Drafting preferences

[colbyjack]

Trying to determine who the Brewers will draft from year to year is an impossible task. I had on pretty good record from multiple sources that the Brewers were very committed to drafting Phillippe Aumont a year ago, the one year I was as close to being sure I knew who the team would select with their first-round pick. Some other names began to surface as the draft approached (Devin Mesoraco was one that came up a day or two before draft day), and of course the team took everyone by surprised when they nabbed Matt LaPorta.

 

We can see some tendencies the team has made though since Jack Z. has been the scouting director. They still have yet to take a college pitcher in the top two rounds, and they clearly take more Canadian players than most teams. They also have been active in Puerto Rico, selecting Charlie Fermaint in the 4th round in 2003 as well as two of the top pitchers from the island last June: Efrain Nieves and Joel Morales. Scouting Puerto Rico often is the responsibility of the team's South Florida scout.

 

A post by splitter on the MLB forum concerning Guillermo Mota reminded me just how much the team focuses on the East Coast, and more specifically, Florida. I remember writing in 2002 about how the Brewers seemed to be sending then area scout and now East Coast Crosschecker Tom McNamara a going away present by taking Fielder and Murray with the team's first two picks.

 

Since 2002 here are the players the Brewers have drafted in early (top 5) rounds of the draft:

 

2007:

1. LaPorta (FL)

3. Lucroy (LA)

4. Farris (CA)

5. Gindl (FL)

 

2006:

1. Jeffress (VA)

2. Brewer (GA)

3. Gillespie (OR)

4. Anundsen (CO)

5. Errecart (CA)

 

2005:

1. Braun (FL)

3. Inman (VA)

4. Gamel (FL)

5. Roberts (TX)

 

2004:

1. Rogers (ME)

2. Gallardo (TX)

3. Wahpepah (AR)

4. Baker (TX)

5. Salome (NY)

 

2003:

1. Weeks (LA)

2. Gwynn (CA)

3. Palmisano (FL)

4. Fermaint (PR)

5. Opdyke (AZ)

 

2002:

1. Fielder (FL)

2. Murray (FL)

3. Eric Thomas (AL)

4. Nic Carter (NC)

5. Jarrad Page (CA)

 

15 out of 28 picks in top 5 rounds are from the East Coast region (7 of those players from Florida)

7 picks are from the Central region (although Lucroy and Weeks are both originally from Florida)

6 picks are from the West Coast region

5 of 6 first round picks are from the East Coast region (3 of those picks from Florida)

 

So what does this mean? Not much, but I do bring it up because some teams do indeed choose to focus on certain parts of the country (such as the Braves, whose focus is almost completely on the SE part of the United States). More than half of the team's top picks since 2002 are from the East Coast, with half of those coming from Florida. I don't think it is that surprising considering that outside of the team's spring training facility and Pioneer League affiliate in Helena, all of the team's affiliates are rather close together, from Brevard County Florida to Charleston West Virginia.

 

Florida in particular isn't all that surprising, since they produce the second highest number or pro prospects to California, but I do find it interesting that the Brewers have chosen players from Florida more often than not, whether that's by design or not, and overall they haven't been as active in California despite hosting the state's two teams at the Area Code Games, which was somewhat expected to give them a scouting edge being able to work with those players so closely.

[Mass Haas]

and they clearly take more Canadian players than most teams.

 

colbyjack, I'm sorry to see that SLAM Canoe (Canada) is dropping, or merging, its Canadian-specific baseball coverage:

 

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Baseball/Canada/home.html

 

An occasional nice resource in the past...

[colbyjack]

Wow, that sucks. I guess hockey still rules all in the great white nort, eh?