Rangers Leaning Toward College Pitcher In Draft
According to T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com, the Rangers "would love to take a high upside college pitcher who could shoot through the system" with their 11th overall pick this June. Sullivan suggests Shooter Hunt, Tanner Scheppers, and Christian Friedrich as possibilities. Scheppers may be out of the picture given the stress fracture of his shoulder.
ESPN’s Keith Law ranked his top 60 for the draft on May 10th, and he considered the top college pitchers to be Aaron Crow, Brian Matusz, Scheppers, Friedrich, Josh Fields, and Hunt. In their May 16th mock draft, Baseball America picked high school first baseman Eric Hosmer for Texas.
By the way, check out the June Amateur Draft link. This will remain on the sidebar until after the June 5th draft takes place.
Considerations For A’s With 12th Pick
As you know, the A’s have the 12th overall pick in the June draft. Jim Callis’ always-informative Ask BA segment in the latest Baseball America print magazine (issue 0809) discusses some possibilities.
Callis suggests shortstop Gordon Beckham would make sense if available – he’s likely to wind up somewhere in the infield long-term. Callis also rattles off a couple of catchers (Kyle Skipworth and Buster Posey), pitcher Christian Friedrich, and outfielder Aaron Hicks. Friedrich may be a consideration for the Giants at #5, however.
Giants May Draft A Pitcher With Fifth Pick
The Giants have the fifth overall pick in the June draft. It’s a shame teams can’t trade picks, because the San Francisco’s needs don’t really match up with the likely best available talent.
Jim Callis provided interesting speculation in issue 0808 of Baseball America‘s print magazine. Callis suggested that the Giants may lean toward pitching in June even though the best available talent will be at first base. This is because top prospect Angel Villalona is moving from third to first and the Giants may not want to create a future logjam.
Callis tossed out three possible pitchers for the Giants for the fifth pick: Tim Melville, Christian Friedrich, and Tanner Scheppers.