2014 Draft Pick Discussion, Rounds 1-5

[narwhalattack]

The Brewers' next pick is at 50, right?

[brewcrewdue80]

Thank you Greg Vaughn!

 

Greg Vaughn went rogue, vetoed Seid's pick.

 

LOL'd at this

[3and2Fastball]

awwwwww yeah!!!!! Gatewood! Gatewood!

[TheCrew07]

Ha I know there one poster who's been very vocal of late who will be extremely happy.

[SRB]

This was exactly what the Brewers farm system needed. Two picks with huge upside.

[narwhalattack]

Ha I know there one poster who's been very vocal of late who will be extremely happy.

 

*Cough* Prince of Pop *Cough*

[jjkoestler]

Awesome. I can't believe the Brewers got him at 41.

[DKM4Boston]

Medeiros & Gatewood = Win

 

Might as well just take Reid-Foley, Harrison, or Adams at 50 now.

[SoupTown]

You guys are all a joy to sit here and read. I don't know nothin' about these kids... but after reading you all, it is fun to get excited about the future.

 

Keep up the good commentary and positiveness. Good fun!

[brewcrewdue80]

With pick 50 if it's an upside guy then you know Gatewood could be had for around 2mil. If it's a wth? pick then obviously Gatewood is commanding 2.5+mil and they are taking the savings from both 12/50 to get Gatewood at 41.

[narwhalattack]

Medeiros & Gatewood = Win

 

Might as well just take Reid-Foley, Harrison, or Adams at 50 now.

 

After taking 2 high-upside guys I have a feeling that we'd go for something more low-key. But that's me being pessimistic, as always :P

[brewcrewdue80]

You guys are all a joy to sit here and read. I don't know nothin' about these kids... but after reading you all, it is fun to get excited about the future.

 

Keep up the good commentary and positiveness. Good fun!

 

Gatewood wants to model himself after Troy Tulowitzki. That's why we're thrilled with this pick!

[brewcrewdue80]

Wow Justin Twine. I just seen the swing. :O That reminds me of Braun.

[FVBrewerFan]

Medeiros and Gatewood are friends already ( to what degree I don't know), that's pretty cool too.

[3and2Fastball]

Gatewood is a 6-5 Shortstop with incredible power. Sure he may end up a bust but I think that picking him is incredibly smart. Such a huge upside/ceiling with that kid

[jjkoestler]

You've got to be thrilled if you're a White Sox fan. Rodon and Adams.

[SRB]

If Gatewood is a signability concern, it might make sense to be extra conservative and get somebody under-slot at 50.

[3and2Fastball]

You've got to be thrilled if you're a White Sox fan. Rondon and Adams.

 

yeah thats a lot of pitching

[nate82]

Cederoth with the 50th pick? He is probably going to be a closer but the potential is there to be a top of the rotation starter if he can command his pitches. There is also the Canadian pick Morgan, Gareth. Suarez, Andrew could be an interesting pick along with Byler, Austin.

[jjkoestler]

Harrison or Reid-Foley would be glorious. A day of high upside.

[brewcrewdue80]

My original call at 41/50 Cameron Varga...He's still available

[colbyjack]

Happy for princeofpop right now.

 

Here's his PG Draft Focus profile. Our site should be back up and running now, sorry for the inconvenience:

 

Position: SS

Height: 6-5

Weight: 190

Bats/Throws: R-R

Birthdate: Sept. 25, 1995

High School: Clovis

City, State: Clovis, Calif.

Travel Team: San Diego Show

Commitment: Southern California

Projected Draft Round: 1

 

A common method of generalizing a prospect’s potential at the big league level is to describe him using the floor and ceiling method. A high floor player, for instance, is one whose polish and present skills ensure him success even if he doesn’t develop much more. A high ceiling player has the physical tools to become a true standout if everything goes well, an All-Star caliber player.

 

A high ceiling position prospect is usually associated with one of two things; either a player whose bat could become truly elite level or a premium position talent whose bat is well above average at the position.

 

Fresno area shortstop Jacob Gatewood combines those two elements of a high ceiling prospect. He has enormous power potential at the plate. And he also has the athletic ability to potentially stay in the middle of the infield at shortstop. Major League shortstops who hit 25-plus home runs a year are in very short supply.

 

The best thing that may have happened to Gatewood for scouts last summer was that everyone got to see what a graceful athlete he is at shortstop defensively. He is nominally listed at 6-foot-5, but doesn’t appear that tall in person and would be well advised to list himself at a shorter height so as to not prejudice scouts against staying at shortstop due to his size. But Gatewood has a more narrow and lanky frame than a Carlos Correa or Corey Seager type shortstop and doesn’t necessarily project to add the 20-25 pounds that many 17-year olds will add over their next four to six years.

 

Gatewood has the smooth, gliding low effort actions that you want to see in a young shortstop, soft hands, and a quick and efficient release that stays compact and short. He has big arm strength when called upon but plays more frequently working through the ball with an almost Latin style approach.

 

Gatewood received plenty of national attention for winning the “Junior Division” of the MLB Home Run Derby at the All-Star Game in July, but in retrospect it might not have been the best thing for his game. There has never been any question that he has elite level power potential dating back to the 430-foot home run he blasted at the Area Code Games as an underclassman in 2012. He gets tremendous leverage and extension at contact with natural loft in his righthanded swing. Gatewood is the type of hitter if he does fill out in a Giancarlo Stanton type of way will have foul line to foul line power.

 

But over the course of last summer and fall, Gatewood consistently showed two types of swings. His early count swing starts with high hands and an exaggerated high back elbow. The length that swing approach naturally creates was further disadvantaged by Gatewood consistently getting a late start towards the ball with his lower half. The combination of the two frequently left Gatewood behind 88 mph plus fastballs.

 

His second swing showed good awareness in making adjustments but wasn’t executed well. When behind in the count, Gatewood would shorten his swing approach and start his swing much earlier, too early in most cases. He was frequently out on his front side reaching for pitches, most often behind in the count off-speed offerings and fastballs on the outside half, and as a result had an over-abundance of weak ground balls to second base.

 

The fact that Gatewood hit .320-4-31, a comparatively low batting average and home run total for a player of his tools, adds to the concern about his hit tool.

 

Just as was the case in the Draft Focus profile on Nick Gordon– a player with a much higher floor but realistically a lower ceiling than Gatewood – it warrants mentioning that Gatewood has top round potential on the mound. He threw against fellow Fresno area top prospect, 2013 righthander Carlos Salazar in a heavily cross-checked matchup last spring, and more than one high level scout left that game with the opinion that Gatewood, who was 5-1, 2.02 on the mound as a junior, was just as good a prospect on the mound. He’s reportedly been clocked up to 95 mph with a nasty curveball, but has always said he has no interest in pitching outside of high school.

 

Many scouts love the high ceiling prospects and pay less attention to the floors than others. Those are the scouts that are going to take the package described above and rank it with the very best high school players in the 2014 class.

 

Video interview between Gatewood & Daron Sutton. It was meant to be:

 

[brewcrewdue80]

Harrison or Reid-Foley would be glorious. A day of high upside.

 

I don't think there's going to be enough money to sign either. 2mil guys at 1.1mil slot.

I feel the Cubs will get one of them based on their first two selections. They will have a lot of money to go out and give 2mil to one of them.

[TheCrew07]

Reid-Foley isn't so much a high upside pick, I think that's why he's sliding compared to where he was ranked, or he's unsignable. I'm still on board with any of those high school hitters we've talked about.

[narwhalattack]

SRF goes to the Jays.