2012 General Draft Discussion

[And That]

I find it difficult to judge a team's draft when we haven't yet made it to the second round.

 

I'm not in love with any of the picks, but there's big upside in all three. Francoeur comps make me cringe, though.

[TooLiveBrew]

I hate to admit it, but I'm already on the Roache bandwagon. I have no rationale to supply as to why, beyond the power potential.

[brwrsfan]

So who is left for us to target with our next pick? Anyone still on the board that shoudn't be?

[pogokat]

yeah, roache feels like he should've been drafted higher, but fell to us...so we got a top ten pick at 29...god bless that injured wrist (and heal it up good!)

[splitterpfj]

I'm sure it's about money, but if they had taken Gallo with the third pick, I'd say the Brewers did extremely well. I like the first two picks, but honestly, I know almost nothing about Haniger, that pick surprised me.

[TooLiveBrew]

yeah, roache feels like he should've been drafted higher, but fell to us...so we got a top ten pick at 29...god bless that injured wrist (and heal it up good!)

Yeah, the top-10 comment was something some of the MLB Network guys were throwing around. Never makes you feel bad to hear, that's for sure.

[Oldcity]

Feeling a little better after reading reports of Haniger showing "good plate discipline" this year. Not sure where the Francouer comparison came from.

[TooLiveBrew]

I'm sure it's about money, but if they had taken Gallo with the third pick, I'd say the Brewers did extremely well. I like the first two picks, but honestly, I know almost nothing about Hanigan, that pick surprised me.

Well, fwiw, the MLB.com top 100 ranking of draft prospects had him at #45 (Coulter #49, Roache #27). So it's not like he was some unknown commodity -- I'd never heard of him either, though

[DHonks]

oldcity, Francouer was considered a can't miss prospect. They may be comparing him to the guy's tools, not his production

[nate82]

I hate to admit it, but I'm already on the Roache bandwagon. I have no rationale to supply as to why, beyond the power potential.

 

Roache kind of feels like when Lawrie fell to the Brewers. I feel this is kind of a gift that has been given to the Brewers.

[Oldcity]

I think the Lawrie comparison works better with Coulter. Both catchers with defensive questions, power, and linked to the Brewers from the start.

[nate82]

I think the Lawrie comparison works better with Coulter. Both catchers with defensive questions, power, and linked to the Brewers from the start.

 

Not really comparing Roache to Lawrie in a player sense only how their draft stock kind of went downhill on draft day.

[narwhalattack]

I wonder why Seid is so gung-ho on taking college players. Sure they help out quicker, but HS players provide more upside.

[Ennder]

I'm starting to believe the Brewers have something against high-upside HS arm. They've passed on Watson, Eflin, Weickel, and Smoral.

 

 

They probably realized that 80% of high school arms flame out before they succeed in the majors.

[wsuprise24]

Feeling a little better after reading reports of Haniger showing "good plate discipline" this year. Not sure where the Francouer comparison came from.

Haniger has a cannon of an arm. That's probably what inspired the comparison

[jmeks23]

Some good HS arms might be available in the 2nd round still, so I'm not worried about that. Not taking Gallo seems foolish to me right now though. I said this earlier but you really can't predict the MLB draft or it's prospects but if I were to take Gallo's massive power and upside versus Haniger (who admittedly has some good things going for him as well) it just seems like a no-brainer. Far too early to make a real judgement though, and I think they might be saving money for the later rounds to not miss out on signing guys like Rodon this time around.

[PrinceFielderx1]

I don't mean to sound negative guys, but what is with the Brewers and drafting hitters who likely won't stay at their current positions due to their defense? Don't get me wrong, I love the offensive upside and the power arms that these players have, but I'm kinda sick of the defensive projects like Rickie Weeks, Corey Hart, Ryan Braun, Mat Gamel etc.. I'm not sure if this is a drafting issue or if the Brewers rushed these players to the Majors (except Gamel) because they needed the offense, when the players needed more time in the minors to work on their defense or whatever, but I just think this is a legitimate issue the Brewers have that I hope they can fix.

[narwhalattack]

Some players to look out for in the 2nd round:

 

Nick Williams

Trey Williams

Alec Rash

Kolby Copeland

Austin Fairchild

Kyle Twomey

[TheCrew07]

I don't mean to sound negative guys, but what is with the Brewers and drafting hitters who likely won't stay at their current positions due to their defense? Don't get me wrong, I love the offensive upside and the power arms that these players have, but I'm kinda sick of the defensive projects like Rickie Weeks, Corey Hart, Ryan Braun, Mat Gamel etc..

