2020 MLB Actual Draft Day(s) Thread

craig · June 13, 2020

I saw a note that for college draftees, Trackman had Burl and Little with the best and 4th scores for 4-seam. Wow. Nice.

Not sure whether that was for LHP only, or for all college draftees?

CubsWin · June 13, 2020

lol - I had the exact same thought when I read that.

Benjamin Rodriguez

http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=milb&player_id=675851

I'm assuming Eric is referring to this guy in our system. Just accidentally replaced the 'g' with a 'q' I think. I don't know of a "Benny Rodriquez"...

That benjamin is a pitcher. Maybe he's strengthened a ton and has gone from 82 to 96 or something. But it seems maybe kinda unexpected to include a pitcher in the middle of of a line about strength-program hitters?

To be clear, in that sentence from the FG write up, he simply said strength program, not specifically for hitters.

Longenhagen definitely knows who Benjamin Rodriguez is. Two years ago he wrote about him, "Also, Benjamin Rodriguez as a name of note to watch grow and develop the next two years. Super lanky teenage prospect with a clean delivery. Fastball 87-90 in my looks. Purely someone to follow because the body and delivery are good."

So he's had his eye on him and presumably he's gained some muscle. I haven't read about him gaining a ton of velocity. I don't think he's mid-90s or anything. If I recall correctly, the last report had him in 90-92.

Brian · June 13, 2020

I saw a note that for college draftees, Trackman had Burl and Little with the best and 4th scores for 4-seam. Wow. Nice.

Not sure whether that was for LHP only, or for all college draftees?

Yeah I saw that when I was looking at Burl's twitter (he re-tweeted the below tweet), appears to be all of college baseball.

[tweet]

[/tweet]

CaliforniaRaisin · June 13, 2020

The recent top prep SS turned elite prospect to comp Howard isn't Russell but rather Gavin Lux with the Dodgers. Russell bulked up his senior year and some thought he might move to 3B because of it. Lux, like Howard, is listed at 6'2" 190ish and was considered a really good defensive player with questionable pop. A couple advantages Howard has over Lux are his track record as an amateur and a little more certainty of remaining a SS...Neither from traditional hotbeds either, Lux is from Wisconsin

Combining pedigree and certainty to play SS THO, I'd put Howard behind only Witt among prep SSs since 2012 off the top of my head....Third if you back it up a year to include Lindor and make it ten drafts....Lindor is another one who was supposed to be all glove meh offense but extremely highly regarded start to finish anyway...Dodgers made a comment after drafting Lux that these big, athletic, HS guys who defend really well and have offensive tools do really well and I....really going out on a limb here...tend to agree...Mets got another guy like that in Crow-Armstrong

I'm still crazy about this pick btw, just feels like one of those selections that immediately hit a sweet spot...Right guy at the Right Time thing...I can already hear future opponent fans talking about how overrated he is

----

https://www.mlb.com/news/2020-mlb-non-drafted-free-agents

Under the rules for this year’s Draft, any undrafted player can now sign with any team, but for no more than $20,000. So it’s like a free-market system, but with a hard cap. Some scouts have likened it to a college recruiting process, with each organization putting together proposals of what it has to offer that might help set it apart from other interested teams.

^^ Bet the reptilians in charge of sports are pretty proud of this

Oraj Anu and Kavadas from that list hit some HRs in the CCBL and/or were multi year starters...Kafka has a cool last name

Russell actually lost a lot of weight before his senior year to get in shape and alleviate concerns that he would move off shortstop as a pro.

Lux is an interesting comparison. Similar size, both were defense-first prospects with promising swings coming out of HS.

CaliforniaRaisin · June 13, 2020

MLB Pipeline had Jensen ranked 8th going into the season.

