It's still a bit early to fully evaluate the 2015 draft as most of the HS draftees and some of the college draftees are still in the minor leagues. We'll start with a review of Round 1 with updates on the progress of each player by listing their 2018 level and stat line, then assign a letter grade to the pick, just for fun. The Giants pick at #18 was Phil Bickford, another high profile pitching prospect who failed to sign out of HS with the Blue Jays. Jumping ahead just a bit, he tested positive for MJ on the eve of the draft. The Giants picked him anyway. More on that later. On with the list!
1. Dansby Swanson, D'Backs, College SS: MLB(Braves)- .238/.304/.395, 14 HR, 10 SB, fWAR- 1.9. Drafted #1 overall then infamously traded to the Braves by Dave Stewart for Shelby Miller. Solid defensive SS but has disappointed so far at the plate. Underwent surgery on his left wrist at the end of the season. Grade B.
2. Alex Bregman, Astros, College SS: MLB- .286/.394/.532, 31 HR, 10 SB, 13.6 BB%, 12.1 K%, fWAR-7.6. Bregman was a Shankbone fave coming out of HS who improved his stock immensely in college. Smashing success for the Astros with an MVP caliber season in his 2'nd full MLB campaign despite shifting to 3B almost immediately after turning pro. Grade A!
3. Brendan Rodgers, Rockies, HS SS: AA- .275/.342/.493, 17 HR, 12 SB, 7.5 BB%, 18.9 K%, 402 PA. AAA- .232/.264/.290, 1.4 BB%, 22.2 K%, 72 PA. Has steadily worked his way up the draft and had a solid AA season. struggled in a late promo to AAA. Still needs some seasoning but most analysts still think he's going to be a star. Grade B+ with upside.
4. Dillon Tate, Rangers, College RHP: AA(Yankees)- 5-2, 3.38, 82.2 IP, 8.17 K/9, 2.72 BB/9. AA(Orioles)- 2-3, 5.75, 40.2 IP, 4.65 K/9, 1.99 BB/9. Lit up radar guns for UCSB his junior year. performance mostly disappointing in the pros and has already been traded twice. Grade D.
5. Kyle Tucker, Astros, HS, OF: AAA- .332/.400/.590, 24 HR, 20 SB, 10.3 BB%, 18.1 K%, 465 PA. MLB- .141/.236/.203, 8.3 BB%, 18.1 K%, BABIP- .176, 72 PA. fWAR- -0.7. Raked in AAA but struggled after callup to MLB and got sent back down. MLB struggles appear to be purely BABIP related. Probably just needs more playing time to get his feet on the ground. Grade B with upside but a small bust potential.
6. Tyler Jay, Twins, College LHP: AA- 4-5, 4.22, 59.2 IP, 7.39 K/9, 3.02 BB/9, 2 Saves. Small LHP who was a "pop up" draft prospect. Some analysts thought he profiled as a lefty reliever out of the draft and that appears to be where he's headed. Made just 2 Starts out of 38 appearances. Grade C-.
7. Andrew Benintendi, Red Sox, College OF: .290/.366/.465, 16 HR, 21 SB, 10.7 BB%, 16 K%, 661 PA. fWAR- 4.3. Covechatter wanted the Giants to draft this kid so bad, but his junior year college performance boosted him out of the Giants reach. Has been everything Covechatter dreamed of. Grade A.
8. Carson Fulmer, White Sox, College RHP. AAA- 5-6, 5.32, 67.2 IP, 8.25 K/9, 5.45 BB/9. MLB- 2-4, 8.07, 32.1 IP, 8.07 K/9, 6.68 BB/9. Drafted way above fellow Vanderbilt RHP Walker Buehler. Has struggled in the pros and gotten blown out in the majors, mostly due to poor control/command. Starting to look a bit busty. Grade D.
9. Ian Happ, Cubs, College OF/2B. MLB- .233/.353/.408, 15 HR, 8 SB, 15.2 BB%, 36.1 K%, 462 PA. 3 true outcomes guy. BA suppressed by frighteningly high K%. K rate should come down with more experience. Could probably benefit from being a bit more aggressive early in the count. I could see him being a trade target for Farhan Zaidi, but the Cubs won't give him away. Grade B+(with upside).
10. Cornelius Randolph, Phillies, HS SS. AA- .241/.324/.322, 5 HR, 3 SB, 10.3 BB%, 19.8 K%, 465 PA. Currently listed as OF which is a negative. Peripherals look good. Still has time to develop. About where you would expect a #10 HS prospect to be in his development, but numbers would project much better as a SS. Grade C(so far).
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Do you have any comment on "Mariners’ Leadership Accused By Former Director Of High Performance Lorena Martin Of Derogatory Remarks"?
ReplyDeleteAccusations are quite pointed and specific. Forbidden stuff!
They deny all, adding she didn't say anything until she was fired.
She says they are ALL bad: GM Jerry Dipoto, manager Scott Servais, and director of player development Andy McKay.
That would indicate a "culture" of prejudice against, in this case, latinos. Doesn't seem like it could be true in this day although it probably was 30-40 years ago.
MLBTR:
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2018/11/mariners-accusations-derogatory-racist-remarks-dipoto-servais-mckay-lorena-martin.html
There was a commenter on the MLTBR boards (definitely siding with Mariner management) that noted that if the Mariners are biased/racist, it's odd that the MLB team relies heavily on Dominican players.
DeleteHe noted that the 2,3 & 4 hitters (Segura, Cruz & Cano) are Dominican. Also the 7th & 8th inning bullpen guys are Dominican (Colome & Nicasio.)
Mariners are playing the motive card against Dr. Martin (disgruntled fired employee with an axe to grind). But it is hard to believe that she would bring on backlash if her claims didn't at least some truth to them.
So many things are unknown, it will likely be hard to know what actually transpired in Seattle.
From a higher vantage, this does highlight a fairly vast cultural gap in the MLB between American & foreign-born players.
Very unfortunate situation but MLB needs to take this seriously and do a thorough investigation. The accusation goes a lot deeper that derogatory remarks and strongly implies that she was fired for advocating for Latino players who management thought were faking or exaggerating injuries.
DeleteI'm old enough to recall when those same types of accusations were made against Roberto Clemente and Juan Marichal. I have a vivid recollection of Juan being interviewed for pregame show in spring training and defending himself against accusations that he was "jaking" because his first spring training start was delayed for some physical ailment. I mean, here was a pitcher who routinely threw over 300 innings per season and pitched a 16 inning complete game shutout being accused of faking an injury....in spring training no less!
Looking back on the Bickford bust (drug) - it was a weird pick for the Giants because they are usually after the boy scout types. Bregman! I ran the Giants portion of the minor league ball (Sickels) mock draft in 2012 and we ended up picking Ty Hensley in the 1st and Bregman (HS) in the 2nd with a 1MM overdraft scenario. Who knew if that would have ever worked! G's took Stratton and Martin Agosta instead. Hensley dealt with a lot of injuries.
ReplyDeleteBenintendi made some amazing catches in the playoffs. Just amazing. Very fun player to watch.
Don't remind me about Benintendi! Actually, I traded for him in my dynasty fantasy league during his rookie year, so I've got just a little consolation there. Maybe Duggar doesn't have "Benny's" offensive upside, but if he can keep showing off excellent defense in CF, I'll be plenty happy.
ReplyDeleteInteresting you mentioned Happ, DrB. He and Almora seem to be on the hot seat in Chicago, so to speak. Maybe the Giants could pry one of them away by taking back some salary (Chatwood??) & offering a couple players the Cubs have interest in.
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