Season 15 - Amateur Draft Review by tk21775

Thanks again to tk for the assist! Please keep in mind that we all see different projections and this is just for fun with honest analysis.

S15 NCAA Amateur Draft ($14M Advanced Scouting Budget)

1). Little Rock Razorbacks – Frieri Santiago – Solid #1 picks with Santiago who looks to play 3B for the Razorbacks; solid defense, 100 health rating, great speed, and a solid bat. Can’t see any weakness with him and it looks like he’ll be ready to play in the majors sooner rather than later.

2). Louisville Cardinals – Richie Wingo – The Cardinals grabbed a SP with their #2 selection who looks like he could pitch in the majors by next season if needed and will only get better. He’s got the stamina and durability to be a starter along with great control and solid splits. Only weakness would be 4 average pitches although that would be nitpicking.

gerald007 - "Wingo's a nice arm, but probably no higher than a 2 or 3 in the future. Like everyone else, I was broken hearted that the SS taken first didn't fall to me with the second pick."

3). Oakland Golden Bears – Nigel Michalak – For the #3 pick I’m not particularly fond of this guy. He’s got a great bat and will be a force against opposing pitchers but his durability looks to keep him on the bench quite often and he’s projected to be slightly below average defensively for a 1B.

4). Memphis Tigers – Chili Carver – Great pickup for the Tigers as they land themselves a solid SP here. High durability/stamina combo will allow him to pitch late into games, nice control and great splits. He’s a groundball pitcher which I personally value and has two great pitches and two above averages pitches in his arsenal. Throw in that he’s a lefty with high health and makeup and I really like this pick for the Tigers.

mh17 - "The Tigers are pleased to select Chili Carver with the 4th overall pick, if he stays true to his projected path he will be a great No. 1 or 2 starter. Very good splits and quality command of his pitches."

5). Iowa City Hawkeyes – Pokey Miller – Hawkeyes might be regretting this pick already as Miller’s low health rating already has him with a 245 day injury at this writing. While he’s still projected to be a very nasty pitcher against left-handed batters and above average against righties, the low health and elbow surgery already look to limit him.

6). Arizona Sun Devils – Bart Gunderson – Gunderson looks to be a decent SP with great control and decent splits although no real dominate pitches.

lpa2a - "Very disappointing. Col scout (18) had him as great and adv scout (10) has downgraded him.We'll see which he lives up to."

7). Buffalo Bulls – Taylor Sellers – Good SP selection here, can pitch late into games, has great control and decent splits along with some nice pitches.

gdfan - "The new philosophy in Buffalo is to build through the draft. Taylor Sellers was the #2 rated player on my draft board. I'm projecting him to be a front of the rotation starter by season 20."

8). Dover Fightin Blue Hens – Jaime Lowry – Don’t like this pick only because he’ll be in my division ;) Great defensive CF or 2B as he throws right-handed; has great speed and a decent bat. Very nice pick at #8 in this draft.

byers61 - "The Fightling Blue Hens drafted CF/2b Jaime Lowry. He brings power and speed to the position, though he almost needs a diamond-in-the-rough type revelation on his baserunning. He has a good batting eye and should be a stellar centerfielder if he develops to his potential."

9). Huntington Thundering Herd – Collin Hartley – Will depend on how he develops defensively to be sure of this pick. His glove has a ways to go but projects right there on the border of SS. If he can handle SS defensively he’ll have a nice bat for that position; if he only turns out to be a 3B he’ll still have a nice bat but below average for that position.

hurricane384 - "Collin Hartley is a tremendously durable player who can give you good defense. This draft had 1 guy at the top in my mind and then a group of guys who all had significant downfalls. It is hard to find a SS who can play defense and hit some, and I think a guy like Hartley will give me an OBP of .350 while playing good defense."

