Monday, February 16, 2009

Season 11 Draft Recap - NL East

NL East

Jerome Mancuso
Atlanta
Pitbulls
Age: 18B/T: S/L
Born: Norwalk, CT
Position(s): LF/1B/DH
View Hardball Dynasty Profile

Atlanta Pitbulls
--Picking at #13, the Pitbulls selected offensive powerhouse LF Jerome Mancuso, who is good across the board at the plate, with superior range, glove, and durability for the LF position. Mancuso is a potential all star if he develops, and has enough power to hit 30+ HR's a season in addition to his projected .300 yearly average. The Pitbulls only other early round pick was 5th round selection SS Ron Henry. Henry has a potential gold glove, and isn't horrible at the plate, making this a steal of a pick for the 5th round. All told, Atlanta made the most of their two picks, selecting one future all star and a valuable role player who both should feature on the ML squad at some point.
Grade: A-

Howard Hughes
St. Louis
HoundDogs
Age: 21B/T: S/R
Born: Edgard, LA
Position(s): P (SP1)
View Hardball Dynasty Profile

St. Louis HoundDogs
--The HoundDogs used the #21 pick on multibazillionaire aviation fanatic and ice cream fiend SP Howard Hughes, who is also notorious for his incredible stamina, splits, decent control, and great GB/FB ratio. Hughes does have a weak point, and that is his pitch selection, holding only 3 pitches, projected to 76, 53, & 33 respectively. Supplemental round pick C Greg Salazar is a great find, with capable defensive skills and a bat that just absolutely owns left handed pitching. 2nd round pick SS Chris Paquette has what is probably the best glove in this draft class, and should make the bigs on it's merits alone, even if he isn't very strong at the plate. The rest of the HoundDogs draft featured some minor league filler, but still, the top 3 picks for St. Louis could all be ML regulars, which is a pretty nice haul.
Grade: A-

Eddie Bird
Syracuse
Beagles
Age: 18B/T: R/R
Born: Abingdon, IL
Position(s): 1B/DH
View Hardball Dynasty Profile

Syracuse Beagles
--The Beagles picked at #30 this season, and used that pick on 1B Eddie Bird, a solid hitter who projects to produce similar numbers to current major leaguer Walter Stewart. He's good vs. lefties, has a good eye and good enough power to justify a spot at 1B. He won't be able to play 160 games, but should be good for 120 if he is used correctly. Supplemental pick SP Nate Cooke has ML potential as well, with good control, splits vs. righties, and an electrifying first pitch. 2B Willie Pryce, 1B Trenidad Montero, and 3B Dustin Hooper are very good AAAA players who might not be able to make it on the talented Beagles roster, but could have a place in another teams lineup. Syracuse had another solid draft with 5 good players who all have ML potential to some degree, even if none of them will ever be all stars.
Grade: B+

Russ Goodwin
Wichita
Wankers
Age: 22B/T: R/R
Born: Vienna, OH
Position(s): P (SuA)
View Hardball Dynasty Profile

Wichita Wankers
--The Wankers used the #17 pick in the draft on talented RP Russ Goodwin, who has good stamina for a reliever, superb control, great splits and velocity, and 3 good pitches. He gives up a few more flyballs than you would like to see in a RP, but is still talented enough to be the centerpiece of most ML bullpens if he develops fully. #28 pick SS George Sears is also a bona fide ML prospect, with a capable glove and good hitting skills for the position. Supplemental pick SP Vicente Soto could be an ML regular if his splits fully mature, as his pitch selection is incredible, and might be enough to offset his lack of movement. Supplemental round pick C Ross Carsone is a little below average defensively for a C, but his bat is excellent, with great skills vs. right handed pitching, and a great eye. He might be better suited as a DH, but does have ML potential. Supplemental round pick LF Bryan Tartabull also has ML potential based on the ability of his bat vs. right handed pitching. 2nd round pick William Westmoreland was a steal for the pick with a decent ML bat and range and a glove that could actually allow him to excel at the CF position. Also notable is 5th round pick SS Andrew Moss, whose glove is almost as good as the HoundDogs pick Paquette. This was probably the best draft in the class this year, with quite the haul of ML prospects.
Grade: A+

No comments: