The Official 2018 Amateur Draft Thread

[Blarg]

It seems like there is renewed interest in black students to give baseball a chance since it doesn't require extremes in body frames to play. It was like there were only three avenues for black athletes, football, basketball and track for a while. Nice to see talent making its way back to the grass and clay. 

[Angelsjunky]

1 hour ago, Taylor said:

So awesome. I'm excited for the top of our lineup to look something like this in 2023:

1. Drevian Nelson, CF
2. Jo Adell, LF
3. Mike Trout, RF

Drevian is a nice story, but I'm not exactly ready to pencil him ahead of Marsh, Deveaux, Adams and Hermosillo...not to mention Torii Jr, Sandoval, Knowles, etc. He's got a long way to climp up that minor league OF depth chart.

 

[Docwaukee]

Predict signing bonuses of the top 10:

Adams: 2.9mil

Jackson: 1.4m

Hernandez: 900k

Bradish: slot 455k

English: 600k

6-10: 10k each avg.  

Leaving about 650k in left over slot money.  plus another 350k in the 5% overage allowed prior to loss of pick penalty.  

I think we throw half of that at at Campbell in the 24th and the other half at Champlain in the 38th.  I think we'll get one of them but not both.  The rest will be spent on trying to convince the rest of 17-40 to sign.  

[Rico]

7 hours ago, Make Angels Great Again said:

I hope no one takes offense, but there are a lot of black dudes getting drafted this year it feels like, honestly. Which I think is a good thing, hasn't baseball been going through a drought of low participation among blacks? I thought I remember Torii talking about it a lot. Anyone know if that trend has reversed or something?

MLB has put a lot of money into getting more black kids to play.  In the last decade they have expanded the RBI program and built Urban Youth Academies.  On top of that, the fear of concussions has driven people away from playing football.

[Dave Saltzer]

14 hours ago, Make Angels Great Again said:

I hope no one takes offense, but there are a lot of black dudes getting drafted this year it feels like, honestly. Which I think is a good thing, hasn't baseball been going through a drought of low participation among blacks? I thought I remember Torii talking about it a lot. Anyone know if that trend has reversed or something?

I hope that it's a good sign that MLB's RBI program (Reviving Baseball in the Inner cities) is working. The program does a lot to help disadvantaged kids get to play baseball. You can read a bit about it here: http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/mlb_official_story_headline.jsp?story_page=rbi and here: https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Issues/2017/04/14/Leagues-and-Governing-Bodies/RBI.aspx

 

I would also guess that it may also have something to do with the growing backlash against football by parents since all the head trauma information has come out. There are plenty of articles out there talking about the downward trend in football participation, and in most cases, the most likely reason is the fear of CTE (although some other ideas have been floated as well). Given the choice, I think more athletes, regardless of race, would be willing to pursue a baseball career because it is perceived to be a safer sport. The high profile suicides in football have taken a toll amongst teenagers. So, I'm not surprised that more athletes from all races are choosing to play baseball, and may be more easily signed (and therefore drafted) than in years past, when they may have stayed for football. 

 

No matter what, getting more talented players and athletes, from all backgrounds, only makes baseball more exciting for me, as I do want to see the best players competing on the field. All fans should be happy with that.

[eaterfan]

23 minutes ago, Dave Saltzer said:

I hope that it's a good sign that MLB's RBI program (Reviving Baseball in the Inner cities) is working. The program does a lot to help disadvantaged kids get to play baseball. You can read a bit about it here: http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/mlb_official_story_headline.jsp?story_page=rbi and here: https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Daily/Issues/2017/04/14/Leagues-and-Governing-Bodies/RBI.aspx

 

I would also guess that it may also have something to do with the growing backlash against football by parents since all the head trauma information has come out. There are plenty of articles out there talking about the downward trend in football participation, and in most cases, the most likely reason is the fear of CTE (although some other ideas have been floated as well). Given the choice, I think more athletes, regardless of race, would be willing to pursue a baseball career because it is perceived to be a safer sport. The high profile suicides in football have taken a toll amongst teenagers. So, I'm not surprised that more athletes from all races are choosing to play baseball, and may be more easily signed (and therefore drafted) than in years past, when they may have stayed for football. 

