Draft Notes: Whitson, Ripken, Rivera, Manziel
Most of the top talents in the MLB draft are taken in the first two days, and many of the highest-upside players remaining on Day 3 are high school players who are likely to go to college rather than turn pro. The 11th round is the first round of Day 3 and also the first round in which teams don’t lose pool money if they don’t sign a player, so several of the top prospects remaining, such as Oklahoma junior college pitcher Dean Deetz (Astros), Oklahoma high school pitcher Nick White (Marlins) and Fresno State pitcher Jordan Brink (Cubs), went early in that round. In general, however, many of the big stories of Day 3 are players who made waves in the draft in previous years or players with connections to past MLB players. Here are a few of those.
- The Red Sox drafted pitcher Karsten Whitson in the 11th round. Whitson, now a college senior, was the No. 9 overall pick by the Padres in 2010, but he turned down an offer of about $2MM so that he could enroll at the University of Florida instead. As Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal explains, Whitson had shoulder surgery last year and spent this season trying to establish himself. He struggled with his command, but threw as hard as 96 MPH in the SEC tournament. He has a year of NCAA eligibility left, so he can return to school if the Red Sox don’t sign him.
- The Nationals selected first baseman Ryan Ripken, Cal Ripken Jr.’s son, in the 15th round. The younger Ripken is a 6-foot-6 lefty first baseman out of a Florida junior college.
- Cal Ripken wasn’t the only former Oriole whose son was drafted. The Orioles selected Brandon Bonilla, the son of Bobby Bonilla, out of Grand Canyon University in the 25th round. Brandon Bonilla is left-handed, can touch 97 MPH, and made it to Baseball America’s list of the top 500 draft talents, so he appears to be a legitimate prospect and not a legacy pick.
- The Yankees, meanwhile, took right-handed pitcher Mariano Rivera in the 29th round. Stan Grossfeld of the Boston Globe descries the Iona College junior as a “bearded, wiry, shorter version of his dad,” the great Yankees closer.
- The Padres picked shortstop Johnny Manziel — yes, that Johnny Manziel — in the 28th. Manziel considered playing baseball for Texas A&M, but for the Padres, he may be a tough sign.
Day One Draft Reactions
With day two of the MLB amateur draft now in the books, let’s run through some reactions from around the game to the first day’s action …
- Kiley McDaniel of Scout.com breaks down the day one action, writing that he liked the hauls brought in by the Blue Jays, Dodgers, and Royals. He also discussed the Pirates‘ early-pick strategy. The team made a surprise choice of shortstop Cole Tucker with the 24th overall pick, but McDaniel explains that the team’s later picks give a fuller picture, as potential under-slot signings of Tucker and college outfielder Connor Joe (#39) could allow the team to ink prep righty Mitch Keller (#64).
- In his own wrap-up of the draft’s first day (Insider link), ESPN.com’s Keith Law says that he likes the Indians‘ work in landing Brad Zimmer, the already-inked Justus Sheffield, and Mike Papi. He also credits the Diamondbacks, Blue Jays, and Red Sox with strong choices. You’ll want to read the full piece for all the details, including Law’s take on teams that may have whiffed.
- Nick Faleris of Baseball Prospectus also takes a turn at explaining all of the first-round choices (1 through 17; 18 through 34). He wonders whether the Mariners will need to go above-slot to sign sixth overall pick Alex Jackson, a high-schooler committed to Oregon. As for best values, Faleris says that one candidate is high-school righty Touki Toussaint, who went 16th to the Diamondbacks.
- Assessing things from the industry perspective, ESPN.com’s Jim Bowden (Insider link) says that many are high on the Twins‘ choice of shortstop Nick Gordon — son of Tom and brother of Dee — at the fifth slot. While the Brewers seem to value 12th overall choice Kodi Medeiros higher than most, leading to some questions, Bowden says that the club may have scored by adding shortstop Jacob Gatewood at 41st overall.
- A run on college seniors has led to a new record, tweets Clint Longenecker of Baseball America. According to his tally, 70 seniors have gone in the first ten rounds, easily more than the previous high of 60. Of course, the general view is that such players lack leverage, making them popular choices for teams looking to save slot money to ink younger players.
Indians To Sign Justus Sheffield
3:15pm: Agent David Sloane of Taurus Sports tells MLBTR that Sheffield has agreed to terms at $1.6MM plus the value of a $250K scholarship with Vanderbilt. Sheffield’s deal is technically under slot, but the additional value of the scholarship money and the fact that the bonus is to be paid up front takes the value of the deal over the slot value while allowing Cleveland to allot roughly $133K to other picks later in the draft.
