So the
American Baseball Association Inaugural Draft has taken place and gone off without a hitch. This post will run down how the teams all are sitting now that their rosters have been set, for the most part. There were a lot of interesting names that went undrafted and are now sitting in the free agent pool. Some of these guys could certainly be had at a heavily discounted rate.
Chicago BlazersWhile the rest of the draft went very young in the first round, Chicago, who was picking 11th, went with the established ace, CC Sabathia. For the remainder of the top five rounds, they went with left fielder Elijah Dukes in round two, catcher Geovany Soto in round three, starting pitcher Chris Young in round four and shortstop Rafael Furcal in round five.
Steal of the Draft: Because Chicago was the only team with the money to do it at this point, they were able to get Carlos Beltran in round twenty. Beltran is rated an 80/80 and is projected to be one of the best center fielders in the league.
Jury Is Still Out: On their ninth round pick of right fielder Vladimir Guerrero. An older right fielder who has little range it'll be interesting if they try and play their twenty first round selection in Kosuke Fukudome RF and play Vlad as the DH as he has little value in the field.
Future Face of the Franchise: In the inaugural draft the Blazers drafted to win now which has left their future prospects a bit barren. It's really a toss up at this point between starting pitcher Tim Alderson and third baseman Mat Gamel. Alderson might end up being a 4 or 5 starter at best while Gamel might develop at strong bat but at age 23, it's hard to see him becoming any better fielding his position, which he is quite inadequate at.
Denver StampedeDenver chose 9th overall and came down with a great pick in third baseman David Wright. After that they saw starting pitcher Rick Porcello in round two, first baseman Joey Votto in round three, starting pitcher Scott Kazmir in round four and closer Joe Nathan in round five.
Steal of the Draft: Finding right fielder Milton Bradley sitting there for the taking in round eight must have been like Christmas to them. The man can straight up hit and isn't all that bad at his position either. He was commanding a large salary which saw him slip but Denver could end up looking like geniuses with this move.
Jury Is Still Out: On the fact that they picked a closer with their fifth pick. Joe Nathan is as dominant as they come, sure, but top five round material on a guy who is going to throw one inning every couple nights? Not quite sure what they were thinking here with plenty of quality starting pitchers and position players still on the board at this point.
Future Face of the Franchise: While we weren't big on Denver's fifth pick, one pick we absolutely love is their second round pick, Rick Porcello. This kid won't strike out every batter but he'll be the heir to the #1 spot in Denver's rotation for years to come.
Florida PelicansFlorida picked quite the guy to be the face of their franchise with their first pick. Joe Mauer is expected to be behind the plate for years to come and the numbers he is capable of putting up will leave the Eastern League in fear. After Mauer the Pelicans chose starting pitcher Rich Harden with their second round, first baseman Miguel Cabrera with their third round, starting pitcher Roy Oswalt with their fourth round and center fielder Nate McClouth with their fifth round pick.
Steal of the Draft: Looking through all thirty five rounds, we're not seeing a single steal for Florida in this draft. It's actually looking like a draft full of quite a few missteps and a lot of mismanagement. Hopefully someone steps up for Florida and proves us all wrong.
Jury Is Still Out: On picking Nate McClouth to man center field in round five. McClouth, while not a scrub, demanded $9.5M per year, which is a large chunk of money for a cash strapped team like Florida. Especially when a better potential guy like Adam Jones went in round five and will make league minimum.
Future Face of the Franchise: You would think that a team like Florida, who is trying to compete with a small budget, would have tried to assure them at least ONE top flight prospect but that is not the case. Starting pitcher Wade Davis, chosen in the twenty fifth round, is their top prospect at this point and he'll be lucky to end up as a #3 starter in this league eventually. #4 or #5 starter at best in his case and left fielder Travis Snider, chosen in the sixth round, might end up being the better value in the end.
Hartford OwlsHartford had the first pick of the draft which was probably the most stressful pick possible. While being hindered with the smallest budget of the entire league, most were expecting them to go with third baseman Evan Longoria who would make league minimum. Instead they chose starting pitcher Felix Hernandez, who was demanding $9.5M his first year and will undoubtedly get a raise next year in arbitration. Following the pick they chose left fielder Ryan Braun in round two, center fielder Dustin Ackley in round three, starting pitcher Brandon Webb in round four and right fielder Hunter Pence in round five.
Steal of the Draft: This could very well end up being seventh rounder David Price. This starting pitcher has the potential to be absolutely dominating but he's not quite there just yet. It'll be interesting if they have to use him in the starting rotation their first year or if they'll be able to keep him on the reserve roster and delay his service time a whole year.
Jury Is Still Out: On picking center fielder Dustin Ackley in the third round. Don't get us wrong, this kid possesses all five tools. It just remains to be seen if he'll be able to put it all together to become the player Hartford hopes he turns into. Otherwise this is a high risk with a very high pick.
