It's never too early to start looking at next year's crop, so I'm going to go with a very early top 10 for 2010:
1.Bryce Harper- C, Las Vegas, NV
2.Anthony Ranaudo - SP, LSU
3.Bryce Bentz - 1B/OF, Mid. Tenn. State
4.Matt Harvey - SP, UNC
5.Jarret Parker - OF, UVA
6.Seth Blair - SP, Arizona
7.Drew Pomeranz - SP, Ole Miss
8.Christian Colon - SS, Cal St. Fullerton
9.Josh Osich - SP, Oregon St.
10.Brandon Workman - SP, Texas
Keep in mind it's too early to evaluate the HS crop, so you may see another one or two of them pop in here. Looks like a much deeper draft for position players than last year, although still fairly shallow overall. 2011 looks like it could be the deepest in a while.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Bryce Harper
Photo by: Robert Beck/SI
Bryce Harper is a name you will be hearing an awful lot over the next 11 months, touted as the Lebron James of baseball, he is a 16 year old wunderkid. Harper is a 6'3 205lb 16 year old who can hit baseballs 570 feet and hasn't even finished growing. He can steal bases, he's got a cannon for an arm, he's got great plate discipline, a good batting eye, and more power than most major leaguers twice his age. What's not to like? No, really, that was rhetorical, there is nothing not to like as a prospect.
Why are we talking about him now if he is only 16 and he isn't elligible to be drafted until 2011? Well see the bright young man has retained Scott Boras as his advisor, and between them have come up with the idea to withdraw from High School, get his G.E.D. and enroll in Junior College this upcoming year, which would make him elligible to be drafted in 2010, and the likely number 1 overall pick. Why force his hand and come out a year early you ask? Because the Collective Bargaining Agreement expires that year and there will have to be a new agreement put in place for 2011, with a major focus seeming to be on restricting spending in both the Amateur Draft and the international signing period. If MLB goes to some kind of rookie salary scale like the NBA or NHL, or a hard rookie salary cap, it could seriously restrict Harper's earnings early in his career.
There will be endorsements, there always are for stars with this much hype. There will be multi-million dollar free agency contracts. The question is who will win the lottery for the chance to be the team that Bryce Harper started his career for.
After seeing him in person, the hype is for real. His swing is quick, fluid and natural, good mechanics, he throws great from behind the plate with textbook form, and he can run like an outfielder. The only question is will he remain behind the plate and rival Matt Wieters as the next great thing to hit catching, or will he move to another position as he continues to grow? He's got the athleticism to play most anywhere, and the bat for any position. You have to ask yourself, is the worst team in baseball in 2009 really the biggest loser in the league if they get the right to draft this kid next June?
Miguel Angel Sano
While Sano is not a draft prospect, he is the kind of unique talent that should be talked about. Sano is a 6'3 190lb SS from the Dominican Republic who has been compared to Albert Pujols, Hanley Ramirez, and Gary Sheffield. What is so special about that? Well, Sano is only 16 years old, pending an age investigation by MLB that is. His agent has had bone graphs done to show that he is between 16 and 17 years old, and Sano is reportedly looking for money to rival Micheal Ynoa's $4.2 mil. record from last year.
As of July 2nd, Sano was free to sign with any MLB he'd like, this is the international signings period which means that these players are free agents, some with no representation, some with agents already, and most all of them ready to embark on the dream of the big payday and getting out of their current living situation. For those of you not familiar with the signing period and these third-world countries, these players are found by local guys who watch over them from a young age, these guys form relationships with the families, the players, and more importantly MLB teams. Some MLB teams have academies in these countries where these intermediaries will bring entire van or busloads of players to be evaluated in hopes that they will be signed and net them a percentage of the bonus. In these environments it is all about who you know, having the right relationship with one of these guides can give a team an inside track to signing a major talent. Most of these international guys will sign for less than $1m but every once in a while there is a talent where the hype gets so great you could be looking at $3-4m, that is where Sano comes in.
In the limited video available on him, you can see he looks like a man amongst boys, with good footwork and a strong arm at SS. His size looks like his future will be at another position as at some point he will lose some of the agility that makes playing SS possible, but his bat has the potential to play at any position. With an upright stance, and good mechanics he has a very smooth and strong swing that looks to produce a ton of power. Reports are that he already has a great eye for the strike zone, but it is hard to discern that from limited video. There are arguments made for both sides if he is worth the money, as he is so far from filling out there are going to be concerns, however, if some scouts are right, this is the next Dominican superstar, and can you really put a price on that?
The Pirates and Orioles appear to be the last teams standing in on Sano, with a signing decision expected soon people are eagerly awaiting Tweets from Kiley McDaniel of Baseball Prospectus and other experts with bated breath. Stay tuned, this summer drama should be fun to follow in the coming years.
As of July 2nd, Sano was free to sign with any MLB he'd like, this is the international signings period which means that these players are free agents, some with no representation, some with agents already, and most all of them ready to embark on the dream of the big payday and getting out of their current living situation. For those of you not familiar with the signing period and these third-world countries, these players are found by local guys who watch over them from a young age, these guys form relationships with the families, the players, and more importantly MLB teams. Some MLB teams have academies in these countries where these intermediaries will bring entire van or busloads of players to be evaluated in hopes that they will be signed and net them a percentage of the bonus. In these environments it is all about who you know, having the right relationship with one of these guides can give a team an inside track to signing a major talent. Most of these international guys will sign for less than $1m but every once in a while there is a talent where the hype gets so great you could be looking at $3-4m, that is where Sano comes in.
In the limited video available on him, you can see he looks like a man amongst boys, with good footwork and a strong arm at SS. His size looks like his future will be at another position as at some point he will lose some of the agility that makes playing SS possible, but his bat has the potential to play at any position. With an upright stance, and good mechanics he has a very smooth and strong swing that looks to produce a ton of power. Reports are that he already has a great eye for the strike zone, but it is hard to discern that from limited video. There are arguments made for both sides if he is worth the money, as he is so far from filling out there are going to be concerns, however, if some scouts are right, this is the next Dominican superstar, and can you really put a price on that?
The Pirates and Orioles appear to be the last teams standing in on Sano, with a signing decision expected soon people are eagerly awaiting Tweets from Kiley McDaniel of Baseball Prospectus and other experts with bated breath. Stay tuned, this summer drama should be fun to follow in the coming years.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Breaking Ground
This is the initial post in what I hope to be many. This medium will serve it's purpose for now, with much larger plans on the horizon, but I hope to provide some great coverage of the MLB Rule 4 draft. Now that 2009 is in the books, I will start to focus on 2010, and any draft talk about 2010 is going to begin with wunderkid, Bryce Harper - C Las Vegas, Nevada. I plan on posting something about the upcoming CBA talks and what they have to do with the draft, as there are rumblings of a rookie salary cap of some kind beginning in 2011. Why lead from Harper to the salary cap in 2011 you ask? Well for those of you who don't know, Harper is only 16 years old, and was not supposed to be draft elligible until 2011, but has dropped out of school, enrolled in Community College, and will subsequently be elligible in 2010. How convenient when Scott Boras is your advisor and you are being called the LeBron James of Baseball.
Well, that is a good start for now. I'll be back soon with a write up on Harper, some names to watch for in the college ranks next season, and hopefully some players who improve their stocks from the summer leagues. Hope you guys enjoy!
Well, that is a good start for now. I'll be back soon with a write up on Harper, some names to watch for in the college ranks next season, and hopefully some players who improve their stocks from the summer leagues. Hope you guys enjoy!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)