Al North S18 Draft Review

Helena Heel Turners

Round	Pick	Player	Pos	Age	Cur Level
1	25	Matt Holder	SP	21	2 good pitches solid stamina and control and above average splits. Helena needs to hope that one of his 2 additional pitches pushes close to projections if they want him to be effective in the lineup. Right now he is a 4 or 5 starters.
1	36	Storm Parrish	1B	19	Quality 1B with a great bat and power and solid splits. He is fairly developed already but with seasoning he could be the starter at 1B for the future.
2	81	Trever Frazier	LF	19	Solid power and good speed, but otherwise a poor man prospect. He lacks hitting against left handers and has an average batting eye. He will struggle to get past AAA.
3	114	Benny Guerrero	SS	21	Defense is good if he makes his projections, I doubt he does make those projections leaving him as a below average fielder with almost no bat and no speed.
4	146	Karl Little	RP	21	Below average splits do not help a pitcher with average pitch selection. Even with his great control he will be fodder in the big leagues
5	178	P.T. Adams	SP	20	Struggled against quality left handed hitting in college and will continue to struggle in the Majors. His curve will get him some notice in the minors, but I believe he will get too exposed in the pros to make it for long. Solid pick in the 5th round though.

SUMMARY: I like Parrish as a late 1^st rounder; his skills should translate quickly into a starting role in the Al at least as a DH. Holder will be an interesting tweener pitcher. It will all depend on his use and how he's treated in the minors with coaching.

Grade: B-

Madison Massa's

Round	Pick	Player	Pos	Cur Level
1	28	Wilson White	3B	Low average guy with good power, White should be one to put the ball in play, but struggle to get the right swing on the ball at times. His durability suggests a guy who averages 130-140 games a season.
2	84	R.A. Keats	P	Solid 4 pitch long reliever. He lacks even average control though and is strongly considering college over signing with Madison's hitter friendly confines.
3	117	Johan Strickland	SS	Strickland dreamed of a 1st round selection and though is Defense is 1st round solid his hitting left scouts watching him slide to the end of the 3rd round. Strickland of course is now choosing college over the pros.
4	149	Benny Gibson	1B	Average splits and above average hitting might be fine if you can play the field. On a 1B it spells a long Minor league career.
5	181	Sal Wise	SS	Not sure he has the defense to even play the infield let alone SS. He is an AAA player at best.

SUMMARY: White should be a Stubby Cyr clone in Madison. He will be a solid 6-8 hitter with some pop in the lineup, not a bad late pickup. The rest of the draft ended up being too risky as half didn't sign with Madison.

Grade: C

Burlington Ice Storm

Round	Pick	Player	Pos	Age	Cur Level
1	1	Benny Sherman	SS	21	Might be better at 3B, but could fill in in a pinch. He has a good bat with awesome splits. He is ready made for Ml action expects him in 3 seasons max. He might struggle with strikeouts at times and might never lead the league in HR, but watch him hit 20 hrs a season and bat over .300 I think we all would take that every time.
1	42	Eric Hill	1B	18	Across the boards solid prospect with power, contact and splits. Watch for him to be a starting 1B when he arrives.
1	54	Damaso Ontiveros	SP	19	Below average control and average splits might keep him in the minors for his career. His split finger and 4 seam should get him looks and maybe an opportunity.
2	35	Bubbles Carroll	2B	18	Solid offensive player with good all-around hitting knocks; he will struggle at 2B but would be a fine right fielder. Nice pick-up in the 2nd round
3	91	Doug Sheldon	C	21	Great college backstop. His offense at Virginia state was one of the best for a catcher this past season. Watch for him to be a force behind the dish. His play calling is suspect, but his bat is for real... You have to like landing a skilled player like Sheldon here...
4	123	Joaquin Quintero	SS	18	Average hitter with some speed, he is better suited at 3B. He probably doesn't do enough to get himself a look outside of AAA.
5	155	George Easley	LF	18	Above average runner with an average bat and glove not good enough to be much more than a footnote in draft history.

SUMMARY: With the 1^st overall pick they land a guy who might be able to see action next season in Sherman, but the real catches might be what come after him 3 maybe 4 more potential everyday starters. This was quite a special draft and will get Burlington in the right direction...

