2018 MLB Draft

[Dam8610]

2 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

Stats are not the way to measure draft prospects.  Upside is really important too.

Stats are not the only measure, but they're used. Here are the Fangraphs grades for each:

Pitcher A: FB 55/55 CB 50/55 CH 50/55 CMD 50/55 Sits 90-94 Tops 95

Pitcher B: FB 55/55 CB 45/50 CH 45/50 CMD 45/55 Sits 91-94 Tops 96

Pitcher C : FB 60/60 SL 50/55 CH 55/60 CT 60/65 CMD 45/50 Sits 92-96 Tops 97

[Dam8610]

12 minutes ago, caulfield12 said:

For high school hitters and pitchers, they mean almost nothing.

Shawon Dunston would have been a first-ballot HoF guy if they went by those video game numbers.

All three are college pitchers.

[Y2Jimmy0]

1 hour ago, Dam8610 said:

No one is grading him as 20 power, nor should they.

That's about as logical as saying "If Singer is 20 control, you don't take him." Well, obviously, but no one is grading him as having 20 control.

MLBpipeline is very lenient with their grades and they have him with a 40 power tool. Keith Law has him with 20 power and relegated to 2B. Doesn't mean Keith is correct but in general, he's pretty solid with position player scouting. He has Madrigal as #11 in the class overall. He's not a fan of Singer either though 

[fathom]

4 minutes ago, Y2Jimmy0 said:

MLBpipeline is very lenient with their grades and they have him with a 40 power tool. Keith Law has him with 20 power and relegated to 2B. Doesn't mean Keith is correct but in general, he's pretty solid with position player scouting. He has Madrigal as #11 in the class overall. He's not a fan of Singer either though 

Am I only one who likes India more than Madrigal straight up?

[Y2Jimmy0]

1 minute ago, fathom said:

Am I only one who likes India more than Madrigal straight up?

Probably. I like India. Good track record for SEC 3B. Only one year of really great production though. 

[caulfield12]

Seems the push of India into the 4-6 range has lost its momentum...for whatever reason.

By the way, what happened with McClanahan?   Never hear his name mentioned anymore.  TJS?

[Y2Jimmy0]

1 minute ago, caulfield12 said:

Seems the push of India into the 4-6 range has lost its momentum...for whatever reason.

By the way, what happened with McClanahan?   Never hear his name mentioned anymore.  TJS?

McClanahan will go in the top 10 somewhere still. Throws hard. Was inconsistent. 

[DirtySox]

5 minutes ago, caulfield12 said:

Seems the push of India into the 4-6 range has lost its momentum...for whatever reason.

By the way, what happened with McClanahan?   Never hear his name mentioned anymore.  TJS?

India has finished the year with a rather significant slump.  K's finally caught up to the BB's as well. Still a heck of a season though.

Edited May 31, 2018 by DirtySox

[mac9001]

After reading all the futuresox pieces I can't tell who i want anymore in round 1, so I'm just going to root for Beer in round 2. Just give me two solid collage bats with 1 & 2 and I'll be satisfied. 

[CWSpalehoseCWS]

After listening to that podcast and thinking about what was said, I got a gut feeling they aren't going to go Madrigal. I feel like he *seems* to be the logical choice if all the chips fall as expected, but something tells me the Sox are going to go Singer. And I really hope it's not because Jerry/KW gave their 2 cents about needing more pitching due to Giolito and Fulmer struggles. If the draft doesn't go as expected and Mize falls to 2 or 3, I think the Sox take Bohm/Bart over Madrigal. 

[GenericUserName]

22 minutes ago, Y2Jimmy0 said:

Probably. I like India. Good track record for SEC 3B. Only one year of really great production though. 

Well India did change his swing heading into the year so that should probably actually be a positive and not a negative. 

[GenericUserName]

New pipeline mock draft just came out

https://www.mlb.com/news/casey-mize-still-favorite-for-no-1-draft-pick/c-279050910

 

The don't have Bohm going #3 any more. 

Edit: Also they drop a bomb saying Nick Schnell could be a back up option. Hopefully we are scouting him to try to get him to float to our second rounder and not as a first rounder. He is a popup 5 tool talent that could be like that Trout thing of not getting much exposure because of the weather, but that would be a crazy rise all the way to #4. 

