RJEL Minor League Draft Discussion Thread...

[revo]

I'd like to make a motion for Ed to stop picking. Every time he makes a pick, my list gets shorter and shorter.

Really? I thought I was kinda picking out my ass, to be honest.

[Andrewski]

Really? I thought I was kinda picking out my ass, to be honest.

It's a "bottom," Revo. See Heye's chart.

[Hornsby]

Jesus, what a pain...turns out St Louis has TWO pitchers named Marco Gonzales, I'm pretty sure that Brad only want the younger of the two, but I can't for the life of me figure out which one is which in the little commissioner add/drop box. Hopefully, he can simply delete the one he doesn't want, since I added both to his roster...sigh.

Also guys, we're in pretty obscure territory now, so a position included would help a lot...thanks.

[revo]

Revo, re-pick!

I did, you claim grabber!

[Hornsby]

Say wha? I ain't be grabbin' nothin'!

Re-Pick yourself...

[james33]

non-RJEL person's two cents:

1) I love Evil Empire's first round. I'm a big fan of Ervin, who seems to have both power and speed, and might've been drafted higher in MLB if it weren't for concerns about his college competition (Sanford, I think?). And Piscotty to close out the first round - Cardinal fan bias, perhaps, but I like him more than some who went before him.

2) Once you get to the later rounds, they're all iffy prospects. I wonder if you're better off simply drafting pitchers from San Diego (and other pitchers parks) and hitters from Colorado (and other hitter parks) who are on their top 20, but not top 10, top prospect list.

3) Andrew Lambo was eligible?

[Hornsby]

non-RJEL person's two cents:

1) I love Evil Empire's first round. I'm a big fan of Ervin, who seems to have both power and speed, and might've been drafted higher in MLB if it weren't for concerns about his college competition (Sanford, I think?). And Piscotty to close out the first round - Cardinal fan bias, perhaps, but I like him more than some who went before him.

2) Once you get to the later rounds, they're all iffy prospects. I wonder if you're better off simply drafting pitchers from San Diego (and other pitchers parks) and hitters from Colorado (and other hitter parks) who are on their top 20, but not top 10, top prospect list.

3) Andrew Lambo was eligible?

Thanks for opining James, it's much appreciated. Just an answer on the lambo question...anyone who hasn't reached the MLB rookie limits of 130 AB's or 50 IP's, and isn't owned, is eligible to be picked.

Personally, I kind of employed a bit of your idea with 2 hitters from Colorado (McMahon and Tapia), and a post hype sleeper pick in Padre Casey Kelly, who I hope can pay some dividends around the All-Star break...

[james33]

Thanks!

3) Relative to such iffy prospects, I love the Lambo pick so late - he may actually have positive impact this year (seems like he'll likely get quite a few at bats off the bench, with some power, and a chance to steal away a starting job at some point).

4) I thought Groucho Marxists made arguably both the worst pick (Butler; I just see very limited fantasy upside in Rockies pitchers no matter how talented) and the best pick (given where he was drafted, Meadows) in the first round.

[The Dane]

Why would Butler be a worse pick than Gray, who was picked far earlier, if being a Rockie is the only measuring stick?

My thoughts exactly. TWO Rockies pitchers taken in the first round!? That threw me for a loop. The only pitcher I had in the first round was Appel, but I had several at the top of the second. In retrospect, I probably should have taken Piscotty instead of Herrera, but I already had a ton of OFers and I was trying to spread it out a bit. I think Moran went about one full round early; I had Renfroe in the first round in his spot.

The talent in this draft was not as obvious as in other years; the tiers were less defined. After what I saw as a clear bunch at the top, Bryant-Frazier-Appel, it was a blurry mess. I like my draft a lot, but it could all go bad and I wouldn't be totally surprised.

[The Dane]

I don't get the Piscotty love. He seems like a solid real baseball player but what really does he bring to the table in roto terms? He has little power and little speed. It looks like his bat will play on a batting average level, but that's not nearly enough to be an elite fantasy prospect. So far he looks like a Placido Polanco type to me. There is some value in that, for sure, but how much? I'd much rather make a speculative play on a huge power guy (Peterson) or a huge speed guy (Crawford).

I agree as far as power bats go (as evidenced by my carrying Vogelbach and Roache) but they were both gone by my first pick. Piscotty is nearly ready and he plays on a great team that does a great job at putting young players in positions to succeed. He may not have the highest upside of anyone in that first round, but he may have the best odds of success.

[james33]

Why would Butler be a worse pick than Gray, who was picked far earlier, if being a Rockie is the only measuring stick?

Good point. I guess I see Gray as (1) a highly ranked prospect on prospect lists I've seen and (2) eye-popping K/9 numbers, which is something I like to see and perhaps overvalue, whereas Butler is right at/very slightly below one K per IP. Good, but combined with Coors, makes me not like him.

[james33]

I don't get the Piscotty love. He seems like a solid real baseball player but what really does he bring to the table in roto terms? He has little power and little speed. It looks like his bat will play on a batting average level, but that's not nearly enough to be an elite fantasy prospect. So far he looks like a Placido Polanco type to me. There is some value in that, for sure, but how much? I'd much rather make a speculative play on a huge power guy (Peterson) or a huge speed guy (Crawford).

Cardinal fan bias is probably the biggest reason I like him. But I'd say two things other than that - (1) Placido Polanco was not a bad fantasy player - I believe he often earned $15 and (2) I disagree with "little power and little speed" - I'd call it "some power and some speed." This may sound like splitting hairs, but in my opinion, Piscotty has enough of both power and speed to be valuable for fantasy. A 32 HR - 2 SB guy is more sexy, but in 2013, combined Hi-A, AA, and AFL, Piscotty had 16 HR and 18 SB in 526 ABs. Combine that with a good potential BA (agree with you there) because of his low K numbers, and I like him for roto.

[Hornsby]

My thoughts exactly. TWO Rockies pitchers taken in the first round!? That threw me for a loop. The only pitcher I had in the first round was Appel, but I had several at the top of the second. In retrospect, I probably should have taken Piscotty instead of Herrera, but I already had a ton of OFers and I was trying to spread it out a bit. I think Moran went about one full round early; I had Renfroe in the first round in his spot.

The talent in this draft was not as obvious as in other years; the tiers were less defined. After what I saw as a clear bunch at the top, Bryant-Frazier-Appel, it was a blurry mess. I like my draft a lot, but it could all go bad and I wouldn't be totally surprised.

I think that you'll be very surprised at how well both pitchers do in Coors. The old parks is essentially gone, with advent of the huimidor, sure it's a big park, but there are lots of big parks around these days. And both guys are power pitchers, with big fastballs and high K rates...it's the type of formula that will play well in ANY park. I love RHD's lists, but his dislike of Colorado pitchers borders on the irrational...I'll go with the scouts and the evaluators who all seem to agree that both Gray and Butler will succeed, because of their abilities, and despite the ballpark effect.

[Don Quixote]

I think that you'll be very surprised at how well both pitchers do in Coors. The old parks is essentially gone, with advent of the huimidor, sure it's a big park, but there are lots of big parks around these days. And both guys are power pitchers, with big fastballs and high K rates...it's the type of formula that will play well in ANY park. I love RHD's lists, but his dislike of Colorado pitchers borders on the irrational...I'll go with the scouts and the evaluators who all seem to agree that both Gray and Butler will succeed, because of their abilities, and despite the ballpark effect.

I'm the first to admit that I took Butler on pure speculation. He has the talent, and not all minor league guys wind up pitching for their original organizations.

It's the minor league draft. It's mostly guesswork.