Grade: A

Minnesota Wogeban's

Round	Pick	Player	Pos	Age	SUMMARY
1	8	Neifi Terry	SP	22	2nd best college pitcher in this season draft. He is the most developed pitching option in the draft though. Expect him to move through the minors quickly with the right coaching because of his makeup. He has ideal stamina, control and splits. He also feautres4 legit pitches to throw and strikeout velocity. He should be an Ace.
1	45	Brian McLouth	CF	20	Speed and contact guy with 0 power. He has Ml quality splits and solid defense. Not a bad guy in the late 1st round if you are okay with no power.
2	65	Ellie Newson	3B	18	All or nothing prospect. He will either blast it out of the park or so down swinging. He might compete for Minor League Homerun titles, but he will not see Ml action.
3	98	Tito Peterson	C	18	NOT SCOUTED
4	130	Pasqual Pena	C	21	Average across the board catcher. Not going to win many awards, but he should be solid behind the dish. With the incredibly low number of catching prospects he might be gold someday.
5	162	Dario Yamada	C	19	Left hand hitting specialist with a killer instinct behind the plate. He is a great pick in the 5th round and should have ML written all over him in a few seasons in the minors.

SUMMARY: Add Terry to International FA signing Damaso Martinez and you have a killer 1-2 punch add in last season's pick Sterling Daniels (HiA) and Steven Adcock (ML and you have a huge starting rotation. They seeds are being sowed and Minnesota is quickly becoming a very tough team. I also love their late picks adding huge catching prospects to fill out the ranks for the future.

Grade: B+

AL South S18 Draft Review

Louisville Loud Mouths

Round	Pick	Player	Pos	Age	SUMMARY
1	22	Lew Whitaker	RP	21	Solid Reliever with ace quality control and 2 top pitches. Splits indicate he will be quite good against all batters and should induce mostly groundballs. He lacks any type of strike out punch though, so he is going to need a good defense to be effective.
1	24	Jose Toregas	SP	22	4 good pitches and great control and stamina. He showed weakness in college against elite right handed batters that is only going to get worse in the pros. Expect a guy who will hover around 5 in ERA
1	38	Edgardo Rodriguez	RP	19	Solid long reliever with great splits, control and pitch selection. His low stamina will keep him out of the regular rotation expect for the occasional spot start. His strikeout potential has wowed a number of scouts...
2	66	Bruce Jacome	3B	19	Average hitter with great baseball splits; He might be a solid team guy for a weaker team or a cheap everyday option. He isn't going to light up the score board but should provide a consistent hand,
2	79	Toby Cain	CF	20	Average across the boards with a little extra speed. He's not a bad guy to have in the minors just in case there's an injury or an emergency. I like him with this pick.
3	112	Carlos Beltre	P	22	NOT SCOUTED
4	144	Ed Logan	CF	19	Below average across the boards, but he is fast. Can't run the bases well enough to exploit his speed, but he can win the clubhouse race
5	176	Hipolito Galarraga	RF	19	Below average hitter with good batting splits, solid runner and fielder. If he gets a DITR on his hitting he would be great. This is a perfect project pick in the 5th round. Keep your fingers crossed that he blossoms.

SUMMARY: Brought in a number of pitching prospects and a few defensive guys to round out the minors. The value will be in in those guys who are the projects and if they can get DITR bumps to make them that much better. Louisville took the right approach with the late rounds and brought in guys with strong base tools to build on.

Grade: B

Tampa Bay Pelicans

Round	Pick	Player	Pos	Age	SUMMARY
1	16	Ajax Gibbons	CF	19	Solid runner with good speed and great contact hitting. He has below average power and a below average batting eye. He might struggle against left handed pitching. Overall he's a solid prospect, but might have been picked a little high at 16.
2	73	Carlos Mendez	2B	21	Another high speed good runner with no power. He also has a below average batting eye, but overall is a solid IQ hitter. I like him better than Gibbons and he was picked 57 picks later.
3	106	Brian Rowan	RF	22	A 3rd speed guy with a below average bat and poor fielding. He does have baseball knack, but I don't see him getting out of the minors.
4	138	Hugh Post	LF	18	Has a reputation of struggling to see the ball against left handers, but overall he's a solid hitter with good strength and speed. Nice pick up in the 4th round.
5	170	Rey Matheson	2B	19	It is obvious that Tampa was targeting speed That is about all Matheson offers.

SUMMARY: A lot of speed will change the philosophy of the Pelicans for the future. I'm not sure how a speed team will fare in the high powered Al, but it's worth a shot to see and in 3-5 seasons we might get that chance.
Grade: C

Houston Stone Cold Killers

Round	Pick	Player	Pos	Age	Cur Level
1	9	Geoffery Frank	SP	20	Potential to be a very good pitcher with 4 pitches, solid splits and excellent control. He lacks ideal velocity and might need an extra day off every few starts. His makeup will make him a slow mover through the minors without great coaching.
1	46	Andrew Rodney	2B	20	Great speed and contact. He struggles at times with decision making on the base path... He should be a .260 hitter with 10 hr and 40 sb.
1	55	Sean Hughes	1B	18	Average 1B with great contact and some power. He should be a good low power option, but in a position where offense is key he might get overlooked for a while.
3	99	Vitas Stavinoha	RP	18	Low durability and average splits versus left handers might ground him in the minors. He is skilled enough to be an ML'er if a manager wants to monitor his useable.
4	131	Joe Justice	P	20	Average pitcher who will be a swing guy with the ability to spot start. He might be a solid mop-up guy or long reliever, but he's far from ideal as a guy to count on every time. A short term replacement would be a fine role.
5	163	Gus Henderson	RP	19	Solid late inning reliever with good splits. He has the control and 2 pitches, but his average makeup will make his minor league journey a long one.