CaliforniaRaisin · June 13, 2020

BA's top 25 undrafted college seniors:

1. Cam Shepherd, SS, Georgia (No. 298)

2. Luke Smith, RHP, Louisville (No. 345)

3. John McMillon, RHP, Texas Tech (No. 357)

4. Blake Brown, RHP, UNC Asheville (No. 375)

5. Austin Smith, RHP, Southwestern (Texas) (No. 406)

6. Bradlee Beesley, OF, Cal Poly (No. 429)

7. McLain O’Connor, SS, UC Santa Barbara (No. 432)

8. Trevin Esquerra, 1B/OF, Loyola Marymount (No. 433)

9. Nolan McCarthy, RHP, Occidental (Calif.) (No. 437)

10. Scott McKeon, SS/2B, Coastal Carolina (No. 438)

11. Harrison Ray, 2B, Vanderbilt (No. 441)

12. Hunter Stanley, RHP, Southern Mississippi (No. 498)

13. Chase Antle, RHP, Coastal Carolina

14. Jacob Hurtubise, OF, Army

15. Austin Langworthy, OF, Florida

16. Brian Van Belle, RHP, Miami

17. Matt Mervis, 1B/RHP, Duke

18. Matt Scheffler, C, Auburn

19. Jonathan Hughes, RHP, Georgia Tech

20. A.J. Block, LHP, Washington State

21. Max Troiani, OF, Bentley (Mass.)

22. Justin Lavey, SS, Louisville

23. Lael Lockhart, LHP/OF, Houston

24. TJ Collett, 1B, Kentucky

25. Nick Trogrlic-Iverson, RHP, Gonzaga

CaliforniaRaisin · June 13, 2020

Fangraphs now has a blurb and ranking on Koen Moreno:

Ranked 233 (35+ FV)

TLDR
Four pitches are all about solid average, wokring 88-92 with projection, changeup is best secondary.

craig · June 13, 2020

From different discussion board:

Lifted this from the Cubs Draft Tracker guy re. Koen Moreno, the HS 5th rounder.

Gave an interview with a local podcast guy.
Q: Do you have an idea if you're gonna if you're gonna pick between heading to college VCU and signing with the Cubs?
A: Yeah, so I mean, it's definitely you know, this draft is so different because, you know, they want kids to sign. So I believe that I am going to sign with the cubs. Um, so yeah

Post Count Padder · June 13, 2020

From different discussion board:
Lifted this from the Cubs Draft Tracker guy re. Koen Moreno, the HS 5th rounder.

Gave an interview with a local podcast guy.
Q: Do you have an idea if you're gonna if you're gonna pick between heading to college VCU and signing with the Cubs?
A: Yeah, so I mean, it's definitely you know, this draft is so different because, you know, they want kids to sign. So I believe that I am going to sign with the cubs. Um, so yeah

He sounds excited.

Post Count Padder · June 13, 2020

So I could probably look this up but I'm lazy: how much do we have allotted to sign UDFAs? And how many do you think we'll sign? And how long will the process take. I get this is all new but in the NFL Draft, there's like a mad rush to sign guys in the 2-3 days after.

CaliforniaRaisin · June 13, 2020

So I could probably look this up but I'm lazy: how much do we have allotted to sign UDFAs? And how many do you think we'll sign? And how long will the process take. I get this is all new but in the NFL Draft, there's like a mad rush to sign guys in the 2-3 days after.

Teams can sign an unlimited # of UDFAs but bonuses are capped at $20K. Hard to say how many they'll sign, no clue how long the signing period is, college seniors and older HSers like Alejandra Rosario (Miami recruit so maybe not) are the most likely to sign I guess

And you can't sign anyone until Sunday at 9 am ET.

Named After Maddux · June 13, 2020

BA's top 25 undrafted college seniors:

