Baseball America's Conor Glassey posted a draft overview yesterday, and it appears to be free to all. A few highlights:
- Anthony Rendon, Gerrit Cole, Danny Hultzen, Francisco Lindor, and Bubba Starling are in the Pirates' mix for the first overall pick, writes Glassey. Pirates scouting director Greg Smith told Glassey he's more prepared for this first overall pick than he was when he drafted Matt Anderson with the Tigers in 1997. There is no obvious number one overall talent, in Glassey's opinion. High school pitcher Dylan Bundy could be a longshot for first overall, writes Baseball Prospectus' Kevin Goldstein in this free article. Goldstein also ranks his top 20, so be sure to check that out.
- One NL scouting director told Glassey he hasn't seen this kind of depth in a draft at any point in the 2000s. This draft features a lot of high-velocity pitchers, though it's light on impact college bats and up-the-middle players. Glassey notes that "many premium players are from non-traditional states." One such example a little further down the draft might be Ben Roberts, a high school outfielder out of Montana who participated in his first showcase recently.
- 2011 could be the last year without a hard slotting system, prompting some to assume teams will go crazy spending. One NL scouting director Glassey spoke to expressed skepticism about that possibility.
- Rays scouting director R.J. Harrison echoes the velocity sentiment in this Bill Chastain article for MLB.com: "This is the most guys I've ever seen who are throwing mid-90s." The Rays have 12 picks between #24 and #89, and Rays executive vice president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman told Chastain the team has "planned in advance for this Draft and the expected financial outlay for this many players in the top of the Draft."
“Rays executive vice president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman told Chastain the team has “planned in advance for this Draft and the expected financial outlay for this many players in the top of the Draft.”
Crap.
Odds for top Farm System in 2013:
Rays -400
Field +380
I do not understand gambling jokes! I bought a scratch ticket once and I dropped $4.50 on a slot machine this one time, that’s the extent of my gambling experience.
I don’t gamble either, just thought basic odds were pretty common knowledge in the sports world, I guess not.
How about this? Looks like there’s a good chance the Rays will have the top farm system before long.
That may be true but unless the Royals graduate a few more players they’ll have something to say about it.
By 2013 the Royals will have one of the better MLB teams, but their farm system will take a hit. But that is a good thing, that’s what the system is there for.
No i think you’re right. Just playing devil’s advocate. One thing to look out for is that the Rays will likely sign players for right at slot, forgoing talent perhaps. If that’s the case, the Blue Jays (who also have a tone of picks) could have a better draft because of their monetary limitations (or lack thereof compared to the Rays).
I just hope there’s a few left over scraps when it comes time for the White Sox to pick.
kenny williams can’t wait for trading picks to be endorsed by the league so he can just get it over with beforehand
woohoo draft post. do it again!
Kevin Goldstein’s piece just reaffirmed my position that if Bundy is there at 4 and the O’s don’t take him I’m throwing my TV out the window.
The Rays are the one team you cannot hate for not spending money on FA because they draft really well and develop their players to the point that they have a quality product on the field, I really believe every low market team should take note of how the Rays operate baseball, this is their version of money ball, and it seems to be working out well, just not good at bringing fans to the stadium.