Season 5 Draft Analysis

Round 1

1. Cleveland: Pete Campbell, SP 487 (3/4/4) 22
There were 2 choices for the top pick this year, Campbell was one of them, and although it meant passing up a good fastball 12 star SP prospect, this may turn out to be a wise move. Campbell has a great fastball and superb control, his changeup is also excellent, his only downfall may be his breaking ball, now if that improves Campbell will indeed be a worthy no.1 pick.

2. Kansas City: Babe Guillen, SP 449 (4/4/4) 23
Guillen was personally my no.1 pick, he has a solid fastball, and has no apparant weaknesses, he is not the yongest at 23 (still only 1 yr older than campbell though), but other than that Guillen has all the toold to become and stud in the future.

3. Arizona: Ripper Price, SP 480 (2/4/4) 18
3 picks and 3 SP's gone, Price is young at 18 and throws a very good fastball, his control and changeup are excellent, however he has had big problems with his breaking ball, Price should still be farily good in the future and he has time on his side, however his breaking ball doesnt improve he may struglle occasionally.

4. Florida: Bill Almanzar, SP 437 (3/4/4) 22
Almanzar has a useful if not overpowring fastball, great control and a very solid changeup, again his only slight concern is his breaking ball, if this improves then Almanzar can be a class act, if it doesnt he should still have enough talent to be a useful mid-rotation ML player.

5. San Diego: George Redmond, SS 385 (4/4/4) 22
The first non pitcher to be taken and a good pick, SS is one of the weaker positions at ML level and so Redmond is a solid pick from that point of view, he excels at all aspects of hitting and also has some speed, there were still some good pitchers left at this stage but a 12 star SS is by no means a poor pick.

6. Baltimore: Tex Barker, 2B 439 (4/4/4) 19
Another 12 star hitter, Barker has very good speed to boot, at 19 he is young, and if his secondary defensive ability (SS) improves he will be a great addition to any squad, he can hit for power and average, and with his speed will be a threat on the bases.

7. Montreal: Orlando Hunt, 3B 316 (4/4/4) 22
Again a 12 star hitter goes here, Hunt doesnt have the speed of the previous picks, but with his hitting abitlity this is not a huge problem, should have no trouble making the majors, and like the previous 2 picks is a potential hitting stud.

8. New York(N): Ernie Scalzi, OF 306 (4/4/3) 20
The only criticism of Scalzi is that there were others available with better speed and that with OF being a deep postion there may have been slightly wiser picks available, however, Scalzi hits for power and average and can find the gap fairly well, he has a good chance to be a top hitter.

9. Tampa Bay: Johnny Birrer, OF 359 (4/4/3) 17
Birrer has a bit of speed, hits for power as well as average and at 17 is very young, all these qualities suggest he has a very promising and long future in the majors.

10. Philadelphia: Jim Johnston, RP 488 (4/4/3) 19
Johnston has a great fastball to go with a very impressive breaking ball and changeup, this combination mean he has the potential to match any RP in the league for talent, however he has had some control problems, hes young at 19 and should be very solid, if he starts spoting his pitches better he can be a great RP.

11. Chicago(N) George Renko, SP 481 (2/4/4) 19
Renko is very similar to Price who went no.3, so for Chicago to get Renko at no.11 is good going, but as with Price, Renko's breaking ball is not good, he can be a good SP in the future, if his breaking ball doesnt improve he will struggle at times, but he has a chance to be a solis SP.

12. Chicago(A) Harry Shipke, RP 465 (3/4/4) 20
Shipke has a solid fastball and a changeup full of poetential, he can also spot his pitches very well, if he can improve his breaking ball a little then he can be a top RP, he should be very good either way.

13. Colorado Lloyd Browning, OF 436 (4/4/3) 23
Browning has very good speed making him a potential leadoff hitter and a threat on the bases, he also hit for power making him a potentially top OF, his age is the only thing against him, by the time his power fully develops he will could well be close to 28, but should still have several solid years.

14. Houston Mike Striker, RP 474 (4/4/3) 22
My fisrt pick this year, Striker has the tools to be a top RP, although as with Johnston who went earlier in the round, Striker will need to work on his control to be a great RP, Striker also has fairly high stamina for a RP, meaning that on occasion he may even be able to fill in as a spot starter.

15. Texas Desmond Modak, OF 402 (4/4/4) 19
Im not quite sure how a 12 star hitter with 400+ speed slipped to no.15, but fortunately for Texas, Modak did. At the age of 19 Modak is also young enough to be a stud for many years to come.