1. Cam Shepherd, SS, Georgia (No. 298)
2. Luke Smith, RHP, Louisville (No. 345)
3. John McMillon, RHP, Texas Tech (No. 357)
4. Blake Brown, RHP, UNC Asheville (No. 375)
5. Austin Smith, RHP, Southwestern (Texas) (No. 406)
6. Bradlee Beesley, OF, Cal Poly (No. 429)
7. McLain O’Connor, SS, UC Santa Barbara (No. 432)
8. Trevin Esquerra, 1B/OF, Loyola Marymount (No. 433)
9. Nolan McCarthy, RHP, Occidental (Calif.) (No. 437)
10. Scott McKeon, SS/2B, Coastal Carolina (No. 438)
11. Harrison Ray, 2B, Vanderbilt (No. 441)
12. Hunter Stanley, RHP, Southern Mississippi (No. 498)
13. Chase Antle, RHP, Coastal Carolina
14. Jacob Hurtubise, OF, Army
15. Austin Langworthy, OF, Florida
16. Brian Van Belle, RHP, Miami
17. Matt Mervis, 1B/RHP, Duke
18. Matt Scheffler, C, Auburn
19. Jonathan Hughes, RHP, Georgia Tech
20. A.J. Block, LHP, Washington State
21. Max Troiani, OF, Bentley (Mass.)
22. Justin Lavey, SS, Louisville
23. Lael Lockhart, LHP/OF, Houston
24. TJ Collett, 1B, Kentucky
25. Nick Trogrlic-Iverson, RHP, Gonzaga

There’s some talent there. My intial favorites:

Luke Smith looks like he has some workable qualities. He’s clearly got some fire with his CWS “F U” to Vanderbilt. There’s not a lot of projectability, but he has three pitches and 14 starts for a strong program. It also wouldn’t be a Cubs draft if they didn’t bring in a Louisville pitcher.

Austin Smith is a DIII guy who barley pitched this year due to blisters. He’s younger (21) than most guys on the list.he has a decent low 90s FB, but needs a breaking ball. He’d be a good pitch lab guy

Bradlee Beesley is a CCBL performer (.948 OPS) who looks like he can play CF and has speed. May not be a power guy, but could be a valuable 5th OF.

There’s definitely some other intriguing relievers that need considerable work and I’m guessing they’ll look at bringing in a C or two. Kantrovitz was on Marquee’s podcast and talked about with hitters they have a philosophy of targeting guys that can control the strike zone. It’s a pretty common philosophy, but it’ll be interesting to see if they bring in any more depth hitters with that trait.

CaliforniaRaisin · June 13, 2020

BA's top 25 undrafted college seniors:

1. Cam Shepherd, SS, Georgia (No. 298)
2. Luke Smith, RHP, Louisville (No. 345)
3. John McMillon, RHP, Texas Tech (No. 357)
4. Blake Brown, RHP, UNC Asheville (No. 375)
5. Austin Smith, RHP, Southwestern (Texas) (No. 406)
6. Bradlee Beesley, OF, Cal Poly (No. 429)
7. McLain O’Connor, SS, UC Santa Barbara (No. 432)
8. Trevin Esquerra, 1B/OF, Loyola Marymount (No. 433)
9. Nolan McCarthy, RHP, Occidental (Calif.) (No. 437)
10. Scott McKeon, SS/2B, Coastal Carolina (No. 438)
11. Harrison Ray, 2B, Vanderbilt (No. 441)
12. Hunter Stanley, RHP, Southern Mississippi (No. 498)
13. Chase Antle, RHP, Coastal Carolina
14. Jacob Hurtubise, OF, Army
15. Austin Langworthy, OF, Florida
16. Brian Van Belle, RHP, Miami
17. Matt Mervis, 1B/RHP, Duke
18. Matt Scheffler, C, Auburn
19. Jonathan Hughes, RHP, Georgia Tech
20. A.J. Block, LHP, Washington State
21. Max Troiani, OF, Bentley (Mass.)
22. Justin Lavey, SS, Louisville
23. Lael Lockhart, LHP/OF, Houston
24. TJ Collett, 1B, Kentucky
25. Nick Trogrlic-Iverson, RHP, Gonzaga

There’s some talent there. My intial favorites:
Luke Smith looks like he has some workable qualities. He’s clearly got some fire with his CWS “F U” to Vanderbilt. There’s not a lot of projectability, but he has three pitches and 14 starts for a strong program. It also wouldn’t be a Cubs draft if they didn’t bring in a Louisville pitcher.