 

The problem of course is that it's incredibly difficult to draft well rounded with players with upside, most draft picks are going to have 1 or 2 tools that really intrigue the team and the rest is "development". Obviously if the bat won't play then the player doesn't have a career, it doesn't matter how well he fields. So from that perspective I don't mind the Brewers drafting all bat players, however they do need to identify the proper position and put more development time into every player's defense just like they do their offense. This has been a pet peeve of mine for a long time and I don't want to go off on a long tangent, but I think the Brewers have definitely left plenty of room to improve their developmental defensive plan in the minors.

 

Today's athletes are just different, the kids now are vastly different than the kids I played with in the early 90s, hell they are different than the kids we had 5 years ago. There just aren't many extremely motivated and/or coachable kids out there that are going do work on their own for their own good, there's too much instant gratification out there for that kind of work ethic. Therefore the organization is going to have to push these guys harder so that a young man like Gamel is making strides defensively way before AA. At some point the Brewers are going to have to buy into athlete building vs the limited athletic development they do now, the days of playing survival of the fittest in the minor leagues are hopefully coming to an end.

 

Speaking of which, I often wonder if the drug problem with speed is a direct result of the crappy treatment of the MiLB players. Most of these young men aren't getting enough rest and for 60 years they didn't eat close to healthy enough meals, so without the internal fuel to burn or enough rest it's no wonder so many turned to speed to keep their energy level/heart rate artificially high just to get through the day. 3-4 years of that in the minors and by the time they hit MLB greenies are an entrenched part of the lifestyle... something to consider at any rate.

[logan82]

Appel:

 

“I’m currently concentrating on winning a national championship and finishing my academic endeavors at Stanford. I will address the possibility of a professional career in due time.”

 

I wouldnt get too worried about his future with the Pirates

 

Sounds like posturing to me, I'm not sure you can make any predictions about signability until we see the rest of the Pirates draft.

 

I still think the whole "going to school" is unnecessary leverage needlessly given to players that have less than a 50% chance of making MLB in the first place. Make everyone declare for the draft and stop the madness... if you don't like the team that drafts you then fine, go play indy ball otherwise sign with the team and take the guaranteed scholarship if you don't make it in baseball. Players being able to opt back into college if they don't get their money drives me nuts.

 

On this stuff I'd like it to be black and white, either you're in you're out, no dipping your toe in the water and then changing your mind. No other league lets draftees have so much juice being so far away from contributing. I'm not sure you can fix the credibility issues out of Latin America with player ages, money under the table, and so on, but you sure can solve many problems by simply taking leverage away from the draft eligible amateurs, then come up with some kind of similar system that will work for international signings.

 

I agree

 

Do like the NBA. Declare and hire an agent, you are in an can no longer back out.

or do it like hockey where a team retains their rights to you until 30 days after you leave college.

[trwi7]

or do it like hockey where a team retains their rights to you until 30 days after you leave college.

 

With Justin Schultz basically leaving Anaheim out to dry I think retaining the rights throughout would be the only way to do it. You're drafted by that team, you play for that team.

 

If you go to college the team holds your rights and the recommended draft bonus applies to what it was the year and place you were drafted.

[dlk9s]

I don't mean to sound negative guys, but what is with the Brewers and drafting hitters who likely won't stay at their current positions due to their defense? Don't get me wrong, I love the offensive upside and the power arms that these players have, but I'm kinda sick of the defensive projects like Rickie Weeks, Corey Hart, Ryan Braun, Mat Gamel etc.. I'm not sure if this is a drafting issue or if the Brewers rushed these players to the Majors (except Gamel) because they needed the offense, when the players needed more time in the minors to work on their defense or whatever, but I just think this is a legitimate issue the Brewers have that I hope they can fix.

I'd love guys who have great bats and are fantastic in the field, too, but to get them, we'll have to tank and get a top-2 pick. I mean, how many guys like that are in the majors?

 

I know we all want guys who can do it all, but you're just not going to get them.

[brwrsfan]

When does the draft start today? And how many rounds get picked?

[StearnsFTW]

or do it like hockey where a team retains their rights to you until 30 days after you leave college.

 

With Justin Schultz basically leaving Anaheim out to dry I think retaining the rights throughout would be the only way to do it. You're drafted by that team, you play for that team.

 

If you go to college the team holds your rights and the recommended draft bonus applies to what it was the year and place you were drafted.

 

 

This was the first case I thought of when I read Logan's post. I would have to think the NHL rule could be tweaked to read 1 year rather than 30 days. That way the player has to sit a full year. Problem is, I don't think MLBPA would ever go for it.

[umphrey]

Tyrone Taylor, CF out of a high school in California. Sounds like he has some good tools.