The 2023 CPL draft is now in the rearview mirror and now is the time where it’s fun to review each team’s picks. Like in recent years past, I will not waste time noting which picks I didn’t like, because I don’t have a lot of ground to stand on when it comes to criticisms of other’s drafts. Instead, I’ll point out some of my favorite picks from each organization.
Baby Seals
Overall Impression: A strong class with high-floor players who may (may) lack the top-top end ceilings but will likely contribute strong numbers everywhere to keep people wondering how the Baby Seals continue to win year after year. A draft class befitting of the Baby Seals and their secret to their success.
Favorite Pick: Jacob Zibin was taken 301st overall in the MLB draft but signed by Cleveland for the equivalent of a 2nd round pick. Fangraphs has him as a 40+ FV talent and he is an exciting lottery ticket for the Seals.
Honorable Mentions: I’ve heard Neto may be the first player from this class to make the majors; Gilbert could be exciting if he doesn’t kill himself running into fences; is Sims an ace or a reliever? Either way he could be a steal at #51; Jacob Miller seems to have the makings of a pitching prospect who could shoot up the rankings.
Ball Busters
Overall Impression: When the organization’s first pick doesn’t come until #99, the expectations should be set pretty low. But having said that, of the five players taken, there could be some real talent here.
Favorite Pick: There weren’t many picks this year that had me disappointed I didn’t get them, but Thomas Harrington was one. This draft had a ton of pithing, so to see Harrington fall to #115 isn’t a huge surprise but he could become one of the best of the class when all is said and done.
Honorable Mentions: Jake Alu was a sneaky pick as someone who could quietly contribute significantly at the MLB level this year; I like Pedro Ramirez quite a bit, and so did others as another owner tried to draft him; Whisenhunt was a nice, nice pick at #99.
Banocolates
Overall Impression: This draft had a lot of starting pitching and a lot of shortstops, and Jeff decided to buy all of the latter and none of the former. But they weren’t wasted picks, as I liked many of these bats quite a bit. Jeff also added some quality bullpen pieces as well.
Favorite Pick: There is something about Tucker Toman that I really like, and I have a hunch he could come out of this class as the lesser-hearalded prospect who just blows up.
Honorable Mentions: Ottavino, Alvarado, Hughes, and Herget could all conceivably be plugged into his 4 RP options right now with potentially strong results; Sal Stewart swing like Dante Bichette and is an exciting talent for me; Cole Young was a favorite of mine that I knew I wouldn’t be able to get; Kasevich is seemingly a Fangraphs’ darling; Riley Adams is a former crush of mine and makes a ton of sense on Jeff’s team.
BROB’s Barnacles
Overall Impression: This may be my favorite draft class of the bunch. Top 3 at worst. So many players in the draft that I like a lot and this could be the bunch to really set a solid core for this organization for many years to come.
Favorite Pick: Which one to pick? It has to be Tyler Locklear. I was really hoping he would fall to me at the end of the 4th. Corner bats are so difficult to find so grabbing Locklear at #59 could turn out to be one hell of a pick. Personally I had him as a mid-second round talent. But then again, I drafted Aaron Sabato instead of Jordan Walker, so what the hell do I know?
Honorable Mentions: Porter is such a wildcard, and high school pitchers are notoriously risky gambles, but BROB had the draft clout to be able to take that chance; Rushing could be a superstar, in my opinion; so could Spencer Jones; Fabian was one of only two players to be unanimously named a Baseball America preseason 1st team all American back in 2019; the other was Kumar Rocker, who will contribute on some level and again Brian had the draft capital to be able to take the risk; So many more guys I’d like on my own team- Festa, Prielipp (I think I was higher on him than most), Guanipa, Berrora. The list goes on and on.
Danimals
Overall Impression: Some super sneaky sleeper guys that I really liked who may blow up (who am I kidding, it’s Danimals, of course they’ll blow up), coupled with MLB-ready talent who will contribute this year, probably at a high level. Yup, this is a Dan draft.
Favorite Pick: Axiel Plaz has been a secret desire of mine for many months now and I am quite disappointed that I didn’t get to go home with him. Much like the lyrics to the Calum Scott song Dancing on my Own, I’ll have to watch as Plaz and Dan make magic together.
Honorable Mentions: I had only one player on my draft board asterisked, and it was Keiner Delgado; Lizarraga is an interesting Padre that was a terrific pick at #167; Misiorowski and Ryan are high-end arms that could be pretty dang special; Brock Jones was another guy I wanted to leave with; I kept kicking myself last season for not picking up Meneses when I had the chance.