10:45am: Zach Birdsong of Sheffield’s hometown Tullahoma News tweeted late last night that a “source close to the deal” informed him that Sheffield has neither signed nor agreed to anything. Sheffield himself retweeted Birdsong shortly thereafter, suggesting that there likely isn’t an agreement in place just yet.
12:29am: The Indians and first-round pick Justus Sheffield have agreed to a $1.6MM bonus plus eight semesters worth of tuition to Vanderbilt, reports Jim Callis of MLB.com (on Twitter). The No. 31 overall draft slot carried a value of $1.733MM, meaning Sheffield signed a bit under slot. Cleveland received the No. 31 overall selection as compensation for losing right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez to the Orioles via free agency. Including college tuition as a fallback isn’t uncommon among high school draft signings, though it isn’t always reported, either. That money does not count against the team’s bonus pool.
Sheffield, a high school left-hander out of Tennessee, ranked 21st among draft prospects according to ESPN’s Keith Law, 39th according to Callis and colleague Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com and 49th according to Baseball America.
Callis and Mayo feel that Sheffield has the chance to develop three plus pitches. His heater already sits 89 to 92 mph and touches 94, and he also features a mid-70s curveball and changeup, both of which the MLB.com duo refers to as advanced for high school. Law feels that Sheffield’s fourth pitch, a slider in the 82-84 mph range, also has a chance to be plus and can already miss bats. BA called him a strike-thrower with a four-pitch mix and a chance for average or better command. All three scouting reports praised his athleticism.
Post-Draft Links: Aiken, Schwarber, Davidson, Verdugo
The first day of the 2014 draft is complete, and as many expected, the Astros selected high school left-hander Brady Aiken with the No. 1 overall pick. The team is in no hurry to sign Aiken, however, the Houston Chronicle’s Evan Drellich reports (Twitter links). Still,the Astros are understandably excited about the player they drafted. “This is the most advanced high school pitcher I’ve ever seen in my entire career,” says GM Jeff Luhnow. “He has command like I’ve never seen before.”
Here’s more from the draft’s first day…
- The Cubs turned some heads by selecting Indiana catcher/outfielder Kyle Schwarber with the fourth overall pick, but scouting director Jason McLeod told reporters that Schwarber was No. 2 on the team’s draft board all along. ESPN Chicago’s Jesse Rogers quotes McLeod (on Twitter) as saying that Schwarber trailed only Aiken on their board, though as the Chicago Sun Times’ Gordon Wittenmyer tweets, McLeod did acknowledge that the pick will save them some money. The Cubs are expecting him to sign quickly.
- Braves top pick Braxton Davidson says he will sign rather than attending UNC, tweets David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Davidson’s slot — No. 32 overall — carries a $1.7054MM value, per Baseball America. I spoke with Davidson as part of MLBTR’s Draft Prospect Q&A series.
- Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish hears that the Dodgers and No. 62 overall pick Alex Verdugo already have an agreement in place, and the ASU commit will not be attending college (Twitter link). VP of amateur scouting Logan White tells MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick that Verdugo, a two-way prospect, will start as a center fielder and convert to pitching if he doesn’t hit well (Twitter link).
- MLB.com’s Corey Brock spoke with Padres scouting director Billy Gasparino and got the impression that the team will shift its focus on jump on some arms tomorrow (Twitter link). San Diego drafted a pair of bats today in UNC shortstop Trea Turner and prep outfielder Michael Gettys.
Charlie Wilmoth contributed to this post.
2014 Competitive Balance Round A Results
Here’s where we’ll post the results of Competitive Balance Round A. Here’s where you can track the results of the first round.
35. Colorado Rockies — 2B Forrest Wall, Orangewood Christian (FL HS)
36. Miami Marlins — C Blake Anderson, West Collinsville (Miss. HS)
37. Houston Astros — OF Derek Fisher, Virgina
38. Cleveland Indians — OF Mike Papi, Virginia
39. Pittsburgh Pirates — OF Connor Joe, San Diego
40. Kansas City Royals — C Chase Vallot, St. Thomas More (LA HS)
41. Milwaukee Brewers — SS Jacob Gatewood, Clovis (CA HS)
2014 MLB Draft Results
The 2014 MLB Draft begins tonight at 6:00pm Central, and we’ll keep track of first-round picks here as they happen.
- Houston Astros — LHP Brady Aiken, Cathedral Catholic (CA HS) — Did not sign
- Miami Marlins — RHP Tyler Kolek, Shepherd (TX HS) — Signed for $6MM bonus.