Austin Smith is a DIII guy who barley pitched this year due to blisters. He’s younger (21) than most guys on the list.he has a decent low 90s FB, but needs a breaking ball. He’d be a good pitch lab guy

Bradlee Beesley is a CCBL performer (.948 OPS) who looks like he can play CF and has speed. May not be a power guy, but could be a valuable 5th OF.

There’s definitely some other intriguing relievers that need considerable work and I’m guessing they’ll look at bringing in a C or two. Kantrovitz was on Marquee’s podcast and talked about with hitters they have a philosophy of targeting guys that can control the strike zone. It’s a pretty common philosophy, but it’ll be interesting to see if they bring in any more depth hitters with that trait.

Chase Antle was getting some 5th round interest. Even if these guys are relievers-only in the pros, I'd love to get a few of the hard throwers.

Beesley's profile seems interesting and I have to admit McLain O’Connor seems like the gamer types who outplay their abilities and could end up being a major league utility guy.

The guys on that BA list who can hit upper 90s are:

3. John McMillon, RHP, Texas Tech (No. 357)

4. Blake Brown, RHP, UNC Asheville (No. 375)

13. Chase Antle, RHP, Coastal Carolina

Also Jonathan Hughes was a well-regarded prospect coming out of HS (2nd rounder in 2015) who was injured a lot but still has good stuff. Seems like the type of pitcher the Dodgers have success with.

Not sure if any juniors will sign for only $20k but there are a few I like who might because either they're old for their class or they are low on the defensive spectrum and know they'll get even less than other seniors next year.

Regular Show · June 13, 2020

Fangraphs now has a blurb and ranking on Koen Moreno:

Ranked 233 (35+ FV)

TLDR
Four pitches are all about solid average, wokring 88-92 with projection, changeup is best secondary.

I really like this kid and think he's projectable and adds more velo in time. I think the pitch lab will really help him.

You know I really wanted Carter Baumler as our late round HS arm, but Baltimore took him and he's getting paid a nice overslot bonus... So Koen Moreno is a nice consolation pick.

Regular Show · June 13, 2020

I was talking to someone yesterday and joking around about how bad all the mock drafts were in regards to the Cubs.

Like, in 2018 I'm almost certain there wasn't a single mock draft that had the Cubs taking Nico Hoerner. And then last year, I don't think anyone had us taking Ryan Jensen...

I could be wrong, but I don't recall seeing any mock drafts that had us taking Ed Howard? He was in the mix, but never the pick for the Cubs in these mock drafts.

It almost seems more informative to see who the Cubs aren't taking in these mock drafts and just go on that lol.

Regular Show · June 13, 2020

Yeah, I'm pretty angry at having a 5 round draft this year and I think it screws over a bunch of talented kids. Just stupid and short-sighted for MLB to do this...

I think 20-25 rounds is acceptable, but the main thing is not limiting teams to horsefeathering $20K. It was $125K last year for players after round 10/UDFAs and it should keep increasing every CBA to keep up with inflation.

The next CBA discussions are going to be super contentious and the draft will be impacted.

CubinNY · June 13, 2020

Is anyone else as excited about the Cubs draft as I am? I know nothing but it looks like they killed it from a tools perspective. I absolutely hate those high floor low ceiling type players.

Hrubes20 · June 13, 2020

I was talking to someone yesterday and joking around about how bad all the mock drafts were in regards to the Cubs.

Like, in 2018 I'm almost certain there wasn't a single mock draft that had the Cubs taking Nico Hoerner. And then last year, I don't think anyone had us taking Ryan Jensen...

I could be wrong, but I don't recall seeing any mock drafts that had us taking Ed Howard? He was in the mix, but never the pick for the Cubs in these mock drafts.

It almost seems more informative to see who the Cubs aren't taking in these mock drafts and just go on that lol.

Someone did have us in on Nico, but I don’t recall ever seeing Jensen’s name connected to the Cubs predraft.

Regular Show · June 13, 2020

I was talking to someone yesterday and joking around about how bad all the mock drafts were in regards to the Cubs.

