iowa City (compensation from Little Rock for Mark Matthews ) - Hank Waltman - Quite possibly my favorite pick of the draft because it happened so late. How did Waltman not go earlier? Did the Hawkeyes scouts work a bit harder? They have to be really happy to grab Waltman after losing Matthews to the Razorbacks. Waltman should be a #2 start if he progresses well.

32. Anaheim - Don Hodges - Intriguing selection. Hopefully his glove will be good enough to play a legit 2B and if that happens and the Trojans can get a guy who plays 2B with an OBP close to or over .400 (with his awesome batting eyes) and steal some bases than Hodges is a steal.

33. Buffalo (compensation from Syracuse for Jose Barrios ) - Sammy Santana - Not too sure how great of a future Santana will have with average splits and only one good pitch. Maybe a decent innings eater.

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