SUMMARY: Frank and Rodney are sure deal ML players. Frank is already in HiA which might be too big of a jump for a guy with his makeup, but put him with the best coaches. Hughes is a nice player but I'm not sure who will take a flier on him and give him everyday action. His price tag will become too high for his skill set in FA.
Grade: B+

Texas Tornadoes

Round	Pick	Player	Pos	Age	Cur Level
1	33	Cyrus Scelfo	SP	22	Good stamina and control, but average splits will limit him to the back of the Texas rotation. He has 3 solid pitches to work with, but his middle of the road velocity means he will have a number of balls in play. I see his makeup keeping him in the minors with a few spells in the bigs.
1	53	Harry Torres	SP	20	Solid supplemental pick up. He has good velocity and solid splits control, and stamina. He has only 2 working pitches to throw which means he will have to work in his weak sinker to keep hitters honest. I great catcher will do wonders with him.
2	88	Walter Key	RF	22	At the university of Miami, Key was a .290 hitter with middle range power and excellent speed. He should be able to carry that speed over to the major leagues, but I would expect his bat to lose both power and contact. His makeup also will make it a struggle to translate his skills to the majors.
3	121	Manuel James	SP	18	Average to below average starting pitcher. He has 3 pitches and solid control and splits. e' strictly a groundball pitcher which should help him when he has a good defense behind him on the mound
4	153	Lawrence Page	SP	21	Poor pitch selection on an otherwise solid starter. He needs to develop at least 1 of his pitches to be even a factor in AAA.
5	185	Carl Crawford	CF	22	This is not the Carl Crawford who just signed with the Boston Red Sox for millions of dollars and was the prize of the 2010 winter meetings this might be the left over ooze that rolled down Carl Crawford's mom's leg. He does have good contact. That's something to work with.

SUMMARY: solid draft, but didn't land anything special look for these guys to be role players when all is said and done.

Grade: C

NL EAST S18 Draft Review

NEW YORK DOLLS

Round	Pick	Player	Pos	Age	SUMMARY
1	17	Ernest Sutcliffe	SS	20	Great speed and projects to be a good defender. His is a slow developer and has a ways to go to make his projections, but you have to like this guy with the 17th pick
1	34	Matthew Gray	RF	21	Good base runner with 30+ sb speed. He has solid contact skills and won't strikeout a lot good traits for a leadoff man. He does struggle versus left handed pitching and will max out with 15 hr power at his prime. Still a solid late 1st round pick up.
1	41	Hughie Alexander	RF	19	Solid speed and great power, alexander also has a good batting eye, but he will struggle with good ML pitching and won't be much of an impact player. Look for him to sizzle in AAA and earn a chance to fail in the big leagues with a desperate team.
2	90	Pat Byrnes	LF	21	He has speed and good understanding of how to hit, but his skills as a hitter just don't match his brain for the game. He develops some muscle or even makes regular contact with the ball and this guy is going to impress. As is he is no one an Ml team will drool over.
3	122	Derek Roundtree	CF	22	Plus 2B defender with great speed. He has no power and below average contact. Look for him to get some platoon Abs versus left handers or come off the bench as a pinch runner in the ML someday.
4	154	J.J. Hill	RP	22	Great tweener with solid durability and stamina. He has the splits to pitch in the ML and even features 3 solid pitches. His lack of control wills scary many teams but that's why he was available in round 4.
5	186	Bo Bush	RP	21	3rd all-time of Clayton College's career save list. He has great velocity and average splits. Look for him to lean way to heavily on his 4-seamer, because he don't have much else. It worked in college to throw it by people it won't work in the big leagues.

SUMMARY: New York loaded up on speed guys with the s18 draft. New York is already built on a foundation of pitching and now they seem to be working on adding a lot of speed into the future mix. Sutcliffe will be a nice pick if given the time to develop with the right coaching. New York seems to have scored big in this draft.

