AL SOUTH S11 Draft Review

Houston Colt .45's

Needs from the draft: 1: 3B 2: SS 3: LF/RF

Round	Pick	Player	Pos	Age	Back- ground	Contract	Bonus	SUMMARY
1	14	J.C. Stokes	CF	18	HS	MILB	$2,790K	Defensive wizard in center field and a solid lead off candidate. Stokes has little power but big wheels.
2	60	Al Scheppers	SP	21	COL	MILB	$550K	4A guy whose bound to get a few call ups and be released a million times before he retires. Poor splits and limited pitch skill will doom him.
3	92	Andres James	SS	18	HS	---	---	Better suited for 3B or OF. James is a solid hitter and an above average runner. He struggles against left handers so his role might be reduced. He has Pro skills for someone though.
4	124	Kyle Wasdin	SP	21	COL	---	---	If he does not go back to college, Houston was desperate for pitching.
5	156	Stretch May	SP	19	JC	MILB	$250K	CAREER MINOR LEAGUER

Summary: The Colts did alright, but did not address their needs until the 3^rd round and had to many throw away picks. Scheppers was a reach.
Grade: C

Oklahoma City Chickens
Needs from the draft: LF, CF, RP, SS

Round	Pick	Player	Pos	Age	Back- ground	Contract	Bonus	SUMMARY
1	23	Joel Perry	SP	21	COL	MILB	$1,940K	Pretty polished college starter. He projects to be a bottom of the rotation guy with solid control and above average splits and 3 plus pitches. More of a grinder than a star.
1	30	Skeeter Nelson	RP	20	JC	MILB	$1,290K	I like Skeeter Nelson's type. A rubber armed reliever who will give you 100+ inning out of the pen. He has 2 good pitches and bring about many ground balls. His splits are only slighty above average, but he is quite polished already..
1	34	Daniel Burnett	RF	21	COL	MILB	$960K	A true grinder, suited for 1B. Burnett is not going to do a whole particularly well, but he isn't going to hurt you either. He is very weak against left handed pitching.
1	36	Stephen Smith	SP	20	JC	MILB	$880K	Marginal splits will limit Smith to a ho-hum career. With only 1 plus pitch and a few other average ones he is not going to go far in this league.
2	74	Ramon Yoshii	SS	22	COL	---	---	Looking for 7.5M. and that's all I need to know.
2	76	Jade Lemon	SP	18	HS	MILB	$550K	CAREER MINOR LEAGUER
3	108	Wallace Douglas	P	21	COL	MILB	$425K	CAREER MINOR LEAGUER
4	140	Gene Stone	SS	19	JC	MILB	$350K	Not a shortstop at all, and while we are talking about things he's not, He's not a ML'er either.
5	172	Kevin Shields	SS	19	JC	MILB	$250K	CAREER MINOR LEAGUER.

Summary: You hope to get more when you have this many 1^st round picks. The Chicken's did get a great reliver and a solid starter for their pitching. They fell apart in the later rounds and really never recovered. Maybe Next year
Grade: C+

Charlotte Winstons
Needs from the draft: 3B, RP, LF/RF

Round	Pick	Player	Pos	Age	Back- ground	Contract	Bonus	SUMMERY
1	16	David Delgado	CF	19	JC	---	---	Delgado would be a great CF in the mold of Spehr, it is a shame he probably will never sign. He does have power and plus speed to offer if he does one day patrol the center field.
2	62	Brad Robertson	SP	21	COL	MILB	$550K	4 solid pitches but a rough time against Right Handers might keep him in the Minor Leagues for a long time. Robertson even if he learned to pitch to the right handers would project to be a bottom of the rotation guy.
3	94	Jackson Tanner	SP	20	JC	---	---	Loves the college ladies and probably will never leave them. He's a 4A type pitcher any how. So no big loss. Unless you count the blown draft pick.
4	126	Bryant Shaw	CF	19	JC	MILB	$350K	He does have some speed and base running, but not enough to make it out of the minors.
5	158	Jon Adams	RP	21	COL	MILB	$250K	CAREER MINOR LEAGUER

Summary: I hate to give failing grades, but Charlotte seems to have blown this draft everyway I can imagine. 2 unsignables. Marginal Pro talent. And didn't even address their areas of need.
Grade: F

Louisville Loud Mouths-
Needs from the draft: 3B, CF, RP

Round	Pick	Player	Pos	Age	Back- ground	Contract	Bonus	SUMMARY
1	17	Antonio Guerrero	3B	18	HS	---	---	NOT SCOUTED
2	63	Blake Purcell	1B	20	JC	---	---	Superstar quality 1B with a major signing issue. He can hit and runs above average.
3	95	Orval Minor	SP	18	HS	MILB	$425K	Career MINOR LEAGUER
4	127	Jay Harris	SP	20	JC	MILB	$350K	Career MINOR LEAGUER
5	159	Pete Herndon	SP	22	COL	MILB	$250K	Of the 3 pitchers taken he has the best shot of making the majors, for a very desperate team.