Edited May 31, 2018 by GenericUserName

[Dam8610]

9 minutes ago, Y2Jimmy0 said:

MLBpipeline is very lenient with their grades and they have him with a 40 power tool. Keith Law has him with 20 power and relegated to 2B. Doesn't mean Keith is correct but in general, he's pretty solid with position player scouting. He has Madrigal as #11 in the class overall. He's not a fan of Singer either though 

MLBPipeline is very hedgy with their grades. They rarely give a grade above 60 or below 40 unless it's a pitcher with a 100 MPH fastball (80 fastball) or a slugger with no speed and poor athleticism (20 speed). The best thing to use their grades for is to determine if someone has a freakishly good or bad tool. They don't think that about Madrigal. I trust Fangraphs a lot more than MLBPipeline or Law (who I think is worse than MLBPipeline), and they gave him 70 hit 70 speed 60 field 50 arm 50 game power. That sounds a lot more like the player I've seen than a guy with 20 power.

[Dam8610]

11 minutes ago, GenericUserName said:

New pipeline mock draft just came out

https://www.mlb.com/news/casey-mize-still-favorite-for-no-1-draft-pick/c-279050910

 

The don't have Bohm going #3 any more. 

Edit: Also they drop a bomb saying Nick Schnell could be a back up option. Hopefully we are scouting him to try to get him to float to our second rounder and not as a first rounder. He is a popup 5 tool talent that could be like that Trout thing of not getting much exposure because of the weather, but that would be a crazy rise all the way to #4. 

The White Sox would be crazy to take Singer over Bohm or Madrigal.

[caulfield12]

The smart thing would be for the White Sox to invest money into BOTH Thomas and OU's Kyler Murray...knowing that Murray will stay at QB (he can play pro ball in the summers until it conflicts with football practices in mid August) for the next two seasons, then start playing baseball full-time in 2020.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra/ousportsextra/guerin-emig-kyler-murray-can-have-too-much-fun-quarterbacking/article_566714ee-7f88-5df3-ad53-a674012e0cfd.html?modalid=followed-notification-modal-8add51d8-214e-11e3-83df-0019bb30f31a

You simply have to get creative and maximize your opportunities when you get shots at unique, first-round talents outside of that round.

This would be one such situation where the Sox could afford to be patient with all the outfield talent currently in the organization.

It won't happen...partly because everyone will say "that's a pure KW play," but that doesn't mean Hahn shouldn't at least consider it carefully.

[DirtySox]

19 minutes ago, GenericUserName said:

New pipeline mock draft just came out

https://www.mlb.com/news/casey-mize-still-favorite-for-no-1-draft-pick/c-279050910

 

The don't have Bohm going #3 any more. 

Edit: Also they drop a bomb saying Nick Schnell could be a back up option. Hopefully we are scouting him to try to get him to float to our second rounder and not as a first rounder. He is a popup 5 tool talent that could be like that Trout thing of not getting much exposure because of the weather, but that would be a crazy rise all the way to #4. 

Hrm.  Interesting that all of a sudden Singer/Madrigal/Bohm are in play for the Phillies.  Wonder if it's a leverage play.

Edited May 31, 2018 by DirtySox

[Boopa1219]

4 hours ago, steveno89 said:

All of those guys have significant question marks. 

India - Is he a one year wonder? He never was this good before

Kelenic - Not a good track record from HS selections from Wisconsin. High School players carry risk.

Liberatore - HS pitching = risky

Stewart - HS right handed pitching is even more risky than left handers.

Swaggerty - Solid toolset, but fairly mediocre production against average competition raises questions

Sorry was really bust and couldn't provide a good in depth answer but I feel like those guys have a higher upside, which was what I meant. 

India was the position player in arguably the best conference in college baseball. 

Kelenic could be a five tool guy in center with a good sense of feel at the plate.

Liberatore can command his stuff, throws left-handed and has a projectable body that should add more velocity as he matures. 

Stewart: (See Curveball)

Swaggerty: Is ironing out a new swing according to Fangraphs and Keith Law. I wouldn't count him out to significantly, he was considered a top-five guy not too long ago.

[GenericUserName]

3 minutes ago, caulfield12 said:

The smart thing would be for the White Sox to invest money into BOTH Thomas and OU's Kyler Murray...knowing that Murray will stay at QB (he can play pro ball in the summers until it conflicts with football practices in mid August) for the next two seasons, then start playing baseball full-time in 2020.

http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra/ousportsextra/guerin-emig-kyler-murray-can-have-too-much-fun-quarterbacking/article_566714ee-7f88-5df3-ad53-a674012e0cfd.html?modalid=followed-notification-modal-8add51d8-214e-11e3-83df-0019bb30f31a

You simply have to get creative and maximize your opportunities when you get shots at unique, first-round talents outside of that round.

