TOLEDO HOLY
1 | 29 | RP | 18 | Solid pickup in the elate 1st round. Rothchild should be a mainstay as a Setup A type performer. With good control and excellent splits he brings with his 3 solid pitches to hurl at the hitters. Poor velocity is only real knock as a ML closer. | |
1 | 37 | SS | 18 | Great defender with a solid contact bat. He has no power to speed of and no speed. His defense should be what gets him into the league. His poor makeup will keep him from ever realizing his Ml dreams. | |
2 | 69 | LF | 18 | Great contact and great speed. He is a solid leadoff hitter, not much power but a guy that should get on base pretty regularly. He struggles against left handed pitching. | |
2 | 84 | RP | 19 | Poor splits on an inning eating bullpen guy he is the perfect AAA hurler to get you a few long outing of relief and charge back and do it again in a few days. | |
3 | 116 | RP | 19 | 4 pitches and good control and splits. He might make a decent ML closer one day if someone wants to give him a try in that role. With poor durability you can't truly exploit is good stamina for a reliever. | |
4 | 148 | RP | 18 | Poor left handed split and only 2 pitches as a reliever. He will be a middle of the road pitcher. He might get some Ml action, but it will be sparse and he will be hardly a footnote in the history of the game. | |
5 | 180 | SP | 20 | Poor splits and less than stellar pitch selection should kill him before AAA. |
SUMMARY: The Toledo farm system is in pretty poor shape. They have traded away much of their talented Farm hands to amass a great and powerful ML team. They have a few Minor League Relievers, but not much depth at any positions. Their best picks in this draft were of course relief pitching. Drafting late in each round usually that is all that is available for easy ML picking, but you would still expect Toledo to concentrate on gathering a few hitting upgrades to balance their system. Or pick up a few solid starters to groom. Instead of this Toledo landed 4 Relief pitches in their top 7 picks. The positional players they landed should be okay if Toledo has patience with them, an attribute Toledo has not shown in his Farm management. A disappointing draft all around
Grade: D+
Madison Massa's
1 | 23 | 2B | 18 | Good speed, but a power base runner, great contact and power but average batting splits, I huge reach with this pick for Madison. They could have scored much better than this. | |
1 | 24 | RF | 18 | Great speed and contact. He should be a solid major leaguer and a better selection than Joe Owens 1 pick earlier. | |
1 | 31 | 2B | 22 | Another Lf who has a good, but poor batting splits. Definitely not a 2B in the ML. | |
1 | 35 | RP | 18 | Long reliever with good splits and control, 2 plus pitches with 3 average pitches to throw. His stamina keeps him from going sooner but he should be a solid ML pitcher. | |
1 | 39 | 3B | 18 | Might be a weak option at 3B, better suited for RF/LF he has good power and batting splits but lacks real solid contact. He might max out with a .260 batting average for his career. | |
1 | 40 | RP | 22 | Developed reliever with great control and 3 pitches including 1 elite level changeup to lean on. He has solid splits, but will struggle to pitch to good left handers. | |
1 | 41 | 2B | 18 | All sped and contact, he lacks Ml splits and might be better defensively in the outfield. He's going to strike out more than the Massa's will like and he has extremely low makeup. | |
2 | 61 | SP | 18 | Solid pickup in the 2nd round. Melville has 3 pitches solid splits and good control. He should be a bottom of the rotation type pitcher and could have a solid career in that role. | |
2 | 78 | C | 21 | Better DH than putting him I the field. The boy can hit at the major league level, but without a position his value is probably right in the 2nd round. | |
3 | 98 | CF | 20 | Lacks the fielding to be patrolling CF, but maybe LF he has above average contact and a solid right hitting split to lean on along with his good speed. Not sure what his ML chances are. He is at best a 4A player. | |
3 | 110 | RP | 18 | Solid overall reliever he has elite control and 2 great pitches, but lacks a strong presence against right handers which might keep him from having too much success in the league. | |
4 | 142 | SS | 22 | Below average bat and glove, Might be an okay Minor league 3B but not much hope for a ML career. | |
5 | 174 | SS | 20 | Above average power, but below average everywhere else. Poor SS, better at 3B. |
SUMMARY: A lot like Toledo in that they have trade away much of their farm system to maintain a strong ML club. They are slightly better off in depth, but they still could use players in almost every position, but even greater needs exist in the Starting pitching ranks. With 7 1st round picks Madison you would think should have been able to fill a few needs. They did not do such a great job filling those needs. Owens, Turner, Strickland, Garland, and Fletcher are all basically reincarnations of the same player over and over. None can play regularly outside of the corner outfields or 1B. That's 5 out of 7 picks filling basically the same position. Forrester is a solid reliever and Melville in the 2nd round should be a decent enough Ml prospect. Overall Madison's scouts seem to miss the class on how to evaluate fielding talent and they should be reevaluated before next draft.