Future Face of the Franchise: It's a toss up but we have to go with David Price here. Whereas with Ackley it's "if this kid puts it all together," with Price it's "once this kid puts it all together." When he does, he is going to have some of the nastiest stuff in the league. In the top three in prospects for the entire league.
Las Vegas Lake MonstersLas Vegas went out and possibly shored up their backstop for a whole lot of years with their first pick in the draft. Catcher Matt Wieters still needs a bit of polish but scouts are projecting him to be the best catcher this league will see for a long time. Which is a strong statement since he'll be following in Florida's Joe Mauer's shadow for a good portion of his career. It'll be interesting to see which team picked the correct catcher. The Lake Monsters chose starting pitcher Cole Hamels in the second round, third baseman Ryan Zimmerman in the third round, first baseman Lance Berkman in the fourth round and starting pitcher Yovani Gallardo in the fifth round.
Steal of the Draft: We have to go to the seventh round when the Lake Monsters chose left fielder Matt Holiday. At this point we've seen outfielders Nate McClouth, Adam Jones, Travis Snider and Hunter Pence go before him. Matt Holiday will end up being a premier bat in this league and you can mark our words.
Jury Is Still Out: On nothing really. Maybe picking Wieters in the first round was a little premature but how can you hate that pick? He looks like he could be a hall of famer when it's all said and done. Through and through Las Vegas didn't really do anything wrong with any of their picks.
Future Face of the Franchise: Wieters has been put on the active roster so we're not sure if we should choose him. We're not going too far down in quality though if we choose starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner. Top 10 prospect for sure, narrowly missing top 5 status. He is only 19 years old and we're already seeing plenty of all-star teams in his future.
Memphis ThunderMemphis chose a guy that I can just see being from Memphis(even though he is from Lincoln, Nebraska) in Joba Chamberlain. I'm still on the fence about the fact that their ace has a bit of control issues but he does have overpowering stuff when it's working. He should bring some electrifying starts to FedEx Field. Memphis brought in some solid players to join Chamberlain in following rounds. Center fielder Matt Kemp in the second round, first baseman Prince Fielder in the third round, starting pitcher Dan Haren in the fourth round and second baseman Chase Utley in the fifth round.
Steal of the Draft: Chase Utley in the fifth round is an absolute heist. In a league where second base might be the weakest position, Memphis got the best of the lot and managed to do so after already establishing a good core in the draft. This guy is going to be a perennial all-star.
Jury Is Still Out: On Sean Gallagher in the 11th round. We're really not sure where he fits in with this team, especially that high up. I would have gone for a highly touted prospect if you wanted to go pitcher or stayed position player. As this pick stands, it looks like Memphis shorted themselves a quality player for a barely serviceable arm.
Future Face of the Franchise: Yeesh. I think Joba Chamberlain by default even though he is going to start off as their ace. Their reserve roster is seriously barren of top flight talent. Catcher Carlos Santana is about as close as it gets and we're not ready to call him a sure thing just yet. Projects to be a starter but won't be an all-star.
Minneapolis NavigatorsMinneapolis erupted when they saw the arm that will steer the ship for years and years to come at the top of their rotation fall to them. At pick #5, Stephen Strasburg was chosen to be their ace for the next several years. He might still be a year or so away but this guy is destined to be one of the greatest ever. After Strasburg, Minneapolis put together a decent squad. Their second choice was first baseman Adrian Gonzalez. Third choice was catcher Brian McCann. Fourth choice was starting pitcher Derek Lowe. Fifth choice was shortstop J.J. Hardy.
Steal of the Draft: We're going to look back and wonder how Minneapolis landed McCann in the third round, especially after seeing guys like Max Scherzer go ahead of him. McCann is going to be an excellent catcher in this league and have great value in a tough position.
Jury Is Still Out: On J.J. Hardy in round five. We just don't see it. Granted, shortstop is a position of weakness in this league but I feel like they picked one a bit too soon. With Furcal and Tulowitzki still on the board at that point they possibly created an unneeded rush towards the position.
Future Face of the Franchise: This is without a doubt Strasburg. He's not only the future face of this franchise but he's the future face of this league. He is going to be essential to this club, they just need to keep getting young, projectable guys to put around him.
Oklahoma City Wheat KingsWe said this team needed to focus on pitching and apparently they were listening. They took starting pitcher Tim Lincecum with the fourth overall pick who'll be an anchor in that #1 spot. Building around him with shortstop Jose Reyes in the second round was a solid move. Following that up with center fielder Colby Rasmus in the third, starting pitchers Jake Peavy and Francisco Liriano in the fourth and fifth rounds? This team is going to be good.
Steal of the Draft: Without a doubt, catcher Victor Martinez in the eighth round is going to pay dividends. He is going to do so much great work with this already good pitching staff that OKC is going to be a scary, scary team.
