Season 7 Draft Analysis

Round

1 New York(A) Hank Gonzalez, RP 458 (4/4/4) 19
The first overall pick and not a SP makes this a little surprising on past results, however its very difficult to argue a 12 star 450+FB pick, and im not going to, Gonzalez has everything needed to be a true stud in the future, and i fully expect him to become one of the best RP's in the game.

2 Arizona Bernie Swormstedt, SP 480 (3/3/4) 20
Swormstedt's great fastball is slightly off set by his not quite as good breaking ball and changeup, however with development as it is Bernie looks destined for great things in the future, he needs to work on his stuff to achieve true stardom, Botting (pick #4) may have been a better choice, but Swormstedt has a better upside, time will tell if this upside is realised.

3 Kansas City Billy Reynolds, RP 433 (4/4/4) 19
Another 12 star RP, Reynolds doesnt have quite the same zip in his fastball as Gonzalez, but there is more than enough there to make him a top player in the future, slightly strange for another RP to have gone this early, but with Reynolds quality this is a good pick.

4 Minnesota Floyd Botting, SP 451 (3/4/4) 21
Very solid choice, i expected Botting, who is in my opinion the best SP in the draft to have gone higher than 4 (not that you can get much higher), a solid fastball is backed up by great control and changeup, his breaking ball needs a little work, but Botting has the tools to be a big success in the majors.

5 New York(N) Gary Mowry, OF 382 (4/4/4) 17
Mowry is very young and has all the hitting ability needed to become a great player, he has decent if not explosive speed, there were still one or two pitchers available as well as power hitters with great speed, never the less Mowry is solid enough to warrant a high pick.

6 Cleveland Pete Hubbell, RP 438 (3/4/4) 19
Another very solid RP, as with Botting its Hubbells breaking ball that needs some work, if he does that then there is nothing stopping Hubbell being a top RP.

7 San Diego J. T. Cruz, 2B 317 (4/4/4) 22
Pick no.7 and still waiting for the fisrt bad one, Cruz isnt that, he's not the youngest or the fastest, however to critisise a 12 star 2B would be harsh, there may have been some slightly better options, but Cruz looks like being a top player at an improtant position.

8 Philadelphia Paul Buskey, 1B 484 (4/4/2) 23
The only draw back to Buskey is his age, at 23 he isnt going to have the longest ML career when he gets there, however with great power and the ability to make contact Buskey is very solid, add to that his excellent speed and you have a very dangerous hitter in the making.

9 Florida Si Peckinpaugh, SP 478 (4/1/4) 20
Finally a not so good pick delivered by Florida, Peckingpaugh has 3 very good aspects, his fastball is very good, his breaking ball has great potential and he can spot his pitches, however his changeup is awful and at some stage he is going to have to use his changeup, and when he does hitters are going to hit it, Peckinpaugh needs to work very hard on his changeup to have any success.

10 Colorado Dave Cerv, 1B 422 (4/4/3) 19
Cerv is very solid in all aspects, he runs well hits for both power and average and can even find the gap fairly well, a solid pick here.

11 Chicago(N) Rich Vickery, SP 469 (2/4/4) 20
Vickery is a boderline first round pick, theres no doubting he has potential, his fastball is solid and he spots his pitches well, Vickery's weakness is his breaking ball which needs quite alot of work, with a solid changeup Vickery can be a good pitcher in the future, however his breaking ball may hold him back from being anything other than just ok.

12 Texas Joe Blades, SP 288 (4/4/4) 19
A poor pick, clearly the sight of 12 stars has blinded Texas from the fact that the last time Blades hit 90 on the speed gun he was behind the wheel of his car on the highway. Admittedly Blades' other stuff shows tons of potential, but that fastball isnt going to improve and will always hold him back when he gets to the majors, if he's lucky Blades might make the end of the rotation somewhere in the majors.

13 Tampa Bay Doc Whiteman, SS 412 (4/3/4) 23
Whiteman has good speed and can utilise it by making contact and finding the gap, there were power hitters still available that may have been better choices, Whiteman is by no means a poor prospect, but he is more of a 2nd round pick in my opinion and not worthy of the 13th overall selection.

14 St. Louis Cliff Thompson, 3B 321 (4/4/4) 21
The 3rd 12 star hitter, Thompson is every bit as solid as Cruz who went at no.7, so clearly this is a nice pickup, Thompson hits extremely well in all aspects, he doesnt run well which is a drawback, but not enough of a draw back to not take him.

15 Montreal Ken Stanley, C 250 (4/4/1) 16
Stanley is very young and hits for average and power, however he has no pace what so ever, this is slightly less needed with him being a catcher, but there were definatley better choices available.

