The Angels have agreed to terms with first-round pick Nolan Schanuel, reports Carlos Collazo of Baseball America. He’ll receive the full slot value of $5.253MM for his No. 11 overall selection.
Schanuel, 21, is a left-handed-hitting first baseman whose bat is his carrying card. In three years at Florida Atlantic University, the 6’4″ infielder turned in a .386/.516/.698 batting line — highlighted by a comical .447/.615/.868 slash with 19 homers, 18 doubles and four triples in 289 plate appearances this past season. He draws particularly strong reviews for his preternatural contact abilities and plate discipline; Schanuel struck out in just seven percent of his plate appearances in his three years at FAU while walking at a 17% clip. In his final season of college ball, he posted a ridiculous 71-to-14 walk-to-strikeout ratio — a mammoth 24.6% walk rate against just a 4.8% strikeout rate.
Despite the tantalizing offensive profile, Schanuel was ranked a bit lower than his ultimate selection on most prospect lists heading into the draft. Keith Law of The Athletic listed him as the draft’s No. 18 prospect, while Schanuel sat 22nd at ESPN, 26th at MLB.com, 30th at Baseball America and 33rd at FanGraphs. That’s largely due to defensive limitations — Schanuel is a pure first baseman with an outside chance handling some corner outfield work — and a hit-over-power profile. Some scouting reports give Schanuel the chance to eventually develop plus power, but most peg him for average or above-average pop (50- to 55-grade on the 20-80 scale). Presumably, based on this selection, the Angels are in the camp that believes he can reach that plus power ceiling.
Schanuel’s advanced approach gives him the potential to sprint through the minor leagues and contribute at the MLB level in short order. Kiley McDaniel’s scouting report at ESPN suggests he could be in the Majors within a year’s time — a much swifter path to the big leagues than most prospects in a given draft class.
The Angels have had uncertainty at first base in each of the past two seasons, as Jared Walsh has been unable to replicate his 2021 breakout (due largely to health troubles). Schanuel gives them a potentially fast-tracked prospect who can provide sound defense and at least average power and speed — all while excelling at putting the ball in play and getting on base.
Angels or Braves? ♂️
Glad the Braves were able to get this guy along with Waldrep! One of the drafts of all time.
Ha, sorry about that typo. Was reading something else about the Braves while writing this and had a brain fart. I corrected it within seconds of publishing, but changes take a couple minutes to render in the app typically.
At any rate, it’s been corrected.
No worries Steve! Even the most adept among us have brain farts! Thanks for all of your and everyone at MLBTR hard work. Especially during the dark days of winter and the AS break, when us diehard fans are jonesing for baseball news, you guys are here with a fix!
Good draft pick
He is rated to go around 22nd on the board and we take him at 11 and give him full slot value! The opposite of what we have done in most previous drafts! The Angels can’t even stay consistent! Feedback?
71-14 BB/K ratio with a better OPS than Langford or Crews in slightly easier competition, but still college numbers
Name the last guy to have over 25 walks and a remotely similar BB/K ratio, even in college. Bonds had a 232-41 rate, but he had an eagle eye and PEDs.
Also, look at his homeruns and steals. Numbers mean something, just not everything.
This dude seems like a clone of John Olerud, if we get that it would be an enormous coup.
Oleriud could play defense.
A good corner outfield that can hit. Fine. A mediocre first baseman that hits like Olerud. Fine. But a mediocre first baseman would have to have an OPS+ of around 130 to be worth that draft capital.
Is it tho?
Wow..full slot. Seemed like an under slot move but oh well good for the kid.
Terrible for the angels having a such short-sighted GM and no scouting and no development. and a GM’s puppet for a manager.
Ouch!
Kid hasn’t even played a game yet, chill
a kid with high average vut low power. questionable defense even at 1b. minasian loves to force players everywhere. what a match!
Low power? 19 homers in 59 games isn’t a slap hitter. Are you saying Crews has low power then too? Because he had more homers (and higher average fwiw) than him
Read the article.
Aragon the copy and paste is getting old. You could say the same thing about the majority of front offices. Look at trader Jerry, been there since 2015 off season. Kirby is the only player the Mariners have drafted and developed in that time frame. Julio Rodriguez is the only international signing that has panned out in that time.
athe must blow more! why pick a team that is worse? look up, for a change!
