5/29/16

Mack’s Sunday Draft Report – 5-29-16 – Deven Perez, Jason Groome, Kyle Lewis, Chris Okey, Will Craig



Eric A Longenhagen of Fangraphs was asked about Perez -

Alex: Are Delvin Perez’s “character concerns” being overblown and overanalyzed or is it a legit worry? Is it just a young kid being immature or is it something more serious? Thanks Eric and glad to have you here at FG!
Eric A Longenhagen: I think it’s justifiable for teams to worry about stuff like that if they’re about to give the kid $6+ mil AND pass on other talented players to take him. I also think part of the reason teams shy away from player like Perez is because they’re not confident in their own player devo infrastructure at the lowest levels. Ita’s often insufficient, especially for players from other cultures.

Other Q and A’s on the same article –

          Anonymous Coward: Thoughts on taking HS pitchers 1-1 in general? What about in the case of Jason Groome?    
 
Eric A Longenhagen: I think Groome is the most talented player in the class and I would have a hard time not taking the most talented player in the class if I were picking 1-1. Having said that, my job isn’t going to be evaluated by how this pick turns out like the jobs of members of Philly’s front office will. Given the track record of highly selected HS arms (which is bad) and Groome’s off-field stuff (which just adds to his riskiness) it’s justifiable to go in another direction.

wrburgess: Some of the negative views against Kyle Lewis is that he hasn’t faced quality pitching in college, but he has performed well in Cape Cod and other spotlight sessions. Based on your own views, does low-quality pitching matter as much for his potential?

Eric A Longenhagen: It isn’t Kyle Lewis’ fault that the pitching he’s faced at Mercer has mostly been bad and, other than maybe making it harder for him to adjust to seeing quality pitching more regularly in pro ball, it doesn’t impact his potential. What it does do is make him harder to scout, since scouts want to see if you can track and square pro-quality stuff. Teams are risk-averse and not knowing whether Lewis can identify a 50 curveball simply because he’s never had to makes him riskier than some Kyle Lewis clone who has raked in the SEC for three years.

Dooduh: Where do you rank Chris Okey of the top catchers in the draft? Think he makes it thru rd 1?

Eric A Longenhagen: There are, weirdly, a lot of interesting catching prospects in this year’s draft and Okey has a better shot at remaining behind the plate than guys like Thaiss and Collins, though it isn’t a lock. I don’t think Okey goes in Rd1 unless it’s for under slot, though.

Dooduh: Why isn’t Robert Tyler getting more love? Looks like a beast to me. Should go in the top half of rd 1 IMO. Haven’t seen him that high in any mocks tho. Thoughts?

Eric A Longenhagen: Some injury history, control issues, doesn’t consistently get on top of his curveball. I love the arm strength and the changeup, but it’s hard to teach any pitching prospect, let alone a college one, a better curveball than they naturally possess.

Bren: Would Will Craig be a big overdraft for the Mets at #19? Any chance they can get him at #31, or do they have to pop him if they think he’s there guy?

Eric A Longenhagen: In a vacuum, Craig is an overdraft at #19. BUT if you go underslot with Craig at 19 and use the savings to grab a falling high school arm at #31? Take a bow.


It’s mock time again and there’s 10 new ones again this week, including new mocks from Keith Law and Jim Callis -

