2017 Actual MLB Draft Day(s) Thread

[CaliforniaRaisin]

FYI, davell, JJ Schwarz hit 2 home runs in 2 games today for Florida. Even caught one of the games.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

First post has been updated with the Cubs' day one picks.

[toonsterwu]

Still think JJ Schwarz can catch, but a team has to be patient, since he's still relatively raw back there, with Rivera grabbing all the reps.

 

=====

 

As for the Cubs draft, I'm fine with it. Not super-excited, but I'm fine with it. I actually liked Lange a bit, but the problem is, the fastball dipping already has me a bit concerned. It's hard to imagine, but not impossible, that his fastball will pick back up. Abbott seems like a nice-looking guy with a mid-rotation ceiling, and Little has some upside left for a college arm. Still, it's not impossible that we end up with three pen arms here, although hopefully not.

 

Considering where we were drafting and how the draft fell, I'm fine with these three picks. They went after organizational need, have some relatively safety that could lead to some quick movement, and they all have some potential. It actually reminds me of the 08 pitching heavy draft (Cashner/Shafer/Carpenter/Bristow/Leverton/Jackson/Coleman/McDaniel and so forth) a bit.

[Regular Show]

So J. Gonzalez (former MLB player L. Gonzalez's son) went in the 2nd round, but the guy we heard being tied to the Cubs (OF L. Gonzalez) is still available right? I need to go back and double-check.

 

So many good players were selected in the 2nd round that I thought had no chance of being signable like M. Vientos and S. Carlson. I guess teams are saving money elsewhere and shelling out overslots to these guys.

[Hrubes20]

I like the Little and Lange picks, no clue on Abbott. I'm soft on Lange because he's got that curveball. As a Louisiana shorter college RH with a fastball and true power curveball I just think Ben Sheets without actually ever expecting it. Little was my favorite JC arm over Pearson so seeing that actually woke me up a little. Not sure I see either as a ML starter, maybe Lange.

 

Shorter? Isn't he 6'3"? I'm with you on both likely as bullpen arms though. Of course, college arms available at 27 and 30 aren't going to be slam dunks.

[CubsWin]

I like the Little and Lange picks, no clue on Abbott. I'm soft on Lange because he's got that curveball. As a Louisiana shorter college RH with a fastball and true power curveball I just think Ben Sheets without actually ever expecting it. Little was my favorite JC arm over Pearson so seeing that actually woke me up a little. Not sure I see either as a ML starter, maybe Lange.

 

Shorter? Isn't he 6'3"? I'm with you on both likely as bullpen arms though. Of course, college arms available at 27 and 30 aren't going to be slam dunks.

MLB.com has Lange listed at 6'4".

[CubsWin]

University C Riley Adams (ranked 72nd overall by BA) and Oregon State RHP Jake Thompson (ranked 83rd overall by BA) are still on the board and were both previously drafted by this Cubs front office. Adams was the Cubs 37th round selection in 2014, and Thompson was taken in the 34th round the year before.

[CubsWin]

So J. Gonzalez (former MLB player L. Gonzalez's son) went in the 2nd round, but the guy we heard being tied to the Cubs (OF L. Gonzalez) is still available right? I need to go back and double-check.

Yes, Luis Gonzalez is still available.

 

So many good players were selected in the 2nd round that I thought had no chance of being signable like M. Vientos and S. Carlson. I guess teams are saving money elsewhere and shelling out overslots to these guys.

Yeah, the Cubs passed on SS Nick Allen and RHP Blayne Enlow at the end of the 2nd round. Must be signability concerns meaning neither would sign for around $1.5 - $1.7 million.

 

That's the amount I think the Cubs could've conceivably come up with between the $900,000 slot value of their 2nd round pick, $370,000 in allowable bonus overages and $300,000 - $500,000 saved by underslotting some college seniors in rounds 5-10.

 

I like Nick Allen, but give me Blayne Enlow (a upside prep RHP) along with Little and Lange and call it a successful draft. That would've been two safer college arms and a solid shot at developing a homegrown TOR arm.