And 4th in the west?
What? Since Perry took over we have gotten crazy value out of our draft picks and none have seem overmatched. Plus our system is finally fixing dudes like Paris, Adams and Adell. The Angels are an extremely flawed organization, but you to pick like one of the two things theyve become good at recently and be wrong about it.
Ignore the obvious troll.
I was confident the pick was made to save money and use it to go over slot later.
They must really like this kid.
I hope they are right.
Wally Joyner v2
My favorite childhood player. The reason I’m an Angels fan.
Same here
Maybe, just maybe, some teams are seeing the value of a high batting average, as it has become more rare.
“Carrying card?” Umm, calling card…
Saw that too and chuckled…
Schanuel should be the delight of the Jewish and Latino fan base.
I thought Manfred and Angel Hernandez held those honors??
I thought Manfred was just an ordinary white male. I didn’t know he was a diversity hire.
Solid pick…seems like the last few drafts have developed some quick rising prospects. I am hoping to see more pitching come up and help out in the next few seasons. Wishing this kid the best and a great professional career!
Neto was a good pick. Bachman was a horrible pick, and no one drafted the last prior 2 years other than Neto and only 1 is ranked 45.
That’s pathetic.
Chill on Bachman. I think were gonna get a #3 or #2 out of him.
He short arms the ball, and has had arm trouble. He’s not going to make it as a starter. If I’m wrong, I’ll take the criticism.
Scouts also questioned his ability to start. I’m not the only one.
Base on results, my criticism is well founded.
No need to criticize you halo11, most of us don’t have enough time in the day for that. You’re way to repetitive and miss more than u think. Give Bachman a break already, even if he’s a high end reliever he’s not a bust, and it appears he’s at least on his way to being that. Chillax
Your hero GM said right after the draft he was going to help the pen right away. Of course, it took 3 years and not very good.
Your hero GM said right after the draft he was going to help the pen right away. Of course, it took 3 years and not very good. And he is basically a 2 pitch pitcher. #2 or #3? LMAO!
Bachman is 23years old and contributing at the MLB level. At this point he is far from a bust. If after 2 to 3 more years he is only a middle of the pen reliever, then I would downgrade him to a disappointment
Nobody in that 2021 draft is contributing more than Bachmen presently.
Based on results, your criticism is off base presently. .
he is throwing over sliders over 60%. unfortumatly, i see arm troubles soon if he keeps up.
Are you stating facts? 60%?
If that is a fact, then a healthy arm is a key to longevity in the league.
60.1 to be exact.fangraph.
Why is Bachman horrible? He’s already in the majors and he’s been a consistent contributor?
Pathetic is judging players and their futures by a ranking system made by sportswriters. Where is Trey Cabbage ranked on your little list? You know the guy leading the PCL in HRs, 4th in SB and 3rd in SLG.
Plus he’s from up the road in Claibourn County, Tennessee!!
The Angels have been targeting quick risers because their farm system is nickle and dimmed. Not many MLB owners spend less on their farm system. So, they aren’t developing many if any of their drafted players, but relying on those players being MLB ready.
But they are still tanked and Neto and Rada are the only drafted players ranked 45 or better. That stinks.
Rankings mean absolutely nothing.
I agree. They are getting better with the use of analytics, but still nowhere close to being counted on as “predictable”.
The only problem is his cape cod numbers, definitely put up video game numbers in college. They need to switch to a regular bat instead of aluminum
I agree. The Arizona Community Colleges have it right. They all use wood bats.
I don’t put too much stock in summer league numbers.
what are the chances the Angles make Walsh available?
Assuming Santana is gone ‘soon’ I wouldn’t mind the pirates giving him a go.
Assuming they don’t call up someone like Martin or Nunez if/when he is healthy.
I’d assume that Walsh is very much available, but that is because he stopped being a MLB player. Can’t hit. That would keep his cost to acquire him to be “PTBNL” or cash considerations. But the Bucs no doubt have a better coaching staff and could probably revitalize his career.
He can supposedly play corner outfield, wouldn’t surprise me if they trade a outfielder, maybe ward probably like Walsh a lottery ticket for the return.