10). New Orleans Bayou Bengals – Sid Betancourt – Nice selection here at #10. He looks like he should handle SS no problem but his glove has a ways to go. He’ll be a force on the bases and has a good bat for the SS position although vR is below average. Still has good eye, power, and eye more than what I see at that position.

coachsimon - "Sid Betancourt has speed to burn and excellent hitting skills for a good defensive SS. If he develops defensively as expected he will safv runs with his glove and create a few extra with his bat and speed. Rated higher than 10 on my board."

11). Philadelphia Owls – Shigetoshi Tabaka – Owls grabbed themselves a left-handed SP with their selection that looks to have great control and vL with above average vR; 1 good pitch with 3 average pitches and a high health rating looks like he’ll be a solid #3 SP in the majors some day.

jeanpaul22 - "We're very pleased with our pick, Tabaka was second on our list and we didn't expect to see him available at our turn. Our scouts like him a lot, he should be very strong against lefties and solid againt righties. He has a great control of his fastball and he should also gives us many quality innings. We very happy to had some talent in our organization."

12). Jackson Rebels – Woody Morris – Another SP taken who will see the majors some day. Morris has great control and good splits, along with two very nice pitches and two below average pitches.

13). Columbus Buckeyes – Les Rivera – While teams were grabbing up SP, Rivera fell down to #13 and the Buckeyes have to be happy. A solid defensive 2B with blazing speed and a great bat, surprised that he fell this low.

weena - "Christmas came early for the Buckeyes. Landing our #1 pick is cause for dancing in the streets of Columbus. Les will be a permanant fixture in our ML lineup for many years."

14). New York Red Storm – Dom Payton – Payton’s overall doesn’t look to enticing but looking at his ratings he looks to be a nice pickup by the Storm. He’ll be able to handle the C position defensively and has a real nice bat with decent durability. Not sure why his overall is lower but just proves to me that overall doesn’t mean that much.

15). Charleston Cougars – Omar Quinones – Like this selection at #15. While he has lower stamina, his high durability should still allow him to be in the starting rotation. He’s got great control along with splits and a great #1 pitch with 3 average pitches. With all the pitching taken a very nice selection at this spot.

dgtrache - "Charleston believes that Omar Quinones will develop into a quality middle of the rotation pitcher. One potential roadblock is his makeup which may slow development."

16). Chicago Blue Demons – Vince Mitchell – Another pitcher taken which makes 9 in the first 16. Mitchell has high durability/stamina along with great splits and above average control with one great pitch and 3 averages ones. His health I’m sure scared a few owners away from selecting him.

17). Minnesota Golden Gophers – Sidney Thompson – Another pitcher although the first one who looks to be working out of the bullpen. Great control and splits along with 2 great pitches and 3 average ones he’s a very nice selection. His durability is low so he won’t be an everyday pitcher but he’ll be a very solid addition to the Gophers pen.

18). Kansas City Wildcats – Aaron Servais – Doesn’t look like Servais will be handle SS duties but can handle just about everything else. With him throwing right-handed he can handle 2B, CF, 3B, and RF positions. He’s got some nice power in his bat although a below average vL but the Wildcats will be able to use him quite often at multiple positions.

llcc - "The Kansas City Wildcats first round pick is Aaron Servais. He is a shortstop who will hit for power steal some bases but will strikeout a lot."

19). Helena Grizzlies – Juan Posada - With all the pitching taken in this draft I’m shocked that Posada was still available at #19. Great control and splits along with 2 great pitches and 3 average pitches, high health and makeup, and groundball pitchers he’s better than some taken above him. The only knock would be the 22 durability but with a 76 stamina I wouldn’t be too concerned. Grizzlies looked to have spent some time preparing for this draft and it paid off nicely for them.

drichar138 - "The Grizzlies were looking to just get the best player available at #19 and landed Juan Posada . He is a raw talent that we hope to develop into a solid starter at the ML level in 4 or 5 seasons."


20). Seattle Huskies – Brad Finley – Huskies grab a LF/1B player with their selection with an above average bat in all areas.