 

It's still possible they can underslot Abbott and overslot their 3rd or 4th round pick. They were able to do this in 2015 when they overslotted DJ Wilson stealing him away from fulfilling his commitment to Vanderbilt. The question remains, though, after 29 3rd round picks, who will be left worth overslotting at #105?

[Regular Show]

So J. Gonzalez (former MLB player L. Gonzalez's son) went in the 2nd round, but the guy we heard being tied to the Cubs (OF L. Gonzalez) is still available right? I need to go back and double-check.

Yes, Luis Gonzalez is still available.

 

So many good players were selected in the 2nd round that I thought had no chance of being signable like M. Vientos and S. Carlson. I guess teams are saving money elsewhere and shelling out overslots to these guys.

Yeah, the Cubs passed on SS Nick Allen and RHP Blayne Enlow at the end of the 2nd round. Must be signability concerns meaning neither would sign for around $1.5 - $1.7 million.

 

That's the amount I think the Cubs could've conceivably come up with between the $900,000 slot value of their 2nd round pick, $370,000 in allowable bonus overages and $300,000 - $500,000 saved by underslotting some college seniors in rounds 5-10.

 

I like Nick Allen, but give me Blayne Enlow (a upside prep RHP) along with Little and Lange and call it a successful draft. That would've been two safer college arms and a solid shot at developing a homegrown TOR arm.

 

It's still possible they can underslot Abbott and overslot their 3rd or 4th round pick. They were able to do this in 2015 when they overslotted DJ Wilson stealing him away from fulfilling his commitment to Vanderbilt. The question remains, though, after 29 3rd round picks, who will be left worth overslotting at #105?

 

Damn. Wow...you and I are completely on the same wavelength. Like to a scary degree. Simpatico as they say!

 

I really like B. Enlow too and was also thinking Little, Lange and Enlow would be a very solid draft haul. Yeah I was doing the math and trying to figure out how much the Cubs could save to try to sign either N. Allen or B. Enlow. Like I really wanted the Cubs to draft Enlow, but he's probably too expensive.

 

Good post CubsWin. Also, why are you still up and/or do you usually get up at this time? Actually, I have no idea what time zone you're in lol.

[CubsWin]

So J. Gonzalez (former MLB player L. Gonzalez's son) went in the 2nd round, but the guy we heard being tied to the Cubs (OF L. Gonzalez) is still available right? I need to go back and double-check.

Yes, Luis Gonzalez is still available.

 

So many good players were selected in the 2nd round that I thought had no chance of being signable like M. Vientos and S. Carlson. I guess teams are saving money elsewhere and shelling out overslots to these guys.

Yeah, the Cubs passed on SS Nick Allen and RHP Blayne Enlow at the end of the 2nd round. Must be signability concerns meaning neither would sign for around $1.5 - $1.7 million.

 

That's the amount I think the Cubs could've conceivably come up with between the $900,000 slot value of their 2nd round pick, $370,000 in allowable bonus overages and $300,000 - $500,000 saved by underslotting some college seniors in rounds 5-10.

 

I like Nick Allen, but give me Blayne Enlow (a upside prep RHP) along with Little and Lange and call it a successful draft. That would've been two safer college arms and a solid shot at developing a homegrown TOR arm.

 

It's still possible they can underslot Abbott and overslot their 3rd or 4th round pick. They were able to do this in 2015 when they overslotted DJ Wilson stealing him away from fulfilling his commitment to Vanderbilt. The question remains, though, after 29 3rd round picks, who will be left worth overslotting at #105?

 

Damn. Wow...you and I are completely on the same wavelength. Like to a scary degree. Simpatico as they say!

 

I really like B. Enlow too and was also thinking Little, Lange and Enlow would be a very solid draft haul. Yeah I was doing the math and trying to figure out how much the Cubs could save to try to sign either N. Allen or B. Enlow. Like I really wanted the Cubs to draft Enlow, but he's probably too expensive.

 

Good post CubsWin. Also, why are you still up and/or do you usually get up at this time? Actually, I have no idea what time zone you're in lol.