Summary: INC

Grade: INC

NL NORTH S11 DRAFT REVIEW

Philadelphia Balboas

Needs from the draft: 3B, CF, RP

Round	Pick	Player	Pos	Age	Back- ground	Contract	Bonus	SUMMARY
1	21	J.P. Ordonez	RP	19	JC	MILB	$2,000K	High talent reliever, but lacks the durability to give you back to back days of work. He has dominant left/right splits and excellent control to harness his 3 plus pitches.
2	67	Jay Shannon	SP	18	HS	---	---	He's going to college, but he also has 7M demands. He has great control and stamina but struggles against lefties. He really has no strong pitching.
3	99	Floyd Ball	SP	18	HS	MILB	$425K	Solid middle of the rotation type. He has 1 great pitch complimented by 2 plus pitches. Above average control and a pension for the ground ball are all good signs for a ML career.
4	131	Red Felsen	SS	22	COL	---	---	Above average runner and a below average hitter. You might be able to hid his defense in the outfield, but he's no SS.
5	163	Bruce Long	SP	20	JC	---	---	Career Minor Leaguer

Summary: Filled their need in the Bullpen, but took a lot of risks in picks and got burned too much. 2 Solid Ml'er is not all bad for a draft, just wish they would have addressed their biggest areas of need in the field.

Grade: C+

Cincinnati Bowties
Needs from the draft: LF, CF, 3B

Round	Pick	Player	Pos	Age	Back- ground	Contract	Bonus	SUMMARY
1	27	Dave Torres	RP	18	HS	---	---	Solid bullpen guy. He has 2 great pitches with solid control and plus durability. He is a bit of a soft thrower and does not induce a lot of ground balls.
2	73	Kip Webster	SP	18	HS	---	---	Middle of the road pitcher, he has the pitches to compete in the league, but lacks a superior right/left combination.
3	105	Marty Golub	SP	18	HS	MILB	$405K	Career Minor Leaguer with poor splits.
4	137	L.J. Irwin	SP	18	HS	MILB w/STI	$290K	Bottom of the rotation starter. He needs to improve his splits to make it in the league. Right now he is a 4A type pitcher.
5	169	Andrew Matthews	LF	21	COL	MILB w/STI	$230K	No power, poor eyes, but good hitting splits. HE is an average fielder. Who is most likely going to die out in AAA.

Summary: Needed to solidify their hitting ranks and they didn't again with this draft. Torres has good value, but without guys fielding behind him he is going to be a lost cause in Cinci.

Grade: C-

Seattle Warbirds
Needs from the draft: 1: CF 2 SS 3: SP

Round	Pick	Player	Pos	Age	Back- ground	Contract	Bonus	SUMMARY
1	4	Bert Sosa	RP	19	JC	MILB	$3,720K	Could be the biggest reach of the 1st round. Sosa is at best a late 1st rounder at worst a late 2nd rounder. Mid range stamina will limit him to long relieve or a tandem role for his career. He has 4 above average to elite pitches and great control. He also has major league quality splits.
2	50	Dan Schmidt	SS	20	JC	MILB	$550K	Defensive superstar with a below average overall bat. He has almost no power and poor batting eye, but should still make a ML roster someday if he makes his fielding projections.
3	82	Jay Patrick	SS	18	HS	---	---	Better suited for 3B than SS. Jay is an all-out power hitter who strikes out as much as he will get hits. He is most likely destined to ground out in AAA with a few call-ups to the bigs.
4	114	Burt Swan	SP	20	JC	MILB	$350K	4A type starter, He has 4 solid pitches but with middle of road splits he has little staying power in the majors.
5	146	Oswaldo Vallarta	P	21	COL	---	---	CAREER MINOR LEAGUER

Summary: Tried to add Pitching and SS help. So Seattle made a good attempt to fill their holes, they just in my opinion blew their top pick. Sosa will have a solid ML career, but I think his role will be limited. Time for him to prove me wrong.

Grade: D-

Milwaukee Blue Stockings

Needs from the draft: SS, 3B, RP

Round	Pick	Player	Pos	Age	Back- ground	Contract	Bonus	Summary
1	6	Preston Guerrero	RP	18	HS	MILB	$3,540K	Guerrero is a huge reach with the stockings 1st pick. He has the splits, control and 2 elite pitches to make him a major leaguer, but with low stamina and poor durability, he is not going to be an everyday option in the bullpen. If used right and maintained he will have a great career, but that's a huge IF.
2	52	Joey Owens	RP	18	HS	MILB	$550K	Excellent Long Reliever who has the tools to succeed. Great splits and solid pitch selection compliment his pinpoint control. At 18 he is very developed.
3	84	Al Richards	1B	18	HS	MILB	$425K	Nice slap hitting 1B, similar to a Kevin Millar he will probably pound out 15-20 homeruns but have a .300 average.
4	116	Jeremy Lowery	RP	20	JC	MILB	$350K	Nice value find in the 4th round. Lowery is a great example of a long reliever in the Majors. Solid Splits and 3 great pitches to go with plus control.
5	148	Ozzie Christman	RF	18	HS	MILB	$250K	Speedy corner outfield with a poor batting eye, but otherwise a great 5th round pick. Christman will never be a superstar, but should provide a spark for short spurts.

Summary: With the exception of the 1^st pick, I like the Blue's draft. Guerrero will be a fine player I just think he went to high for his talent level. The Blues also neglected their biggest needs at SS and 3B in lew of pitching. I will not condemn the decision with the talent they did draw in the late rounds, but they will need to address those positions sooner rather than later.

Grade: B+