16 Milwaukee Jake Kavanagh, 2B 451 (4/3/4) 18
Another non 4 star power guy, all of the other aspects of Kavanagh's game are very solid, including his very good speed, however i personally would have taken a power guy infront of Kavanagh.

17 Baltimore George Person, OF 337 (4/4/3) 22
Speed is the only thing missing from Persons game, he has some, but not enough to be a big threat on the bases, he will hit well for power and has good ability to find the gap, he wont turn many doubles into triples, but atleast he can find that gap to get the double in the first place, a decent pick.

18 Boston Brad Ring, RP 400 (4/3/4) 19
After a slew of hitters we get back to pitching with Ring, his fastball is only mediocre which is a draw back, he spots his pitches well and has a very solid breaking ball, if he can work on his changeup then Ring can be a solid pitcher, he has enough stamina to become a SP in the future which puts his value up aswell.

19 San Francisco Rusty Garcia, C 281 (4/4/3) 21
Another C with no speed, Garcia does everything very well, his speed is the only poor aspect of his game, if the rest of his game develops as expected then Garcia will be solid, speed would have been nice, but he can still be a top player in the future.

20 Anaheim Charlie Hafey, OF 412 (4/4/2) 17
A nice pick here, Hafey is very young but alreaday has shown the he has great power and makes contact very well, Hafey also has good speed to make him a base path threat.

21 Houston Johnny Mcarthur, 2B 485 (4/4/1) 17
My first pick and one i am very happy with, Mcarthur has great speed and hits with power, the only draw back is his inability to find the gap, Mcarthur is young and looks to have a very fruitful career in the majors to look forward to.

22 Chicago(A) Alex Upp, 2B 266 (4/4/2) 22
Again lack of speed hurts Upp's overall ability, however he hits very well for average and power and can be expected to make a decent impact in the majors.

23 Atlanta Mike Brice, C 217 (4/4/2) 19
The 3rd slow C to be picked in the last 9 selections, as with the others Brice hits for power and average and so at this stage of the draft is a resonable pick.

24 Detroit Jim Patton, RP 451 (4/2/4) 22
Back to pitching and for the 24th pick a fairly solid one, Pattons changeup needs work in order for him to suceed, the rest of his stuff is very solid and at this stage the weakish changeup is worth the risk, has enough upside to become a very good RP.

25 Cincinnati Walt Smith, SP 483 (3/2/4) 16
Cincy grab for a SP here, Smith has a great fastball and knows how to spot it, his breaking ball needs some work and his changeup needs a bit more, a power hitter could still have been had and may have been a safer bet, but Smith has a very big upside and with a need for pitching prospects this may work out well.

26 Toronto Charlie Cook, RP 452 (3/4/3) 20
Very nice pick here Cooks control and breaking ball need a little work, Cook should be an ok RP in the future, and has every chance of being very solid if he can work on his 3 star stats.

27 Seattle Howdy Righetti, C 236 (4/4/1) 20
Clearly something about slow power hitting catchers this year, as with the others Righetti can be a solid ML hitter in the future, shame about the lack of speed though.

28 Pittsburgh Jeff Ward, 1B 441 (4/4/1) 20
All these slow catchers being selected and somehow a high speed 1B gets over looked until pick 28 Ward looks like being a very solid power hitter who will be a threat on the bases.

29 Oakland Harry Mantilla, C 362 (4/4/1) 21
Yet another catcher but this one has some speed, it seems very strange that 4 catchers were taken before Mantilla none of which had any speed, that fact makes Mantilla a very solid pick.

30 Los Angeles Rick Moisan, OF 452 (4/4/1) 19
The last pick and a very solid one, Moisan has the speed and hitting ability to be a very solid hitter for years to come.

Roundup

Picks Per Position:
SP: 6
RP: 6
C: 5
1B: 3
2B: 4
3B: 1
SS: 1
OF: 4

Best Picks: The first 4 picks were all solid, there were also a number of good picks later in the round, i liked my own pick at 21, aswell as Pitts, LA's and Tor's all coming in the last few selections.

Worst Picks: Florida and Texas both made poor pitching choices in my opinion, both players have a big weakness which may prove too much to overcome, several 4-4 catchers taken with no speed were slightly dissapointing picks given what was still on the board.

Overall: A few dodgy picks here and there, with some good ones taking advantage of that, RP's featured heavily in the early going indicating the lack of SP quality, everyone drafted and while some picks were not great noone completely messed up this year.

[Season 1 Draft Analysis]
[Season 2 Draft Analysis]
[Season 3 Draft Analysis]
[Season 4 Draft Analysis]
[Season 5 Draft Analysis]
[Season 6 Draft Analysis]