If he can play a good corner outfield, that’s completely different than playing a mediocre first base.
So, as a first baseman….bad pick. As a good corner outfield. I have no comment. Just like in the immediate aftermath of all the Angels first round picks of the last 50 years, except Bauchman, which was a dumb pick.
If the Angels see a corner outfielder, and no one else did, fine. Then consider me silenced.
I did comment on Adell in the immediate aftermath, Not on his talent, but the interview. I loved the interview. Very mature young man, at a very young age.
I agree the pick seems redundant plus 1st base is easy to replace, Brock Wilken 3b from wake forest would’ve been my pick
man i forgot how bad the angels yearly records have been. that has to hurt to have some of the best players ever (so far in their career) and not even make the play offs.
Nolan Ryan Schanuel is his full name.
Welcome to the place your namesake made a name for himself.
Hope to see that type of success from you as well!
Nolan’s first name is Lynn. Just saying.
I dare you to call him that haha.
I wonder if that’s what Robin V said?
Dick Enberg use to say Lynn Nolan Ryan all the time. I think it rolls off the tongue. I’m not trying to disparage him in any way.
Oh my!
Full slot value? He was ranked in the 20s and got full slot value? The lowest position on the defensive spectrum got slot value?
Players like this are the most replaceable players on a major league roster.
The Angels need to clean house..
It’s not automatic, but it feels like they could’ve gotten some sort of discount. Even being generous, and calling him a #15 value, is a savings of $750k.
Either the Angels are smarter than everyone else,which seldom happens, or everyone else is smarter than the Angels.
I believe the later.
The Angels on-field results the last 8+ yrs speak volumes.
I can’t possibly get inside the heads of the war room, but it feels like this should’ve been addressed prior to the draft. I think the averages of the numbers above is 25.75, with none better than #18. I think that:
1-There is very little chance of him returning to college, and
2-The Angels would get their pick back next year.
I’d guess that there was very little downside to a $4.5M offer. But like I said, Minasian should’ve been on the phone with his agent if he liked Schanuel that much.
I’m not the least bit impressed with Minasian. If the Angels had him at 11, and he was ranked in 20s, damn right he should have been on that phone.
The Angels need to clean house.
What a great pick. Not sure about the full slot signing but the pick is good
Since he was drafted for his bat and not his defense, how good of a hitter must he be in order to be a valuable MLB player for that draft pick?
He’d have to be an all star level hitter for this to work out. How likely is that.
He have to be a better hitter than the 2023 version of Vlad to be worth that pick.
I didn’t like the Bachman pick. Because I didn’t see red flags, I was silent on the Neto pick. And I don’t like this pick.
The Angels need to clean house.
I guess the question will be his ability to play defense. Mostly everything i read leading up to the draft seemed to indicate he would have no problem being a corner outfielder.
This is from his Perfect Game scouting report…
“Primary outfielder, long strides that cover ground easily, breaks down well and fields slightly to the side, repeats transfer and uses a simple crow hop he repeats well. Arm works easily with lots of carry and showed accuracy to all bases. 89 arm strength in Miami and was shown 93 in the past.”
Thanks for the update. A corner outfielder, who can play defense, fine.
But not a first baseman that can’t. And why the hell is he playing first base in college?
No matter what the class, isn’t the goal to train youth to reach their potential. That doesn’t say much for his coach.
Good for him and his agent to get full value. Don’t give the Angels a discount. Correct me if I’m wrong but Minasian has only drafted 4 high schoolers his entire tenure. Late picks. If there were a Mike Trout available Minasian would never have drafted him. It’s too safe to just draft college guys. They sacrifice on potential superstars in exchange for “major league ready”
Good for him and his agent to get full value. Don’t give the Angels a discount.
========================
Good for him and good for his agent. Not so good for the Angel’s fans. So the POV kind of depends on whether you are rooting for the team or the player.
As a RS fan, I don’t care how much they spend, the more the merrier. But if Duffy needs to take underslot money in order for us to give overslot money to Teel, then so be it.
I’m rooting for both. As a fan I don’t pay salaries. I think after Moneyball it was a gift to owners when you have fans saying “we got a bargain” for signing whichever player for less than what they were worth and they produced. And I can buy into that if you’re a mid market team. But all major market owners should be going over the cap in my opinion. If Artie Moreno wants to complain about how much the Mets are spending then take the Los Angeles off the Angels and go back to Anaheim. Go big or go home.
