2016 MLB Draft

Draft Notes: Puk, Phillies, Top 500, Groome

By charliewilmoth | June 4, 2016 at 10:45am CDT

We’re five days from the start of the 2016 MLB Draft, and ESPN’s Keith Law’s latest mock draft (Insider only) has the Phillies taking Florida lefty A.J. Puk with the first overall pick. He notes, however, that the Phillies still haven’t settled on anyone. The selection of another player (like Mercer outfielder Kyle Lewis, Louisville outfielder Corey Ray, or California high school outfielder Mickey Moniak, all of whom Law mentions as possibilities) could cause uncertainty elsewhere in the draft. Here’s more on what to expect this week.

Phillies GM Matt Klentak himself says the Phillies are debating who to select but have whittled their list of possibilities down to “a small handful,” writes Philly.com’s Matt Breen. In addition to Puk, Lewis and Moniak, Breen also names Tennessee third baseman Nick Senzel and California high school outfielder Blake Rutherford as possibilities.
Baseball America’s list of the top 500 draft prospects currently features Puk at the top, with Lewis, Moniak, Senzel and Ray at Nos. 4 through 7, respectively. Between them are Kansas high school righty Riley Pint and New Jersey high school lefty Jason Groome. In the subscriber-only scouting reports, BA praises Groome’s mid-90s fastball and biting curveball, noting that he’s at least as physically gifted as any other player available this year.
Many of this week’s high school draftees will face tough decisions about whether to go to college or turn pro, Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes. Reds starter Anthony DeSclafani explains that he turned down a bonus of about $600K from the Red Sox out of high school so that he could head to the University of Florida. He got a smaller bonus after the Blue Jays selected him three years later. “You go from not making decisions that matter through high school – you decide to do your homework or something, or what you’re going to eat – and then you decide whether to go play professional baseball or go to college,” says DeSclafani. “That can be a life-changing thing.”

Quick Hits: Mets-Dodgers, Cutch, Lincecum, Brantley

By Connor Byrne | May 28, 2016 at 10:38pm CDT

The Mets and Dodgers are locked in an unusual feud, reports FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal. New York contacted Major League Baseball on Friday after finding out that Los Angeles wanted to mark prearranged defensive positions in the Citi Field outfield, according to Rosenthal. The league is cognizant of the fact that the Dodgers used a laser rangefinder before the game to mark positions, but that’s only a violation of MLB rules if it’s done during the game. Further, given that the Dodgers actually informed the Mets’ grounds crew of their plans, there wasn’t any subterfuge on LA’s part. Nevertheless, the grounds crew notified their superiors after the Dodgers told them their outfielders would dig holes in the grass with their cleats if the markers were taken out, leading to this battle between the two sides.

The Dodgers, by the way, evened the teams’ three-game weekend series Saturday in a 9-1 rout. Notably, the game featured third-inning ejections of Mets starter Noah Syndergaard and manager Terry Collins after the ace threw behind LA second baseman Chase Utley. A hated rival thanks to both his time with the division-rival Phillies and, more recently, his slide that broke the leg of then-Met Ruben Tejada in last year’s NLDS, Utley went on to belt two homers and drive in five runs.

NL East Notes: Boras, Harvey, Phillies, Draft, Braves

By Mark Polishuk | May 15, 2016 at 8:48pm CDT

Here’s the latest from around the NL East…

The Mets haven’t approached Matt Harvey about a long-term extension, agent Scott Boras tells The Record’s Matt Ehalt. “I always leave it up to the teams to approach us about those things like Washington did with (Stephen Strasburg). We just keep our doors open and evaluate things as it comes,” Boras said. Offseason chatter indicated that there weren’t any talks between the two sides, though since Strasburg’s extension rather surprisingly came out of nowhere, it wouldn’t be as stunning to see a Harvey contract negotiated privately. Harvey, of course, still has two more arbitration-eligible years before hitting the open market after the 2018 seasons, whereas Strasburg was scheduled for free agency this coming winter. An extension is likely less important to the Mets than simply getting Harvey on track — the righty has a 4.93 ERA through his first eight starts, though his peripherals indicate that he been somewhat unlucky (.373 BABIP, 3.35 FIP, 3.75 xFIP, 3.95 SIERA).
In the latest Baseball America mock draft, Hudson Belinsky projects the Phillies will take Florida southpaw A.J. Puk with the first overall pick. Pat Gillick and other Phils executives, however, have been seen scouting high school outfielders Mickey Moniak and Blake Rutherford, and sources tell Belinsky that the Phillies could draft a slightly lower-regarded player in order to save slot money on the first overall pick. Philadelphia has a draft bonus pool of just over $13.405MM (the second-highest amount of any club) and it could be the latest team to strategically deploy their draft spending by spending less on a top pick in order to spend more on a harder-to-sign talent in a later round. Ultimately, however, Belinsky feels the Phillies still go with “the safer option” in Puk given “the importance of this pick in the club’s rebuilding effort.”
While the Braves are disappointed by their poor 2016 record, David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution notes that the club has played a tough schedule. Big picture-wise, the Braves are still in good shape, as O’Brien observes that many of the big names Atlanta has dealt (such as Justin Upton, Shelby Miller or Jason Heyward) are currently struggling, while the Braves received several building-block prospects to aid in their rebuild.