I'm in California. Night owl.

 

And I'm very sad to hear that you are burdened with a similar thinking capacity as mine. Must be tough. Us clods gotta stick together though...

[davell]

I'm very surprised at what's left and its really hard to tell what we've really got left to spend. If we've spent 5 mill,(my guess) then we've got about 2.8 left to spend total.....

 

Let's say we want Allen or Enlow.....If they're number is 2 mill, it'd basically leave us able to take them in any round obviously, plus slot guys in the 4th and 5th, seniors in 6-10. Or, my personal favorite choice....Draft them in the 3rd, take seniors in rounds 4 and 5, then get slot guys in 6-10.

 

If the number is smaller, you can see how easy it'd be to add a high price guy.

 

Hell, I'm thinking I'd rather take a shot on a few over slots in the 500-700k range, to using it all on one. But, I can easily talk myself into Allen or Enlow at this point, if they made it to us.

 

If we use our 3rd on a slot guy, here's my personal list of favorites.....

 

C Riley Adams

OF Luis Gonzalez

2B Riley Mahan

SS Zach Rutherford

RHP Jake Thompson

RHP Blaine Knight

RHP Tony Dibrell

LHP Daniel Tillo

 

Some other guys I'm interested in on over slots, besides Allen, Enlow, and Tristan Beck....

 

RHP Matt Tabor

LHP Jacob Heatherly

OF Garrett Mitchell

RHP Chris McMahon

RHP Tommy Mace

RHP Kyle Hurt

LHP Seth Corry

LHP Shane Drohan

C Steven Williams

RHP Sam Keating

RHP Hunter Ruth

RHP Spencer Strider

RHP Jordan Spicer

LHP Asa Lacy

LHP Riley Widely

 

There's a few more I'm glancing past, I'm sure too.

 

Realistically, I'm actually very surprised we took pitching at all 3 spots so far. I'm kind of suspecting college position players in 2 of the next 3 rounds. But, there's obviously no basis for that.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I would very much like to see them take a couple hitters, and relatively quickly. Right now there's like one and a half position player prospects below AAA worth paying attention to, while we're out of rotation spots at Myrtle Beach. Sure AAA has 3-4 hitters of note if you include Happ and pitching has to be done in volume, but look through the lineups in Tennessee, Myrtle Beach, and South Bend. You've got Eloy, Burks(only breaking out this year), and maybe Paredes, it's kinda dire.

[jersey cubs fan]

I would very much like to see them take a couple hitters, and relatively quickly. Right now there's like one and a half position player prospects below AAA worth paying attention to, while we're out of rotation spots at Myrtle Beach. Sure AAA has 3-4 hitters of note if you include Happ and pitching has to be done in volume, but look through the lineups in Tennessee, Myrtle Beach, and South Bend. You've got Eloy, Burks(only breaking out this year), and maybe Paredes, it's kinda dire.

wait until the fire sale in three weeks

[OleMissCub]

https://twitter.com/atf13atf/status/874477678061002752

[davell]

I would very much like to see them take a couple hitters, and relatively quickly. Right now there's like one and a half position player prospects below AAA worth paying attention to, while we're out of rotation spots at Myrtle Beach. Sure AAA has 3-4 hitters of note if you include Happ and pitching has to be done in volume, but look through the lineups in Tennessee, Myrtle Beach, and South Bend. You've got Eloy, Burks(only breaking out this year), and maybe Paredes, it's kinda dire.

 

Can't argue that. But, that way of thinking restricts you to taking college hitters too, which are super sparse, at this point in the draft. If your goal is to replenish prospects in full season ball. Most of what left at this exact point are positionless guys or all glove, no bat types. You've got Amaya, Ademan, maybe Gutierrez and/or Sierra coming up behind our current full season crop too. Its not ideal, but having the young group of position guys in the majors certainly makes it palatable.

