Steve (PGH) and I thought it would be fin to hand out draft grades again. These are our opinion, and certainly are subjective to an extent, so don;t take them too seriously. Also, the grades are only partially based on talent that you got, and they look more at what you did with what you have. Here you go.
Boston A+
1B Sadahura Oh
CF Josh Hamilton
Getting an absolute stud at 5 is huge, maybe the best 5th pick ever. In addition, nabbing Hamilton in round 2 makes Bostons draft a profitable one.
Atlanta A
1B Prince Fielder
P Felix Hernandez
SS Hanley Ramirez
CF Grady Sizemore
P Gil Meche
2B Ian Kinsler
RP Chad Cordero
RP Brian Wolfe
Since we were able to script the first 7 picks of the draft, 4 of which belonged to Atlanta, it is no surprise that we are grading this team high. One of if not the best draft in memory by a single team, Casey is building a powerhouse. The high point was getting 2B kinsler in the 2nd round, a great talent to fall that low. The low point was taking Meche, a 23 year old pitcher when he already has great starters. Zumaya would have been a better pick here. But, that is minor in this great draft.
Pittsburgh A
C Jarrod Saltalamacchia
3B Alex Gordon
CF Hunter Pence
P Micah Figgs
Salty is a great pickup. The number of stud catchers is on the rise, but being one of the 4 or 5 teams that have one is a huge plus, which is why this pick was so huge. Gordon, too was an amazing pickup so late, as was Pence. When currently good teams get high draft picks and draft well, look out.
Kansas City A
Traded #1 for CF Mike Robinson
P Freddy Mendoza
SS Stephen Drew
RF Puddles Sheldon
The trade of his #1 for Mike Robinson met a huge need foe the Royals, giving the a CH/SP guy who can come in and score runs right away. In addition, his other 3 picks were all smart, bringing in very good starting pitching, and filling a hole at short.
Florida A-
3B Garret Atkins
With only one pick, and the league making it for him, it is hard to grade this well. Although, getting Atkins this late is a great pickup.
HoustonA-
LF Matt Holiday
RP Matt Lindstrom
SS Steve May
Holliday was one of the top outfielders in the draft and one of the top pure hitters as well. Lindstrom was a very nice pickup in round 2 as well.
Colorado A-
P Francisco Liriano
RP Joel Zumaya
P Spencer Kriegel
C Jack Behrman
Colorado, in the GM's first draft was able to emerge with the top Starting Pitcher and the top Reliever in the pool. Kriegal was also a fine pickup, but Behrman was a reach.
Texas A-
RF Delmon Young (Draft day trade)
2B Kelly Johnson
Trading to get Delmon Young at the time of the pick continues to make a great team younger. Johnson also provides a protege since Biggio is aging.
San Diego A-
P Danny Kingston
P Mac Thomas
P Bert Dilly
SD was making calls and pulling strings to make things happen, and we like to see that. Mike was able to trade for the pick to get P Bert Dilly, a huge risk, but a guy with huge upside. We would all do better to take more chances like this.
Toronto B+
P Tim Lincecum
C Big Bear Andrews
P Kason Goddard
P Jim Tweedles
Lincecum was a good pick, further building that rotation. Andrews was okay: nothing special but at an important position.
Anaheim B+
RF Nick Markakis
P Samuel Gereson
P Casey Jannsen
SS Jimmy Anderson
Markakis is a great pickup and will add will help round out a potentially very good offense. Gereson certainly has upside and Jannsen is a good pickup for the 3rd round.
Milwakee B+
P Scott Kazmir
P Eduardo Lodermo
P Eric Bauer
Kazmir was one of the top pitchers and will do very well in Milwakee. Lodermo is very solid for a 2nd rounder.
Oakland B
C Brian McCann
P Matt Garza
C Kenji Jahima
1B Ryan Garcon
RF Franklin Gutierez
Los Angeles B
P Fausto Carmona
P Mike Palmer
New York Mets B
Traded #1 for CF Tris Speaker
SS Travis Ykema
1B Eric Bittner
P Brandon Morrow
P Joakim Soria
Speaker is a huge gain, and the two pitchers are both great picks. Ykema may have been high and Bittner is a gamble.
Saint Louis B
C Bobby Wilson
LF Jacoby Ellsbury
2B Placido Polanco
CF Jesus Sindari
3B Freddy Sanchez
P Mel Napier
A lot of picks really helped out STL in this draft. Wilson and Sanchez were both pretty good picks. There were no bad picks in STL's draft, but it would be easy to make the case for slightly different choices.
San Francisco B
P Andy Virmin
A cheap 3rd rounder will fill a roster slot in LOW for awhile, if nothing else.
New York YankeesB-
RP Chad Cordero (clone)
RP Justin Hampson
2B Frank Sundin
P Camilla Rodriguez
Cordero is good, and Hampson is okay, but there is nothing special about the Sundin or Rodriguez picks.
Cleveland B-
P Ricardo Torrez
May be able to eat up some innings in relief.
Cincinnati B-
P Brett Conlon
Low control and average pitches make Conlon a career AAA player, but not much was left this late.
Detroit B-
RP Bobby Jenks
Jenks is certainly a very good reliever, but there were probably better players on the board.
Seattle B+
Traded #1 to NYN for 4 players
2B Cooper Greer
They traded their #1 for 4 players, and while it was partly because of cast and roster spots, they could have gotten a very good player with that pick.
Philadelphia C-
P Doud Slaten
Made a fine pick. Too bad they didn't have more in a draft like this.
Baltimore C-
Traded #2 pick for SS Royce Clayton
There was a player very similar to Clayton taken 17 pick after this one. If they would have kept it, they could have gotten a very good player.
Chicago White Sox D
P Raphael Perez
RF Jack Cust
P Nick Remlinger
CF Jay Backus
We had Perez ranked as the 7th best reliever, and he was the first one taken. Players like Cust are a dime a dozen and Remlinger, too, won't win any awards.
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7 comments:
how does SF get a B while drafting only a 3rd rounder? yet other teams who drafted first rounders get lower grades?
Again, it is subjective, but it is looking at what teams did with what they had for the most part, not total talent gained.
Dont take it too seriously; it's just for fun.
I took Perez as a starter with his high control. with 99 move and 3 pitches which will be in the upper 70's to go with a high g/f and superb scpos rating, I think he's better than you think.
as for the rest, well, that's what happens with a list. although cust has some potential with a great pull rating.
Philly actully was able to obtain P John Maine late in the 1st rd also
If would have taken Kinsler at 17 would I have gotten an A+?
@Mike
Perez is interesting and should function as a SP well enough. 50s EN with high control can do it (Hiker Moran). He has an "in between" sort of arm - not high velocity or very low velocity (though that can be corrected in S.T.) and that might get to him sometimes. Still, that movement with those pitches and control can be quite solid.
I would agree a D is a little harsh in light of that.
As far as Anaheim's evaluation - I like Markakis a lot. I wanted Delmon Young though, and it figures he'd end up in my division on Texas. I'll never catch up.
I hope you are right, Mike, and that Perez works out. With pitchers it is guesswork a lot of the time anyway, and there are varied opinions.
I wan not aware that Philly got P Maine. Nice pickup!
Casy, if you would have taken Zumbrano with the 17 and ended up with Kinsler where you did, it would have been an A+, or if you took C Wilson. Not like it matters much though. you did just fine.
KL, I'm so happy that i was able to nab Young then. I would hate to see him on your team.
Thanks for commenting, guys.
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