- Chicago White Sox — LHP Carlos Rodon, NC State — Signed for $6.582MM bonus.
- Chicago Cubs — C/1B Kyle Schwarber, Indiana — Signed for $3.125MM bonus.
- Minnesota Twins — SS Nick Gordon, Olympia (FL HS) — Signed for $3.851MM.
- Seattle Mariners — C/OF Alex Jackson, Rancho Bernardo (CA HS) — Agreed to $4.2MM bonus.
- Philadelphia Phillies — RHP Aaron Nola, LSU — Signed for $3.3MM bonus.
- Colorado Rockies — LHP Kyle Freeland, Evansville — Signed for $2.3MM bonus.
- Toronto Blue Jays — RHP Jeff Hoffman, East Carolina — Signed for $3.08MM bonus.
- New York Mets — OF Michael Conforto, Oregon State — Agreed to a $2.97MM bonus.
- Toronto Blue Jays — C Max Pentecost, Kennesaw State — Signed for $2.8883MM bonus.
- Milwaukee Brewers — LHP Kodi Medeiros, Waiakea (HI HS) — Signed for $2.5MM.
- San Diego Padres — SS Trea Turner, NC State — Signed for $2.9MM.
- San Francisco Giants — RHP Tyler Beede, Vanderbilt — Signed for $2.613MM.
- Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim — LHP Sean Newcomb, Hartford — Signed for $2.5184MM.
- Arizona Diamondbacks — RHP Touki Toussaint, Coral Springs Christian (FL HS) — Signed for $2.7MM bonus.
- Kansas City Royals — LHP Brandon Finnegan, TCU — Signed for $2.2MM bonus.
- Washington Nationals — RHP Erick Fedde, UNLV — Signed for $2.511MM.
- Cincinnati Reds — RHP Nick Howard, Virginia — Signed for $1.99MM bonus.
- Tampa Bay Rays — 1B Casey Gillaspie, Wichita State — Signed for $2.035MM bonus.
- Cleveland Indians — OF Bradley Zimmer, San Francisco — Signed for $1.9MM.
- Los Angeles Dodgers — RHP Grant Holmes, Conway (SC HS) — Signed for $2.5MM.
- Detroit Tigers — OF Derek Hill, Elk Grove (CA HS) — Agreed to a $2MM bonus.
- Pittsburgh Pirates — SS Cole Tucker, Mountain Point (AZ HS) — Agreed to $1.8MM bonus.
- Oakland Athletics — 3B Matt Chapman, Cal State Fullerton — Signed for a $1.75MM bonus.
- Boston Red Sox — SS Michael Chavis, Sprayberry (GA HS) — Signed for $1.8705MM.
- Louis Cardinals — RHP Luke Weaver, Florida State — Agreed to $1.843MM bonus.
- Kansas City Royals — LHP Foster Griffin, First Academy (FL HS) — Agreed to $1.925MM bonus.
- Cincinnati Reds — 3B Alex Blandino, Stanford — Agreed to a $1.788MM bonus.
- Texas Rangers — RHP Luis Ortiz, Sanger (CA HS) — Signed for a $1.75MM bonus.
- Cleveland Indians — LHP Justus Sheffield, Tullahoma (TN HS) — Signed for $1.6MM plus $250K Vanderbilt scholarship.
- Atlanta Braves — OF Braxton Davidson, TC Roberson (NC HS) — Signed for $1.705MM.
- Boston Red Sox — RHP Michael Kopech, Mount Pleasant (TX HS) — Signed for $1.5MM.
- St. Louis Cardinals — RHP Jack Flaherty, Harvard-Westlake (CA HS) — Agreed to $2MM bonus.
Astros Select Brady Aiken First Overall
The Astros have officially selected high school left-hander Brady Aiken with the first overall pick in the 2014 draft. Aiken was rated as the top draft prospect on the board by Baseball America, ESPN’s Keith Law and Jonathan Mayo and Jim Callis of MLB.com. Other players thought to be in the mix with the first overall selection were North Carolina State left-hander Carlos Rodon, high school right-hander Tyler Kolek, high school shortstop Nick Gordon, high school catcher/outfielder Alex Jackson and Louisiana State right-hander Aaron Nola.
Aiken becomes the first high school left-hander taken in the Top 5 picks since the Orioles selected Adam Loewen fourth overall in 2002, and he’s the first high school pitcher to go 1-1 since the Yankees selected Brien Taylor back in 1991. While those facts illustrate some of the risk and uncertainty with high school pitchers, scouts tend to agree that Aiken is among the best talents — if not the best talent — in this year’s class.