21). Boise Broncos – Einar Lee – Another team that looked to be well prepared for the draft, the Broncos find their 3B of the future. He can handle the position defensively or take over in RF if needed and brings a very nice power bat. The contact I’m sure kept a few teams away but at #21 I love the pick.

abesmem - "I was very happy with picking Einar Lee with the 21st pick. I had him ranked #4 overall on my board. While he was listed as a SS I've already converted him to a 3B/RF. He has better than average power, a good arm and handles LH's and RH's very well. He's starting out in High A ball and should be in the majors in a couple of years."

22). Portland Ducks – Alfonso Gil – The Ducks also grab a LF/1B player with their selection with a very nice bat although average power.

sirius07 - "Alfonso Gil is not a bad choice, but the Ducks were looking for a starting pitcher. Gil is an average player that may end in the left side of the field. We will see in few seasons if he can get a starting spot in the Bigs."

23). Syracuse Orange – Russell Relaford – Can handle the C position defensively and has one of the better bats of the draft but his stamina (56) will keep him off the field for a large chunk of the season.

evil doers - "We at Syracuse are thrilled in the recent signing of Russell Relaford. A catcher that can hit like that with the 23rd pick. Are you kidding me? Sure,we know he won't play 150 games a year, but he'll hit with anyone for his 350-400 or so plate appearances, that's for sure."

24). Little Rock Razorbacks – Rob Blackwell – Another low rating player that I like. His stamina/durability are borderline SP material for me but I’d throw him in the rotation. Average control but very nice splits along with 4 very good pitches, the Razorbacks looked past the overall number and got themselves a very good pitcher in my opinion.

25). Anaheim Trojans – Benito Roque – A very solid SP who looks to have dropped due to health. He’s got great control and splits, two solid pitches and one average pitch but his health rating is only 55. He stays healthy and he’s a steal in the draft.

ajwalton - "Anaheim is pleased to have grabbed Roque at the back end of the first round. There are concerns about his stamina and durability, but he looks like a potential solid #3 if our scouting is accurate...and it might not be."

26). Cincinnati Bearcats – Matthew Cox – Nice selection here by the Bearcats. Cox will be a good closer with the stamina/durability to handle the position nearly everyday with great control and vL with nice vR and two very good pitches.

allright - "Matthew Cox has a chance to make it to the bigs as a second line set-up man. The Bearcats paid the price for being unreasonably tight with the scouting budget. It will take time to right the ship."

27). Richmond Spiders – Emil Battle – Looks very similar to Detroit’s 1st RD pick, nice overall SP until you look at his vL.

28). Arizona Sun Devils – Jaime Reed – Another solid selection this late in the 1st round. Solid defensive 2B with above average bat and some speed.

lpa2a - "Great fielding 2B but only 79 durability. Should hit well and make an ML squad. Very happy given his draft position."


29). Nashville Commodores – Tanyon Allen – Bullpen pitcher with great control and splits, 1 great pitch and 2 solid ones in the arsenal. Very nice pickup here as well this late.

cctigerfan - "Tanyon Allen is projected as a middle of the rotation starter if his stamina develops as expected"

30). Texas Red Raiders – Vin Lopez – 3rd C taken in the 1st RD and he can handle the position defensively as well. Above average bat except for a lower vL.

31). Charlotte Tar Heels – Howie Reddick – Tar Heels keep the C selection with their pick and grab the best defensive C out of the 4 selected so far. Nice contact and power in the bat although low vL and eye.

hopkinsheel - Pretty happy with this pick. We always have a high PC catcher on our roster for backup purposes and late game defensive replacement. Typically this is a Round 3-5 selection for us, but couldn't pass up such a solid hitter with those defensive characteristics.

32). Fargo Bison – Junior Daniels – Bison grab a closer with their selection. Low durability/stamina combo so we’ll see how they use him. Nice control and very good splits with two good pitches.

33). Detroit Wolverines – Eddie Moore – SP who will maybe see long relief role due to his below average vL.

tk21775 - "Time will tell with Eddie, he projected to look better than what I see now but he'll have great control and decent enough vR to pitch although vL is borderline ML material for what I like."