Names to Know for the 2013 Draft v. 5.0

To understand this article, simply look at the four previous versions in the series.  Each version contains player profiles of top draft prospects for the 2013 MLB draft.  Refer to each version below.

Version 1.0
Version 2.0
Version 3.0
Version 4.0

#14 Pirates Prospect - Tony Sanchez

Buried Treasure Top 30 Prospects
#14 - Tony Sanchez

Measurables: 6'0, 220
Bats: R, Throws: R
Position: C
Acquired: 1st Round (4th overall), 2009
Bonus: $2,500,000
DOB: 5/20/1988
Buried Treasure 2012 Top 20: #7

2013 MLB Draft: Notable Former Pirates Draftees

Even though the MLB amateur draft is essentially six months away and player's stocks can rise and fall, that doesn't change the fact that come draft day, Pirates fans will hear plenty of familiar sounding names being announced.  That's because several players previously selected by the Pirates are expected to hear their names called during the first few rounds of the upcoming June draft.  Check it out after the jump.

Names to Know for the 2013 Draft v. 3.0

Several months ago, I took a look at a few names to know for the 2013 draft. There was a second version, and here is the third edition of exclusively high school draft prospects.  Check it out after the jump.

More Names to Know for the 2013 Draft

Several months ago, I took a look at a few names to know for the 2013 draft.  Here's a second installment.  Check it out after the jump.

MLB Draft 2013

Compilation of 2013 MLB Draft information. Click the links to go to that particular post.

01/26/2013 - Names to Know for the 2013 Draft v. 5.0
12/27/2012 - 2013 MLB Draft - Personal Favorites
12/23/2012 - Names to Know for the 2013 Draft v. 4.0
12/11/2012 - Notable Former Pirates Draftees
12/09/2012 - Names to Know for the 2013 Draft v. 3.0
10/06/2012 - Names to Know for the 2013 Draft v. 2.0
06/07/2012 - Names to Know for the 2013 Draft 

MLB Draft Day 2 Preview

Day 1 is in the books.  Mark Appel and Barrett Barnes are the newest Pirates to be (assuming they sign).  It's not over though.  The Pirates have 39 more selections, including one in eight picks in the second round.  Here's a preview of players to watch.

MLB Draft Day 1 Recap

Overview:

Yesterday marked Day 1 of the Rule 4 MLB amateur entry draft.  The draft started at 7 P.M. and by the end of the night, the first round and first supplemental round saw their conclusion.  The Pirates had two picks out of the first 60 selections that were made yesterday, number #8 overall and #45 overall.  The first pick was the Pirates natural selection in the first round due to last year's record while the second pick was compensation for losing Ryan Doumit to the Twins.  With that #8 selection, the Pirates picked Stanford pitcher Mark Appel.  The #45 selection was used to nab Texas Tech outfielder Barrett Barnes.

MLB Mock Draft 2.0

It's almost here.  The Draft is upon us.  Here's my final mock draft.





#1 - Houston Astros
Kyle Zimmer

Position: P
School: San Francisco
Throws: R; Bats: R
Measurables: 6'3, 210
DOB: 09/13/1991

The Astros are going through a transition time.  They have a new general manager and will be moving from the National League Central to the American League East.  Luckily, they have the #1 overall pick in this year’s draft to help restock an improving farm system.  Unlike some years – notably 2009 and 2010 – there is no clear best player in this year’s draft.  With the door wide open, pitcher Kyle Zimmer has all the qualifications to step through that opening.  Standing at 6’4 and weighing 220 lbs, Zimmer has prototypical size.  Zimmer is also an excellent athlete.  On the mound, Zimmer can bring premium heat, with a fastball that sits in the mid 90’s and can touch 99.  A curveball that is almost as good compliments the heater and Zimmer rounds out his arsenal with a potential plus changeup.  As a total product, Zimmer offers a very good floor and very good upside, which is a good combination to procure with the #1 overall pick.

Draft Preview: The Youngin's Part 2

Everyone loves youth.  Tony La Russa may disagree with that statement, but he's part of a small minority.  The younger the player, the more time he has to grow and to develop.  It means a higher ceiling, well at least a higher perceived ceiling.  Ultimately, a player is going to be drafted based on several factors other than the date on his birth certificate.  Still, when it comes to the draft, youth is never going to be looked at as a fault. 

