2014 MLB Draft Comp Board #1

by: Ben Embry

 It's finally that time of year when I issue the first compilation ranking for the next MLB Draft.  It's a little thing I like to do to stay up on who the big names are in the draft pool.  What I do is take rankings from 6 different sources that I trust the most on the subject of draft prospects and I compile them into one board.  I'll publish links below that will have last year's boards if anyone's interested in seeing those.

Ok, here's the first 2014 board:

Rnk	Name	Pos	School
1	Carlos Rodon	SP	NC State
2	Jeff Hoffman	SP	E Carolina
3	Alex Jackson	C	H.S.
4	Tyler Kolek	SP	H.S.
5	Trea Turner	SS	NC State
6	Derek Fisher	OF	Virginia
7	Tyler Beede	SP	Vandy
8	Sean Newcomb	SP	Hartford
9	Grant Holmes	SP	H.S.
10	Nick Gordon	SS	H.S.
11	Brandon Finnegan	SP	TCU
12	Jacob Gatewood	SS	H.S.
13	Braxton Davidson	1B	H.S.
14	Max Pentecost	C	Kensaw St
15	Luis Ortiz	SP	H.S.
16	Kyler Schwarber	C	Indiana
17	Michael Gettys	SP/OF	H.S.
18	Michael Cederoth	SP	SD State
19	Aaron Nola	SP	LSU
20	Touki Toussaint	SP	H.S.
21	Brady Aiken	SP	H.S.
22	Luke Weaver	SP	Florida St
23	Alex Verdugo	SP/OF	H.S.
24	Kyle Freeland	SP	Evansville
25	Erick Fedde	SP	UNLV
26	Mac Marshall	SP	H.S.
27	Scott Blewett	SP	H.S.
28	Brad Zimmer	OF	San Fran
29	Nick Burdi	RP	Louisville
30	Sean Reid-Foley	SP	H.S.
31	Michael Conforto	OF	Oregon St
32	Justus Sheffield	SP	H.S.
33	Kodi Medeiros	SP	H.S.
34	Jackson Reetz	C	H.S.
35	Ti'quan Forbes	SS	H.S.
36	Cobi Johnson	SP	H.S.
37	Dylan Cease	SP	H.S.
38	Matt Chapman	3B	CS Fuller.
39	Michael Chavis	3B	H.S.
40	Alex Blandino	3B	Stanford
41	Forrest Wall	2B	H.S.
42	Keaton McKinney	SP	H.S.
43	Derek Hill	OF	H.S.
44	Marcus Wilson	OF	H.S.
45	Stone Garrett	OF	H.S.
46	Taylor Sparks	3B	UC Irvine
47	Jeren Kendall	OF	H.S.
48	Sean Bouchard	3B	H.S.
49	Chad Sobotka	SP	SC Upstate
50	J.D. Davis	SP/1B	CS Fuller.
51	Karsten Whitson	SP	Florida
52	Chris Ellis	SP	Ole Miss
53	Michael Kopech	SP	H.S.
54	Carl Chester	OF	H.S.
55	Cameron Varga	SP	H.S.
56	Joey Gatto	SP	H.S.
57	Zach Shannon	SP/OF	H.S.
58	Turner Larkins	SP	H.S.
59	Dylan Davis	SP/OF	Oregon St
60	Lukas Schiraldi	SP	Texas
61	Spencer Adams	SP	H.S.
62	Joey Pankake	3B	S Carolina
63	Jack Flaherty	SS	H.S.
64	Milton Ramos	SS	H.S.
65	Keith Weisenberg	SP	H.S.
66	Chase Vallot	C	H.S.
67	Kel Johnson	OF	H.S.
68	Adam Haseley	SP/OF	H.S.
69	Greg Deichmann	3B	H.S.
70	Luke Bonfield	SP/OF	H.S.
71	Austin Byler	3B	Nevada
72	Casey Gillaspie	1B	Wichita St
73	Monte' Harrison	OF	H.S.
74	Lane Thomas	OF	H.S.
75	Brandon Downes	OF	Virginia
76	Devon Fisher	C	H.S.
77	Dillon Peters	SP	Texas
78	Travis Jones	OF	H.S.
79	Gareth Morgan	OF	H.S.
80	Josh Morgan	3B	H.S.
81	Foster Griffin	SP	H.S.
82	Sam Coonrod	SP	So Illinois
83	JJ Schwarz	C	H.S.
84	Grant Hockin	SP	H.S.
85	Brett Austin	C	NC State
86	Jake Godfrey	SP	H.S.
87	Justin Bellinger	1B	H.S.
88	Blake Bivens	SP	H.S.
89	Riley Ferrell	RP	TCU
90	Trevor Megill	SP	Loyola M.
91	Hunter Williams	1B	H.S.
92	Brian Anderson	OF	Arkansas
93	Carson Sands	SP	H.S.
94	Slade Heggen	C	H.S.
95	Scott Heineman	OF	Oregon
96	Evan Skoug	C	H.S.
97	DJ Peters	OF	H.S.
98	Hunter Cole	OF	Georgia
99	Mason Robbins	OF	So Miss
100	Mitch Hart	SP	H.S.

