With the 2064 Rookie Draft being done, the Valencia analytics department decide to put together some observations about Valencia's draft with a few comparisons to the league overall. Sorry Bikini, no graphs or detailed spreadsheets with lookups/pivot tables.
The first trend to look at is actually what positions were drafted. Valencia drafted 12 pitchers (60%) and 8 batters (40%) while the league overall drafted pitchers 33% of the time and batters 67% of the time.
Of the batters drafted, Valencia drafted one catcher, five infielders and only 2 outfielders. The Stars farm system is currently overflowing with people at the corner outfield positions and there were not a whole lot of centerfield options available that met the Valencia requirements especially once everyone got past the first five rounds. The league overall drafted 59 catchers (almost 2 per team), 198 infielders (6 per team) and 168 outfielders (5 per team).
Below is a snapshot from the draft tracker to summarize the above:
From a financial perspective, the anticipated budget for the draftees' demands total $11.3M with the first round pick Bartolo Fernandez estimated to cost about $6.5M.
With the slew of injuries plaguing the big league team this year along with a career ending injury to a minor league pitcher, the front office decided to pass on any player listed as fragile this draft. Six of the 20 players are listed as durable while the other 14 are listed as normal from an injury proneness perspective. No guarantees, but the front office is hoping the averages will work in the Stars' favor.
Next is the crop of pitchers the Valencia has drafted. Included in the 12 pitchers drafted are two starters, three closers and seven relievers. After picking Juan Genge and Allen Grondin in the second and third rounds, Greathouse continued to show his flamethrower fetish with the other 10 pitchers topping out at 99+ mph and 8 of those 10 pitchers hitting triple digits on the radar gun.
A copy of the Valencia draft sheet for the pitchers is included:
The batters now in the Valencia farm system were picked 4 times in the first 10 rounds. With the plethora of youngsters currently on the offensive side of the Valencia roster, there are few opportunities over the next few years barring trades so these guys have time to either develop or flame out. All eight of the batters have a contact potential greater than 5 with Bartolo leading the way of a contact potential of 11. Only first baseman Masafumi Ohashi has a power potential greater than 5 with him checking in at 7.
The Valencia draft sheet for the batters is shown below:
An overall list of the 2064 Valencia Draft Class and the expected starting point for each player is shown below:
