2016 MLB Draft Preview- the HSers on my draft board

Let me start this one by saying I don't have any intention of going HS player with my first pick. I'm hoping one of Ray, Senzel or Hudson makes it to me at the 8th pick.

That said, there is one HS guy for who I'd bend my rule here, and that's Riley Pint. A recent BA podcast discussed Pint, saying we have never before seen a HS pitcher that throws 100+ and has a plus changeup. He's unique, and possibly the most likely player in this draft to end up a hall of famer. As such, if he's there, and my 3 college guys are gone, I swallow hard and roll the dice.

At 24, there are two more HS guys I'm looking at:

• Ian Anderson- The guy has electric stuff, and as a Northeast arm, there should be some bullets left in the tank.
• Delvin Perez- The comparisons to Correa are unfair, but Perez is said to be an electric athlete with terrific defense and top end speed.

I'm assuming neither is there, but should something strange happen, I'll swing for the fences with either player.

Beginning in the second round, I start looking at Jesus Luzardo, if he is on the board. He's been called the "safest" HS pitcher (at least, that was before the his injury). Jeff Belge is in the discussion here too.

After the 3rd round, I'm considering Nick Quintana, the hard hitting 2b from Nevada (could he develop into what Senzel is today?), and I'm keeping an eye on Trevyne Carter, a 6'3 LHH CF from Tennessee with incredible athleticism.

There's absolutely a chance that a few more HS players make it onto my final big board, but for now, these are the guys I'm hoping to land. Being realistic, Pint, Anderson and Perez are unlikely to make it to my roster, but landing any (or all) or Luzardo, Belge, Quintana and Carter to supplement a strong college draft would be an amazing coup.

MLB Draft Preview- big board in progress

Forgive me for paraphrasing here, but Jimmy Johnson, the guy who built all those winning teams in Dallas, used to say something to the effect of "your draft board should be a list of all the available players you'd want to have on your team." As such, my draft boards, in Strat, Shadow Drafting and even my own head tend to be fairly short. I look for, and find, a couple dozen or so guys that I want t root for. This year, I found that to be the case again.

More so than ever, my involvement in a Strat league requires me to be aware of a HUGE number of players. Our rules of who is eligible for the minor league draft is "anyone who isn't a major leaguer." This means there are 14 years old who might be a high pick in 2020 already off the board.

For me, I tend to end up with a college heavy draft picks, ideally with a high upside HSer or 3 thrown onto the board.

You can find my actually take on drafting as part of a previous series... it ends here)

This year, I've realized that I had been overvaluing particular HS players in drafts. For example, I had Michael Chavis higher than Luke Weaver and Brandon Finnegan. It kills me to think of what those pitchers would fetch in a deal in Strat, fantasy leagues, or anything else.

So, without further ado, here is the start of my big board as of May 24...

• Corey Ray- He's a potential 30/30 guy with the potential to put up a .300/.400/.500 slash line. What's not to love?
• Nick Senzel- Doubles power galore (which is critical since the team I'm drafting for is in San Diego), athletecism to play SS, 2b and 3b, and yeah, numbers that are absurdly good against SEC Pitching? Sign me up!
• Dakota Hudson- My love of the Cape league is already established. Add in that this guy followed my ideal path, spending time in the bullpen figuring it out before making his debut in the rotation and then domination plus-plus competition? Listen, there should be bullets left in the gun and an ace-like possibility here.
• Chris Okey- I've talked and written at length about trying to find up-the-middle HS talent to compliment college pitching and corners. Sometimes, the up-the-middle HS talent I am smitten with goes to college and ends up available... Chris Okey is that guy. Coming out of HS, he was known as a defense first catcher with a ton of athletecism. Not he's a guy who still has that reputation, and is putting up an OPS between .950 and 1.000 against terrific pitching. Look, the guy has been comp'd to the best of Jason Kendall, who I love more than anyone as a catcher. I know I'm higher on Okey than most folks will be. I don't care.
• Justin Dunn- Up until a week ago, Daulton Jeffries held this spot... but I can't help but move up a reliever turned starter from the north east who's been dominant against top tier competition. If "Arms from the Northeast + HS pitchers with athleticism + college relievers with a chance to become great starters" are my 3 pitching notes.... then this guy belongs in my top 5.