 

No matter what, getting more talented players and athletes, from all backgrounds, only makes baseball more exciting for me, as I do want to see the best players competing on the field. All fans should be happy with that.

I also think the money has something to do with it. Unless you are a QB then baseball probably pays better.

[TroutField]

2 minutes ago, eaterfan said:

I also think the money has something to do with it. Unless you are a QB then baseball probably pays better.

The NFL is weird with the salary cap, they cut good, tenured players that have been with a franchise for a long time when they are still in their prime. I don’t always understand the roster decisions. And the money isn’t guaranteed 

 

Admittedly I don’t follow football the way I follow MLB so I could be off base 

[Tank]

On 6/7/2018 at 9:10 AM, Blarg said:

George Michael's Sports Machine where he would punch the play button on a 2" Quad Machine to roll replays. 

i wanted to like him more, but he was clearly an east coast guy.

but it was an interesting concept in the days before espn really took off.

[Dave Saltzer]

4 minutes ago, eaterfan said:

I also think the money has something to do with it. Unless you are a QB then baseball probably pays better.

An interesting thought, and yes, on average baseball pays more. But, there are far fewer opportunities to break into the "money" than there are in football. Football has a much higher turnover rate, and is much more likely to see the money (if you are dominant in college and drafted, you get the money, whereas in baseball, doing well in college means you still go to the minors). 

One of the things baseball scouts long lamented and cited as a problem for the sport was how many D1 scholarships football could give versus baseball. Baseball programs had so few scholarships in comparison that many of claimed it affected how many disadvantaged youth would focus on the sport. For families looking for a way to get ahead and to get college paid for, football offered a much easier and greater path than baseball. So, there was much more of a concentration on it.

I think that the revelation of CTE, the other health risks, etc. have scared so many parents that they are pushing for other sports. I know of many families who let their older children play football who have changed their minds for their younger sons. And, that has led to far more talent and athleticism in baseball, soccer, and other sports as a result. 

[eaterfan]

5 minutes ago, Dave Saltzer said:

An interesting thought, and yes, on average baseball pays more. But, there are far fewer opportunities to break into the "money" than there are in football. Football has a much higher turnover rate, and is much more likely to see the money (if you are dominant in college and drafted, you get the money, whereas in baseball, doing well in college means you still go to the minors). 

One of the things baseball scouts long lamented and cited as a problem for the sport was how many D1 scholarships football could give versus baseball. Baseball programs had so few scholarships in comparison that many of claimed it affected how many disadvantaged youth would focus on the sport. For families looking for a way to get ahead and to get college paid for, football offered a much easier and greater path than baseball. So, there was much more of a concentration on it.

I think that the revelation of CTE, the other health risks, etc. have scared so many parents that they are pushing for other sports. I know of many families who let their older children play football who have changed their minds for their younger sons. And, that has led to far more talent and athleticism in baseball, soccer, and other sports as a result. 

Yup. D1 scholarships are a huge part of the advantage football has, but if you're making a 6 figure signing bonus out of high school then it's not a bad thing. And recently MLB has created their own scholarship program for kids who come right out of high school. MLB has made it a more difficult choice than in the past when it was always football. 

[Angel Oracle]

14 hours ago, Angelsjunky said:

Drevian is a nice story, but I'm not exactly ready to pencil him ahead of Marsh, Deveaux, Adams and Hermosillo...not to mention Torii Jr, Sandoval, Knowles, etc. He's got a long way to climp up that minor league OF depth chart.

 

A deep farm system is always good to have.    Allows the MLB team to excel both through new waves of players coming up and a few trades here and there to shore up weaknesses.    Just make sure the Halos never, eeeever go about it like Stoneman did (no trades) or Dipeutered did (empty the farm).   Happy mediums can be nice.

[Angel Oracle]

10 hours ago, Dochalo said:

Predict signing bonuses of the top 10:

Adams: 2.9mil

Jackson: 1.4m

Hernandez: 900k

Bradish: slot 455k

English: 600k

6-10: 10k each avg.  

Leaving about 650k in left over slot money.  plus another 350k in the 5% overage allowed prior to loss of pick penalty.  

I think we throw half of that at at Campbell in the 24th and the other half at Champlain in the 38th.  I think we'll get one of them but not both.  The rest will be spent on trying to convince the rest of 17-40 to sign.  