16. Anaheim Sam Alba, 3B 299 (4/4/2) 18
Alba doesnt have good speed, he can however hit the ball with power and is young at 18, speed would have been nice, but Alba can still going on to be a very good player.

17. San Francisco Watch Talcott, C 289 (4/4/3) 20
Again no great speed here, Talcott will hit for average and power, and on occasion can find the gap, without the speed to exploit thos though his GAP hitting ability becomes less significant, although still a resonable tool.

18. Boston Amos Magner, 1B 479 (4/4/2) 17
Magner has great speed which will make him a big SB threat, he hits for power and average, alround Magner could be a top 1B and at 17 if facing a long successful ML career.

19. Milwaukee Alex King, OF 315 (4/4/3) 17
King hits well for power and average and has some ability to find the gap, however with not great speed he may not be a top class OF, he should be solid, but at a deep position its nice to have something extra which in this case would be speed, he does however have the hitting potential to still be very good.

20. Pittsburgh Carl Millar, C 347 (4/4/3) 21
Not the youngest at 21, Millar has resonable speed for a C, however looking at the next pick there was at least 1 C with higher speed available, Millar can still be very good as he has great potential to hit for power and average.

21. Detroit Brock Lipski, C 439 (4/4/3) 20
Lipski has great speed for a C, with the ability to hit the long ball, and find the gap on occasion Lipski has a shot at being one of the top Catchers in the game in the future.

22. New York(A) Taylor Tyler, C 340 (4/4/1) 21
The 3rd Catcher in a row taken, Tyler is the weakest of the 3, he can still however hit for power, Tyler doest find the gap well, neither does he posess the great speed needed to utilise this anyway, at 21 he wont be the youngest to reach the ML, however a 4-4 prospect is still potentially very solid.

23. Minnesota Shano Niebergall, SP 327 (2/3/2) 21
No draft card set and the GM MIA, safe to say Niebergall is not ML quality.

24. Cincinnati John Donovan, 2B 432 (4/4/3) 22
The only drawback against Donovan is his age, other then that he has great potential, he hits well for average and power, Donovan runs very well making him a threat on the bases, he also has potential to hit the gap, he can be a very solid 2B in the future.

25. Seattle Danny Gomez, OF 461 (4/4/1) 19
Great speed, young at 19 and hits very well, the only thing Gomez cant do is find the gap with any regualarity, he has a good chance to be very solid in the years to come.

26. Atlanta Sugar Winchell, SS 389 (4/4/2) 18
Top line SS are in demand and Winchell has the potential to be one in the future, he is young at 18 and has decent if not explosive speed, he can be a very good SS for many years.

27. Oakland Henry Santo, 3B 412 (4/4/2) 23
Santo hs the tools to be very solid at ML level, his age is definatley a draw back for a draftee, he is already 23 and with some way to go to reach his potential will be one of the older rookies, however when he does make it he should be very solid.

28. Los Angeles Bumpus Rapp, RP 471 (3/3/4) 20
Rapp's fastball and control are very good, his ML future depends on how he develops his other pitches, there are weaknesess in both his breaking ball and changeup, however there is also enough potential in those pitches that give Rapp a chance to be a very good RP.

29. St. Louis Roy Brumley, 3B 357 (4/3/4) 21
The first non 4-4 type hitter to be selected, a slightly surprising choice, although Brumley does have some power he is not expected to be a major HR threat in the future, he has some speed but not alot, he does make contact very well and finds the gap also.

30. Toronto Jake King C 266 (4/4/2) 22
King has no speed worthy of mention, this means he will have to realy on his contact and power hitting ability to suceed, there is definately enough there to make him a very solid player, although at 22 he wont be the youngest to reach the majors.

Round 1 Roundup:

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

Best Pick: Campbell has the biggest upside of the top 2 picks, Guillen has stud written all over him, both are very solid picks, Texas picking up a 12 star OF at 15 was also a very nice pick up.
Worst Pick: With no GM Minnesota clearly had the worst pick, aside from them a few picks neglected to rank speed, and St.Louis passed up a 4-4 hitter to favour a 4-3-4 something i personally dont think is normally a good move.

Overall: There wasnt quite the same rush for SP's this year, the top 4 picks were SP's and then there were only 2 more taken, one of which was Minnesota's non signed non ranked pick, a deep draft for the hitter especially lead to many top hitters getting picked, a solid first round for just about every team, no really major mistakes or risks taken by anyone.

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