AL South S17 Draft Review

Louisville Loud Mouths

Round	Pick	Player	Pos	Age	SUMMARY
1	23	Hector Viriato	3B	20	NOT SCOUTED
2	85	Vincenzo Satin	P	22	2 pitcher reliever with solid splits and durability. He lacks both the strike out punch and groundball skills to allow him to be a success. At 22 you also hope to have him further up the development ladder. I'm not sure he ever develops enough to be a factor.
3	118	Albert Cordero	CF	19	Not SCOUTED
4	150	Mule Hunt	3B	22	NOT SCOUTED
5	182	Al Walls	CF	21	NOT SCOUTED

SUMMARY: It's the draft I can't grade. Louisville seems to have pulled these guys off the beaten path and my scouts never saw them coming

Grade: INC

Mexico City MILF Mongers

Round	Pick	Player	Pos	Age	SUMMARY
1	3	Javier Gonzalez	P	18	Might not have been the best pitcher on the board with the 3rd pick, but he's got the talent. Good stamina, control and 2 ace quality pitches will keep him challenging for the #1 role. At 18 he's young and fairly developed. He has great potential for his age and should be a sure thing for his age. If he had 1 more elite pitch he would he a guaranteed all-star
1	46	Pat Sanders	2B	18	Pat has the raw power and talent to kill the ball, but he lacks the understanding to maximize that talent. He should still be a solid talent. He's makeup is going to make him a slow developer, but he's only 18 good coaching should prove him well.
1	56	Omar Estrada	RF	19	He's a fine outfielder with good speed and solid power, he's not a superstar. But he's the guy you want on your team if you need a solid bat without a huge price tag. Estrada is fairly developed for 19 and though his makeup isn't ideal he should still be a ML factor.
2	63	Harry Hernandez	2B	18	Solid contact and speed with good splits. He lacks any power and has a below average batting eye. His signing issues are pretty slight and he should sign after a slight holdout.
3	99	Coco Presley	SS	18	Great potential fielder and speedster. He has no presence at the plate, but at least you get 2 solid tools with a 3rd rounder. I consider this a success.
4	131	Jo-jo Franco	P	21	Career minor league pitcher. His role will be eating innings to keep stress off of Gonzalez arm as they rise through the system.
. 5	163	Victor Guillon	RF	22	Average player at ever thing he does. Could hit the right handed pitching but don't expect a high average, much power or any chance at the ML.

SUMMARY: I like Gonzalez a lot; he's a safe pick and should prove to be successful. Now risk and good reward, but others in the top ten swings for the fences and Gonzalez might be the best sure thing there was for a pitcher. Sanders and Estrada are going to be fine role player's nice pickups late in the 1^st round. Overall good success in the early rounds should work well for MC in the future.

Grade: A-

Houston Stone Cold Killers

Round	Pick	Player	Pos	Age	SUMMARY
1	6	Bruce Trammell	SP	18	Campbell is a solid starter with 4 pitches, great control and excellent splits. He should be an all-star feature in Houston for some time. His biggest knocks are his lack of strikeout power and his less than ideal durability. He's going to miss starts deal with it.
1	35	Darrin Connelly	SP	18	29 picks later and Houston adds a perfect #2 guy to trammel, Projects to be equally as apt in the field and on the mound. Connelly is more of a workhorse than trammel, but less of a star. He should still draw a few all-star nods.
1	47	Bob Mashore	C	22	Mashore could be a solid hitter with solid chops in the field. He lacks the makeup to be that star though. He's going to take word to get to the point where he can succeed. At 22 he's quite developed, but still is going to be hard to get every drop of projection out of him.
2	66	Adam Page	SP	22	Average splits on a good workhorse pitcher. He's never going to be a star, but a nice companion to get the stars though the minors. He might get rewarded his a few Ml appearances a few times in his career.
3	102	Cliff Dykhoff	RP	22	Good pitch selection with great splits and solid control. He lacks star power, but he's going to be a successful reliever when he makes his potential.
3	103	Ronald Swann	RP	18	Elite fastball/slider combo. He's a flamethrower and will kill minor leaguers with his arm and will kill them because he will probably hit them square in the head with 104 MHP fastballs. There will be blood, meat.
4	134	Arthur Ryan	P	21	Average pitch selection with below average stamina and control. He's a career minor leaguer without a defined role. He will fill whatever role the minor leagues offer him.
5	166	Ray Childs	P	22	I love this 5th rounder; he's a capable reliever with 3 pitches and good durability. He's not a star but a solid option.

SUMMARY: 2 solid pitching prospects plus a few relief prospects. A number of good guys with loads of potential. Houston has to be satisfied with this draft.

Grade: A

Texas Tornadoes

Round	Pick	Player	Pos	Age	SUMMARY
1	53	Barney Summers	2B	22	Average hitter and average fielder. I'm not sure anyone gives him more than a fleeting chance in the ML. Even then, he's nothing great.
1	60	Artie Lundquist	RF	19	Elite speed and great contact, Lundquist has bad splits and will struggle in Ml action. It would be interesting to see him and how he performs in the league, but I'm not going to be the guy giving him the shot.
2	87	Hugh Kroeger	SP	21	Horrible pitch selection, poor splits, but good stamina and control. He will eat innings in the minors, but never make it far.
3	120	George Whiten	P	22	Better than Kroeger, but still not ML quality, his splits and pitches are better.
4	152	Kris Latham	P	20	3rd minor league pitching prospect in a row. Bad splits no ML chance.
5	184	Jay Leach	2B	21	Good speed and contact, but lacks ML splits and poor makeup

SUMMARY: Poor draft class, without a #1 pick they should have still looked for a few deep guys with a few useable tools. They landed nothing that will be able to make the team in 5 seasons.

Grade: D