Jury Is Still Out: On Francisco Liriano in the fifth round. I feel like they could have swapped Victor Martinez and Liriano and it'd have made more sense. Liriano could end up being better than we think but he still has a long way to prove that.
Future Face of the Franchise: Absolutely this is Colby Rasmus. He'll come up around the same time Hartford's Dustin Ackley does and we'll have a great time watching the two of these go at it to prove who is the better player. An absolutely essential piece.
Pittsburgh SteelhoundsPittsburgh, unlike Florida, knew what it had to do. In the first round they took starting pitcher Zach Greinke and shored up their #1 spot. After that they drafted guys who are still young and still not at their potentials but could end up being HUGE players in this league. With the second pick they took shortstop Elvis Andrus. With the third pick they chose center fielder Cameron Maybin. Round four saw them take starting pitcher Chad Billingsley and in the fifth round they took third baseman Chipper Jones.
Steal of the Draft: With how Pittsburgh drafted, I think they knew they weren't going to compete this first and probably even second year. But they took an amazing third baseman in Chipper Jones in the fifth round who they could end up dealing away to a contender this year or next and get a nice return on. He'll also provide the leadership to get these young kids moving on the field.
Jury Is Still Out: Like with Las Vegas, we can't find any large mistake in this draft. Pittsburgh drafted pretty well and actually ended up with several steals in later rounds with left fielder Manny Ramirez in round eight and first baseman Carlos Pena in round twenty.
Future Face of the Franchise: Cameron Maybin is going to be a monster in center field for years in Heinz Field. He is going to strike out a lot but he is going to make up for it with the doubles, triples and good fielding. This kid will be an all-star.
Portland PhantomsPortland had the second pick in the draft and a sizeable budget to boot. This afforded them to take shortstop phenom Hanley Ramirez in the first round. They didn't stop spending the money there though as they took right fielder Justin Upton in the second round, center fielder Grady Sizemore in the third round, starting pitcher Johan Santana in the fourth round, and starting pitcher Chris Carpenter in the fifth round.
Steal of the Draft: The fact that they took, quite possibly, the best pitcher in the league in the fourth round is pretty absurd. Johan Santana slipped because of money demands but Portland didn't mind ponying up the cash at all. Santana is going to go out every time and give you the best chance to win. He'll help them compete in the Western League right off the start.
Jury Is Still Out: On taking left fielder Chris Dickerson in the fourteenth round. But it is the fourteenth round so it might not matter either way. When all is said and done, we think Portland might have had the best draft class overall.
Future Face of the Franchise: They really don't have a top flight prospect in their system and we're not sure that bothers them much. This team's future is right now and they'll be competitive for years to come.
San Diego PrideSan Diego had a similar situation to Portland, just one pick lower and a much larger budget. Because of that budget they came away with an amazing run in the first five rounds. With their first pick they chose third baseman Even Longoria. Longoria projects to have some of the best hitting and pure power skills you are bound to see, along with plus defense at third base. This kid is going to have it all. The fact that he'll be sitting across the field from second round pick, first baseman Albert Pujols, is a frightening thought. They chose their first starting pitcher in the third round with Max Scherzer and followed that up with starting pitcher Roy Halladay in round four and shortstop Jimmy Rollins in the fifth round.
Steal of the Draft: It was a second round pick by the name of Albert Pujols. Without a doubt he'll be the premier offensive player in this league and to get him in the second round is ridiculous. He'll keep San Diego in contention for years.
Jury Is Still Out: On Max Scherzer being their third round pick. He isn't even going to be their #1 starter. That'll go to fourth rounder Roy Halladay. A bit of a strecth but he'll be a good #2 or #3 starter.
Future Face of the Franchise: Evan Longoria will play his first year but he is going to be the future of this franchise. He'll put up good numbers this year and will just get better for the next couple years. This kid has hall of fame written all over him.
San Francisco ConquestSan Francisco got stuck with the last pick of the draft and chose center fielder Jay Bruce with it. Bruce will be a good center fielder who should give the Conquest plenty of good years. Following that pick they chose starting pitcher Matt Cain in the second round, center fielder B.J. Upton in the third round, starting pitcher Josh Johnson in the fourth round and second baseman Ian Kinsler in the fifth round.
Steal of the Draft: Third baseman Alex Rodriguez in the fourteenth round will certainly help the Conquest. He is going to put up some big numbers while manning the hot spot.
Jury Is Still Out: On selecting Jay Bruce in the first round. This is a team that could afford Albert Pujols and they passed on him. This move is going to come back to haunt them when Pujols is putting up absurd numbers year after year in the Western League.
Future Face of the Franchise: Jay Bruce will be starting his first year so we're going to go with a combination of him and shortstop Gordon Beckham. If both players develop like expected, the Conquest could have two demanding positions shored up for a long, long time.
Home
