| Players to Watch from the MLB Draft |
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The major league amateur draft was held on Thursday yielding hundreds of players no one has ever heard of, and will never play at baseball’s highest level. Still, the draft is the lifeblood for organizations and future superstars were selected although no one knows who they will be just yet. Several relievers should be on the fast-track to the big leagues, while others will take longer but will be worth the wait. Here is a quick look at the top prospects drafted, and will be names to remember for fantasy purposes particularly keeper and dynasty leagues. Tim Beckham, SS Beckham has endlessly been compared to the Upton brothers, but he is a notch below them as an overall prospect. He is a raw high school infielders who will take to develop and to refine his defensive skills. He might be the top talent in the draft, but won’t be fantasy relevant for several years. Pedro Alvarez, 3B A broken bone in his hand has limited him somewhat this season at Vanderbilt but Alvarez has huge power potential. He should relieve some of Pirates fans angst over trading away Aramis Ramirez, and is certainly a monstrous upgrade over Jose Bautista. He may take some time to reach the big leagues as the injury has slowed his progress somewhat, and he strikes out far too much. He also might have to move to first base, but Alvarez has 40 home run potential. Eric Hosmer, 1B Hosmer was the best high school hitter in this draft, and might have the most raw power of any player drafted. He’ll take some time to reach the majors, and may also end up in the outfield. Brian Matusz, SP (lefty) A lefty from San Diego, Matusz could move quickly through the minors. He is fairly polished now and probably doesn’t have the highest ceiling of the draft pool, but is still a very good pitcher. He throws four different pitches with good command (only 22 walks in 105 innings). Buster Posey, C Posey was considered by the Rays at No.1, but fell here to the Giants. He is likely to reach the big leagues by 2010, and is college baseball’s best player for Florida State. He is described as having plus defensive skills and is projected as a .280 type of hitter with 20 home run power. That would make him an above average fantasy catcher. Yonder Alonso, 1B This pick is interesting because the Reds have a pretty good young first baseman right now in Joey Votto. He is a left-handed power hitter which is good in Cincy’s ballpark, but if both players remain with the Reds one would have to move to a corner outfield position. Aaron Crow, SP He is billed as one of the top college pitchers in the nation out of Missouri. He struck out 127 batters in 107.1 innings and had a perfect 13-0 record with 4 shutouts. Crow has also shown very good command throughout his career walking only 38 batters in 2008. Justin Smoak, 1B Smoak fell a bit in this draft and landed with Mark Teixeira’s former club. That is apt since he is most often compared to the current Atlanta Braves slugger. Smoak is a switch-hitting first baseman with good power and excellent defensive skills. Sounds like Teixeira to me. He and Josh Hamilton would make an intimidating duo in the middle of the Rangers lineup for years to come. Andrew Cashner, RP Cashner was the first of a record five relievers picked in the first round. Out of Texas Christian, he owns an electric fastball that gets up to 98 along with a power slider. He could definitely close in the future and give the Cubs another terrific bullpen arm alongside Carlos Marmol. Josh Fields, RP Fields could reach Seattle as soon as this season. Billed as the top collegiate closer this season, he obviously would not close for the Mariners with J.J. Putz and Brandon Morrow still around. The Mariners are in last place so it seems a bit odd to be taking a middle reliever in the first round meaning Bill Bavasi is probably trying to save his job. He was picked by the Braves last season and didn’t sign, and could have already been closing at the big league level. Ryan Perry, RP Perry seems destined for the closer role with this pick by the Tigers. Perry hit 100 on the radar gun in the NCAA playoffs for Arizona, and could be ready for the role as soon as next season. He probably will reach the majors this year to help in middle relief in front of Todd Jones. The health of Joel Zumaya and Fernando Rodney are question marks, and Jones is ineffective and old so Perry definitely looks like he could be Detroit’s closer in 2009. Daniel Schlereth, RP (lefty) He is the son of former Denver Bronco Mark Schlereth, and also was a reliever for Arizona along with Perry. Schlereth’s fastball sits in the mid-90s and is paired with a slider, typical of many power pitchers. He has previously had Tommy John’s surgery so that is a concern, but he is left-handed and is ticketed for middle relief anyways. He could help the D-Backs this season possibly and could be setting up Max Scherzer in the future. Trackback(0)
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Jonathan Lee AccuScore Analyst
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