Season 6 Draft Analysis

By David Kohn, Astros

Round 1

1 Arizona Heinie Harris, SP 463 (4/2/4) 21
Despite the draft being weak in pitching this year, i still dont see Harris being a worthy first pick, he does have a good fastball, equally good breaking ball and control, however his changeup is poor, Harris can still be very solid if his changeup imporves, however dont expect him to be a future stud SP.

2 New York(A) Henry Parsons, SP 401 (4/3/4)
Parsons breaking ball and control are as good as Harris' and his chageup is better, however he has a fairly poor fastball, Parsons is unlikely to make a big impression at ML level, he can be good, and with some luck may be very good, however he still isnt a great pick in my opinion.

3 Cleveland Pete Coles, SP 472 (4/3/3) 22
I like Coles over the 2 previous choices, although his changeup and control are not great, they are good, and with a very solid fastball and breaking ball he has less of a weakness, 4* control would have made him even better, however i see Coles having a decent future ahead of him.

4 Baltimore Charlie Lafata, OF 485 (4/4/4) 18
Hitting was the strength of this draft, and Lafata was one of the best, he has great speed and excels at all aspects of hitting, at 18 he is young and looks like having a great and long ML career in front of him.

5 Kansas City Eric Moffitt, OF 496 (4/4/4) 23
Moffitt is another great hitting prospect, he has even better speed that Lafata, the only difference between the 2 is age, Moffitt is 23 and so will not be the youngest rookie in the league, but he does have the potential to be one of the top OF's in the game.

6 New York(N) Phil Warren, 2B 278 (4/4/4) 21
Warren is a great hitting prospect, however there were better available, incuding another 2B, who although a couple of years older would have been a better choice, speed is all that Warren lacks however, and if he devlops well he can still be very solid.

7 Los Angeles Joe Essegian, 2B 491 (4/4/1) 19
LA take on the great speed of Essegian at the expense of his gap hitting ability, there was still a 12 star 2B with 400+ speed who may have been a better choice, however Essegian is also young at 19 and has every chance to be a great hitter for many years.

8 Tampa Bay Buster Tracewski, SP 301 (4/4/4) 20
This pick makes no sense to me, Tracewski does have great stuff, but his fastball is very poor, if he can turn his other pitches and control into great assets which he has a shot at doing then he can be useable in the future, however a look at the pick that follows him shows why a dont like this pick.

9 Anaheim Art Gibson, SP 374 (4/4/4) 22
Gibson is why the previous choice was an odd one to put it lightly, Gibson has equally impressive stuff as Tracewski, and has a better if still however not great fastball, getting Gibson is a nice pick at this stage, he will need to develop his pitches and control nicely to be a big addition to any ML squad in the future, but he is one of the better pitchers in this years draft and should be decent in the future.

10 Philadelphia Tom Taveras, 2B 429 (4/4/4) 23
The 3rd 2B to go in the top 10, for my money Taveras is arguably the best one, he is the older if the 3 and will be into his late 20's by the time he gets to the majors, however he can do everything hitting wise and has very good speed to boot, look for him to be a very solid and potentially great player in the future.

11 Florida Mike Henderson, SP 390 (4/3/4) 18
Henderson has potential, however he has a below par fastball and a slightly questionable chageup to over come to have a shot at being a good ML SP, there were still some great hitters and at least 1 pitcher who i feel would have been better picks, if Hendersons changeup does not improve he will be average at best.

12 Houston Dutch Gibson, RP 499 (3/4/3) 19
I had Gison ranked #1 on my draft card so clearly i was delighted to get him with the 12th pick, he does have question marks over his breaking ball and control, however with a real flame throwing arm and an impressive changeup Gibson in my opinion has more potential then any other pitcher in the draft, he is fairly young at 19 and with high stamina for a RP has potential to be used as a starter in the future.

13 St. Louis Danny Cook, C 422 (4/3/4) 21
I have to question this pick, Cook does not have great power, and although he has very good speed and finds the gap to boot there were better available at other postions, Cook can still be a great player, but the chances are he may be no more than decent at ML level, he needs to work on his power to achieve any more than this.

14 Chicago(N) Al Merriman, OF 442 (4/4/4) 22
A great looking OF prospect here, the only drawback to Merriman is his age, at 22 he is not the younges draftee, however he has all the tools to be a top OF for many years, despite OF being one of the deeper positions a prospect of this quality, as with the simialar players who went earlier is always a nice pick.

15 Montreal Jack Sketchley, 3B 457 (4/4/2) 21
GAP is sacrificed for speed here, and its a decision i agree with, Sketchley will be a threat on the base paths, and has shown he can hit for power aswell as making contact, the 12 star hitters were all gone at this stage, so getting someone with great speed is a very wise pick.

16 San Francisco Ox Nichol, SP 417 (2/4/4) 18
Nichol is young and so would have many years in the majors, however he is not a great prospect, his breaking ball is weak, and with an ok at best fastball he wont be blowing too many batters away, his changeup is solid, as is his control which is a plus, however i dont expect Nichol to be much more than average in the future, if his breaking ball does not come on well he will struggle in the future.

