A recap of the Season 1 Rule 4 (Amateur) Draft, held recently. Grades are based on the player and where he was picked only (I can't speculate as to who else was/wasn't available on anyone's draftboard).
1. MINNESOTA MILLERS
Pick: Brian Fornatero, CF
Analysis: With the #1 overall pick you hope to get a future superstar, and Fornatero sure looks like one. Scouts had him pretty much unanimously as the best prospect in this draft- a 5 tool player. He'll start in A ball, but his coach at Memphis said he could start in CF for some major league teams now and he's probably right. Grade: A
2. WASHINGTON D.C. FILIBUSTERS
Pick: Christopher Grabow, 3B
Analysis: Minnesota and D.C. went two for two. If not for his somewhat questionable glove, Grabow would be mentioned as being every bit as good as Fornatero. Like Fornatero, he can not only hit but has good speed and knows the strike zone. Grade: A
3. PAWTUCKET INDIANS
Pick: Joaquin Ramirez, 2B/CF
Analysis: Apparently in this draft, great hitters who can run and field well just grow on trees. Pawtucket fans who saw Fornatero and Grabow go off the board won't be disappointed with the consolation prize here. Grade: A
4. CHICAGO OLD STYLE
Pick: Al Boyd, SP
Analysis: Finally, a pitcher comes off the board, and probably the best one available. His coach at Evansville said his arm was great, but also that he always wanted to finish games. He's a hard thrower who should strike out a lot of guys but may give up some homers, especially in the windy confines of Chicago. He may lead all pitchers in pinch-running attempts as well.
Grade: A
5. BUFFALO GHOSTBUSTERS
Pick: Tony Stanley, SS
Analysis: He's still unsigned and wasn't on my draft board, so I can't comment on him.
6. HOUSTON HALFWITS
Pick: Harry Lugo, SP
Analysis: And here we have the first gamble of the draft. Hpuston passes on several good position players to take a pitcher whose stamina and control have been questioned by scouts but probably has a better pure arm than any pitcher in the draft, including Boyd. If they can get enough innings out of him, this is a great pick. If he doesn't pan out as a starter, less so. Grade: INC
7. SAN JOSE KUSH
Pick: Giovanni Vernon, SP
Analysis: Vernon should be a solid pitcher starter for San Jose. His sinker isn't a hard sinker, but he induces ground balls with it. He may not ever win a Cy Young Award, but he should be a mainstay in San Jose's (or somebody's) rotation for years to come. Grade: A-
8. SYRACUSE SYNDICATE
Pick: Saul Nunez, SS
Analysis: Didn't see him and he's unsigned.
9. LITTLE ROCK RAZORBACKS
Pick: Carl Rowe, SP
Analysis: No, he's not the mastermind of George W. Bush's campaigns. He's an 18-year-old starter out of Washington State. On the plus side, he should provide innings, throws hard, and has excellent control. The only downside scouts see is he's generally a 2-pitch pitcher. But I still expect good things from him. Grade: A-
10. CHARLOTTE'S WEB OF LIES
Pick: Kyle McCorley, LF
Analysis: An interesting prospect if ever there was one. Kyle's got a world of speed and excellent power, but can't necessarily be counted on to play 162 games. When he's out there, watch out! Grade: A-
11. TRENTON CROSSING
Pick: Steve Hammonds, RF
Analysis: You don't always find a middle of the order hitter at #11, but Trenton sure did. The only question is his glove- one of his Winthrop teammates said, "We told Stevie not to try out for wide receiver on the football team". But he's a very good all around hitter. Grade: A-
12. OKLAHOMA CITY PIG ROPERS
Pick: Corey Wilkins, LF
Analysis: Wilkins is every bit as good a hitter as Hammonds, maybe slightly better. He's never be any more than a LF/1B type, but he'll be in the #3 or #4 hole in the lineup someday.