Quick Hits: Strasburg, PEDs, Harvey, Draft

By Connor Byrne and Steve Adams | May 14, 2016 at 11:00pm CDT

In a piece that’s certainly worth a full read, James Wagner and Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post detailed how right-hander Stephen Strasburg’s mega-extension with the Nationals came to fruition. It helped the Nats’ cause that owner Ted Lerner has both an affinity for Strasburg and his agent, Scott Boras. “They have an incredible relationship,” said Ted Lerner’s son, Mark Lerner, regarding his father’s closeness with Boras. “Scott really respects my dad and what he’s built over the years from nothing.” Prior to inking Strasburg to a seven-year, $175MM deal, Lerner was using the free agent contracts awarded during the offseason to Jordan Zimmermann (five years, $110MM) and Johnny Cueto (six years, $130MM) as comparables. Boras countered with the bigger deals given in recent years to Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke and the Nats’ Max Scherzer, and sold Lerner on Strasburg’s similarly elite potential. Ultimately, the two settled on an accord resembling the ones inked by Justin Verlander and Felix Hernandez in past years. Strasburg gave Boras the thumbs up on the seven-year agreement in late April – two weeks and two starts before it was announced – and it was kept under wraps as language was drawn up and Strasburg underwent an in-depth medical exam. Strasburg found out the deal was done when a fan congratulated him after his start Monday. “The light bulb went off,” he said.

Here’s more from around baseball:

Blue Jays first baseman/designated hitter Chris Colabello and Phillies reliever Daniel Stumpf both received 80-game suspensions in April after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs, and the two remain confused as to how PEDs entered their respective systems, writes Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Colabello’s agent, Brian Charles, organized a conference call earlier this week with doctors, scientists and molecular biologists, all of whom are experts on steroid testing, as he tries to get to the bottom of his client’s positive test. Colabello, Stumpf and ex-UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir also partook in the call. All three tested positive for the banned anabolic steroid Turinabol, and each is without an answer as to how. The players association finds the cases of Colabello and Stumpf “puzzling,” sources tell Rosenthal. “The part that scares me the most is that I don’t know what to change for this not to happen again,” stated Stumpf, who said he only takes fish oil and doctor-prescribed medication. “It’s killing me,” added Colabello. “Everything I do in my life is thought out with careful attention and detail. I don’t do irresponsible things because I never want to make a mistake that could cost me my career.”
Speaking of confusion, Mets right-hander Matt Harvey is perplexed by his early season struggles, per David Waldstein of the New York Times. “There’s a lot of unknowns,” he said. Harvey insists he’s physically fine and doesn’t believe his problems are related to his release point, with which he and pitching coach Dan Warthen have been tinkering. After allowing five runs on 11 hits in 5 2/3 innings Friday in Colorado, Harvey saw his ERA rise to 4.93 – more than two runs worse than his career mark of 2.76. His strikeout and walk rates have also trended downward this year, as has his velocity. It’s worth noting, though, that after striking out a meager 14 batters and walking eight during his first four starts (22 1/3 innings), Harvey has fanned 27 against just five free passes in the four outings since (23 1/3 frames).
Jonathan Mayo and Jim Callis of MLB.com have published their latest mock draft, which is free to all. Within it, the MLB.com duo projects Mercer outfielder Kyle Lewis (who was recently interviewed by MLBTR’s Chuck Wasserstrom) to go first overall to the Phillies. Florida lefty A.J. Puk, who has been projected to go 1-1 by some draft gurus, goes to the Reds at No. 2 in Callis and Mayo’s latest attempt to peg the first round, and they have prep lefty Jason Groome (an oft-speculated 1-1 candidate himself) going to the Braves to round out the top three.