1.     LHP       A.J. Puk                         Florida
2.     LHP       Jason Groome               Barnegat HS (NJ)
3.     OF         Kyle Lewis                      Mercer
4.     RHP      Riley Pint                       St. Thomas Aquinas HS (KS)
5.     OF         Corey Ray                      Louisville
6.     IF          Nick Senzel                    Tennessee            
7.     IF          Delvin Perez                   Intl Baseball Academy (PR) 
8.     OF         Mickey Moniak              La Costa Canyon HS (CA)
9.     OF         Blake Rutherford           Charminade HS (CA)
10.  RHP     Dakota Hudson             Mississippi State                     
11.  RHP     Ian Anderson                 Shenendohowa HS (NY)         
12.  C-1B     Zack Collins                   Miami                                     
13.  LHP      Braxton Garrett             Florence HS (AL)                   
14.  RHP     Matt Manning               Sheldon HS (CA) 
15.  IF-P      Josh Lowe                      Pope HS (GA)     
16.  RHP     Forrest Whitley              Alamo Heights HS (TX)          
17.  OF        Buddy Reed                    Florida                                   
18.  RHP     Connor Jones                Virginia                                  
19.  1B-OF  Alex Kirloff                    Plum HS (PA)
20.  RHP     Jordan Sheffield            Vanderbilt                                       
21.  LHP      Joey Wentz                     Shawnee Mission HS    
22.  IF         Nolan Jones                   Holy Ghost Prep (PA)   
23.  RHP     Cal Quatrill                    Stanford                       
24.  OF        Taylor Trammell            Mount Paran HS (GA)  
25.  OF        Bryan Reynolds              Vanderbilt                     
26.  RHP     Kevin Gowdy                  Barbara HS (CA)          
27.  1B-3B   Will Craig                      Wake Forest                  
28.  RHP     Robert Tyler                   Georgia                                  
29.  RHP     Jared Horn                    Vintage HS (CA)                     
30.  OF        Will Benson                   Westminster Schools (GA)      
31.  IF         Drew Mendoza               Lake Minneola HS (FL)          
32.  RHP     Cody Sedlock                 Illinois                                    
33.  LHP      Kyle Muller                    Jesuit College Prep                 
34.  RHP     Logan Shore                  Florida                                   
35.  LHP      Anthony Kay                  Connecticut
36.  RHP     Justin Dunn                   Boston College                       
37.  RHP     Alex Speas                     Mceachen HS (GA)                
38.  IF         Carter Kieboom             Walton HS (GA)                     
39.  C           Chris Okey                     Clemson                                           
40.  LHP      Eric Lauer                     Kent State
41.  RHP     Alec Hansen                  Oklahoma                                        
42.  RHP     Daulton Jeffries             Cal                                         
43.  RHP     Zach Burdi                    Louisville                                
44.  OF        Jake Frahey                   LSU                                        
45.  RHP     Reggie Lawson              Victor Valley HS (CA)            
46.  3B         Joe Rizzo                        Oakton HS (VA)                     
47.  RHP     Joe Duplantier               Rice                                        
48.  LHP      Jesus Luzardo                Stoneman Douglass HS (FL)  
49.  IF         Bo Bichette                     Lakewood HS (FL)                 
50.  LHP      Matt Crohan                  Winthrop                                
51.  RHP     Corbin Burnes               St. Mary’s                               
52.  C           Sean Murphy                 Wright State                           
53. RHP      Austin Bergner              Windermere Prep (FL)           
54.  RHP     Zack Brown                   Kentucky                                
55.  OF        Ryan Boldt                     Nebraska                                
56.  SS         Gavin Lux                      Indian Trail Academy (WI)     
57.  RHP     Zach Jackson                Arkansas                                
58.  IF         Bryson Brigman            San Diego                               
59.  LHP      Matt Krook                    Oregon                                   
60.  C           Cooper Johnson            Carmel Catholic HS (IL)         
61.  IF         Bobby Dalbec                 Arizona                                  
62.  RHP     Bailey Clark                   Duke                                      
63.  OF        Penny Grier                    Auburn       
64.  OF        Heath Quinn                  Samford                                                                                       

11 comments:

Tom Brennan said...

Should be interesting how it goes. Can they get another Conforto at 19? We need real offensive prospects. Always have.

Mack Ade said...

Tom -

A good choice could be Wake Forest' 3B-1B Will Craig who many say is the best pure hitter in the draft.

Robb said...

and here I think they need pitching prospects. bc you project prospects 2-4 years from when they are drafted onto the major league roster.

Tom Brennan said...

Robb, I would draft hitters and trade one of our elites for elite prospects of the pitching kind. But that's just my bias.

Tom Brennan said...

Robb, I would draft hitters and trade one of our elites for elite prospects of the pitching kind. But that's just my bias.

Robb said...

the mets are good at developing pitching, not so much everything else.

The mlb draft is such a crap shoot, bc the players in it are never on the same developmental or competition curves.

we focus on the first round, but murphy was a 9th rounder. degrom the tenth.

thomas,
BPA is probably the best way for the mets to go and when in doubt draft pitching bc you can always trade young arms for things and never can you have enough pitching. but id gladly take a young power hitting guy who will end up at 3b in 4 years.

Charles said...

It's great to have offensive prospects. BUT....the Mets are in it because of their pitching. Their studs have kept them in a tight race the first half last year and again this year. Plus, having quality arms is the best currentcy in the game.

Having a stacked rotation last year allowed them to deal Fulmer to the Tigers for Cespedes. So basically, having a surplus of pitching gave them the offense they needed to win.

If I was them, I'd draft the best pitchers available regardless of who remains on the board. Just keep grabbing arms. Besides, their current rotation will get expensive sooner than later and they simply can't afford to keep them all. They'll need replacements and wouldn't we all want another young arm to replace the one that's leaving?

My take, is to get arms.

Mack Ade said...

Charles -

Matt Manning should be still on the board...

Has been a reliever in school but could easily be converted to a starter.

Throws a 100 mph heater

Charles said...

I'm with you. Their arm stash of the last few years has dried up. They definitely need arms.

Tom Brennan said...

That's what I want, competent power hitters.

Tom Brennan said...

That's what I want, competent power hitters.