Fajita Eaters
Overall Impression: Another organization who had few picks in this draft, yet managed to come away with some real talent that will help the organization this year. Rem made the most of what he had.
Favorite Pick: I have fallen victim plenty to the relief pitcher prospect who is a sure-thing closer (I’m looking at you Zack Burdi, who I interestingly took at #75 in 2017), so I loved the Joyce pick at #74. And if he reaches his ceiling, Rem’s got a bullpen anchor for a decade.
Honorable Mentions: Bryan Abreu was another player I kept trying to find a place for at the pickup deadline last year; Cermak on a team other than the Rays would’ve pushed him higher up my draft board; getting a MLB starting pither at #10 with Senga’s ceiling is amazing.
G.I. Zo’s
Overall Impression: Eight picks in the top 32 will do wonders for an organization. Zobrack is leaving this draft with some absolutely amazing talent that likely sets the backbone for his team for a decade or more. Another favorite class of mine.
Favorite Pick: I don’t like to pick first round guys as my favorite pick (low hanging fruit), but the 1.1 pick was my favorite pick in CPL history, and I’m positive I’m not alone. Having the player himself announce the draft pick was legendary. Zobrack continues to break new CPL ground.
Honorable Mentions: Druw Jones and Termarr Johnson? yes please!; Parada is one of the ideal-catching prospects we see so infrequently who I really, really like; Hjerpe and Horton are terrific arms to snag from the class and two that I would love to have; Xavier Isaac was initially my big hope when I started my draft board, and maybe he’s the next Ryan Howard.
Kelly’s Heroes
Overall Impression: 29. JK had 29 picks in this draft. That’s amazing. It’s essentially an entire redo of the Kelly’s Heroes Little League team. And how fun is that! And with 16 picks in the first 70, what a way to do it! Kelly’s Heroes had an incredible draft with some very high ceiling lottery tickets.
Favorite Pick: At one point in my scouting I had Roman Anthony as a low first round pick. He didn’t end up there, but I still like him quite a bit and he could be a true 8-category producer in the CPL.
Honorable Mentions: Jacob Berry should get more love than he does; de Paula may have been a top 10 pick if he had another year under his belt; I would’ve taken Ethan Salas in the first round; Ivan Melendez was another guy I was hoping to sneak in the 4th; getting Susac as late as he did was really nice; Rayner Arias is a very exciting IFA and I like him a lot; Sterlin Thompson, Mason Miller, Derniche Valdez- I could go on and on.
Motley Shue
Overall Impression: Another year, another strong draft class by Shue who wasn’t able to grab anyone before pick #43. Some really exciting lottery tickets along with a closer with an MLB job and some high ceiling college guys gives this draft class a strong chance to be a successful one.
Favorite Pick: I am a sucker for IFAs and Shue grabbed a few, and although he is the riskiest of the bunch, due to J2 pitchers rarely becoming anything, I love Jun-Seok Shim. His powerful arm, especially for an Asian pitcher, at such a young age makes me tingle. If he can stay healthy, I think he could be really special.
Honorable Mentions: LeClerc is a sweet pick and will immediately help for the title push; Beck could easily become next big prospect Shue was able to uncover – he was a favorite of mine; Castro and Calaz are two exciting J2s with exciting power ceilings.
Nellamaniacs
Overall Impression: A really nice collection of bats and arms for an owner still settling in to the nuances of drafting in the CPL is an impressive feat. Some really nice players in this class.
Favorite Pick: Barriera may come out of this draft as the pitcher with the best MLB career. His talent on that team with his attitude and mentality…wow, he honestly could be someone really quite special.
Honorable Mentions: Grabbing a starting OF who is still somewhat of an unknown quantity in Suzuki but who could contribute across the board at #7 is pretty juicy; The string of pitchers taken-including Barriera- are all quite nice: I think Tidwell could be a good starter or a really good reliever; Hughes on any team other than the Rockies probably has him going 50 picks higher and I really like him; and Morales got huge money for a J2 pitcher, which is indicative of his ceiling and I am a big fan.
Pro Bowlers
Overall Impression: Screw this guy always having good drafts and adding sweet talent to his organization. Pat, you won the pennant last year! Save some talent for the rest of us! Jeez!
Favorite Pick: Sometimes I read about and then watch video of J2 players and develop a pretty big crush on them. Sometimes that works out (Julio Rodriguez), but most times it doesn’t (Kenny Hernandez). This year there were a few in that category, and at the top of the list is Celesten. It seems like he was really under the radar in the CPL- heard very little talk of him- which is surprising considering his nearly $5 million bonus. I like him a lot. A LOT.
