NL SOUTH S17 DRAFT REVIEW

Memphis Amon-Ra

Round	Pick	Player	Pos	Age	SUMMARY
1	24	Johnny Smart	SP	18	Solid Starting Pitcher featuring good control and stamina and 2 plus pitches. He has 5 total pitches to throw and it might take a keen catcher to help guide him with the right ones to throw. Solid potential, at 18 he has the time to develop into an everyday starter
2	86	Nicholas McCovey	RF	19	Great splits and batting eye, but overall just an average hitter. He doesn't feature a lot of power and have very average speed. He's the sort of player to call up when you have an injury and need someone to fill a hole for 15 games or so.
3	119	Raul Esposito	RP	18	Good velocity and durability on a bullpen guy who should be crafty enough to overcome barely above average splits. In the 3rd round he looks pretty sweet.
4	151	Ross Melton	RP	20	2 above average pitches with solid control and good stamina for a reliever. His pitching splits are average and will hold him back from a long career.
5	183	Cord Blake	2B	18	Average outfielder with even more average hitting and running. He will be a grinder when he retires from AAA.

SUMMARY: Smart is a smart choice late in the 1^st round, he's no superstar, but will be a dependable starter for awhile. I like Esposito and should be effective in the league. The rest of the picks resulted in guys who can fill short term holes and emergency depth, but I'm not sure there is enough talent to lean on for awhile
GRADE: B

Florida Sting Ray

Round	Pick	Player	Pos	Age	SUMMARY
1	14	Clyde Kirby	C	18	Offensive catcher with solid power and great hitting splits; He will be no issue at the plate and should challenge pitcher and bat around .300 for his career. His fielding and pitch calling will leave a lot to be desired. I'm not sure if he's not a better DH option in the AL.
2	74	Thom Hill	RF	20	Above average power and speed, but to average everywhere else to make huge strides toward a ML career. Good luck Mr. Hill, as developed as you are your ceiling is going to come to quick for most teams.
3	109	Bo McCormick	SS	18	NOT SCOUTED
4	141	Nigel Mullin	RF	18	Left hand hitting expert, He is loaded with power potential, but his average batting eye and subpar fielding I'm not sure he is good enough to make the ML for the long term. I can see him getting a few fall call-ups to mash the left handed pitching
5	173	Kevin Perez	RF	18	Above average speed and power, but horrendous splits will limit him and whatever impact ct was to be. Career minor leaguer

SUMMARY I like Kirby and he will be a Mike Piazza type catcher, he is going to provide great offensive stats, but his pitch calling will hurt you. Match him with an established pitching staff who can call their own games and Florida will flourish. Florida doesn't have that pitching staff right now. I'm not sure much value was procured outside of pick 1.
GRADE C+

Monterrey Metros

Round	Pick	Fran	Owner	Player	Pos	Age	SUMMARY
1	13	MTY	Midmets	Thomas Kipling	LF	20	I drive by Schoolcraft College everyday to work; I have never seen a baseball diamond. I think most of the scouts in this league must have completely missed Kipling to. How often does an 85 rated player slip to the 13th pick? Kipling is a speedy contact hitter with marginal power. I see him as a .guy who will bat .310 with 15hr and 65 sb bases a season. He is fairly developed, but at 20 he needs to be because of his slow makeup. If they can get him close to his potential, he's the steal of the draft.
1	36	MTY	Midmets	Alan Keeler	P	21	4 plus pitches with good velocity will allow him to pitch around his mediocre splits. He is a solid Starter, but projects to no better than #5 starter even if he reaches his potential. A Good cheap option for a rebuilding team to have on the roster.
2	65	MTY	Midmets	Willie Easterly	C	18	Great offensive catcher. He will walk 100+ times a season and put the ball in play as much as you would love from any player. He has 15hr potential and should bat around .300 for his career. I like this find in the 2nd round and surprised to see him here.
3	108	MTY	Midmets	Todd Snider	2B	18	Pure contact hitter who built a reputation as a guy who could tap the ball into play and outrun the play at first. Yes he's that fast. His fielding will not hurt the team at all either. Look for Snider to opt out of a Pro contract and take his skill set to college for a few seasons. With his Injury history, he can only hope he can survive it.
4	140	MTY	Midmets	Morgan Morgan	SP	21	Below average splits on a huge stamina pitcher. Watch for him to be the go to guy in the minors as he protects the pitch counts to the guys in the rotation who will star someday.
5	172	MTY	Midmets	Sammy Nance	P	19	Middle of the road stamina further compounds his issues with a poor pitch selection. He isn't going to make much splash outside of AA.

SUMMARY I'm not sure if the Metros scouts were smarter than the rest of the scouts in the league, but they seem to pull huge diamonds out of the draft in their positions. Landing Kipling in the 1^st could be huge if he develops close to his potential. Only time will tell where these players actually end up.
GRADE A

Austin BUTCHERS

Round	Pick	Player	Pos	Age	SUMMARY
1	16	Julian Teheran	SS	19	Average hitter, runner and below average fielder. He is a huge reach in the 1st round and I think is the type of player that could have slipped to late in the 2nd
1	38	Charles Sprague	RF	21	Above average speed is almost wiped out by average running skills, he is a solid hitter, but lacks above average splits. He might be better fielding at 1B then anywhere else in the field
1	50	Miguel Mateo	CF	21	Solid runner with good speed, but extremely poor at the plate. His fielding might allow his to catch balls hit to CF, but only those hit right at him expect very little range to take hits away.
2	70	Hal Teixeira	P	21	Rubber armed pitcher in college who did it all, starting, relief and closed out a number of games. In 1951 he would have been an ideal pitcher. In today's world he doesn't do enough of one thing to separate him from the stack and he will get passed over more than promoted. He will be highly useful in the minors though.
2	76	Steve Norton	SS	22	Good runner with speed and solid contact. He could be effective at 3B. With his splits he could slip into the league as a key sub with some starts through his career.
3	111	Albert Mesa	LF	21	Solid in the outfield defender with outstanding speed and base running he never hit a home run in some small college parks; don't expect that to change when he breaks into the Major Leagues.
4	143	Troy Lundquist	SS	19	Another solid runner and speed guy, but with no bat and no splits. He doesn't have the defense to cover for his lack of everything else.
5	175	Edward Harper	RP	18	The perfect 5th round project. Harper has the pitching splits and pitches to work on for success. He lacks the control and durability to be a factor over the long haul. If he can learn how to bounce back or find some control. He should be a success.

SUMMARY 3 1^st rounders and not one guy I can see playing the league for more than a few abbreviated seasons. In the later rounds there were some nice finds, but you strike gold in round one in WIS and they came up empty.
GRADE C-