Aiken’s fastball sits in the 92-94 mph range and has touched 97 mph, per Mayo and Callis. BA praises his athleticism — he was his football team’s quarterback earlier in high school — as well as his “fluid delivery with minimal effort” and his ability to command all three of his pitches. Law notes that Aiken’s changeup might be his best pitch, adding that his fastball and curveball give him a chance for three plus pitches when he’s at his best.
Aiken will only further bolster an Astros farm system that has become one of the best in the game over the past few years under GM Jeff Luhnow, scouting director Mike Elias and the rest of the Houston front office. The Astros have selected first overall for three straight years now, with Carlos Correa and Mark Appel being their previous No. 1 overall picks in that stretch. Some of their highly regarded prospects, such as George Springer and Jon Singleton, have graduated to the Majors this season, giving Houston fans hope of a bright future. Aiken and the remainder of Houston’s picks will join a farm system that still includes Correa, Appel, Michael Foltynewicz, Lance McCullers Jr., Delino DeShields Jr., Domingo Santana and many other well-regarded prospects.
The No. 1 overall spot in the draft this year carries an assigned pick value of $7,922,100, per Baseball America. The Astros don’t have to spend the entirety of that sum on Aiken if they can reach a deal with him and his adviser (he is reportedly being advised by Casey Close of Excel Sports Management). However, the team is also free to go over slot should it be necessary, from a negotiation standpoint. As BA’s J.J. Cooper reported in April, the Astros have $13,362,200 to spend on their draft pool this season, and they’re free to use that money as they see fit within the first 10 rounds.
Draft Rumors: Rodon, Marlins, Freeland
As the draft approaches, we’ll keep tabs on the latest news and rumors right here:
- Top college arm Carlos Rodon is said to be asking for a bonus of over $6MM, reports Scout.com’s Kiley McDaniel (via Twitter). In McDaniel’s view, that makes Brady Aiken a strong favorite to go first overall to the Astros. The top overall slot comes with an approximately $7.9MM allotment, with the second choice landing at just over $6.8MM.
- Sitting at number two, the Marlins “appear to be focusing” on Rodon, reports Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. Rodon, who was born in Miami and is of Cuban descent, has been widely tied to the second slot in recent mock drafts. The Fish will not hesitate to add power arms due to the recent injury to Jose Fernandez, reports MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro. If we saw a guy who looked like Jose out there again, we’d go right after him,” said VP of scouting Stan Meek. “We want exactly that kind of guy.” Meek said that there was little to take away from Fernandez’s Tommy John procedure, other than the inherent risk in hard throwers: “[W]ith the velocity guys are throwing with today, you just can’t predict who is going to go down.”
- Evansville southpaw Kyle Freeland has “bad” medicals, a scouting director tells McDaniel (Twitter link). That has led some teams sitting late in the first round to decide to pass on Freeland, says McDaniel, who notes that the Rockies could still grab him with the eighth choice (potentially at a cut rate). In the introduction to its most recent mock draft, Baseball America noted that a clean MRI for Freeland has not cleared up concerns with his elbow for all clubs.
- Here are some more general draft sources to read through as you warm up for the evening: In a post that ties together all of his draft materials, McDaniel provides a wealth of information, including the latest on the rumored signability situations of various well-regarded prospects. Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca cites several industry sources who like the draft’s pitching depth, especially at the high school level, and breaks down the best available players. In a piece for Baseball Prospectus, Kevin Whitaker explores what he calls the “coattail effect”: the tendency of less-touted players to see a bump in their draft stock by playing with higher-rated teammates. Rob Neyer of FOX Sports provides a fascinating oral history of the Cardinals‘ productive 2009 draft, including plenty of information from current Astros GM Jeff Luhnow. Dave Cameron of Fangraphs writes that, while the data shows that high school arms are generally riskier than those that have seen time at college, it does not suggest that a prep pitcher should never be taken first overall. Colleague Tony Blengino explains how teams’ draft boards are put together and utilized.