Honorable Mentions: Collier gives the Bowlers something very important- an elite cornerstone, corner infield prospect; I believe Beavers has a great chance of flying up prospect rankings through the year; grabbing the Vanilla Missile Walter Ford as late as he did was an absolute steal; Sheehan was a guy on my watch list all last year and if I was more confident he was a starter long-term he’d already be on my team; Mule was the youngest player in the draft, I believe, which is always exciting and bodes well for his future. Is he a SP or a SS? Who knows, but the kid is a stud and exceptionally mature for his age- and getting him in the end of the 10th? Daaaamn; I’ve read that Justin Campbell will be a top 100 prospect next year and I’m disappointed I didn’t get him.
Rollin Goats
Overall Impression: Wow. Another draft providing evidence that Cale knows what he’s doing. After having to wait nearly 70 picks to add anyone to his team, Cale drafted a number of guys that keep me horny for prospects…sniping me on many of them. And…funny, only two pitching prospects.
Favorite Pick: Ruben Santana fit the mold of many of the guys I targeted this year and I had him listed as a 5th round talent. I was going to draft him in the 7th but took Vargas and Bernal, figuring Santana would fall to me in the 9th. Finding sleeper third base prospects with his possibilities are not easy to come by.
Honorable Mentions: JR Ritchie, the only SP prospect drafted by the Goats, provides very exciting possibilities- if he’s a starter he could be an absolute stud, but if he ends up in the bullpen he could be even better; the other pitching prospect, Moran, is another probable bullpen stud; Cale took a number of IFAs from the last few years- including Santana- and the lot of them provide wonderful upside- Lara, Chourio, Rodriguez, Baez, Verdugo…there are so many guys in the class that I would love to have in my organization; honestly it’s difficult to find a player in the class that I wouldn’t want on my team.
The Big Hurts
Overall Impression: A small draft class filled with nothing but late, late picks. But even still, there’s some reason for optimism with these players.
Favorite Pick: Grabbing someone with serious power and the potential for 30 plus homers at the MLB level with pick #185 is no small feat. De la Cruz may become nothing, but if he can learn to sync his body up with his power, watch out.
Honorable Mentions: Harris is a high floor guy with good peripherals who likely makes it to Oakland this year and who knows what he may eventually become; Gomez is another prospect projected to be top 100 next year, and if his bat can catch up to his glove he could be quite the find.
The Big Units
Overall Impression: What a draft! The top 4 picks have a real possibility to be good to great players, and some later-round picks have intriguing possibilities. A really good draft from another owner who does not have a ton of CPL drafting experience. A good strategy of bats to start, grabbing a number of solid arms in the middle rounds, then back to bats to finish the draft.
Favorite Pick: Chase DeLauter was the last player drafted that I personally had rated as a 1st round talent, so to grab him in the middle of the second- after already drafting Green in the first- netted the Units two players I deemed as first round players.
Honorable Mentions: Snelling and Shultz are two exciting pitching prospects given that they have high ceilings and the benefit of being lefties, which give them a greater margin for error. I had both listed as top of the 3rd round talents; Crawford is too risky for me, but I can appreciate his possibilities; Coffey piques my curiosity because of his power; Lampe is a guy I like and he seems like he could be a legit 5-tool sleeper prospect.
Tom Cat’s
Overall Impression: 4 former members of Your Mom in this draft class makes me nostalgic (Yaz, Cruz, Eaton, Ginkel). There are some explosive arms here and a number of MLB depth pieces.
Favorite Pick: I’m curious why everyone is not higher on Chandler Simpson. In a world where MLB batting averages are at an all-time low, here’s a guy with above elite-level speed and elite-level hitting ability. Sure, he has zero power but power can be added easier than speed or hitting ability. He’s a zig when the rest of the MLB is zagging, and I wanted him pretty badly.
Honorable Mentions: I know high school pitchers are as risky as they come but Dylan Lesko is pretty sexy with his potential and Jackson Ferris may turn out to be even better than Lesko; Jean is another hard thrower who may jump up rankings this season; Pintar has some talent across the board and is intriguing.
Your Mom
Overall Impression: Lots of bats, many of which are high- contact guys, even though I liked a number of pitchers in this draft.
Favorite Pick: I know I’m way higher on Juan Brito than probably everyone else, but I had him as a top of the third round talent so while it may seem like a reach for me to take him when I did, I was very happy to get him.
Honorable Mentions: It’s sill of me to list this for my own team, since everyone else would fit in here.
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