Grade: A
13. ARIZONA DESERT DOGS
Pick: Danny Wyatt, SS/CF
Analysis: He'd be one of the better bats in the league as SS, but can he field the position? Or is he a CF? Either way, he's got a lot of ability both offensively and defensively. Grade: A-
14. IOWA CITY FOXHOUNDS
Pick: Brad Willis, 2B
Analysis: He's a good solid hitter who is lightning fast. Defensively he's solid if not spectacular. A solid pick for the slot. Still unsigned. Grade: B
15. TAMPA BAY STORM
Pick: Lou McDonald, LF
Analysis: A good all-around hitter who also is very fast (notice a theme here with that?). Doesn't do any one thing exceptionally well (except run) but does everything well offensively. Grade: A-
16. NEW YORK YANKEES
Pick: Bernie Ordonez, RP
Analysis: The first reliever goes off the board. While he should be a ML closer, I'm not sure he's an elite closer. He's tough on righties, but lefties have a chance against him and he doesn't have a very good second pitch. Grade: C+
17. SAN JUAN QUENOS
Pick: Matty Lansing, SP
Analysis: Like some of the other pitchers in the 1st round, he comes with some question marks. Like Lugo, he tended to run out of gas early in his college career and his pitches aren't exceptional. If he can overcome those things, he'll be a fine starter. Grade: B
18. LOS ANGELES FRESH
Pick: Troy Brumfield, SP
Analysis: Your stereotypical "soft-tossing lefty" out of Rhode Island is a project- he's several seasons away. Some scouts question whether he'll be able to get righties out consistently, but his sinker and slider are both tough pitches to hit and he'll take the ball early and often. Grade: B
19. ST. LOUIS YARDBIRDS
Pick: Marcus Witt: SP
Analysis: The third straight starter picked seems to be a dropoff from the first two. He's an example of a hard thrower with good control, but scouts don't think his stuff translates to the ML level as well as people might think or as well as St. Louis fans hope. Should be a bottom of the rotation type guy. Grade: C-
20. MONTGOMERY BOLL WEEVILS
Pick: Rolando Brogna, IF
Analysis: OK, back to position players who can hit a lot. Another very good all-around hitter, this one comes with a cannon for an arm. Montgomery needs to find a position for him (it may or may not be SS), but he's no slouch defensively. Grade: A-
21. SEATTLE PILOTS
Pick: Carlos Familia, 2B
Analysis: He may struggle against righties at times and he's got some durability questions, but other than that he's yet another position prospect with a good bat. Solid pick. Grade: B+
22. BUFFALO GHOSTBUSTERS
Pick: Clarence Morehead, RP
Analysis: Very similar to Bernie Ordonez, except maybe with better pitches and not quite as tough on righties. Result should be similar: solid reliever, not a dominant closer. Grade: C
23. ROCHESTER RED WINGS
Pick: Dennys Olsen, RP
Analysis: Hard throwing righty who is probably better than the first two closers to go in this round. Not sure if his pitches are quite good enough, but he's got the stuff to be dominant. Grade: B+
24. TRENTON CROSSING
Pick: Walt Kydd, SS
Analysis: Not bad at all for the team's second pick in the round. Kydd can field a decent shortstop and provides a bat at the position as well as speed. Only reason this isn't an A+ is that he probably won't ever play near 162 games. Grade: A-
25. BOISE RIFLEMEN
Pick: Bart Stearns, CF
Analysis: Good fielder with exceptional speed. Whether he can hit enough to stay in a big league lineup remains to be seen- scouts are divided on this. Grade: B-
26. SAN FRANCISCO NINJA BAY SOX
Pick: Fritz Gutierrez, CF
Analysis: Only difference between him and some of the higher picked prospects is that this lefty struggles with left handed pitching. Grade: B
27. CHICAGO OLD STYLE
Pick: Hughie Hegan, LF
Analysis: Another very good hitting prospect, Chicago mines him late in the first round. Good work by their scouting staff here- he's a middle of the order type guy. Grade: A
28. SALT LAKE CITY OIL SLICKS
Pick: Matt Lockhart, RF
Analysis: Like Gutierrez, may struggle against lefties, but that's the only knock on him offensively. In just about every other respect, he's just as good as the guys in the middle of the round. Grade: B+
29. BOSTON RED SOX
Pick: Roy Mercedes, SP
Analysis: Aptly named, because he may be in the shop often like an expensive luxury car. But the biggest knock on him is that lefties hit him hard in Juco. Grade: C-
30. FARGO SODBUSTERS
Pick: Earl Jamison, 2B
Analysis: Perhaps a bit overrated by some scouts, he's a solid if unspectular prospect.
Grade: B
31. OAKLAND A'S
Pick: Mo Lewis, INF
Analysis: Not a great hitter, he probably wins a gold glove at any position but short. A poor man's Danny Wyatt. Grade: B
32. SAN FRANCISCO NINJA BAY SOX
Pick: Michael Medders, INF
Analysis: Unlike some of the other "SS" prospects, his bat is good enough to cut it at other positions such as 3B or 2B. May be slightly better than their first pick. Grade: B+
