2013 Draft Discussion

[davell]

Frazier seems like his stock is going up considerably, while Meadows appears as if his is dropping a bit. I definitely think Frazier will be in serious consideration for Houston and us.

[davell]

Chris Crawford, who runs MLBDraftInsider, is a great follow on Twitter, and just got pegged to write for ESPN's draft coverage, just updated his big board. He moved Chris Anderson from off the board(top 25) all the way to 13. Good call, Raisin.

[Guest]

Kiley's first top 50: http://sbb.scout.com/2/1271439.html

[Guest]

@jimcallisBA Could go Top 10. @jaypers413: Possible first rounder? RT @jimcallisBA: Oklahoma RHP Jonathan Gray has been hitting 100 mph. #mlbdraft

[RammyFanny]

Manaea today: 4+ IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K

CR, are you sure Manea pitched this weekend on Saturday? ESPN insider said all 3 games were rained out and insinuated he didn't throw.

 

A quick search of their opponents website said the same.

http://www.ekusports.com/news/2013/3/2/BASEBALL_0302134809.aspx

[Guest]

Manaea today: 4+ IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K

CR, are you sure Manea pitched this weekend on Saturday? ESPN insider said all 3 games were rained out and insinuated he didn't throw.

 

A quick search of their opponents website said the same.

http://www.ekusports.com/news/2013/3/2/BASEBALL_0302134809.aspx

 

You're right - their whole weekend was snowed out. I accidentally clicked on Indiana State's opening day box score which is what that line was from. My bad.

[Guest]

The first episode of Kiley McDaniel's podcast is up. He had Frankie Piliere (Perfect Game): http://sbb.scout.com/2/1271438.html

 

They talked Mark Appel, Aaron Judge and UCI righty Andrew Thurman. There's also an interview with Appel.

[davell]

Law still sees Ziomek as a 2nd rounder.

[Guest]

Drew Ward is officially eligible for the 2013 draft: http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/draft/2013/03/drew-ward-eligible-for-2013-draft/

[Cubswin11]

Drew Ward is officially eligible for the 2013 draft: http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/draft/2013/03/drew-ward-eligible-for-2013-draft/

Where is he expected to go? Top 5, 10? Or is he not that good of a prospect? I've only heard his name a few times and don't know anything about him.

[davell]

Drew Ward is officially eligible for the 2013 draft: http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/draft/2013/03/drew-ward-eligible-for-2013-draft/

Where is he expected to go? Top 5, 10? Or is he not that good of a prospect? I've only heard his name a few times and don't know anything about him.

Comes from very small area, got iverhyped a ton evidently. There were whispers he was a once in a generation type player. After more looks though, he's not even a first round talent. My guess is he gets left off some top 100 draft lists.

[Guest]

Some of the knocks on him go away now since he's age appropriate for this year's draft. I'd guess he's 2nd round level, reports on him are all over the place (partly because not everyone has properly seen him since he used to be a 2014 prospect).

[Guest]

Kiley McDaniel[/url]"]Ward is a second to third round prospect right now given the uncertainty in his projection, with the tools to work his way into the late first round. Ward can improve his status with some offensive progress and/or physical development. I compared his swing to Adam LaRoche and that isn’t a bad comparison for his overall potential. If a team feels like that upside is very likely, they could put a first round grade on Ward, but he isn’t likely to face much high end game competition between now and draft day, so they better have done their homework already.

 

Much more in the link.

[Guest]

Vandy takes on #15 Oregon. Will be interesting to see how Ziomek (and Beede) do on the road, against one of the Pac-12's elite teams.

 

The Dodertown Classic is moving from Dodger Stadium to UCLa's Jackie Robinson Stadium this year. Sadly, Internet video quality is often poor to non-existant at Jackie Robinson Stadium (and a rainout is probable today). The scheduled games:

 

Today: Oklahoma (Dillon Overton) vs USC

Notre Dame (Sean Fitzpatrick) at UCLA (Adam Plutko)

Tomorrow: Oklahoma (Jonathan Gray) at UCLA (Nick Vanderdoes Tuig)

 

I'll see what reports I can get about Oklahoma's co-aces and Jagielo.

[Guest]

Jonathan Denney Profile

 

I wonder how close Denney and Dominic Smith (who I really like) are to Austin Meadows and Clint Frazier.