This would be one such situation where the Sox could afford to be patient with all the outfield talent currently in the organization.

It won't happen...partly because everyone will say "that's a pure KW play," but that doesn't mean Hahn shouldn't at least consider it carefully.

I doubt either would sign for the money we would offer them taking them in later rounds when both can focus on baseball and probably earn much more.

[caulfield12]

3 minutes ago, GenericUserName said:

I doubt either would sign for the money we would offer them taking them in later rounds when both can focus on baseball and probably earn much more.

Well, that article makes all the arguments why he won't do that (full-time) until at least 2020 (unlesshe either gets hurt this fall or loses the starting job, as he already has transferred once from Texas A&M)...obviously, they can't draft him unless they pretty much have a deal in place to let him play both sports until that time, or they'll lose a significant amount of money from their bonus pool.

Edited May 31, 2018 by caulfield12

[caulfield12]

http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/20180529/if-pitching-is-draft-priority-for-white-sox-singer-is-logical-target

Scott Gregor, fwiw, argues that the Sox will take Madrigal but, if not available, Singer's likely to be the pick at #4

"We've seen what he is since high school," Hostetler said. "We've seen him a lot. We have a long track record with him. You're talking about a big-game Friday night guy that has taken the ball every Friday night against the best teams in the country and the best conference (SEC) in the country, and he's put up just amazing numbers."

Just to make sure Singer is fully recovered, the White Sox will have a scout on hand Friday when the No. 1-seeded Gators open NCAA tourney play at home against Columbia.

During the regular season, Singer led the conference in wins (10) and ERA (2.25) while holding hitters to a .186 average and striking out 92 in 88 innings.

As a sophomore last year, the Eustis, Fla., native was 9-5 with a 3.21 ERA to go with 129 strikeouts in 126 innings.

"Coming into the season, he was the guy a lot of people thought was going to be the top college pitcher in the draft," Hostetler said.

 

Edited May 31, 2018 by caulfield12

[GenericUserName]

6 minutes ago, caulfield12 said:

Well, that article makes all the arguments why he won't do that (full-time) until at least 2020 (unlesshe either gets hurt this fall or loses the starting job, as he already has transferred once from Texas A&M)...obviously, they can't draft him unless they pretty much have a deal in place to let him play both sports until that time, or they'll lose a significant amount of money from their bonus pool.

But it wouldn't make sense for him to sign for anything less than second round money and I don't think we'll draft him in the second round not knowing if he will ever commit to baseball. If he is going to stay in college to play football next year (which we are pretty sure he will) why not also not sign so he can play college baseball again next year. He would be in the same position next year if he is conflicted about football, but if he realizes after this football season that he is not going pro and instead decides to concentrate on baseball he could be a high 1st round choice. So by signing this year he is basically leaving millions on the table (like he did already coming out of HS) for basically no reason. 

[caulfield12]

This might be a better gamble for the Royals (or the other team with an abundance of high picks)...who have less to lose, in a way, because they're going to be bottoming out a couple of years from now in terms of talent in their organization.

With the White Sox, everything has to be pointing towards a competitive team in 2021, basically.

This is a classic "long term" gamble that most "win now" oriented teams are going to avoid.

Edited May 31, 2018 by caulfield12

[fathom]

Schnell was a name Hostetler mentioned that they've seen a lot of. Also wonder if he was the guy Guff went with him to see.

[GenericUserName]

11 minutes ago, fathom said:

Schnell was a name Hostetler mentioned that they've seen a lot of. Also wonder if he was the guy Guff went with him to see.

Do you remember what part that was? I'm going to have to go back to listen to it again because I kind of didn't pay attention I guess when I thought we weren't going to get him.

[fathom]

He mentioned him when he ran off everyone he's seen a lot of. As for Schnell, I wonder if they are pushing him to 2nd round with big overslot?  All along, Hostetler has seemed to know who they were likely to get in 2nd round.  If they go underslot with first pick, makes me think someone like Gilbert (another guy Nick listed as seeing a lot)

Edited May 31, 2018 by fathom