 

Ideally, Gonzalez falls to us in the 3rd, but I don't really see it. Most of the HS over slot types are pitchers, maybe Garrett Mitchell doesn't have an insane asking price.....Surely Allen does or he'd be gone.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I would very much like to see them take a couple hitters, and relatively quickly. Right now there's like one and a half position player prospects below AAA worth paying attention to, while we're out of rotation spots at Myrtle Beach. Sure AAA has 3-4 hitters of note if you include Happ and pitching has to be done in volume, but look through the lineups in Tennessee, Myrtle Beach, and South Bend. You've got Eloy, Burks(only breaking out this year), and maybe Paredes, it's kinda dire.

 

Can't argue that. But, that way of thinking restricts you to taking college hitters too, which are super sparse, at this point in the draft. If your goal is to replenish prospects in full season ball. Most of what left at this exact point are positionless guys or all glove, no bat types. You've got Amaya, Ademan, maybe Gutierrez and/or Sierra coming up behind our current full season crop too. Its not ideal, but having the young group of position guys in the majors certainly makes it palatable.

 

Ideally, Gonzalez falls to us in the 3rd, but I don't really see it. Most of the HS over slot types are pitchers, maybe Garrett Mitchell doesn't have an insane asking price.....Surely Allen does or he'd be gone.

 

The idea isn't that they need to fill out full season lineups, but that there's an imbalance in the low levels. Sure there's IFA guys who will filter in, but that's always going to happen and they sign IFA pitchers too. HS hitters may be harder to come by because of bonus issues though, in which case, I'm more than okay with several college hitters.

[davell]

I would very much like to see them take a couple hitters, and relatively quickly. Right now there's like one and a half position player prospects below AAA worth paying attention to, while we're out of rotation spots at Myrtle Beach. Sure AAA has 3-4 hitters of note if you include Happ and pitching has to be done in volume, but look through the lineups in Tennessee, Myrtle Beach, and South Bend. You've got Eloy, Burks(only breaking out this year), and maybe Paredes, it's kinda dire.

 

Can't argue that. But, that way of thinking restricts you to taking college hitters too, which are super sparse, at this point in the draft. If your goal is to replenish prospects in full season ball. Most of what left at this exact point are positionless guys or all glove, no bat types. You've got Amaya, Ademan, maybe Gutierrez and/or Sierra coming up behind our current full season crop too. Its not ideal, but having the young group of position guys in the majors certainly makes it palatable.

 

Ideally, Gonzalez falls to us in the 3rd, but I don't really see it. Most of the HS over slot types are pitchers, maybe Garrett Mitchell doesn't have an insane asking price.....Surely Allen does or he'd be gone.

 

The idea isn't that they need to fill out full season lineups, but that there's an imbalance in the low levels. Sure there's IFA guys who will filter in, but that's always going to happen and they sign IFA pitchers too. HS hitters may be harder to come by because of bonus issues though, in which case, I'm more than okay with several college hitters.

 

I'm OK with taking a few college hitters too. The problem though, is the scarcity of them. I don't want to be adding all-defense guys, just to add some position players. We may get lucky and have some semblance of a bat available in the 3rd, but after that, our best bet is an over slot HS kid, of some sort.

[sneakypower]

Keith Law:

 

Between Little and Alex Lange the Cubs took two of the best true curveballs in the draft class, both from starters who may end up relievers in the end. Lange's delivery is very likely to push him to the bullpen but his breaking ball is very hard to hit even in the zone.

can't help but think of Verducci's piece on curves

https://www.si.com/mlb/2017/05/23/curveball-clayton-kershaw-lance-mccullers

[Transmogrified Tiger]

 

Can't argue that. But, that way of thinking restricts you to taking college hitters too, which are super sparse, at this point in the draft. If your goal is to replenish prospects in full season ball. Most of what left at this exact point are positionless guys or all glove, no bat types. You've got Amaya, Ademan, maybe Gutierrez and/or Sierra coming up behind our current full season crop too. Its not ideal, but having the young group of position guys in the majors certainly makes it palatable.

 

Ideally, Gonzalez falls to us in the 3rd, but I don't really see it. Most of the HS over slot types are pitchers, maybe Garrett Mitchell doesn't have an insane asking price.....Surely Allen does or he'd be gone.