Finalized First Round Order For 2016 Draft

By Mark Polishuk | March 13, 2016 at 7:47pm CDT

Ian Desmond was the last of the 20 free agents issued a qualifying offer to sign a contract, so with the compensation picks all settled, the selection order for first round of the 2016 amateur draft has now been finalized. Eleven of those QO free agents joined new teams, leading to quite a bit of shuffling from the original draft order set at the end of the regular season. MLB.com has the full order of all 40 rounds, and here is how the first round shakes out:

1. Phillies
2. Reds
3. Braves
4. Rockies
5. Brewers
6. Athletics
7. Marlins
8. Padres
9. Tigers
10. White Sox
11. Mariners
12. Red Sox
13. Rays
14. Indians
15. Twins
16. Angels
17. Astros
18. Yankees
19. Mets
20. Dodgers
21. Blue Jays
22. Pirates
23. Cardinals

COMPENSATION ROUND (bonus picks given to teams who issued qualifying offers to players who signed elsewhere; picks are allotted in inverse order of 2015 record)

24. Padres (for Justin Upton signing with the Tigers)
25. Padres (for Ian Kennedy signing with the Royals)
26. White Sox (for Jeff Samardzija signing with the Giants)
27. Orioles (for Wei-Yin Chen signing with the Marlins)
28. Nationals (for Jordan Zimmermann signing with the Tigers)
29. Nationals (for Ian Desmond signing with the Rangers)
30. Rangers (for Yovani Gallardo signing with the Orioles)
31. Mets (for Daniel Murphy signing with the Nationals)
32. Dodgers (for Zack Greinke signing with the Diamondbacks)
33. Cardinals (for John Lackey signing with the Cubs)
34. Cardinals (for Jason Heyward signing with the Cubs)

The compensation round is followed by the Competitive Balance A-Round, which isn’t yet set in stone since these picks can be traded. The Dodgers weren’t part of the competitive balance lottery but they’re guaranteed the 36th overall pick for failing to sign Kyle Funkhouser with the 35th pick of last year’s draft. Right now, the 35-41 picks are respectively owned by the Reds, Dodgers, A’s, Rockies, Diamondbacks, Braves and Pirates.

From the original draft order, the Diamondbacks (13th overall pick), Orioles (15), Nationals (18), Giants (19), Rangers (23), Royals (27) and Cubs (28) all surrendered their first-rounders to sign a free agent, though some of these teams recouped picks when their own QO free agents signed elsewhere. The Rangers, for instance, were undoubtedly more open to signing Desmond and giving up what was at the time the 19th overall pick since they already knew they had pick from Gallardo coming 11 slots later down the draft board.

Baltimore gave up the 14th overall pick for Gallardo, though the O’s also had an extra pick coming their way for Chen. They also could’ve been emboldened by their deep draft class overall — the Orioles have five picks in the #27-91 range of the draft, thanks to the Chen pick, their two regular selections, a Competitive Balance B-Round pick and the 69th overall pick as compensation for failing to sign Jonathan Hughes last year. The Orioles could’ve potentially had two more picks to add to this bounty via the QO, though they re-signed Chris Davis and Matt Wieters actually accepted his qualifying offer.

The Padres stand out as the most obvious beneficiaries of this year’s qualifying offer class. San Diego now owns three of the top 25 selections and (counting its top pick in the Competitive Balance B class), five of the top 71 picks. It represents a great opportunity for the Padres to reload their farm system after dealing so many prospects in the 2014-15 offseason. The Pads top pick was protected, so an argument could be made that the club surrendered a lower selection to land a QO player of their own, though it’s maybe not a surprise that San Diego showed caution after last winter’s buying spree didn’t result in much success on the field.

Of the teams with protected top-10 picks, only Detroit and Miami signed qualifying offer free agents. They had to give up second-rounders for signing Zimmermann and Chen, while the Tigers also had to surrender their third-round pick for signing Upton.

Quick Hits: Wedge, Nathan, Draft, Roster Building

By Mark Polishuk | February 6, 2016 at 2:22pm CDT

A surprisingly large number of noteworthy veteran free agents are still available, a phenomenon that ESPN’s Buster Olney explores in his latest subscription-only column. The signing drought extends to big-name free agents like Dexter Fowler and Yovani Gallardo to lower-tier players just looking for Spring Training invites. “I understand that my guy isn’t what he once was, but nothing? Not even a chance to come in and impress and beat out other guys for a job in camp? I just don’t get it,” one agent said. Several executives and agents believe that tanking could be part of the issue, as teams looking for a higher draft pick in 2017 have little need for a veteran who could provide a win or two. Other factors include an under-valuing of experience, and a greater reliance on both young players and trades to fill out a roster.

