NL West S18 Draft Review

Cheyenne Marmots

Round	Pick	Player	Pos	Age	SUMMARY
1	20	Pat Berkman	SP	18	Solid potential starting pitcher with good splits and 5 solid pitches. Above average control and solid stamina should make him the ideal #2 or 3 starter.
2	77	Bob McCarthy	2B	20	Solid speed and an excellent slap singles hitter. He has no power and might spend his career treasuring the rare home runs he does get. Should be solid enough defender that he could get regular playing time
3	110	Jay Kelly	SP	18	Poor control on an otherwise solid starter. Good splits and 3 solid pitches if he can find the strike zone he would be highly valuable. Without it he's minor league fodder.
4	142	Grady Spencer	RP	18	Average across the boards, he does have 2 high level pitches to throw, but not enough else to get him a lot of ML play time.
5	174	Hal Trachsel	RP	18	Average splits and low durability limit an otherwise solid reliever. Trachsel is a great 5th round project to hope gets it and really becomes something special.

SUMMARY: I like Berkman and think he will be a great additional piece to the rotation. I just wish they got one more talented reliever or defensive threat later in the draft. They did a solid job with their picks and should reap awards sometime soon.

Grade: B-

Colorado Springs Organizational Filler

Round		Fran	Owner	Player	Pos	Age	SUMMARY
1	23	voteforlou	Ahmed Lockwood	3B	18	Solid 3B with good power and splits. Should be counted on for 30+ hrs and a .260 batting average with his fair share of strikeouts.
1	26	CSP	voteforlou	Clay Bell	SS	18	Plus defender with average offensive production, he projects to have plus speed and should steal a few bases a season on lazy catchers. He has a lot of developing to do and scouts warn he can be a notoriously slow developer. He needs to hit is defensive projections if he hopes to make the Ml someday
1	39	CSP	voteforlou	Luke Garcia	SP	18	4 pitches and great control, but average splits and low stamina will limit his uses in the ML. He might convince a team in need to give him a shot and stay around until arbitration.
2	82	CSP	voteforlou	Otis Ryan	RP	18	2 top pitches and solid control, but lack the durability to be an everyday reliever. Could be good for 50 innings a season.
3	115	CSP	voteforlou	Nolan Daly	CF	18	Dropped to the 3rd round because of his salary demands. He is an average hitter with 2B quality defense. He might be a better football player than a baseball player. Got to hope he makes the right decision.
4	147	CSP	voteforlou	Fonzie Mulder	P	18	NOT SCOUTED
5	179	CSP	voteforlou	Matty Kennedy	P	18	NOT SCOUTED

SUMMARY: Mixed feelings about the future left side of the infield. Defensively they should be fine but they will bring a lot of question marks at the plate and need a steady hand in the minors. Lou has to work hard in the minors to get some value out of this draft.

Grade: C

Colorado Mile High Club

Round	Pick	Player	Pos	Age	Back- ground	SUMMARY
1	19	Luke Henderson	1B	18	HS	Good Power/contact potential slugger, he does struggle against righties more than you would like, but he should still be an everyday guy in the field and a mainstay in the lineup.
1	32	Dave Coffman	SP	18	HS	Wild thing has elite level splits but poor control of the ball. He isn't a huge power pitcher, but still could be a solid starter. Someone really has to be okay with a guy that is going to walk about of players at times. His 5 pitches should give him every opportunity to make a go at it.
1	50	Andrew Laker	3B	18	HS	Would be better at RF or LF than in the infield. HE has good power and solid splits but lacks the contact to be a guaranteed ML'er. His Batting eye and solid intangibles should be enough to get him in the league for a spell though.
2	76	Zachrey Clapp	P	18	HS	NOT SCOUTED
3	109	Dave Engle	LF	18	HS	Speedy LF with solid contact and almost no power. He will struggle against right handers but should put the ball in play almost every chance he gets. Not a bad guy for the 3rd round.
4	141	Stump Larson	SP	18	HS	Poor control on an otherwise nice pitcher. Larson features one of the better 4-seamers in the draft. He did have some injury issues in his high school career, so scouts doubt he will make it through his career without a number of DL stints.
5	173	Lazy Palmer	CF	18	HS	Solid defender with nice speed. He could hit to save his own life though. Sometimes 2 stars in the 5th round are better than a good hitter though

SUMMARY: No slam dunk from the draft, but there are a few bright spots, Henderson is a definite ML player, but has signing issues and a limited Defensive range. The question will become if he ups his offer do you take the supplemental pick next season or take a sure ML'er. Coffman is a high risk pitcher, some will not run from his lack of control others will avoid him like the plague. In Colorado, he might have a death sentence.

Grade: C

Salem Slammers

Round	Pick	Player	Pos	Age	SUMMARY
1	18	Cristobal Ramirez	RP	21	Ramirez must be making good money as an undergrad at Columbus St. Because he is looking for 8 million reasons why he should leave. Good luck to him because no reliever is worth 8 large who will struggle against righty and some durability issues. Salem swings and misses with this pick.
1	49	Boomer Fasano	SS	21	Solid hitter and runner, but he isn't fooling anyone at SS, better suited as a weak 3B or in the outfield. He has average splits for an ML'er and might find the road to the big leagues a long one.
1	57	Dom Cosby	SS	21	Average at everything, he's a solid 3B and could be used as an injury replacement, but he is no all-star.
2	75	Ronnie Rosen	RF	22	Another ho-hum prospect. Going to burn out in AAA with no prevailing tool to offer.
2	89	Alexander Jackson	LF	19	Has a little speed, but runs the bases to poorly to constitute a threat. Look for him to patrol the AAA outfields for a long time.
3	108	Yeico Mercedes	SS	19	Very similar to Cosby but picked up 51 picks later. Either he is a great pick up here or cosby is a bad one 51 picks earlier. I think you can guess my opinion.
4	140	Dan Abernathy	2B	22	Some speed, but not enough to get him noticed. He has average contact and splits but no power.
5	172	Norm O'Brien	SS	21	Defensive guru, but he has overvalued his skills and wants 8.5 million to sign. Sorry Norm, that isn't happening.

SUMMARY: Salem walks away from this draft with one possible glimmer of hope, Ramirez doesn't sign and they can get a type D picks next season.

GRADE: D-