Grade: C
NEW YORK BOMBERS
1 | 52 | RP | 18 | Scouting says he has one of the best projected sinkers in the league. A solid overall reliever with 2 pitches, good splits and great control. His durability is below average with his low stamina. A watchful manager is needed to keep him injury free and ML ready. | |
2 | 81 | SP | 19 | Solid Changeup with great strike out potential, He has 3 additional average pitches and above average splits. His control is below average and will make him a bit more of a wild card to make it regularly in the Majors. | |
3 | 113 | 2B | 18 | NOT SCOUTED LOOKING FOR 6.5M | |
4 | 145 | P | 18 | Looking for 6.5M and really wants to go to college, with his scouting report I would let him go to college. | |
5 | 177 | LF | 22 | Good hitter with a poor right/left hand understanding. As a 1B he doesn't offer as much defense to get him a consistent ML contract. |
SUMMARY: Unlike the other division contenders, Bernie has been able to build his team evenly contending without selling the farm away. The bombers have a solid group of talent in the minors they can build off of. They should have used this draft to gather another starting pitching option, Maybe a future catcher and expand player depth. For season 16, the Bomber's did a good job with their picks considering their 1st pick was not until deep in round 1. Kelvin Shaw should be a solid ML pick up in a few seasons. Wathan is a good late 2nd rounder, he might not be a major league regular, but he could keep a minor league staff anchored for a long while. 5th rounder Merritt might be a solid late 5th round pick up. Overall a solid draft even with 2 guys who have signing issues.
Grade: B
Minnesota Wogeban's
1 | 5 | RF | 21 | Solid Ml quality hitter well developed with great speed. His speed is negated by his poor base running. He should be an above average ML player, but maybe e reach with the 1st 5 picks. | |
1 | 43 | RF | 20 | Weak swing against left handers, but otherwise he has Ml talent. Good power and contact. With his excellent makeup he should be a sure thing to make his projections. | |
2 | 59 | SP | 19 | Average Splits on an otherwise solid pitcher. His pitch selection is overall above average, He is destine to burn out in AAA. | |
3 | 92 | CF | 20 | Good 2nd baseman with solid speed, but nothing more than an average bat to offer at the Ml level. A good 3rd rounder but no likely to have a great Ml career ahead of him. | |
4 | 124 | CF | 19 | Another fast 2B candidate. He has no offensive bat and is basically just a speed guy. | |
5 | 156 | SP | 21 | Minor League inning eater. |
SUMMARY: Solid Farm system with some great prospects crawling up through the system. They can always use more though. Possible a few starting pitchers to solidify the pitching staff for the future. In S16 They might have over reached to get Herm Young who is a solid Ml option, but not a superstar that teams need to get with a top 5 pick. Billy Shea who came late in the 1st round might be almost as good when it's all said and done. His makeup and already established skills should allow him to blow through the minors quickly. Outside the 1st round they did not pick up to much talent. Solid 1st round, but tailed off after that.
Grade: C+
