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Sioux Falls Corn Cleats
--The Corn Cleats had a host of late round and supplemental picks in this years draft, the first one being SP Albert Kimbrel. Kimbrel was a very good selection at #23, with devastating splits and a great pitch selection, with control good enough to get it done. Supplemental picks Cliff Reynolds and Russell Hood are nearly carbon copies of each other, both SPs with near perfect control, good splits, and good pitches, and high durability for a starter. Both should be good ML starters. Suppelemental pick C Torey Corino is a very good slugging backstop, who is solid defensively and very good at the plate. 2nd round pick 1B Carlos Gonzalez is a pretty good hitter too, very similar in skill set to current ML 1B Tito Shigetoshi. The Rest of the Cleats draft yielded some solid minor leaguers, but nothing to write home about. This was a very good draft for Sioux Falls, yielding 4 legitimate ML starters and one potential starter.
Grade: A
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Syracuse Beagles
--With the #22 pick in the draft the Beagles selected SP Ricardo Roque, a talented but erratic starter with great pitches, velocity, and GB/FB abilities, but average splits and suspect control. He could be effective despite his wildness, but you would like to see slightly better splits and control for a pick at this position in the draft. At #34 the Beagles took C Bernie Martin, probably the best hitting catcher in the draft this year, which was a very good value pick. Supplemental pick RP Ricardo Espinosa has some talent, but his flaws are such that he might struggle in the majors. 2nd round pick 1B Jerome Newsome was a good value pick as well, as he can hit the ball very well, even if his power isn't the best. The Beagles got some good talent in the draft, although their early picks probably weren't as successful as they would have hoped.
Grade: B
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Tacoma Jerry Gang
--The Jerry Gang took their 1st round pick at #30 with CF Stuart Fischer, a very talented defensive CF who will fit the Tacoma park like a glove. With his superior range and glove, and impressive batting eye and speed, he should be a perfect leadoff man for the the Jerry Gang. His health is a bit of a worry though, one big injury and he is on the road to Wiki Vasquez land. The rest of Tacomas draft yielded some very solid defensive players, like CF Andre Brunson and C Luis Ordaz, but not much else otherwise. Fischer is talented but risky, and is pretty much the only legitimate ML starter in this years draft for Tacoma.
Grade: C+
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Toronto Blue Jays
--The Blue Jays continued to bulk up their hitting prospects with the selection of SS Ugueth Pelaez. Pelaez is a very solid hitter across the board, and should put up respectable numbers in the bigs. His range will probably limit him to 3B at the ML level, but all of his other fielding skills are superb. 2nd round pick SP Chris Charles could be a pretty good long reliever in the majors, as could 3rd rounder Tony Randall. After that it was just some good minor league pitchers for Toronto. But the selection of Pelaez filled a need for the Jays, and he should be on the ML team in a season or two, so the effect will be soon felt.
Grade: B+
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Trenton Lions
--With the #2 pick in the draft, you don't normally see a reliever selected. But Malcom Tucker is a special case, as he projects to be as good or better than Kirk White, which is saying quite a lot. There isn't anything not to like about Tucker who is pretty much as good as you can get in every important skill. The rest of the Trenton draft wasn't too impressive, but you have to like what Tucker will bring to the team once he reaches the majors, as he is a special kind of reliever who only comes along once every 10 years or so.
Grade: A-
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Vancouver Grizzlies
--The Grizzlies drafted RF Braden Nitkowski at #17 overall in the draft. He projects to be very similar to Tacoma RF Tony Arnold, who the Times Herald mistakenly dissed in a previous draft recap. We won't make that same mistake again, and fully expect Nitkowski to be a very good pro, who can hit for average and plays good defense. Supplemental pick 2B Joey Parkers is a very nice prospect as well, and hits the ball nicely and plays average defense for 2B. Supplemental pick CF Mac Price is a talented defensive CF who suffers at the plate but some how has a superb batting eye, so he could be an effective pro as well. After that there isn't much in the Vancouver draft. Still, they netted three intriguing prospects who could contribute at the ML level, which is harder to do than one might think.
Grade: B+
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Wichita Wankers
--With the #26 pick in the draft the Wankers selected SP Yorrick Rowan, a talented SP with above average ratings across the board. He doesn't project to be truly elite in any one category, but isn't weak in any category either. He should be very effective in the Wichita ballpark. Supplemental pick RP Charlie Spivey is a dog however, with pathetic control and splits, and probably won't make it past HiA ball, and Wichita probably wishes they had that one back. In fact, the next two picks were pitchers who probably won't amount to much either. But the Wankers made up for it with 4th round pick C Alan Robertson, a very nice prospect who can really hit the ball well and is quite adept at getting on base. He's ok but not outstanding defensively as well. This was an ok draft in the end for Wichita, but they really could have done better with their pick at #51.
Grade: C+