Draft Preview: The Youngin's Part 1

Everyone loves youth.  Tony La Russa may disagree with that statement, but he's part of a small minority.  The younger the player, the more time he has to grow and to develop.  It means a higher ceiling, well at least a higher perceived ceiling.  Ultimately, a player is going to be drafted based on several factors other than the date on his birth certificate.  Still, when it comes to the draft, youth is never going to be looked at as a fault. 

In the 2012 draft class, seven prep players stand out as being both a top draft prospect and extremely young.  That list consists of Carlos Correa, C.J Hinojosa, Carson Kelly, Rhett Wiseman, Cody Poteet, Daniel Starwalt, and Anthony Alford.  Carlos Correa was part of my first mock draft and was also profiled earlier here.  C.J. Hinojosa and Carson Kelly (along with Correa) will be included in my mock draft 2.0.  That leaves Wiseman, Poteet, Starwalt, and Alford to profile.  Up first, Starwalt and Alford.

Daniel Starwalt - Daniel Starwalt is the youngest player in Baseball America's top 100 draft prospects that came out on the first of February.  Starwalt, who Baseball America ranks 81st, won't turn 18 until February 7th of 2013! The right-handed pitcher, who currently attends Granite Hills High School in El Cajon, California is an excellent prospect.  That's clear by his commitment to Stanford which should make him a hard player to sign, especially with the new CBA.  Starwalt might be good enough that some team will try, however.  He currently stands at an impressive 6'3, 210 lbs and throws two intriguing pitches.  The first is a fastball that already touches 95 mph and the second is a curveball that flashes a sharp break and late bite, while coming in on hitters in the 78-80 mph range. 

Anthony Alford - Anthony Alford is also young, hence why he's profiled in this article.  He'll turn 18 about a month after the draft on July 20th.  Alford is both an excellent baseball prospect and a coveted high school quarterback.  Baseball American ranks him 89th on their list and ESPNU ranks him as the 95th best player in the class of 2012 in football. From Petal, Mississippi, Alford is committed to play both football and baseball for his homestate Southern Mississippi.  The Golden Eagles will have to hope he ends up on campus and not in fall instructionals for a baseball team next year, because make no mistake, that's a strong possibility.  Alford is a tremendous athlete who should be able to play centerfield with ample arm for the position.  While Alford is very raw and is more of an athlete than a baseball player at this point, he does have a quick swing backed by plenty of raw power than will be intriguing to some team come June.

High School to the Majors: Pitchers

About 3 weeks ago, I wrote an article detailing rapid-ascension high school draftees who arrive in the big leagues quickly.  That article focused on positional players.  In the article, I promised a follow-up article on pitchers.  Better late than never I guess.  The primer on that article is after the jump.

Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda: Hindsight and the MLB Draft

No complaints on McCutchen

Buried Treasure is expanding!  No, I didn't buy a warehouse.  Yes, I did add a new author.  Please welcome KentuckyPirate to Buried Treasure.  Although this is posted under my name, this is his first article for Buried Treasure.  Personally, I'm very excited to add such a knowledgeable Pirates fan to the site.  Make sure to check back regularly for new content from him, especially if you hate my writing. Welcome him here!

One of the most common complaints levied against the Pirates’ much maligned management lately has been their big “misses” in the Rule IV Draft, namely Pedro Alvarez and Tony Sanchez. If only the team had been smart and drafted instead either Eric Hosmer or Buster Posey and then Shelby Miller  we’d be a playoff team right now! While it may be too early to really pass judgment on any of those picks you could at least make the argument that, given the amount of money the Pirates have invested in the draft recently, it wouldn’t be totally unfair to hope for a better overall product to this point. Having said that, I don’t think the best way to critique a team’s draft strategy is by cherry picking specific selections and playing a hindsight-aided game of “woulda, coulda, shoulda.” The problem with this type of analysis is since you are able to seek out handful of guys in a given draft who really hit it big you are bound to come up with several teams who wound up with a bust instead. The baseball draft is a crapshoot and there is probably not a single team in baseball that doesn’t wish it had a mulligan or two.

The MLB Draft under the new CBA: This sucks but there is hope

For more on the 2012 MLB Draft click here.
  







Timeline

Mid November: The world is over.  The new CBA arrives.  It destroys the draft - the Pirates best chance of competing - and love, hope, and happiness. 

December 27: There is hope. A slightly late Christmas gift. Charlie reports the Pirates will get a draft bonus pool that will be around nearly 10 million dollars in 2012.  