Aren't 6-10 rounds' slots about 100K each?

[Dave Saltzer]

14 minutes ago, eaterfan said:

Yup. D1 scholarships are a huge part of the advantage football has, but if you're making a 6 figure signing bonus out of high school then it's not a bad thing. And recently MLB has created their own scholarship program for kids who come right out of high school. MLB has made it a more difficult choice than in the past when it was always football. 

Yep. Offering HS players a scholarship for college after baseball definitely has made the decision much easier for HS players to sign. What's the real downside? You don't make it as a baseball player and go to college a few years older, but for free? It's much easier now for a HS player to sign.

 

[eaterfan]

1 minute ago, Dave Saltzer said:

Yep. Offering HS players a scholarship for college after baseball definitely has made the decision much easier for HS players to sign. What's the real downside? You don't make it as a baseball player and go to college a few years older, but for free? It's much easier now for a HS player to sign.

 

Yup. The only downside is the quality of institution you go to. Although a lot of these kids aren't going to Stanford, Vanderbuilt, Rice, UCLA, etc. anyway.

[Dave Saltzer]

8 minutes ago, eaterfan said:

Yup. The only downside is the quality of institution you go to. Although a lot of these kids aren't going to Stanford, Vanderbuilt, Rice, UCLA, etc. anyway.

It does alter the importance of where you sign a letter of intent. That plays a role in the value of the scholarship you get. So, that can make where you choose to sign a letter of intent an interesting choice if you truly intend to sign. But, I don't see most HS kids thinking that strategically about the decision.

[Docwaukee]

16 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

Aren't 6-10 rounds' slots about 100K each?

no.  you can pay anyone from rounds 11-40 up to 100k without it coming out of your pool.  pool is rounds 1-10.  We've got about 7mil and can go over by 5% with only monetary penalty (75%lux tax on the overage).  

[Chuck]

Our 13th round pick Cooper Criswell outing for UNC today. 

https://streamable.com/amp_player/5p50p?__twitter_impression=true

[Docwaukee]

11 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

Our 13th round pick Cooper Criswell outing for UNC today. 

https://streamable.com/amp_player/5p50p?__twitter_impression=true

dude golfed one on him for a college bat hr.  

he went up against Gilbert who got pounded.  

[Angel Oracle]

27 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

Our 13th round pick Cooper Criswell outing for UNC today. 

https://streamable.com/amp_player/5p50p?__twitter_impression=true

Showcases a nice breaking pitch, seemed to sit high 80s-90 on the heat.

Sidenote on tv analyst for that game:  F'ing Todd Walker drove in the winning run against LB in 1993 to deny LB a CWS title game appearance (back before best of 3 decided it). 

[John Smith]

57 minutes ago, Dochalo said:

no.  you can pay anyone from rounds 11-40 up to 100k without it coming out of your pool.  pool is rounds 1-10.  We've got about 7mil and can go over by 5% with only monetary penalty (75%lux tax on the overage).  

Actually, its up to $125,000 now

[Chuck]

3 hours ago, Dochalo said:

dude golfed one on him for a college bat hr.  

he went up against Gilbert who got pounded.  

Angels 13th rounder > Mariners 1st rounder! FTW

[Inside Pitch]

59 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

Angels 13th rounder > Mariners 1st rounder! FTW

http://www.espn.com/college-baseball/boxscore?gameId=381591096

[Second Base]

I remember during the draft when it was the Mariners turn to pick.  I thought to myself "Please Dipoto this up Mariners!"  They did, picking Logan Gilbert, a college arm with a high floor but low ceiling. 

[Tyler]

Austin Barnes little brother to sign with Angels. 

[John Smith]

Round    6    Austin Warren            R/R    6-0    170    05/05/96        RHP        SR
Round    7    Andrew Wantz            R/R    6-4    235    10/13/95        RHP        SR
Round    8    Tyler Smith            R/R    6-0    230    11/20/95        RHP        SR
Round    9    Jake Lee                R/R    6-4    215    06/30/95        RHP        5S
Round    10    Ben Morrison            L/R    5-11    185    01/20/95        RHP        SR

All listed as Signed according to Baseball America

https://www.baseballamerica.com/draft-history/mlb-draft-database/