GRADE: A-

Norfolk Trainwrecks

Round	Pick	Player	Pos	Age	SUMMARY
1	3	Joshua Quinn	SP	20	1st overall pitcher taken is a good one. He has 5 pitches to throw, but lacks a killer pitch to lean on. He has plus splits velocity, control and stamina. This guy is a future ace. At 20, he is still about 2 seasons away but he could start in HIA right now and work against better competition. This guy will be the face of Norfolk very soon.
1	43	David Newsome	SP	18	His slider is legendary in Russleville, AR. He has great mound presence and projects to be a solid pitcher, there is concern will his command as he was known to walk a number of batters and he never struck out a whole lot in high school. He should be expected to be a 5-7 inning 4th or 5th starter in the Majors not bad at all.
2	60	Julio Saenz	SP	19	You have to like Saenz has 2 plus pitches with strike out potential written all over him. He has above average splits and control. He isn't going to get the game done pretty all the time, but he will give you earned quality innings. My kind of grinding pitcher who will fight for his 5 innings. A wonderful add in the 2nd round.
3	93	Ben Keisler	P	20	One of the best fastballs in this year's draft, complimented by 4 other pitches makes it that much better. He has not project to be a good starter because of his stamina issues, but he might be a great closer or long reliever. He should be able to eat of the competition with his splits and control. Expect him to strikeout a number of batters with little effort.
4	125	Roosevelt Ransom	SS	18	Projects out to be a defensive whiz-kid, but he doesn't show to ability to get to those projections. It's worth the shot in the 4th round to see if you can get his defense close. He has very little bat to speak of.
5	157	Ralph Little	CF	22	Great speed and good defender University of Southern Mississippi's career stolen base leader. He doesn't project to have a ML bat, and his makeup suggests his defense never to get to a pro level either, but 5th rounders are project picks so why not!

SUMMARY: Quinn is going to be the pitcher to build the rotation around. Newsome and Saenz and Keisler should be great pieces to the puzzle of what to do with for the rotation. These guys all should be ML ready very quickly and could turn things around for Norfolk who seems to be building a pitching staff to be reckoned with.

GRADE: A

Pittsburgh Pirates

Round	Pick	Player	Pos	Age	SUMMARY
1	7	Alex Balboa	SP	18	3 great pitches matched with good splits and control are nice pieces to have. There are concerns about his low stamina and his lack of ML quality velocity, but he is crafty and should shut down the naysayers. Watch for him to be in the ML fairly quickly for an 18 year old. . I'm not sure if he will be a starter, but he will be pitching.
2	64	Ruben Mercedes	SP	20	Elite control and a sweet split fastball. He is a pure groundball pitcher which those with a good defense will love. His average splits will bring out his detractors, but look for him to be at least a part0time ML pitcher.
3	97	Onan Cho	SP	19	I love this guy in the 3rd round. If you can push him and get him the right coaching he is going to be special. Great control stamina and splits compliment 3 solid pitches. He's never going to be a multi-million dollar man but he could be the sparkplug a mean needs to get over the top. Might be the best pick in the 3rd round.
4	129	Pete Webster	SP	18	I would let him go play football; his splits don't project well enough to be in the big leagues.
5	161	Albert Pickett	P	21	Minor league starting pitcher, he's not going to be much of a footnote in the history of this league.

SUMMARY: second straight draft where the pirates played it smart and loaded up on talent. You have to love getting 3 sure pitchers in the first 3 rounds. They should have enough depth in the minors to start making some moves and filling out the depth charts for the next few seasons.
GRADE: A-

Atlanta Braves

Round	Pick	Player	Pos	Age	SUMMARY
1	12	Tony Mori	RP	20	Tony Mori could be the biggest reach in the S18 draft. He's a good player elite split, elite control strikeout velocity and 3 solid pitches, but he's got very low stamina and poor durability. He will struggle to pitch 30 innings watch every day he might get 50 innings in a stretch season and that's if he makes his projections with his average makeup. Huge risk with the 12th pick.
2	69	Turner Moreno	P	18	Solid 2nd round pick with good control and stamina 4 pitches to count on and solid splits. He will struggle some against left handed batters, but should still be valuable in the rotation. He should strikeout a number of guys in in trek through the league.
3	102	Adam Fick	P	22	Average pitches, below average splits, but good stamina and control will make him a minor league monster without Big league hopes.
4	134	Julio Cruz	RF	21	2 tool prospect with power and speed, but don't count on a high batting average or anything fewer than 120 strikeouts a season. I think a batting line of .204/25hr/15sb/162so might be expected. I don't think I could stomach it probably an AAA guy.
5	166	Steve Corbin	3B	20	Part 2 of the bash brother's combo for Atlanta. He is going to strike out less than Cruz, but still will bat around .210 with home run power

SUMMARY: I think Atlanta wasted their 1^st round pick on Mori, but only time will tell what kind of player he becomes. My biggest issue is going to be his lack of trade value if Atlanta changes directions and Mori is out. Moreno is a nice pick up and saves an otherwise poor draft.
GRADE: C-