February 20: Hope is again crushed. Jim Callis of Baseball America reports will only get $6,563,500 to sign their players.  That is without Derrek Lee - who will provide an extra $900,000 - but that's only if he signs a major league deal with another team, which looks doubtful.

February 21: After crying a lot, I attempt to argue why this sucks but there is still a glimmer of hope.  All is not lost.

Mack's Mets Q&A

Stephen Guilbert of Mack's Mets (an excellent site by the way - check it out) was kind enough to interview me on a couple of topics both Pirates related and Draft related.  Links are provided below.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

High School to the Majors: Positional Players

Recently, I ran across a criticism of the Pittsburgh Pirates, specifically how they handle prospects.  The criticism alluded to the fact that the Pirates generally are conservative with pushing prospects, especially high school draftees.  The general statement bemoaned the fact that expecting a player to make the major leagues within four full years of being drafted is nothing more than a foolish wish.  Under Neal Huntington, college players drafted have beat that four year limit.  Pedro Alvarez made it to the big leagues by his second full year as a professional.  Chase D'Arnaud made the show last year in his third full year.  On the high school level, the criticism is fairly accurate.  In 2008, Huntington's first draft class, the Pirates paid two high school players - Quinton Miller and Robbie Grossman - either seven figures or nearly seven figures.  Miller has been a bust and while Grossman has turned himself into a top prospect (on Keith Law's top 100 list for example) but will start next year in AA and is unlikely to arrive in Pittsburgh by the end of the year.  That will give him one more year to make the show by his fourth full year in the big leagues.  This reality can be particularly disheartening as Pirates fans watch high school phenoms such as Jason Heyward and Mike Trout fly to the major leagues, with the former taking his first at-bat for the Braves at age 20 and the latter taking his first at-bat for the Angels still as a teenager.

I decided to take a more in-depth look at how quickly prospects, specifically those drafted out of high school, move through the minors.  To do so, I used the following criteria.  First, I used fangraphs to identify each batter (I will do pitchers later) that had his rookie season.  My time period was the last five years, from 2007-2011.  From there, I determined which of those batters were high school draftees that made it to their rookie season within five years of being drafted.  That means every player on my list played a maximum of four full seasons in the minor leagues.

2007

Player Name	Draft Bonus	Draft Position	Draft Year	Current Team
Delmon Young	3.70M	1(1)	2003	DET
James Loney	1.50M	1(19)	2002	LAD
Billy Butler	1.45M	1(28)	2004	KC
Jarrod Saltalamacchia	950K	1S(36)	2003	BOS
Elijah Dukes	500K	3(74)	2002	NONE

2008

Player Name	Draft Bonus	Draft Position	Draft Year	Current Team
Ian Stewart	1.95M	1(10)	2003	CHC
Jay Bruce	1.80M	1(12)	2005	CIN
Blake DeWitt	1.20M	1(28)	2004	CHC
Ryan Sweeney	785K	2(52)	2003	BOS

2009

Player Name	Draft Bonus	Draft Position	Draft Year	Current Team
Cameron Maybin	2.65M	1 (10)	2005	SD
Andrew McCutchen	1.90M	1 (11)	2005	PIT
Travis Snider	1.70M	1 (14)	2006	TOR
Colby Rasmus	1.00M	1 (28)	2005	TOR
Dexter Fowler	925K	14 (410)	2004	COL
Jordan Schafer	320K	3 (107)	2005	HOU
Kyle Blanks	140K	(42) (1241)	2004	SD

2010

Player Name	Draft Bonus	Draft Position	Draft Year	Current Team
Jason Heyward	1.70M	1(14)	2007	ATL
Austin Jackson	800K	8(259)	2005	DET
Ryan Kalish	600K	9(283)	2006	BOS
Mike Stanton	475K	2(76)	2007	MIA
Peter Bourjos	325K	10(313)	2005	LAA
Logan Morrison	225K	22(666)	2005	MIA
Michael Brantley	150K	7(205)	2005	CLE
Josh Thole	UNKNOWN	13(389)	2005	NYM

2011

Player Name	Draft Bonus	Draft Position	Draft Year	Current Team
Eric Hosmer	6.00M	1(3)	2008	KC
Mike Moustakas	4.00M	1(2)	2007	KC
Brett Lawrie	1.70M	1(16)	2008	TOR
Hank Conger	1.35M	1(25)	2006	LAA
Ben Revere	750K	1(28)	2007	MIN
Freddie Freeman	409.5K	2(78)	2007	ATL
Domonic Brown	200K	20(607)	2006	PHI