[Guest]

Kiley McDaniel on Meadows vs Frazier:

 

I scout I spoke to yesterday said, unsurprisingly, that of the two elite Atlanta-area prep center fielders, Clint Frazier has started "gangbusters" while Austin Meadows has been "just okay." This will be an ongoing discussion this spring that I'll be checking in on in person when I see then in a few weeks. Meadows is the younger, more athletic and more projectable prospect with more tools and Frazier is the performer that has great bat speed but lags behind Meadows in every other category. This reminds me of the Byron Buxton (#2 overall pick) vs Albert Almora (#6 overall pick) debate of last year in a lot of ways, and neither of those discussions is close to being over.

[Cubswin11]

Law had a chat yesterday. Said he has Appel as his #1 and Manaea as his #2 (most likely). Was asked if any of the pitchers have "true #1" projection and said Appel does, Manaea might and Stanek is slightly below that line with Appel being the safest. He also said he thinks Appel is fairly close to major league ready.

[Guest]

Law had a chat yesterday. Said he has Appel as his #1 and Manaea as his #2 (most likely). Was asked if any of the pitchers have "true #1" projection and said Appel does, Manaea might and Stanek is slightly below that line with Appel being the safest. He also said he thinks Appel is fairly close to major league ready.

 

Without a doubt. Barring injury, Appel should make his big league debut in 2014, probably before September. He'll have one extra year of college prep compare to most college draft picks. And if his last two starts are an indication, his aggressiveness and game plan/pitch sequencing have advanced enough to allow him to breeze through the minors.

[Guest]

Law had a chat yesterday. Said he has Appel as his #1 and Manaea as his #2 (most likely). Was asked if any of the pitchers have "true #1" projection and said Appel does, Manaea might and Stanek is slightly below that line with Appel being the safest. He also said he thinks Appel is fairly close to major league ready.

 

Without a doubt. Barring injury, Appel should make his big league debut in 2014, probably before September. He'll have one extra year of college prep compare to most college draft picks. And if his last two starts are an indication, his aggressiveness and game plan/pitch sequencing have advanced enough to allow him to breeze through the minors.

Is there any chance Houston passes on Appel?

[Guest]

Law had a chat yesterday. Said he has Appel as his #1 and Manaea as his #2 (most likely). Was asked if any of the pitchers have "true #1" projection and said Appel does, Manaea might and Stanek is slightly below that line with Appel being the safest. He also said he thinks Appel is fairly close to major league ready.

 

Without a doubt. Barring injury, Appel should make his big league debut in 2014, probably before September. He'll have one extra year of college prep compare to most college draft picks. And if his last two starts are an indication, his aggressiveness and game plan/pitch sequencing have advanced enough to allow him to breeze through the minors.

Is there any chance Houston passes on Appel?

 

Sure. I think opinion is still fairly split between Appel and Manaea for 1.1. At this time, it would be a surprise if the Astros pass on both of them.

[Cubswin11]

Law had a chat yesterday. Said he has Appel as his #1 and Manaea as his #2 (most likely). Was asked if any of the pitchers have "true #1" projection and said Appel does, Manaea might and Stanek is slightly below that line with Appel being the safest. He also said he thinks Appel is fairly close to major league ready.

 

Without a doubt. Barring injury, Appel should make his big league debut in 2014, probably before September. He'll have one extra year of college prep compare to most college draft picks. And if his last two starts are an indication, his aggressiveness and game plan/pitch sequencing have advanced enough to allow him to breeze through the minors.

Is there any chance Houston passes on Appel?

 

Sure. I think opinion is still fairly split between Appel and Manaea for 1.1. At this time, it would be a surprise if the Astros pass on both of them.

Agreed. I could see them taking one of the HS OF over Appel and Manaea pretty easily.

[Guest]

Bad start for Ryne Stanek thus far: 2 IP, 2 ER, 4 BB.

[davell]

Appel thru 4: 1 hit and 8 K's. Kubitza with 11K's in under 7 innings today. Emanuel pitched a shutout for UNC. Neither throws all that hard, but both could be very solid 4/5 types, and probably move quickly thru the minors. Wonder if we stray whatsoever from the hard throwing types this year?

[davell]

Tom Windle threw a no-no with 8K's for Minnesota tonight. Thats a guy I'd like for us to nab in the 2nd.

[Guest]

Overton has topping out in the low 90s but struggling a smidge with his curve. It is raining pretty hard, though.