Draft Thoughts

I have a Saturday here with some free time, so I thought I’d put together what I hope is a fun article with some random thoughts regarding the draft.  Maybe your find this of value, maybe not. Regardless, I hope you find it interesting and fun to read.   But keep in mind that I’m currently sitting in last place in my division and may have zero credibility.

I cannot remember a draft in the history of the league that had excited me as much as this past draft did.  The CPLodcast touched on it several times, but because of the Covid-short 2020 draft leading to a higher than average number of excellent college prospects, a very strong crop of high schoolers, and what I thought was a strong crop of IFAs, coupled with some really fun free agents who weren’t already owned, this draft had me drooling.  And my acquiring a handful of mid rounds picks by paying future (higher) draft picks was evidence of that.   Sometimes I look back at CPL drafts with an overall sense of “friggin’ yuk!” (e.g. 2021, 2017, etc), and sometimes I look back with excitement (e.g. 2012), but I have a feeling that in several years I’ll look back at this draft with a sense of awe.  I very well could be wrong, and probably am, but this has been my favorite draft class by far.  In fact, there are still a bunch of players who are unowned that I could’ve seen myself drafting.

Because I liked it so much, I thought I’d go through and just list the players each team has recently acquired (via draft or pickup soon after the draft) that I really liked going into the draft, with a little blurb included.  I’m not going to name the no-doubt guys, but more the guys from later in the draft.

Fajita Eaters

– Eduardo Tait

– James McArthur

– Keider Montero

I loved, loved Tait and back in December I had him as a top 40 talent. McArthur is someone I wanted to pick up last year and I thought after KC signed Will Smith McArthur would get forgotten about.  I’m still pissed that Rem scooped up Keider after I dropped him thinking I could pick him back up later.

Banocolates

– Zack Littell

– Bryan Rincon

Littell is one of those sneaky picks that isn’t terribly sexy but may be exceptionally valuable. He may end up as one of the best 5-10 picks in the draft looking just at the value provided this year.  Rincon was noted as a future utility guy but he and the aforementioned Tait are two of the Phillies prospects I’m most excited about.

Tom Cat’s

– Mike Boeve

– Jorge Quintana

– Cole Schoenwetter

Boeve was one of those guys who I’ve been drafting more of recently; guys with really strong hit tools and plate discipline.  And if he can find some pop, he could be a strong contributor. Quintana was one of the many J15 guys I was hoping to grab; another strong hit tool. And Schoenwetter was a name that just kept popping up in my research that really piqued my interest.

GI Zo’s

– Ty Floyd

– Thomas White

– Ty Peete

Zo’s left with probably my favorite draft class from this year.  In a class with a bunch of strong college arms, I thought Floyd was incredibly underrated and I had him as a top 40 talent.  White carries a bunch of risk as a high school arm, but he was another guy I thought was too overlooked that I think could be a stud. I changed my personal strategy a bit this year to include a variable I won’t mention, but that change bumped Peete way up my list and I like him a lot.

The Big Units

– Yuki Matsui

– Nazzan Zanetello

– Mitch Jebb

I really wanted to leave the draft with Matsui to pair with Suarez, and I think Matsui has better stuff and will end the year as the closer if he can stay healthy.  I think Zanetello is one of those guys who in another year would’ve had a lot of pre-draft buzz and I had him right around Kendall George and Gino Groover on my draft board.  Jebb is another hit-tool player that I have a soft-spot for.

Baby Seals

– Kyle Carr

– Max Anderson

– Yohandy Morales

Carr was a guy that I almost took instead of Antonio Anderson and went directly after I drafted Anderson. I hope I don’t regret that. Max Anderson is another great hit tool guy who I think can be an average second baseman. I feel like I was the high man on Morales and even into mid-February I had him as an end of the first round guy.

BROB’s Barnacles

– Ben Rice

– Jacob Marsee

– Jackson Baumeister

Another draft class that was one of my favorites. I had mentioned there were some exciting free agents available in this draft, and Rice and Marsee were two at the top. Rice can’t hit lefties and Marsee doesn’t seem to have many believers, but I like both of them to be quality MLB contributors and the kind of talent that helps to win titles. Baumeister is another guy that in a weaker draft I think would’ve have way more buzz and I like him a lot.

