As before, for entertainment purposes only. Worst value picks are based on whether the players should have been drafted as highly as they were, not the overall quality of the players. (I think that will become apparent upon reading it.) Consider them "reach" picks.
Quick link to the draft:
http://baseballretrospective.com/cgi-bi ... draftPicks#
Best drafts:
Omaha Barnstormers: Actually, I don’t feel this one’s really close. I think that Omaha had the best draft, by value, of anyone in the league. Stanza is the type of pitcher who nobody would have had any second thoughts about drafting in the top ten. Evan Hansen is a fantastic grab at #30; he is at the very least going to be a heckuva lefty reliever. Hubert Shafer is a great grab in the middle of Round 2 in THIS draft, and Ryan Myers is an interesting flyer player. Adan Estada is a fascinating player at #61, though he’d need to find another level to make the majors. Actually, in this draft, Ashton Patterson and Julio Vazquez at #85 and #86 are good grabs. That was pretty much it for Omaha...poor them. Way to restock the farm.
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Baltimore Monarchs: I always pick two, and I usually don’t differentiate, but Baltimore is a distant second this year. Baltimore had a pretty decent draft, grabbing Raven Rider at pick 10, player of interest Brian Corrigan at 28 and a solid Ramon Montoya pick in the second round. Barrett Woods is also a pretty good pick, and Tony Marrero isn’t a total zero.
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Honorable mention: Carolina, Calgary, Buffalo, (and just in case Manny Bautista becomes the greatest pitcher in MBWBA history) Las Vegas
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Best value picks (in order of selection number):
And believe me when I tell you I looked at just about everybody that wasn't an autopick.
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P Luis Freitas (7, Calgary): Freitas was a player I was legitimately considering at #2. For my money, the best lefty pitcher in this draft in his current state, and probably the best bargain in the draft not named Stanza.
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SS Jonathan Archer (8, Calgary): The other guy I was considering at #2. Considering the dearth of solid hitting shortstops in the league, drafting one that’s not only a really good bat but an almost equally spectacular defensive player is a swipe at #8. Great pick.
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SP Jorge Stanza (16, Omaha): Might become the best pitcher from this draft, depending on how he develops. To tell you how rare a player like him is, there are exactly eight players in the MBWBA with at least eight movement and at least nine control, and it’s a fairly exclusive list: Gabriel Campos, Antonio Rodriguez, Mike Swanson, Pedro Espin, Michael Strathallan, Martin Huigens, Brian Bright, Byron Gonzalez. Two more players have that potential and five other prospects do. That's fifteen players in the game. If I were picking anywhere after #8, I would have absolutely taken him.
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SP Bingo Long (23, Chicago): See Stanza’s preview. Anyone else getting sick of the JL Midwest nailing everything down that could possibly fly away? Long doesn't look to be quite as good as Stanza but, well, he looks pretty good.
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CF Hubert Shafer (Omaha, 50): I just think this is a good pick at #50, not that he’s going to somehow pop. He needs an improved work ethic, but he’s well developed for an 18 year old and should be pretty good someday.
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SP Barrett Woods (Baltimore, 62): He’ll probably be a reliever some day, but he might be a really, really good reliever conversion. Bad intangibles, terribly developed for even a 19 year old and he’s almost 20, but he could be pretty good.
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SP Harry Considine (Seattle, 65): Demonstrating just how weak the depth of this draft this was, Considine has perfect intangibles, potentially two out pitches, throws hard for a teenager and is a lefty, but, um, players like him went in the 8th round last year.
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CF Randy Jackson (Carolina, 68): Purportedly, Carolina won’t be able to sign Jackson, but they’re hopeful. Jackson is a fascinating player who could be a very nice slap hitter if he develops, and he’s got some interesting secret weapons, but he’ll probably use them in college.
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RF Gregory Lowry (Las Vegas, 74): Very fine defensive OF with basically no bat. Gets extra points for arriving basically fully formed with good intangibles, though he’s not likely to be anything but a career minor leaguer.
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LF Scott Sutherland (Louisville, 105): Has one elite skill, interesting potentials, and might be good on defense. Not bad for this draft at 105.
