Prospect News: I Feel A Draft or We’ll Blog It Live!

Off the top, I feel compelled to say that, prospect-wise, I love SS Kayson Cunningham. It’s an unrequited, non-romantic love, just fyi, but he’s the guy I’m walking away with after draft night if I’m anywhere outside the top three or so. 

Oh hey, during the brief but effective pre-game show, Carlos Collazo says Cunningham is his favorite hitter in the draft. Fast hands. Smooth swing. Great energy. Models himself after Lindor. Was Team USA’s shortstop. Let’s get it. 

Just before the first pick, Dan O’Dowd is talking about how he doesn’t think it works when teams try to outthink the draft, and I couldn’t agree more. Some teams spend their whole night trying to game the system so they can get big value on a Matt Allan or Brock Porter or whoever, but that’s still going to require an outsized bonus that makes it harder to sign everyone else. Classic case of galaxy braining your way toward too much dip on the chip. Just pick the best players available and sign as many as you can. 

Shoutout to Rick Monday for a nice little into between the clips. 

De Ro (Mark DeRosa) with some great points in the early going. I liked his thought that this pick would sort of tip the hand of where the organization was going. Take a ready-soon arm? They’re going to maximize the Gore-Wood-Abrams window. Take a high school shortstop, well . . .  

1. And they took a 17-year-old shortstop, Eli Willits, planning to sign him for an under-slot deal, probably, so they have some extra money to try and outthink the draft. Fun. Harold Reynolds did not like it. He thought Holliday was much better. Dan O’Dowd thinks he has a good floor because he knows how to play the game of baseball. Gosh I hope so. 

2. Angels take RHP Tyler Bremner. Nobody had that in their mock. Probably some gambling money lost on these top two picks. That sentence was brought to you by Draftkings. Oh shit his mom died last month. 

3. Good bounce for Seattle getting LSU LHP Kade Anderson. That’s a scary-good fit. This build just has to add up to something. 

4. SS Ethan Holliday to Colorado is perfect. Good fun. Happy for that fan base. Not thrilled about that ownership group getting more found money for nothing. They’re 15th in attendance this season, in case you were wondering. 

5. LHP Liam Doyle is such a fun pitcher. Lucky Cardinals. And lucky us. Having the college coaches on these broadcasts over the years has been a treat. They should get some minor league managers involved in the Futures Game broadcast. Maybe a farm director or a scout or something. People who actually know these players and can tell stories like the one Tony Vitello from Tennessee just told about LHP Liam Doyle, who the coach said was out of shape when he met him and lost 19 pounds this year. “He attacked his weaknesses.” That’s good television. I mean he knows the kid so well he feels comfortable saying he had a weight problem on the broadcast. 

6. Oh cool, the Pirates got an awesome pitcher in Seth Hernandez. Former Razzballer Lance Brozdowski is killing it out here, calling his Hernandez’s delivery butter, saying he transfers energy well. You love to see it. 

7. Marlins select SS Aiva Arquette from Oregon State. Good for them. Feels like it would be kind of tough to screw up his development. Nice combo of floor, ceiling and proven success against high-end arms. 

8. Toronto goes the other direction with high school shortstop Jojo Parker. Plenty of ceiling though. 

9. Reds take high school shortstop Steele Hall. Cool name. 80-grade speed. Do you think I like him? Because I definitely like him. He’s from a place called Trussville. I guess I wasn’t familiar with Matt Truss’ game. He’s got a whole city? Damn, dude. Impressive. 

10. Bad luck for the White Sox to draw the tenth pick after being the league’s worst team by a standard deviation or two. They get high school shortstop Billy Carlson. Wait, isn’t he that video game weasel from King of Kong? 

11. Florida State lefty Jamie Arnold goes to the Athletics. They seem to be enjoying their success with LHP Jacob Lopez, who longtime readers will know I’ve loved for a long time. Like Lopez, Arnold is a funk-master with an odd delivery and a dynamite sweeper and changeup alongside two fastballs. Like Lopez, Jamie Arnold is a player I will always want on my favorite team no matter what’s happening this month between the lines. Oh hey, I just realized they’re also having success with Jeffery Springs. Funky lefties ftw! 

12. Rangers SS Gavin Fien looks very strong for a very young man. Vitello says the kid is blessed with both kinds of swing skills: rhythm and strength. I love that way of thinking about it. Oh and now Dan O’Dowd is geeking out in a similar way and complimenting Vitello for framing it that way, something he’s never heard, and O’Dowd is an old lifer. Man, Vitello just talks about the game in a way that moves people. And now Harold is doing the same after Vitello talked about restaurant locations being cursed. I’m paraphrasing to keep up. He said it better than me. 