17 Milwaukee Ken Pofahl, SP 402 (3/4/3) 16
Pofahl is very young, but equally as with Nichol i dont see him being much more than average, he doesnt have as big a weakness as Nichols breaking ball, but both his breaking ball and his control are question marks, he will have to overachieve to become close to a top pitcher, i cant see that happening, and think he will be a young but average ML pitcher.

18 Chicago(A) Keith Wiedemeyer, 3B 312 (4/4/3) 20
Wiedermeyer makes contact and hits for power very well, he has also shown ability to find the gap, the one draw back is his fairly poor speed, he will steal the odd base, but dont expect him to be a threat, he should be a very well rounded players, a touch more speed would have be nice here though.

19 Colorado Rick Cabrera, SP 406 (1/2/4) 23
ummmm, clearly a problem with Colorado's draft card, Cabrera has great control, which will help to spot his crappy pitches for opposing hitters to hit out of the park, no chance of doing anything in the future, not signed and rightfully wont be.

20 Texas John Shoun, SP 319 (4/4/4) 23
Well, better to get this player here than at no.8 like Tampa did, 12 stars always looks good on paper, however with a poor fastball Shoun will really need to work hard on his other stuff to make a significant impact at the ML level.

21 Boston Bob Roarke, SS 335 (4/4/3) 22
Roarke looks like a well rounded hitter, his gap finding ability is the onyl slight question mark, but he does that well enough to gain from it, his speed is not great, but seeing as Roarke plays at one of the less deep positions this is a decent pick.

22 Minnesota Jason Hasson, SP 470 (2/3/4) 20
Minny had some problems with there draft due to the previous owner, that said Hasson has some potential to be useable in the future, he has a very good fastball and control to match, his breaking ball needs quite alot of work, and his changeup needs some improving, despite this, Hasson can still be an ok starter at ML level, that said im sure Minny would rather have got a hitter at this stage with a few good ones still available.

23 San Diego Dan Wright, 1B 403 (4/4/2) 16
Wright will be a threat on the bases with good speed, he is also very young at 16, meaning that he has a very long career in front of him, he doesnt find the gap particuarly well, however he has power and can hit for average, this is a nice pick, his age makes him potentially even more valuable.

24 Oakland Mike Byrd, 1B 313 (4/4/1) 21
A 4-4 hitter is always a solid player to get late in the 1st round, there were players with both more speed and who find the gap better than Byrd which makes this pick a little bit worse, Byrd is solid enough, but if Oakland had looked for an OF they could have got better.

25 Pittsburgh Dee Beard, OF 418 (4/4/3) 18
This is the OF that they could and probably should have gone for, OF is a deep position, but Beard is a very good pick, he has speed, hits well for power and average and finds the gap fairly well, at 18 his age is a bonus also.

26 Toronto Mike Hemming, OF 393 (4/4/1) 17
Another good young OF, Hemming has good speed making him a threat there, he is also very young at 17 giving him a potentialy long and fruitful ML career, he doesnt find the gap well, but with power this is an acceptable weakness to take at this stage in the draft.

27 Atlanta Marty Paquette, 2B 251 (4/4/2) 23
There were still 4-4 hitters with good speed availble which makes this pick questionable, Paquette can still be a very good ML hitter, but there were slightly better available.

28 Detroit Harry Mccormick, RP 485 (4/2/4) 21
Good pick here, drafting so late in the round Detroit could have gone for 1 of the 4-4 hitters available, but Mccormick is a decent choice, he has a very good fastball as well as top breaking ball and control, admittedly his changeup is fairly weak, but with a bit of luck Mccormick can be a very good RP.

29 Seattle Jim Tufts, RP 470 (4/3/3) 18
Another very nice RP pick, the slightly questionable control may worry some, i still feel though that Tufts can be very solid in the future, i was very happy to get a simialr player to this at no.12, Seattle should be equally pleased here.

30 Cincinnati Joe Mieske, SP 429 (4/3/3) 19
A 4-4 hitter may have been a safer choice, but Miekse has a decent upside, his fastball isnt a great tool and so he will have to improve his changeup and conrtol to come though to a decent level, he has a chance and if your farm is short on SP prospects then i can understand taking the chance.

Roundup:

Picks Per Position:
SP: 12
RP: 3
C: 1
1B: 2
2B: 4
3B: 2
SS: 1
OF: 5

Best Pick: I was very pleased to get my top ranked player at no.12, Seattle then got a simialar player with a bit less fastball at no.29!, both of these picks were very solid, the top hitters were wisely taken by a number of teams.

Worst Pick: I didnt like the first 2 picks, and some of the high speed 4-4 players were missed mid way and lower in the draft, obviously Colorado and Minny had some problems with there card making there picks either terrible in Colorado's case and not as good as they would have liked for Minny.

Overall: Despite the lack of pitching talent there were 12 SP's picked, this is a big surprise to me as it also left some good hitters on the board, it shows that even with lack of quality there is a rush for SP prospects. Those that resited got themselves some top notch hitting prospects.

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