Like, in 2018 I'm almost certain there wasn't a single mock draft that had the Cubs taking Nico Hoerner. And then last year, I don't think anyone had us taking Ryan Jensen...

I could be wrong, but I don't recall seeing any mock drafts that had us taking Ed Howard? He was in the mix, but never the pick for the Cubs in these mock drafts.

It almost seems more informative to see who the Cubs aren't taking in these mock drafts and just go on that lol.

Someone did have us in on Nico, but I don’t recall ever seeing Jensen’s name connected to the Cubs predraft.

I don't remember seeing any mock drafts that had us selecting Nico in 2018? That came as a complete shock to me and I was angry initially. Like I'm sure Red Sox fans felt the same way this year lol.

Hrubes20 · June 13, 2020

I was talking to someone yesterday and joking around about how bad all the mock drafts were in regards to the Cubs.

Like, in 2018 I'm almost certain there wasn't a single mock draft that had the Cubs taking Nico Hoerner. And then last year, I don't think anyone had us taking Ryan Jensen...

I could be wrong, but I don't recall seeing any mock drafts that had us taking Ed Howard? He was in the mix, but never the pick for the Cubs in these mock drafts.

It almost seems more informative to see who the Cubs aren't taking in these mock drafts and just go on that lol.

Someone did have us in on Nico, but I don’t recall ever seeing Jensen’s name connected to the Cubs predraft.

I don't remember seeing any mock drafts that had us selecting Nico in 2018? That came as a complete shock to me and I was angry initially. Like I'm sure Red Sox fans felt the same way this year lol.

It wasn’t the name that was mocked, but Nico was mentioned in the blurb after the mock pick. I remember thinking how boring that pick would be if it was him. I didn’t expect that pick either, but someone had made the connection leading up to the draft.

toonsterwu · June 13, 2020

The few mocks that I occasionally checked in on initially had Ed Howard going ahead of us. I don't really think I anticipated Howard sliding to us.

Bertz · June 14, 2020

Someone did have us in on Nico, but I don’t recall ever seeing Jensen’s name connected to the Cubs predraft.

I don't remember seeing any mock drafts that had us selecting Nico in 2018? That came as a complete shock to me and I was angry initially. Like I'm sure Red Sox fans felt the same way this year lol.

It wasn’t the name that was mocked, but Nico was mentioned in the blurb after the mock pick. I remember thinking how boring that pick would be if it was him. I didn’t expect that pick either, but someone had made the connection leading up to the draft.

Yeah, this is how I remember it too. I remember thinking "I hope they mean for our 2nd pick"

Regular Show · June 14, 2020

There’s definitely some other intriguing relievers that need considerable work and I’m guessing they’ll look at bringing in a C or two. Kantrovitz was on Marquee’s podcast and talked about with hitters they have a philosophy of targeting guys that can control the strike zone...

Theo has talked about this for years and it's a huge principle for our young hitting prospects, and I know for a fact that he's been disappointed with our young core on this key aspect. We give away to many ABs and have poor approaches, but I also think umps do our young hitters no favors...

This is why I think an automated strike zone is so important. With an ABS system, a team of disciplined hitters can fully realize this philosophy of "controlling the strike zone" and force pitchers to throw strikes over the plate. Kyle Schwarber will be the greatest beneficiary of an automated strike zone on our team. KB and Rizzo would benefit from this too.

I get this philosophy, but I think it can only truly happen once you have a proper automated strike zone in place, IMO.

Savermetrics · June 14, 2020

From different discussion board:
Lifted this from the Cubs Draft Tracker guy re. Koen Moreno, the HS 5th rounder.

Gave an interview with a local podcast guy.
Q: Do you have an idea if you're gonna if you're gonna pick between heading to college VCU and signing with the Cubs?
A: Yeah, so I mean, it's definitely you know, this draft is so different because, you know, they want kids to sign. So I believe that I am going to sign with the cubs. Um, so yeah

:hello:

Named After Maddux · June 14, 2020

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2020 MLB Actual Draft Day(s) Thread

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