2060.3 Cyclones Draft Report

[handaspencer]

In the first draft under new GM Spencer the Cyclones was able to acquire some new talent into the system. Its no secret Omaha is suffering from lack of talent throughout the system. Our focus this season was just to bring solid baseball players into the organization that we believe has a chance to make the big club in the future. Omaha had 2 1st round picks this season with picks #16 and #19. By this time of the draft your top talent is already off the board and this is where you draft future starters into your organization. We believe we did exactly that this season GM Spencer said.

#16 overall this year was Antonio Fox who is a 19 year old SP from Boise,ID. We drafted Antonio Fox not projecting him to become our ace but to be a part of the rotation in the future. There is a lot of pressure that can come with being a first round pick and we intend to take it slow with Fox and we want him to earn a spot in the rotation in the future. Fox is a leader and we believe will be a good clubhouse guy. He is a groundball pitcher with good control and has 4 pitches. Fox is not going to blow anybody away but he is someone we believe we can give the ball to every 5th day and count on him to give us a solid 5-6 innings and keep us in the game. So far after signing Fox has not dissapointed. In 4 starts in rookie ball Fox is 3-0 with an ERA of 2.93 and a very good .3 BB/9. We are excited to see Fox continue to develop this season.

#19 overall this year was Justin Waller we was considering taking another SP at 19 but we just couldn't pass on Waller. To us Waller just looks like a bat that can find a home on our club in the future. Although the eye popping talent might not exist with Waller the fact he has no glaring weaknesses made him feel safe. He is the type of bat that we believe can DH or he should be solid enough defensively that he can play either corner OF position for us. Waller fell into the camp of good old fashioned baseball player and we want a roster full of these type guys. Waller is off to a hot start in rookie ball where he is hitting .412 with 3 HR and 17RBI. He is looking good, we are going to give him time he is young but what we have seen so far is very encouraging.

#52 Not drafting again until #52 overall the Monarchs once again played it safe drafting 1B Alfredo Aviles. For us his glove was the difference when we made this pick. Like most good organizations we believe good pitching a defense is what wins and "Aviles was one of the better defenders at the position at this point in the draft. GM Spencer said some folks believe 1B defense don't matter but we are of the belief that being good defensively at every position matters. Although we project him as a 1B the fact he can step in and play 3B and LF as well is just so valuable as we love roster flexibility. Although we like his glove his bat is not that bad as well. We always like guys that have decent contact and can avoid K's. Aviles has been no different than any other prospect drafted so far he has been excellent in rookie ball. He is hitting .351 with 7 HR and 14 RBI

We are very happy with our draft this year. We was able to bring in 21 new guys into our organization. Although we tend to focus on the first couple rounds you never know when other guys will break through. We might not made the headlines by getting any OSA ranked prospects we believe we have added much needed depth into our minor league system. I am looking so forward to watching these guys develop and we are already looking to next years draft and the guys we can add.

[BaseClogger]

I’d try to develop Aviles at 3B.

Not as bullish on Waller since I don’t think he’ll stick in the outfield. Game’s OVR rating seems too high.

[trmmilwwi]

Aviles is a solid pickup at that point. It'll be interesting to see how he progresses as he is fairly developed already.