Such an Angels pick.
Three things we can count on as MLBTR readers – death, taxes and Halo11 hates an Angels player/draft pick. Over the coming years, I sense we will be reminded of Schanuel’s failings with some degree of regularity.
Wrong. I have hated two picks…ever. This guy and Bauchman.
But nice strawman. But if he is a good D corner outfield, there is a lot more wiggle room. But why was he ranked so low?
At first, you have to be a great great hitter to go 11. And how many ABs does he have being a great hitter.?
Ha Ha..aka “the Rengifo effect”
Such a negative over reaction on this pick!
Going back to the start on the draft (1965). The 11th overall pick has not produced any HOFers., the closest might be Max Scherzer. and a handful of other all-star caliber players.
Not counting the last 3 years 14 of them never made it to the BIGS, and another 13 played in less than 100 MLB games.
The MLB draft is the hardest of all major sports to accurately predict a players true potential. Most analysts said of this years draft that picks 1-5 were at a much higher level, than picks 6-25. They said 6-25 could be mixed and matched depending upon team needs.
Relax people…………………..
So you are saying it’s ok to not get a high upside player at 11?
Does that mean we should start giving Jon Adell a break?
I don’t remember saying that at all. Per the norm, you like to stir it up!
I am saying even the analysts said there was very little separation from picks 6-25. so any one of them had more or less the same potential in the analysts eyes.
Jo Adell is young and still may turn it around, so yes. Ask me again in 2 years.
I typically don’t comment on draft picks because I typically don’t know.
Good hitting, mediocre fielding first baseman are a dime a dozen. So is he a great hitting, mediocre fielding firstbaseman? If so, why is he ranked in the 20s?
Is he a good fielding, good hitting corner outfielder? Great pick. We will see where the Angels play him. Maybe the Angels did see something that others did not see. Let’s hope so.
But It’s really hard to be worth the 11th pitch in the draft if the players is a mediocre fielding first baseman. .
By the way, I don’t like to stir it up, but I am emotional. and it is a byproduct. Unless I’m insulted, my opinions are generally fact base.
I have written why a player with his profile is not a good pick that high in the draft. Now if the Angels’ plan “A” is to use him as a corner outfielder, the point I’m making is moot.
You are passionate and opinionated. I will give you that
ha ha ha
In all honesty, plan A or plan B means absolutely NOTHING. At his point it is up to any player drafted in the first round to work harder, study harder, listen harder, challenge himself harder then ever before. The teams provide every tool imaginable for a player to succeed.
Halo11Fan, it’s fine to not get high upside at 11. Taking a safer bet to be a major leaguer is fine. You’d like that to be paired with a bet on upside later and it looks like the Angels didn’t really do that early. Barret Kent looks like your upside play all the way down in round 8. It’s a strange place for a guy like him, so he’s probably a tougher sign, but it looks like the rest of their draft has some money savings or they think they have found some hidden gems.
A lot of college picks which is their MO anyway. But is that because they have more faith in college programs developing players than themselves? Meyer went one pick before but if he was still there, do you think the best high school arm available is a good pick for the Angels? Is it their strength to develop a high upside/high risk kind of guy?
It doesn’t sound like the pick itself that people have a problem with. It’s the signing bonus. On the surface, it appeared to be more of a spread the money around type of pick that would have allowed them access to more talent later. Schanuel seems like a pretty high floor player and that’s not an awful pick. You’d probably want to couple that with a high upside over slot talent in the next couple rounds though and that’s probably more the concern with the fans. But at this point you have what you have. How the money gets divided up is of no real consequence unless they end up being unable to sign someone else they drafted. That’s pretty rare though.
I also think you have to look at the price tags on other guys that were available at the pick. I don’t think we know much of that yet. Waldrep I guess was a fair bit cheaper.
I like the pick. The farm has been weak for years so there hasn’t been much to develope or have available now, for this team, todays team. I hope that he does move through the system quickly and with some luck can carry the bat to ball skills with him. The team needs hitters badly, someone that can actually hit behind a runner, make productive outs and not strike out all the time trying to hit for the fences. AND, if he can only play first so be it, just bring those hitting skills to the MLB team and show the veterans how it’s done.