It looks like college pitching could dominate the top of the first round with Carlos Rodon and Jeff Hoffman the consensus top two picks and guys like Tyler Beede, Sean Newcomb, and Brandon Finnegan also taking spots in the top 11.  Rodon is this year's favorite to go 1-1...like a heavy, HEAVY favorite.  He has been ever since his Freshman season at NC State.  He's a 6'3" lefty that has a 95 MPH heater and slider that scouts practically drool over.  By all accounts, he would have likely been the first player taken had he been eligible this year.  It'll be interesting to see the bonus negotiations with Rodon, particularly whether he can negotiate an over-slot deal.  Neither of the first two top picks in the new CBA have come close to getting full slot.  The 2012 draft's number one pick, Carlos Correa, only got $4.8M when the slot was $7.2M and this year's number one pick, Mark Appel, only got $6.35M of $7.79M.

Beede is an interesting guy to me.  The Vanderbilt stand out is a former first round pick of the Toronto Blue Jays who, when he went to Vanderbilt instead of signing, was the super-early favorite to be the first pick in 2014.  He's failed to live up to that hype but has still been very good and has the kind of frame and pitching repertoire to entice another first round selection.  Control has been the knock against him; he has this Spring to gain that desired control, otherwise I think he could tumble hard.

NC State looks like they'll be the school with the most players going in the first couple of rounds.  In addition to Rodon, SS Trea Turner and C Brett Austin are strong possibilities of going early, particularly Turner.  Trea is a burner with crazy athleticism and solid hitting skills but also is dealing with an ankle injury that could concern teams.  Austin is a former first round pick of the San Diego Padres.

Another former first rounder I want to point out is Florida SP Karsten Whitson.  He actually was eligible last year and was my early "draft crush", (the guy I wanted my team to pick).  Prior to the season he was an early favorite to go in the first half of the first round.  But shoulder issues ended the season before it began and he went undrafted in June.  Now he's back and if he can rebound from this injury he has a chance of going in the first round again.  Shoulder injuries are scary, though, for pitchers, much more so than elbows.

As for a Yankees spin, there's really not much to say right now.  They're now without a 1st round pick thanks to signing McCann and I predicted earlier today that I find it more likely they sign one or more additional qualifying free agents, (thereby forfeiting additional picks and pushing them further away from the 1st round), than they receive a comp pick from losing a QFA.  I guess we'll see.

I'll be back with another board in January or February when another wave of rankings come out due to the upcoming amateur baseball season.

2013 MLB Draft Comp Boards:
Comp Board #1 (April 6, 2013)
Comp Board #2 (April 20, 2013)
Comp Board #3 (May 11, 2013)
Comp Board #4 (June 5, 2013)

Brian McCann: Newest Yankee

by: Ben Embry

The news last week of Brian McCann agreeing to a 5 year contract with the Yankees almost broke my Twitter feed.  The feedback was almost unanimously positive and for good reason: he's an excellent player. Maybe the best position player FA not named Cano.  It was not unexpected since rumors linking the catcher to New York had been loud and clear for weeks.  It was Boston, Texas, and us but Boston was never really in it and Texas was distracted with the quandary of having one more good middle infielder than they could play at one time so guess what...it ended up us.

The contract was totally chalk: 5 years, $85 mil just like most were predicting.  The Bombers traded a weakness for a strength with one signing.  Last year their catchers collectively had the 12th worst OPS in the AL with just a .9 WAR.  McCann can fall ass backwards into a 3-4 WAR season with his eyes closed so it was kind of a no brainer on the surface.

My big take on it is this: I'm fine with the move but not pleased.  In the same way you win your money back in a poker tourney, I'm just kinda like "Not really what I wanted but at the same time it's silly to complain."  I am on record of not wanting to sign qualifying free agents for anything less than a franchise type player, like Robbie Cano.  McCann is not that.  He's an All-Star caliber catcher and those guys hit the open market less frequently than any other position.  BY FAR.  His lefty-pull hitter swing is custom made for Yankee Stadium.  Historically New York's championship teams were built on offense up the middle and he'll bring that back.  So it's not terrible at all, but he's not quite the caliber player I like giving up draft picks for.  His defense is 'eh'.  He's a little injury prone, having missed 100 games past two years.  There's already talk of moving him to first base in a couple years...that kind of talk doesn't excite me.

But here's why I can get on board: he's the kind of guy I want on this team.  He's got backbone, something we haven't had in...umm...forever pretty much.  I want somebody who will stand up for his teammates and say "you ain't doing that shit to my guy".  He received a lot of criticism for the way he confronted Jose Fernandez and Carlos Gomez last year after showing up his pitchers.  I like that.  Bring that to New York please.  We've been shrinking violets for years, notably against Boston.  Hopefully he changes that.

And one other thing; a friend of mine who is a big Braves fan was furious Atlanta didn't try to re-sign him.  He had become the face of the franchise post-Chipper Jones.  If a fan of the player's former team is angry that his team let him walk, that's a good sign I'm going to like him being on my team.

One bit of site news: my first comp board for the 2014 draft should be ready in the next couple of days.  I have 100 names, mostly HS.  Unfortunately it won't be as relevant now that we don't have a first rounder, though that could change.  Personally I think the number of qualifying FA we sign from this point will equal or exceed the number of QFA we lose, so I won't be holding my breath we get back into the 1st rd.  And maybe that's a good thing.  I'd much, MUCH rather see them load up on talent and punt this year's draft than have them go into next yr thinking they have to sign another QFA.

Alright folks, take care and have a Happy Thanksgiving.