2018 Official Draft Discussion Thread

[funclown]

alot of time ill look for amazing defense ability and hope for a contact bump.

lets face it, alot is instinct nothing more.

my best draft pick ever was Lona. scout saw him, i did what i can and moved up to get him.....then a year later i traded him.

[Z]

alot of time ill look for amazing defense ability and hope for a contact bump.

lets face it, alot is instinct nothing more.

my best draft pick ever was Lona. scout saw him, i did what i can and moved up to get him.....then a year later i traded him.

If it weren't for all your rings you'd be known as the guy who spotted Marco Lona and then traded him.

[funclown]

If it weren't for all your rings you'd be known as the guy who spotted Marco Lona and then traded him.

fucken Dusty Simmons.

[Pat]

Good luck with the draft tomorrow Brad! And thanks!

[Sharkn20]

Are u okay NYC buddies? Carlos? Others?

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[Carlos]

Are u okay NYC buddies? Carlos? Others?

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

Good to go here! Thanks for asking.

[Pat]

Top 100 update takeaways...

-Wilmington 1B Jamie Weaver, drafted 2.18, 44th overall debuts at #12, seventh best hitter prospect in the BLB.

-Syracuse 3B Pat Root, drafted 6.7, 137th overall debuts at #96. I can't remember a 6th ever debuting on the Top 100. However, 1.7, SS Pat Morgan, does not debut on the Top 100.

-Kansas City two 3rd round picks, P Kevin Hurley and P Jimmy Hallam debut at #62 and #42, respectively.

[Z]

Bored waiting for the sim, so I'm dredging this post with an update a year and a half after the draft.

Updates in underline.

I just try to draft guys who have something going for them.

Here, I'll explain all of my late picks.

5.14 1B Dylan Terrell — My scout and OSA think he's only okay. 4/5/5/4/4 isn't so good for a first baseman. That's not a BLB starting first baseman's ratings. I drafted him because in the 2018 Cape Cod League season, Dylan Terrell had the fifth-best batting average, the second-best slugging percentage, the third-best OPS, the fifth-best WAR, the second-highest isolated power, the third-most hits, the second-most total bases, and the fourth-most home runs. In short, he hit the crap out of the ball. Will I translate to the BLB? For the price of a fifth-round pick, I'd like to see if maybe his stats suggest some sort of success or skill that the scouts are missing.
2019 Postseason Update: Terrell smashed the ball at single-A after being drafted. He advanced to double-A this season, where he produced a .283 batting average with a .353 on-base percentage. My new scout sees him as the future power hitter he was in college, though the raw power showed up only in flashes during his first year at double-A. Terrell doesn't turn 22 until November. Feeling good about this pick.

6.14 CF Ethan Ramsey — Ramsey has great range in the outfield, terrific speed, and seems to know how to hit. What I mean by the last statement is my scout and OSA say Ramsey has a pretty good eye at the plate, doesn't strike out all that much, and makes contact a decent amount while having power to the gaps. He batted .304 his last year in college. I figure it's a good profile for a utility outfielder this late in the draft.
2019 Postseason Update: So far it looks like this one missed. Ramsey regressed in 2019, hitting only .226 with eight extra-base hits (all doubles). He can run and field, but remains underdeveloped as a hitter. He turns 22 years old next month. Probably he has 2020 to prove himself a competent professional hitter in A-ball.

8.14 P Pat McGowan — Any pitcher you draft this late is either going to be bad or broken in some way. I like to pick the broken guys instead of the bad guys because if the prospect falls into the broken category, it means he has something going for him but there's something else deficient about him that it overshadows what's good. In McGowan's case, the good things are that he throws 97 MPH, has a good fastball and a solid splitter and a usable circle-change, and he has the stamina to start games. The broken part is that we have three years of high school stats for him and four years of Cape Cod League stats, and he's been pretty bad across the board except for one thing — he always could strike guys out. But he started all 69 games he pitched in, so I'd like to see if maybe the "broken" part is something like "he's not actually a starting pitcher" and see what happens when I put him in the bullpen.
2019 Postseason Update: I might have nailed this pick even more than I thought I did. Not only has McGowan been lights out as a minor league reliever, but he advanced to double-A as a 22 year old and started games for half the season there. In those 16 starts, he recorded 9.6 K/9 and only 2.9 BB/9 and 0.8 HR/9. I'm optimistically thinking I might have at least an above-average BLB middle reliever here, if not something better.

8.22 P Johnny Foster — Similar to McGowan. Good 93 MPH fastball plus two other average pitches. His freshman year at UNLV was pretty good. This year, he took a step back in his performance. Like McGowan, he was good at getting strikeouts. I'll try him in the pen. It probably won't work out, but there's something to work with here. This late in the draft, that's all you can ask for.
2019 Postseason Update: I might have gotten this one right, too. Foster made it to double-A in 2019 as a 21 year old and had a 2.08 ERA out of the bullpen. The peripheral numbers weren't as good, but it's an encouraging performance and development from him so far. He'll probably get to start some games at double-A in 2020, too. He looks very good so far for an eighth round draft pick.

9.14 IF Jarrod Mangini — Mangini has a strange profile. He has a great eye at the plate — so good that despite his .245 batting average at Duke, he managed a .378 OBP. He also has a terrific glove in the infield. He can play well anywhere, even shortstop, which is probably his best chance at making it. I don't know if he can hit well enough, but 4 contact and 4 power, which he has, tend to be the baselines, so if he could get a small ratings bump in either of those ratings, then he could make it to the BLB someday as a utility guy or fill-in.
2019 Postseason Update: Mangini had an .800 OPS in single-A the season he was drafted. In 2019, we worked on teaching him to play shortstop, which he struggled with. I think he might be able to play both second and short well while having some pop in his bat and being able to draw some walks. We'll see. Early signs are good, especially for a ninth rounder.

10.14 OF Zack Ottenbacher — Clearly his nickname should be "Otter." He's a college corner outfielder with solid range plus great hands and an incredible arm. Left-handed bat. Good speed. Not much power but decent contact ability plus a solid eye and plate discipline to avoid strikeouts. I'm not actually sure why he was available this late, considering he hit .325 in college with 15 home runs in 231 at-bats and a 1.020 OPS while winning the MVP for the 2017 NCAA Regionals. That seems like a great package of pluses to me for a tenth round pick.
2019 Postseason Update: Ottenbacher is batting almost .300 in a year and a half at single-A so far. He boosted his on-base percentage to .357 in 2019. The question remains whether he has enough pop to be a corner outfielder at higher levels. (Or else, field well enough in the corners for it not to matter so much.)