AL WEST S17 Draft Review

Kansas City McCoys

Round	Pick	Player	Pos	Age	SUMMARY
1	20	Gregg Washington	2B	22	Fairly mature right fielder, he has an above average bat with plus power and good splits, he's not a superstar in the making but a great complimentary player to have patrolling the field and mattering 6 or 7 in the lineup. He has no real alarming flaw in his game.
2	81	Mike Wagner	SP	22	Durability questions and below average pitches selection allowed Wagner to slip into the 2nd round. He still should hammer out a fine career in the league making impact pitches in big games. Others have pitched with equally as average pitches and have done well. Wagner is a steal at this spot.
3	115	Ben Redding	RP	20	Solid Reliever with excellent splits and good control, He's fairly ready, but has poor makeup and might not advance quick enough to take advantage of his great development. Good risk picks.
4	147	Polin Moreno	RP	19	Above average pair of pitches, great control and splits. He should be a great bullpen guy in a few seasons. His overall rating should make him a cheap option as well. Double score in the 4th round.
5	179	Jim Larkin	CF	19	HE can get away at field 2B, but not CF. He has speed and solid contact, but overall would struggle at the plate. I draft a SS 10 seasons ago with the name Jim Larkin who was very similar at the plate and with speed.

SUMMARY: Raucous could be one of the best late round drafters in any league I have seen. He can pull solid prospects pretty deep in the draft and although they might never be superstars and win many awards, they are talented. This draft is no different, KC skips hitting a homerun with anyone pick, instead hits a bunch of singles and doubles to score big in S17

Grade: A

Las Vegas Gamble

Round	Pick	Player	Pos	Age	SUMMARY
1	4	Jason Paronto	SS	18	Weaker than average SS, he has a fine understanding of the game, but overall is only an average hitter with below average power; he's a huge reach in the top 5. I'm not sure if he would have been a good pick in the top 20.
2	64	Hughie Jensen	2B	22	Solid pick up for a corner outfielder, Jensen is a speed guy with good contact, he might strikeout more than you would like for your leadoff guy, but he should hold his own overall. At 22 his window of growth might be limited for his makeup.
2	84	Ham Day	SS	22	Average to below average hitter with solid speed, he's far from a capable SS and might be a better outfielder in his career. Anyway you shake it he's not ML material.
3	100	Max Conway	2B	18	NOT SCOUTED
4	132	Jim Dolan	P	18	Average long reliever, he's slightly above average in splits, control and does throw 2 solid pitches. I have seemed worse playing in this league at times. I have seen worse put up 10 season careers. In the 4th round that's a good thing.
5	164	Junior Marquez	2B	21	Has speed and can bunt, but is an average hitter at best. He will be below average at 2B. I don't get the impression he makes it out of AA.

SUMMARY: I dislike the huge reach in the 1^st round; Paronto just does fit the bill of a guy I would like to waste such a high pick on when much better fell 5-10 picks later. Jensen is a better pick for his position, but he's not going to rescue Las Vegas, nor is he a player to build around. In the top 10 you want a game changer, here they got nothing.

Grade: D

Salt Lake City Prospectors

Round	Pick	Player	Pos	Age	SUMMARY
1	22	Arthur Gwynn	SP	18	Prospects to be a good pitcher n size and strength, but his makeup say he probably will not make those projections. HE has 3 quality pitches, solid control and splits and if he gets close will be a solid prospect. It is a crap shoot if he makes it close enough to be a star.
1	52	Manuel Alomar	SP	18	He is going to college, as a supplemental pick he basically becomes a misfire and there will be no compensation in S18 for the lost pick. If they do sign him he will struggle in the Bigs, with his average splits, I'm not sure if I would sign him for the money it would require (5M+)
1	59	Dan Willis	SP	18	Flame throwing starter with average splits, and good control. Teams will have mixed feelings on him, those of us who like and count on high splits will scoff at him, and those who respect velocity and control and pitch selection will throw him out there. He should be able to make a small MLB career bouncing around teams. He might even find some success in the league.
2	83	Yoo-Nah Huang	P	19	Low control allowed him to slip to the 2nd round. Overall though he could be a solid pitcher even with his low control. 4 pitches solid stamina and splits should lend well to a ML career. At 19 he is already well developed and should be close to his projections in no time.
3	117	Toby Marte	CF	18	All defense and speed but lack any form of bat. He isn't going to make much of an impact at the plate, but should be a fine base running and fielding threat for. His low makeup will prove to be a challenge.
4	149	Walt Saunders	SS	21	All defensive 1st team at Rice, He won't do anything at the plate so he will be limited to a defensive option only in the Bigs if he makes it. I love him in the 4th round though.
5	181	Darryl McGee	P	18	Poor pitching control for a reliever his pitch selection and splits dictate a minor league career. Not a bad guy in the 5th though

SUMMARY: A lot of risks in this draft class. A lot of these pitchers teams are going to like or really really hate. Gwynn will take work to get to a point where he's an all-star, but SLC picked him with the 22^nd pick so you have to expect some challenge. Alomar in my opinion is a horrible pick because it will take too much to get him to sign and if he doesn't, there is no compensation. Too much challenge and not enough guarantees in this draft for my liking

Grade: C-

Tucson Mail Order Cowboys

Round	Pick	Player	Pos	Age	SUMMARY
1	25	Glen Daley	SP	19	Daley is a great pick up late in the 1st round. 5 good pitches 2 90+ amongst them. Solid control and stamina along with Ml quality splits. He lacks the strike out velocity of a top 10 pick but at the end of the 1st round he is a great catch.
1	26	Richie Rupe	SS	18	Better suited at 3B, he's not the greatest of hitter, but could manage a .240 career average with 25hr and 90+ strikeouts. He lacks the clutch of a star player, but is good enough to be an Ml'er.
1	41	Harry Jefferson	P	18	NOT SCOUTED
1	45	Fred Breslow	P	18	Solid 4th or 5th man in the rotation great find as a late supplemental. He should be a solid nig leaguer and a good option for any rotation 4 pitches great control and solid stamina.
1	54	Midre Stone	2B	21	NOT SCOUTED
2	88	Kenshin Masato	P	22	Low end reliever with poor to average splits, he has two standard pitches to lean on and good durability, but he will not be able to translate any of it out of the minors.
3	121	Victor Gonzalez	2B	19	Average hitter and field for RF or Left, He's not much better than a grinder in the Big Leagues, Not going to have a big career if any.
4	135	Scot Washington	RF	22	Good speed for a 1st baseman but limited at the plate. He isn't going to contribute enough in other areas to make his speed a factor.
4	153	J.B. Torres	P	18	NOT SCOUTED
5	185	Seth Rupe	P	21	Very average Ml pitcher. Good find for the 5th round but not good enough to make the Major leagues. He's not going to pitch enough in the minors to even use him as a minor inning hog, he just is.

SUMMARY: I love Daley, but with 5 1^st round picks I would hope to love a few more players. Breslow is also my kind of guy. In my opinion walking out of a draft with 2-3 ML quality starters is great. Tucson did that, but still I feel jilted by the rest of the draft. They need to start adding youth in the lineup and missed on almost all of their prospects. Hopefully pitching can bring in the hitting prospects in the future.

Grade: B