That's my top 5. I am positive it isn't like most people's top 5, but I'm ok with that. Moving on, I come to:

• Anthony Kay- Northeast arms and guys who have pitched for team USA fall into my weaknesses, so Kay fits the bill. He's a lefty with the potential for 3 plus pitches, and every time I think of a comp, I come up with Adam Conley (a major leaguer) on the low end and Jon Lester (a Boston God) on the high side. Sign me up.
• Logan Gray- No one has Logan Gray in the their top 20 (never mind top 10), but I have a comp in my head that I can't get out: Ryan Braun. He's a 3b with questionable defense, amazing athleticism (20/20 in college), more walks than Ks... I can't help it. I want him in my system.
• Daulton Jeffries- He's a terrific pitcher who's been snake bitten by injuries. Recently, a report circulated that he should be OK, and won't need surgery. That's good news. The bad news, of course, is that he's missed a lot of development time.
• Ronnie Dawson- I love midwest bats that are under-appreciated.
• Nick Solak- The safest middle IF in the entire draft, as far as I am concerned.

Now we're getting on through it, and there are 2 more college pitchers I want to make sure I get into my roster.

Ryan Moseley- Coming into the season, Moseley was expected to be the Friday starter for a Texas Tech team that is currently in the top 10 in College Baseball. He hasn't. Instead, he's been effective in the bullpen, while also (reportedly) serving as a stabling factor for the very, VERY young pitching staff in Texas Tech. I get it.. this isn't how he drew it up, but I'm going to assume he's learned from it. Oh yeah, one more thing. His Sinker has been compared to that of Derek Lowe... wait... what? Yeah... a guy who managed to save some bullets, learned to be a leader AND throws a sinker comparable to D-Lowe. D-Lowr with a make up? HELL yeah!

Cooper Hammond- He's a Miami reliever with a funky delivery who might bring back shades of Dave Berg had Dave berg not left college one year ago. At his best, Chad Bradford was a terrific pitcher who got a ton of big outs for the Oakland A's. I'm not saying Hammond can be that guy... but I'm also not, not saying it.

The list above brings up a problem. It's 12 college players. The next post will add some HS players to the discussion, showing where the might rank on the board.

After that, I'll do a list of players I'd be happy to add, assuming my guys are off the board.

Searching for Carl Willis

This isn't a post about the fact that David Price hasn't gotten off the to best of starts (I'm willing to be optimistic, even if I didn't love the signing). It also isn't a post chastising the pitching coach of the Red Sox... not really anyway. It's more a question about a couple of recent headlines:

• At the end of April, rookie pitcher Henry Owens got beat up, giving up 3 runs in 3 1/3 innings. Not the start he was looking for to be sure, but one of the more interesting story lines was about how it was Chris Young, a reserve outfielder, and Clay Buchholz, a pitcher that pulled the rookie into the video booth to review a mechanical flaw that was tipping pitches, and letting the Astros know what pitches were coming.
• Speaking of Price, the story today on the lefty is that Dustin Pedroia, the team's all-world second baseman, is helping him get back on track.

For those of you keeping track, it's an outfielder, an infielder and a pitcher that are helping the starting pitching get things rolling. None of those guys are a pitching coach.

There are a couple of possibilities as to why these stories are popping up. On one hand, maybe the PR team for the Sox is anxious to promote the team vibe (maybe after a couple years of rough finishes, the team is looking to build the impression of a rah-rah group of guys?). Boston is famous, after all, for having a team full of 25 guys who need 25 cabs. It could also be that Willis is a shy fellow who doesn't want a lot of credit and isn't interested in seeing his name in the paper.

I have a problem with this, mainly in terms of optics. Juan Nicasio, a pitcher who signed with the Pirates as a typical Pirates reclamation project, said "Everybody talks about, 'You go here, you get better...'". Stories highlighting how players are doing the coaches' job don't exactly inspire courage for a player who desperately needs a change of scenery to get thing going (Jake Arrieta being a terrific example).

As I'm typing this, Stephen Wright just wrapped up a complete game, 3 hitter in the Bronx, allowing a garbage time run in the 9th. Carl Willis probably deserves some credit for the way that Wright is pitching (unless do-it-all player Brock Holt worked on a knuckler in the off-season?). It would be nice to get an idea of how much credit he deserves.

Maybe this is far more typical than I think it is... player noticing things and sharing with their teammates doesn't sound like a bad thing. Maybe it's just the narrative the Sox want to craft. But maybe, just maybe, there is something to keep an eye on here. The backup OF sure seems to be doing so.