Thursday marked the beginning of some great professional baseball careers. For whom, and which teams they benefit, is a complete unknown.
The full effect of these selections won’t be felt for a few years, but that won’t stop us from making instant analysis of the MLB Draft’s opening rounds.
5. Maximizing value
There are the obvious choices, and then there are the sleepers. Three names stand out as steals. Vanderbilt’s Bryan Reynolds, deemed to possess first-round potential by many experts, went to the San Francisco Giants at No. 59. The Cardinals, who see talent better than any other franchise, chose pitcher Connor Jones as the 70th overall pick. Moving up the board, left-hander Jason Groome was expected to go within the top ten (or even higher). So as he fell to No. 12, the Boston Red Sox became the beneficiary.
Jason Groome has been compared to Kershaw and Bumgarner. The Red Sox just made the best pick of the draft.
— Joe Giglio (@JoeGiglioSports) June 10, 2016
4. Oakland Gators?
The University of Florida has its sights set on the College World Series. Two members of the top-seeded Gators, however, are also preparing for a future in the Bay Area. With the sixth overall pick, the Oakland A’s took southpaw A.J. Puk – who stands at 6’7”, weighs 230 pounds, and is capable of throwing 100 miles per hour. Fast forward 39 selections, and Oakland remained smitten with the Florida pitchers. At No. 47, the choice was Logan Shore – recently named the Southeastern Conference’s Pitcher of the Year with an 11-0 record and a 2.44 earned run average.
3. Delvin Perez’s drop
A classic case of bad timing. The 17-year-old shortstop out of Puerto Rico, originally projected to be a top-five pick, was nabbed for PED use not much longer than a week ago. Naturally, his stock took a tumble. Perez was passed over by many teams before the St. Louis Cardinals chose him at No. 23 overall. It’ll be interesting to see if this humbling experience proves to be a motivating factor going forward.
SS Delvin Perez is the big-upside pick there that having 3 picks in first 34 allows #Cardinals take. Bold move. Wasn’t sure they’d make it.
— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) June 10, 2016
2. Mickey’s fate
This draft didn’t have the clear-cut No. 1 choice like it did when there was Bryce Harper or Steven Strasburg was available for the taking. With that, the Philadelphia Phillies made Mickey Moniak of Carlsbad, CA – who had been trending up recently – the first overall selection. But which trend is Moniak most likely to fall under? Will it be the one that notes Philadelphia’s consistent failure to make quality first round picks? Or, will it be the more favorable one of left-handed hitting high school outfielders taken No. 1? Since 1980, that list consists of Darryl Strawberry, Ken Griffey Jr., and Josh Hamilton.
1. Youth is served
Despite a recent trend of franchises clamoring for instant impact players over long-term projects, the first round of 2016 saw 12 high schoolers drafted within the initial 20 picks – the most since 1999. Three of the top four choices (Moniak, Ian Anderson at No. 3 to Atlanta, and Riley Pint at No. 4 to Colorado) were out of the high school ranks. Nick Senzel (a third baseman out of the University of Tennessee) was the lone college prospect to be chosen among the first four when he went second overall to the Reds.