 

The idea isn't that they need to fill out full season lineups, but that there's an imbalance in the low levels. Sure there's IFA guys who will filter in, but that's always going to happen and they sign IFA pitchers too. HS hitters may be harder to come by because of bonus issues though, in which case, I'm more than okay with several college hitters.

 

I'm OK with taking a few college hitters too. The problem though, is the scarcity of them. I don't want to be adding all-defense guys, just to add some position players. We may get lucky and have some semblance of a bat available in the 3rd, but after that, our best bet is an over slot HS kid, of some sort.

 

I'm less convinced about the scarcity. The gap between player #100 and player #300 is far less than the gap between #1 and #100. I trust their evaluations, but at a certain point you don't want to split hairs over miniscule differences in preference when you're hurting for bats. It was no accident that they took pitcher after pitcher in the Top 10 after their high first rounders, I'm suggesting that doing the reverse(but not to that extreme) is worth doing.

[davell]

 

The idea isn't that they need to fill out full season lineups, but that there's an imbalance in the low levels. Sure there's IFA guys who will filter in, but that's always going to happen and they sign IFA pitchers too. HS hitters may be harder to come by because of bonus issues though, in which case, I'm more than okay with several college hitters.

 

I'm OK with taking a few college hitters too. The problem though, is the scarcity of them. I don't want to be adding all-defense guys, just to add some position players. We may get lucky and have some semblance of a bat available in the 3rd, but after that, our best bet is an over slot HS kid, of some sort.

 

I'm less convinced about the scarcity. The gap between player #100 and player #300 is far less than the gap between #1 and #100. I trust their evaluations, but at a certain point you don't want to split hairs over miniscule differences in preference when you're hurting for bats. It was no accident that they took pitcher after pitcher in the Top 10 after their high first rounders, I'm suggesting that doing the reverse(but not to that extreme) is worth doing.

 

Yeah, we're splitting hairs. I'm definitely not saying to just not take bats. I'd even go as far as to say that the difference from 100 to 500, is far less than 1 to 100, when it comes to bats. I'm not going to say I want us take more bats than arms today, but if its even, I'll be OK with it.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

Can't argue that. But, that way of thinking restricts you to taking college hitters too, which are super sparse, at this point in the draft. If your goal is to replenish prospects in full season ball. Most of what left at this exact point are positionless guys or all glove, no bat types. You've got Amaya, Ademan, maybe Gutierrez and/or Sierra coming up behind our current full season crop too. Its not ideal, but having the young group of position guys in the majors certainly makes it palatable.

 

Ideally, Gonzalez falls to us in the 3rd, but I don't really see it. Most of the HS over slot types are pitchers, maybe Garrett Mitchell doesn't have an insane asking price.....Surely Allen does or he'd be gone.

 

The idea isn't that they need to fill out full season lineups, but that there's an imbalance in the low levels. Sure there's IFA guys who will filter in, but that's always going to happen and they sign IFA pitchers too. HS hitters may be harder to come by because of bonus issues though, in which case, I'm more than okay with several college hitters.

 

I'm OK with taking a few college hitters too. The problem though, is the scarcity of them. I don't want to be adding all-defense guys, just to add some position players. We may get lucky and have some semblance of a bat available in the 3rd, but after that, our best bet is an over slot HS kid, of some sort.

 

There are still good college bats out there. Harrison and Skoug probably have the best bats available and Adams isn't bad considering he should stick at catcher.

 

ETA: Forgot Connor Wong is out there too. He should stick at catcher too.

[UMFan83]

Not so fun fact: My brother-in-law's name is Alex Lange.

[sneakypower]

all i'm asking for is that they draft the next Mookie Betts today

[CaliforniaRaisin]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/hudsonbelinsky/status/874657426104090624[/tweet]

[Hrubes20]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/hudsonbelinsky/status/874657426104090624[/tweet]

 

It will be interesting to see if he's taken. Supposedly both Enlow and Allen told teams not to draft them after last night.