Nellamaniacs

– Cole Carrigg

– George Wolkow

– Trevor Werner

Some exciting, lesser-heralded guys in this class including these three.  Carrigg could develop into someone who is extremely valuable as a super util (catcher included), strong bat in Colorado.  Wolkow has exciting power and youth and will be very fun to watch this year. I was very shocked when Werner was drafted because I wanted to track and pick him up later this season.

Rollin’ Goats

– Charlee Soto

– Jack Hurley

– Paul Wilson

Soto is a high-risk guy just because he’s a high school pitcher, but boy do I like him, I just wish he wasn’t in the Twins org. Wilson, another high school arm, carries risk but I think there’s a good floor and ceiling here and in another year there’s no way he lasts until the 9^th round. Hurley, a second-team Baseball America All-American coming into last year tantalizing upside.

Ball Busters

– Blake Wolters

– Eric Bitonti

– David McCabe

Every year Eric hemorrhages his draft picks and every year Eric leaves the draft with guys I really like. I hate Blake Mitchell, but understand KC took him so they could save a million bucks to give to Blake Wolters who I like a whole lot.  Bitonti is another guy I had as a top 50 talent who I thought was lost in the system underneath Wilken (who I also loved). McCabe is a corner infielder with power and plate discipline- yes please!

The Big Hurts

– Dawel Joseph

– Brice Matthews

– Hyun-Seok Jang

I pushed and pushed but couldn’t get Vince to trade Dawel.  I liked Dawel more than any other J15 outside of De Vries and I think he will be a stud. Brice Matthews seems like a very fun lottery ticket type player with incredible tools.  I couldn’t believe how Jang just seemed to completely fly under the radar everywhere I looked, but he’s maybe a future stud in a great Dodgers organization.

Motley Shue

– Mac Hovarth

– Tre’ Morgan

– Brandon Sproat

Mac Hovarth was the absolute best player in this draft no one talked about and with my pick at #41 I had a really difficult time choosing between him and Dollander and I think I’m going to regret the choice I made (maybe I already do).  If Tre’ Morgan is a certain outfielder I think he goes a round a half higher, as is he may not be that dissimilar to Nolan Schanuel.  Sproat fell into that crop of college arms who could be special but who got lost in the overall wealth of talent in this class.

Pro Bowlers

– N/A

We all know that Pat didn’t have much of a draft, but a few of his post-draft pickups, namely A.J. Blubaugh and Isaiah Drake are pretty intriguing to me.  And for what it’s worth, up until about March 1^st I had completely planned on drafting Hurston Waldrep at #8 overall.

Danimals

– SS Crop- Nimalla, Lombard, Pratt, Cruz, Rodriguez)

– Adolfo Sanchez

– Steven Echavarria

This is why Dan is so damn good. Those shortstops he drafted, especially those top 3 could very easily become among the best prospects in baseball throughout the season. I had Nimalla as a first round talent, which isn’t a big surprise. But I also had Lombard as a first round talent and I think I was the high guy on him, as he was another one I didn’t hear many people talking about.  Sanchez seems to have a special hitting ability and in Cincy, woof, look out. Echavarria is another high school arm with what I think is a special talent who was virtually invisible inside this draft class but in another year would’ve gotten a lot of love.

Kelly’s Heroes

– Luis Cova

– Braylin Tavera

– Yoniel Curet

Of course JK left with some amazing talent. That’ll happen when you have 2 of the top 4 and 3 of the top 15 picks in an incredible draft.  But he also grabbed some really, really nice talent later in the draft. Cova could very well be a top 100 prospect in the next few years. I love Tavera’s bat and he gets to develop in the best system there is for development. And Curet has immense upside and is one of those guys that would absolutely not last until the 8^th round in any other draft year.

So there you have it. If there is any interest I may put together a little article of guys that I liked going into the draft who were not drafted and are still unowned.