The list is ordered according to bonus amount.  In those five years, there were 31 players who made it to the big leagues out of high school with only four years or less of minor league experience.  16 of the 31 (51.6%) were first round picks.  Jarrod Saltalamacchia was drafted in the first supplemental round.  15 of those 31 received more than one million dollars (48.3%) for their signing bonus.  Those draftees making the show quickly are expected.  They were drafted in the position they were drafted and given the bonuses they were given for a reason: talent.

On the flipside, there were only a few players that came out of nowhere.  Kyle Blanks, Domonic Brown, and Logan Morrison all were drafted in the 20th round or later and given bonuses under a quarter of a million dollars.  Outfielder Michael Brantley also signed for only 150K, although he was drafted in the 7th round.

Basically, the Pirates do seem a bit behind in producing major league positional players quickly once they nab them out of high school.  They are represented by Andrew McCutchen, although that's not unexpected because he was drafted in the first half of the first round.  Still, it seems to me that there are so few players that have zipped to the major leagues.  Again, only 16 who received a bonus under one million dollars in the last five years.  It looks like the Pirates drought will continue into the near future, but considering having a player make this list seems to be a rarity rather than the other way around, I'm not too upset.  However, considering the Pirates have spent more on pitcher, I can't say my sentiment will be the same when my pitching study is complete.

Early MLB Draft Big Board

For more on the 2012 MLB Draft click here.

Earlier, I posted my early 2012 MLB mock draft.The thing about a mock draft is it doesn't accurately portray the author's ranking of draft-eligible talent.  My mock draft was no different, as I tried mto predict how the draft would actually pan out based on several factors, including organizational philosophies and consensus talent perception.  To explain that last bit, I offer an example involving ASU SS Deven Marrero.  MLB.com has him as their #3 draft prospect and for me he barely fits inside my top 10.  Speaking of top 10, that's what I'll be posting including brief reasoning of 'why' for each player.

Early MLB Mock Draft

For more on the 2012 MLB Draft click here.

Update: Click here for my "Big Board" featuring my personal top 10 draft prospects.

The first edition of my MLB mock draft for 2012.  I will produce a few more editions over the next several months leading up to June so check back for more.  Also, check out this link for more on the MLB draft 2012. I tried to make this mock draft as realistic as possible.  To do so, I strove to avoid a mistake that I often see in mock draft and that frustrates me.  Most mock drafts focus on specific holes on the major league squad (which is better) and base the list off of that that.  I believe teams rarely, if ever, do that in actual drafts, and so instead I'll be trying to formulate my mock draft based upon organizational philosophy and the general shape of a farm system, with a major focus on best player available. I also did not put an emphasis on the effect the new CBA will have on college vs. high school players being drafted.  I think that effect will be minimal in the first round.

MLB Draft 2012

Compilation of 2012 MLB Draft information. Click the links to go to that particular post.


06/05 - MLB Draft - Day 2 Preview
06/05 - MLB Draft - Day 1 Recap
03/18 - Draft Preview: The Youngin's Part 2
03/15 - Draft Preview: The Youngin's Part 1
02/21 - New CBA: This sucks but there is hope
01/17 - Early MLB Draft Big Board
01/15 - Early MLB Mock Draft
01/10 - More on the MLB Draft - Toronto Blue Jays Edition
01/08 - More on the MLB Draft 
12/27 - Early Draft Preview - Carlos Correa; Matt Smoral

More on the MLB Draft - Toronto Blue Jays Edition

For more on the 2012 MLB Draft click here.

Here, I went through an exercise in which I "drafted" for the Pirates in 2012.  I estimated their draft budget based off a few factors, used players from 2011, and "drafted" them using 2012 picks.  Each player was still available at their draft slot and I made sure I stayed under the draft limit I imposed of 9 million dollars.

For the Pirates, I drafted the following players.

8 - Francisco Lindor - Carlos Correa (16) - HS SS
43 - Andrew Chaffin - Kyle Zimmer (32) - College RHP
53- Jason Esposito - Stephen Piscotty (37) - College 3B
72* - Andrew Susac - Josh Elander (48) - College C
* Projected position