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P Jose Escalante (Carolina, 133): Makes for an interesting reliever conversion or something else. Could have done a lot worse; I figure if I add Considine I have to add Escalante.
Worst value picks:
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3B Paul McKinney (Marquette, 9): I’ll try to convince myself that this isn’t the worst value pick in this draft. McKinney is a fantastic defensive player, well-developed for a draft pick and a 22 year old, a base stealer with good basepath ability. Argument lost: he still isn’t more valuable than most of the next seven picks (at least) behind him, with the possible exception of…
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SP Mick Hanscombe (Des Moines, 14): Hanscombe is an extraordinarily unimpressive draft pick in every way. He has no out pitch. He’s a soft-tossing lefty with exactly one extraordinary skill. He’s not quite as good as the same two guys picked directly after him. This is why you can take a draft philosophy too far: he took a low-ceiling guy who had a little more development than the teenagers after him, but unlike Steve Wolarski and Cecil Ware, Hanscombe might not be particularly good. And the book’s still out on Ware...*gulp*
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2B Brooks Richardson (Yellow Springs, 34): I have no problem with Richardson, but compare him to guys who were drafted in the 3rd, 4th and 5th rounds and you don’t see that much difference. He has two outstanding skills, but he’s such a poor potential hitter they’re cancelled out.
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Keep an eye on:
Manny Bautista (Las Vegas, 4): The problem I have with Bautista is that he’s a fragile, underdeveloped 20 year old (on June 15). The problem I don’t have with Bautista? He’s, um, well, he’s a potential #1 starter to say the least. Of course, so was THIS guy. Skeptical enough to put him here instead of best bargains, which is usually where the player with the best potential ratings in the draft picked at #4 goes.
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1B Elliot Spencer (Montreal, 26): Should arrive sooner than later and looks pretty darn good. Solid lefty 1B aren’t always easy to get.
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LF Ninnian J. Ewell (32, Carolina): Ewell is so interesting we’re overlooking his flaws. Looks like one of those extreme lefty bats who might actually be a good platoon player, or maybe not. Besides, it will be pretty cool if he makes it to the majors: “(The) Jiggs is up!”
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SP Jesus Angel (58, Montreal): Clearly, his mother thought a lot of him to name him Jesus Angel. #1 overall draft pick in the Westboro Baptist Church simulation league. Will probably be nothing much in this one, which is amusing, though he does have solid ratings for a very young 18 year old. Bio should read "Walks on water in his spare time."
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3B Cesar Sanchez (Halifax, 72): Has one outstanding skill, is interesting besides and is young enough to develop new skills. Will probably be a bad defensive outfielder instead of an atrocious defensive infielder.
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SS David Meloche (Hawaii, 104): No idea if this was an autopick, but he has two elite skills and is a very interesting player. Might be a career minor leaguer but could find his way onto a major league bench.
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SS Julio Romero (111, Long Beach): Again, no idea if he’s an autopick, but Romero might be the best defensive shortstop in the entirety of the MBWBA. He’ll never hit, but if you don’t mind simply dumping your shortstop position offensively he’ll save runs with his glove.
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P Ramon Ramirez (Des Moines, 118): Falls under the “lefty with a pulse” clause. Ramirez has serious stuff but has no idea what to do with it. Worse pitchers have made the majors.
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1B Jack Jackson (Des Moines, 201): He’s a very marginal player, but he’s young enough to go any which way and has good intangibles. But wouldn’t you love to have a powerhitting first baseman named Jack Jackson? Sounds like something Barney Stinson would make up.
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SP Miguel Perez (Buffalo, 250): Also falls under the “lefty with a pulse” clause. I think I’ll start calling those “LLOYD”s, for “a low-picked lefty opposite of yer dead.”
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SP Bill Johnston (New Orleans, 256): For example, Bill Johnston isn’t a tremendous long shot, he’s a LLOYD! Yes, it’s still a work in progress.
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C Chris Boring (Vancouver, 382): Just a reminder of what the draft past pick 300 usually is…
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And that’s it. Anyone you think I missed, by all means, say so.