Here’s more from around the baseball world on Babe Ruth’s 121st birthday…

The Blue Jays have hired Eric Wedge as a player development advisor, the team announced. The former Indians and Mariners manager is well known to Jays president Mark Shapiro and GM Ross Atkins from their time together in Cleveland, which included an AL Central title and a run to Game Seven of the ALCS in 2007. Wedge had been rumored to join Toronto’s front office for several weeks.
Wedge’s hiring “has the feel of manager in waiting,” MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link) opines. A managerial change would be rather a surprise in the wake of the Blue Jays’ AL East championship, though skipper John Gibbons has a well-known close relationship with former Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos and it isn’t unusual for a new front office to install a new face in the dugout.
Dave Pepe, Joe Nathan’s agent, tells FOX Sports’ Jon Morosi (Twitter links) that his client is planning to pitch in 2016. “He feels great…We are just going to look for the best opportunity and are not necessarily in any rush to sign,” Pepe said. Nathan underwent Tommy John surgery (the second such procedure of his career) last April and said earlier this offseason that he was hoping to pitch by May or June. Despite Nathan’s age and injury history, around 10 teams were checking in on him.
It wouldn’t be a surprise to see a high school pitcher be selected near the top of the amateur draft, Fangraphs’ Dave Cameron writes, with perhaps even the Phillies using their first overall pick on highly-touted southpaw Jason Groome. While only a few of the high school arms taken with the top few picks have developed into productive big leaguers, Cameron notes that this year’s draft class doesn’t yet offer much in the way of standout hitting prospects or college pitchers who could be technically “safer” choices.
Some of the draft’s intriguing junior college prospects are profiled by ESPN.com’s Eric Longenhagen (Insider subscription required), including the children of some prominent former Major Leaguers.
Each team’s roster is broken down by Fangraphs’ August Fagerstrom to investigate how clubs acquire their players — whether by trades, international signings, free agent signings, waiver pickups, or the amateur or Rule 5 drafts. Fagerstrom breaks down each category by fWAR to see where each club excels at deriving value, including some notable observations about the Giants’ unmatched wealth of homegrown talent and the Cubs’ strong run of recent trades.

2016 MLB Draft Order

By charliewilmoth | October 4, 2015 at 9:05pm CDT

Now that the regular season is over, here’s a preliminary look at the 2016 MLB Draft order. This order will change as teams make decisions about extending qualifying offers and signing players who reject such offers.

Teams are given draft picks based on the reverse order of their 2015 records. If two teams have the same record, the team with the worse 2014 record gets the higher pick.

The first ten picks in next year’s draft will be protected, which leaves the Mariners as the first team on the outside looking in. The Mariners’ 76-86 record is the same as that of the White Sox, but the White Sox receive the last protected pick because they had a worse record in 2014. A team with a protected pick keeps that pick and only forfeits its next-best pick if it signs a free agent who has rejected a qualifying offer, which means that, for example, the White Sox won’t be penalized as heavily as the Mariners for signing a top-tier free agent this offseason.

1. Phillies 63-99
2. Reds 64-98
3. Braves 67-95
4. Rockies 68-94
5. Brewers 68-94
6. Athletics 68-94
7. Marlins 71-91
8. Padres 74-88
9. Tigers 74-88
10. White Sox 76-86
11. Mariners 76-86
12. Red Sox 78-84
13. Diamondbacks 79-83
14. Rays 80-82
15. Orioles 81-81
16. Indians 81-80
17. Twins 83-79
18. Nationals 83-79
19. Giants 84-78
20. Angels 85-77
21. Astros 86-76
22. Yankees 87-75
23. Rangers 88-74
24. Mets 90-72
25. Dodgers 92-70
26. Blue Jays 93-69
27. Royals 95-67
28. Cubs 97-65
29. Pirates 98-64
30. Cardinals 100-62

All of the first 29 picks in last year’s draft signed, so there won’t be any compensation picks in the first 30. However, the Dodgers will get the no. 36 pick for failing to sign Kyle Funkhouser, the Blue Jays will get the no. 57 pick for second-rounder Brady Singer, the Orioles will receive the no. 69 pick for second-rounder Jonathan Hughes, and the Twins will get the no. 74 pick for failing to sign Comp Round B pick Kyle Cody.

In addition, the 2016 Competitive Balance Lottery awarded a series of picks after the first and second rounds of next year’s draft. The Reds, Athletics, Rockies, Diamondbacks, Braves (via the Marlins) and Pirates, respectively, will have selections in Comp Round A after the first round, while the Padres, Indians, Twins, Brewers, Orioles and Rays have picks in Comp Round B following the second round. The exact spots of those picks are currently unknown due to uncertainties regarding the qualifying offer process, although Comp Round A picks generally begin in the mid-30s and Comp Round B picks begin at around no. 70.

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