Draft Notes: Negotiations, Mocks, Wall, White Sox, Twins, Padres
As noted last night, the exchange of information between teams and draftee advisers is a widespread, critical component of the MLB amateur draft process. It is also, of course, one that takes place in something of a gray area, owing largely to the NCAA rules that threaten the amateur status of players who retain advisers. Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports has obtained and published an interesting memorandum sent by MLB to its member clubs, which was later forwarded by the MLBPA to certified agents, setting forth the rules by which parties are expected to engage one another. According to the memo, clubs cannot enter into pre-draft agreements or understandings. Teams are permitted to ask what a player would sign for, but cannot condition a selection on a promise that the player will accept a certain bonus. Likewise, advisers are forbidden from saying that a player has a deal with another club or threaten to do so if demands are not met. Passan calls the document “a farce,” writing that “both parties drawing up these rules ignore them fundamentally.”
Here’s the latest as the hours tick down to the draft, which is set to begin at 6:00 central time (with the Astros’ first overall pick expected to be made at 6:12 CST):
- The MLB.com prospect team has published its latest mock draft, with both Jonathan Mayo and Jim Callis agreeing that Brady Aiken, Carlos Rodon, and Tyler Kolek will go 1-2-3. They disagree on the next choice, with Mayo tabbing catcher Kyle Schwarber to the Cubs and Callis predicting that Chicago will instead go with outfielder Michael Conforto. (Each prognosticator predicts just the opposite result with the Rockies‘ in the eighth slot.)
- In its latest iteration, the Baseball America mock largely concurs with MLB.com through pick eight, but begins to differ at that point.The biggest disconnect occurs at the tenth slot, where BA expects the Mets to take high school second baseman Forrest Wall. MLB.com sees Wall lasting until the Rangers select 30th overall, while noting that he could be nabbed by New York.
- White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper says that he likes all four of the arms rated most highly by the team, including the three mentioned above along with Aaron Nola, but prefers Aiken, reports Dan Hayes of CSNChicago.com. “I liked them all,” said Cooper. “I liked the kid Aiken maybe the best. But a high school kid, that’s going to be a little longer. The closest to the big leagues Rodon and the second closest was Nola. It’s hard not to like the stuff coming out of the hand of Kolek. Those high school kids, there’s work to be done there.”
- Expectation is building that the Twins will go with shortstop Nick Gordon at fifth overall, with Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN reporting (Twitter links) that the team has seen him more than any other. Indeed, two key team executives have watched him in action more than ten times apiece, says Wolfson.
- The Padres are eyeing a position player with the 13th overall pick, likely from the college ranks, reports MLB.com’s Corey Brock. “We’ve tried to go back and get to know and see these college players more,” said scouting director Billy Gasparino. “We have been really aggressive with high school guys, but this year feels like a good college crop.” Of course, as Brock notes, the team’s ultimate direction remains very much dependent upon who goes before they are on the clock, and it would not be surprising to see the club add an arm.
- If you haven’t already, remember to check out MLBTR’s Q&A sessions with top draft prospects Braxton Davidson, Aaron Nola, Jacob Gatewood, Michael Chavis, Nick Gordon, Nick Burdi, and Bradley Zimmer.
Draft Prospect Q&A: Aaron Nola
MLBTR is re-launching its Draft Prospect Q&A series this season in order to give our readers a look at some of the top names on the board in this year’s draft. MLBTR will be chatting with some of the draft’s most well-regarded prospects over the next couple of weeks as they prepare for the 2014 draft on June 5-7.
This season, LSU powered their way to the Regional Final round of the NCAA Tournament thanks in large part to the pitching performances of ace Aaron Nola. While the Tigers were eliminated on Monday night by Houston, the 6’2″, 195 pound right-hander is on the verge of realizing his lifelong dream in Thursday night’s draft. Nola has probably been baseball’s most dominant pitcher over the last two seasons and appears to be a lock for the top ten.
With a laser-guided 95 mph fastball, a plus curveball, and an ever-improving changeup, Nola pitched to a 1.57 ERA with 8.71 K/9 and 1.29 BB/9 in his sophomore season. For an encore, he followed that up with a 1.47 ERA, an even stronger 10.37 K/9, and a still stingy 2.09 BB/9 in 2014. In short, Nola has been absolutely stellar over the last two years for the Tigers and is viewed as one of the most surefire talents in this year’s class.
It’s safe to say that Nola is more familiar with the draft process than 99% of prospects out there. The righty was picked by the Blue Jays in 2011 and watched his brother Austin, a talented shortstop, get drafted twice before signing with the Marlins, who selected him in the fifth round of the 2012 draft. Reportedly being advised by Joe Longo of Paragon Sports, Nola is ranked No. 6 by MLB.com, No. 7 by Baseball America, and No. 10 by ESPN.com’s Keith Law. On Tuesday, Nola took time out of his busy schedule to talk with MLBTradeRumors about his impressive body of work and what he’ll bring to the table at the major league level:
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