13. Wow it’s back-to-back Gavins with the Giants taking Tennessee shortstop Gavin Kilen. Seems smart for them to stay away from the high school player pool after investing heavily in the current window. 

14. Rays take high school shortstop Daniel Pierce. He’s impressive. De Ro loves him, especially that he looked him in the eye and said “I’ve always been able to hit,” and watching the clips, it’s easy to believe him. De Ro’s out here comping him to Bobby Witt Jr. He does not look like a shortstop on defense, but maybe they can change that. 

15. Dan O’Dowd loves new Red Sox RHP Kyson Witherspoon. Says he’s got the highest upside of any pitcher who’s been drafted. 

16. Perfect Twins pick here with Wake Forest shortstop Marek Houston. Super safe, high-probability asset in the sense that he’s a big-league level shortstop with a functional hit tool. 

17. The pick-is-in sign has been flashing all night. Are all the picks just in all the time. What’s happening here? Anyway, the Cubs get Wake Forest OF Ethan Conrad, who’s recovering from shoulder surgery. I agree with O’Dowd here. I’d just take a not-injured player. 

18. The Diamondbacks are good at the draft. Here’s the spot for high school SS Kayson Cunningham. I hate that the Cubs passed on him. I think he’s going to be incredible. 

19. Orioles get a nice value here in C Ike Irish. That’s good. They needed a ready-soon catcher. But seriously folks, dude can hit. They needed a no-position guy who can hit. He really can hit though. I realize it’s tricky to draft for need in baseball. And Baltimore’s front office got what it loves most with this pick: Value. 

Annnd the next pick is in as we head to commercial. Okay. 

20. Speaking of drafting for need, the Brewers need a third baseman, and they get 3B Andrew Fischer from Tennessee. O’Dowd loves this pick, and I like it, too. He’s a lefty with great plate skills and a swing that looks like he was born in a batter’s box, whatever that means. Greg Amsinger just said they’ve gotten five home runs from the third base spot all season. Collazo doesn’t think he can play third at the highest level. Fun to track. Oh cool, Vitello is saying kind of the same thing, saying his brain was built for baseball. O’Dowd just added that “his bat path is exceptionally clean.” 

21. Astros get high school shortstop and pitcher Xavier Neyens. Intriguing to see if they’re willing to try the long road of developing him both ways. 

Oh man Dan O’Dowd just told Andrew Fischer “I got a man crush on you” and “Your movement patterns in the box are exceptional.” Go get it, Dan. I can’t disagree with any of that. 

Then Vitello even owns up to botching that interview because emotions got the better of him. Can we make him the president? 

22. Atlanta gets high school shortstop Tate Southisene. O’Dowd says they’re going off-script after taking so much pitching over the past several years. Yeah, that’s true, but it’s cyclical. They did that partly because they seemed so stacked in the field. I can’t imagine they’re thrilled with their return on all these early picks. 

23. Royals select IMG Academy OF Sean Gamble. He’s got a nice balance of tools and skills. Can play some infield, too. Nice to see KC stay away from pitching after some lean outcomes (Lacy, Mozzicato) on that front lately. 

24. Tigers SS Jordan Yost was lower on some public-facing draftboards, but the Tigers have a type that’s been working for them, and Yost is like Max Clark, Bryce Rainer, and Kevin McGonigle in that he’s a plus athlete from the left side who looks natural in all his baseball actions and has plus defensive value out of high school. 

25. AJ Preller did what likes best here and landed the highest upside player on the board in high schooler Kade Schoolcraft, a 6-foot-8 lefty with three plus pitches. 

26. Phillies RHP Gage Wood has a name for baseball. He seemed to level-up during the College World Series for Arkansas and could be a nice value here if he continues to command his dynamite fastball and power curve. 

27. Perhaps the oddest pick of the night was Cleveland landing Texas A&M OF Jace LaViolette this late. Not odd because it’s bad or anything. Just interesting because LaViolette was perhaps the leader in the clubhouse for the top overall spot heading into the season. Kind of shows how quickly big league organizations shuffle their rankings when things aren’t going well on the field. 

That’s it for the real first round. The tack-on picks kind of go forever, so we’ll call it an article here at about 1700 words and circle back to discuss later picks I love.

Thanks for reading!