AL EAST S16 Draft Review

Chicago Wolves

Round	Pick	Player	Pos	SUMMARY
1	25	Bryan Decker	SP	Mixed feelings on Decker's ML chances. He has great stamina and in the very least will eat a ton of innings in his time, but he will be a mixed bag on the mound with his average splits and makeup. He does bring with him a pair of good pitches in his Fastball and Slider. His velocity should make up for some of his hit ability on the mound; I think he should have dropped a little more in the draft.
1	51	Sandy Evers	SP	Junior College flamer, Evers constantly throws at 100+ MPH and harnesses 2 major pitches in his Forkball (best my scouts have seen) and his Curve. His control can be trying at times, but holy smokes he's throwing it 100+ MPH. That's a lot of power to harness. I love this pick deep in the 1st round.
2	80	Grady Powell	1B	Solid 1st baseman with a plus bat, but average understanding of how to swing the bat. He will put on the ball in play more times than not, but he has a tendency to hit it at players and create outs.
3	112	Toby Brooks	SP	Poor splits will keep him from making it out of the minors; he's a career minor leaguer that should eat many innings a season.
4	144	Willie Green	2B	He's fast, but does offer enough at the plate or in the field to earn a spot on the big league roster.
5	176	Luther Jones	2B	Mr. Average. He should average .265 with 12 hr and 35 rbi in the minors for his career.

GRADE: C+
SUMMARY: The bright spot might be taking a flyer on Sandy Evers. If he develops into a more polished pitcher and maximized his low control, you could have a great player on your hands for the future. The rest of the draft will be a wait and see if they even make the league in 4 years.

Burlington Ice Storm

Round	Pick	Player	Pos	SUMMARY
1	17	David Gardner	3B	Developed college 3B, he has issues with the strike zone and will whiff more than average, but what do you expect from your new power hitting 3B. He's a less powerful Ivan Spehrs. Not too bad with the 17th pick.
2	71	Virgil Rivers	RP	7M for a college reliever. He has 2 pitches and great control, but average to below average splits. He's not going to sign and that's for the best.-
3	104	Coco Neal	2B	He's fast with precision base running. His contact is also very good. At 5'6" and 172 LBs he has a DI football scholarship on the table. Those Wacky MAC teams and their love for undersized guys. 4.1M might be too steep for his talent.
4	136	Stuart Thurman	SS	6M for a college SS who can't field at the Major League level and can't hit at one either. See you next year on the collegiate diamond.
5	168	Rodrigo Johnson	P	Average splits without a solid go to pitch to dazzle the batters with isn't going to lead to much success on the diamond. He's a good pick up in the 5th round but most likely does not have a ML future.

SUMMARY: Gardner is the signature signing for the storm in this draft; everything that came after him is pure junk and was huge reaches for guys who will not sign. It will cost Burlington not only in the grade, but in the hole in the draft class as a result of so many no signs.
GRADE: C-

Washington Old School Warriors

Round	Pick	Player	Pos	SUMMARY
1	16	Antonio Vaughn	RP	Top end reliever with good control and splits He is very close to ML ready maybe 2 seasons in the minors with the right coaching and training. His biggest hang-ups are his lack of strikeout velocity and only 2 pitches in his repertoire. Sill should be a solid Setup guy.
2	70	Joe Hausmann	SP	Could be a huge minor league inning eater, he might get a ML shot, but has no staying power with only 1 plus pitch and an average curve to lean on. His splits tell me he will get rocked at times by hitter.
3	103	Fred Kramer	SP	See above basically the same guy but with more crappy pitches to chose from
4	135	Walt Harrison	P	NOT SCOUTED wants 1.9M so I assume signing issues.
5	167	Achilles Sheridan	SP	Junk splits on a minor league career pitcher.

SUMMARY: They did the right thing and targeted all College guys so they could get guys in the action quick. The problem is they only picked up one capable guy in the 1^st 5 rounds; this was not a good draft for Washington.
GRADE: C-

Durham Bulls

Round	Pick	Player	Pos	SUMMARY
1	3	Emmanuel Horton	LF	Top end College Outfield. Horton hits with good contact and power and is lightning quick on the base path. He is a great selection at the top of the draft and should immediately contribute. Already in AA, he has suffered a huge injury with his back, which might cost him a season of development.
2	57	J.C. Leon	SS	Slick fielding college Shortstop, he can contribute a little at the plate, but his defense is #1 tool. Poor makeup might keep him from making it that far. It will take patience and training to get him there.
3	90	Bernie Manzanillo	SS	Average Hitter with above average speed, his defense will be a weak option at SS much better at 3B. Probably not suited well enough for the big leagues
4	122	Hal Holt	SP	Not enough natural talent to carry him out of the minor leagues. He lacks above average splits and better than 3 above average pitches. Great velocity though.
5	154	Davey Mahomes	CF	Great defender with solid contact and batting eye. He is also loaded with speed just struggles to turn that in to effective base running. Not a bad pick in the 5th round, but not ML caliber.

SUMMARY: Overall a successful draft. They picked up a future all-star and a good defensive Shortstop and Center fielder. Not a bad haul for the draft this season.
GRADE: A-