Ridiculous 2023 season. That is video game-like. The OPS is Bonds-like without the juice.
The fact that he strikes out so little as well!
The old adage
“put the ball in play and good things will happen” probably applies well to him.
That’s a huge positive. But there is so little wiggle room for mediocre fielding, less than average running first baseman. I can’t even think of a successful comp.
Why?????????????????????????????
Why dwell on the negative?
Why does he have to have a comp?
Why does there need to be wiggle room?
Why (who) says he is mediocre?
He has not even stepped up to the plate as a professional and you as ready to throw him away. He doesn’t need a comp at this point. Who was Mike Trout’s comp? He was drafted as a SS in high school. Let him be his own comp for a few years.
You have NO FACTS to base your opinion on, just like all of us. But we want the best for both the player and team. You have read stats and possibly seen videos on this kid. The fact of the matter is, he has not yet faced professional pitching. He could be the next Mike Trout, or the next Mark Appel. None of us truly know.
You are choosing to be negative, on the other hand I am being optomistic and hoping he does well.
Why dwell on the negative? Their last playoff win was 2009. This current regimen has done nothing to help. We are about to lose Ohtani and we don’t seem to be making very many smart moves.
You say negative? Well I’m optimistic someone will clean house and we can get in baseball people that will make a lot more good decisions than bad.
I guess we are just optimistic in different places.
You have a very twisted sense of optimism.
Why? I don’t think the current regime is capable and we need to replace them with people who are. That is pretty much the same thing as bringing in players that you think are better than the players we have.
I’m optimistic we’ll bring in the right baseball people. I think that’s more realistic than thinking the baseball people we have will all of a sudden stop failing.
twisted
So when you don’t have a counter, you throw out a verb.
Gosh, how original. Strawman and verbs seem to be the way that people deal with my opinions.
It’s been three years and this regime has done a lot more things wrong than right. I think our best hope is to change regimes.
I choose to not argue with someone who simply changes direction when they see they cannot win their argument.
We were interacting about the Angels latest draft pick and how most of us agree he should be given a chance and not immediately labeled as a bad pick.
If you want me to “counter” I am happy to counter. I will continue to show that your path of negativity towards the Angels gets tiresome. I can continue to counter but your loathsome rebuttals bore me.
Schanuel’s “defensive limitations” are due to the fact that he is primarily, if not exclusively, a 1B. I haven’t read that he is a poor 1B.
Angels, as I wrote. I hope you are right. And if the Angels put him at a corner spot right out of the gate, then almost everything I have written about this pick is moot.
But paying full slot value for a pick that was expected to go to a playoff tram seems like a bad play.
Schanuel is a now guy and not a gaze into the stars and what if guy. Time and development isn’t really an option for management. This type of drafting is a reflection of not having enough or the right horses sitting in the stable. The management doesn’t have ready players in que waiting for their chance and that is where we are. This win now behavior and it changes your approach to the draft. It is what it is, like it or not. Yes there were some better options as far as ceiling and athletism are concerned but when would they be ready? For example, look at Joe… great athlete, high ceiling and he still might not be ready to contribute every day. This team needs hitters now and not 3-5 years from now.
We are sitting at 4th in the West and are going to lose Ohtani either by trade or free agency. There is no excuse for picking the guys with less upside knowing we aren’t going to playoffs any time soon. Arte will have to find a scapegoat after the season and that has been the GMs. Sell the team, Arte!
You’re right Old Halo, but hoping for that kind of quick help if not going to solve any problem.
What this team need is to not throw away ten games early in the season searching for a bullpen, What this team needs is to add a good starter to the rotation.
Perry has had three years to do that and had failed miserably.
Until we get a GM that can actually do that, and a manager that knows how to manage, we’ll be on the outside looking in again,
And since neither has shown nothing but failure in those regard, I hope there is a house cleaning.
Looking at the big picture, to repair the damage that’s been done to our minor league syatem over the previous decade will take years. There isn’t a quick fix for that but trading your best assets away helps you get there faster. When you say clean house are you suggesting that Trout and Ohtani be traded to?