2014 MLB Draft: An Early Look

[Angrioter]

2014 Minor League Ball Community Mock Draft: AL East Summary

John Sickels

 

TORONTO BLUE JAYS

9) Kyle Freeland, LHP, Evansville

11) Max Pentecost, C, Kennesaw State

49) Scott Blewett,RHP, New York HS

84) Chris Oliver, RHP, Arkansas

114) Jordan Luplow, OF, Fresno State

SUMMARY: Freeland garners some mixed reviews but under certain scenarios both he and Pentecost could go in the top six picks, meaning that getting them both at 9 and 11 could be a huge coup. Luplow’s power, speed, and on-base abilities are a fine choice in the fourth round, and Oliver could go 40 spots earlier than he does here based on his live, fresh arm. Blewett is the upside guy and most likely signable away from St. John’s in that spot. Overall, I think this is a good use of multiple picks.

 

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2014/6/1/5770410/2014-minor-league-ball-community-mock-draft-al-east-summary

[GD]

Blewett at 49 would be great, but with Zimmer, Hoffman, Turner, and Conforto all available at our picks, Pentecost and Freeland is pretty ew.

 

Conforto + Hoffman >>> Freeland + Pentecost.

 

Also, Beede 8th and Hoffman 19th? Conforto 18th? looooool what is this

[ace3113]

Blewett at 49 would be great, but with Zimmer, Hoffman, Turner, and Conforto all available at our picks, Pentecost and Freeland is pretty ew.

 

Conforto + Hoffman >>> Freeland + Pentecost.

 

Also, Beede 8th and Hoffman 19th? Conforto 18th? looooool what is this

 

If Freeland and Hoffman are on the board at our picks and we take anything but both of them I would rage. lol

 

Also, Blewett has had a pretty bad spring and I would probably have taken McKinney, Flaherty, DeCarr, and maybe Verdugo over him anyway.

[GD]

You wouldn't take Conforto over Freeland?

[ace3113]

You wouldn't take Conforto over Freeland?

 

No. I would even take Zimmer over Conforto.

[crazy47larry]

I highly doubt Freeland makes it that far. If he did that would be a coup for whoever got him.

 

Zimmer vs Conforto is close as it gets really, but I would much rather have Schwarber over both as far as college hitters go.

[ace3113]

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/

 

With the recent rash of Tommy John surgeries in baseball, general managers are scared of taking pitchers at the top of the draft and giving them lucrative contracts, writes Bob Nightengale of USA Today. “There’s more awareness right now with the health of pitchers than I’ve ever seen,” one NL exec said. “It brings so much apprehension and anxiety right now. I don’t think we’ve ever been so sensitive to what’s going on because of all of the pitching injuries. Anyone with health issues, they’re going to fall. You going to spend $6MM to $7MM on a pitcher who’s headed for Tommy John surgery?” This is why some baseball executives believe collegiate pitchers Jeff Hoffman (East Carolina) and Erick Fedde (UNLV) could fall out of the top ten.

[ace3113]

[GD]

Pleaaaasseeeeeeee Hoffman

[ace3113]

http://www.providencejournal.com/sports/red-sox/content/20140531-in-mlb-draft-injuries-work-in-sox-favor.ece

 

The Red Sox don’t own a top-ten pick in this year’s draft, but they’ve been able to land high-end talent before by taking chances on guys with injuries, writes Tim Britton of the Providence Journal. Boston snagged Jackie Bradley, Jr. with the 40th overall pick in 2011, an ultra-talented outfielder who had a subpar junior season that included a wrist injury. The Red Sox will pick 26th and 33rd on Thursday.

[ElNik2013]

Big draft coming up for AA. If he hits a couple of HR in the first couple rounds, the farm will look much better.

[GD]

That mock looks very good. A couple things:

 

-Kopech? That high? I hope not. I'd love him to fall for us.

-Adams, I don't think goes that high.

-Where the high holy f*** is Monte Harrison?

 

I don't want to take two pitchers, but if it's Freeland/Hoffman, yeah, I like it. It's hedging your bets.

 

I think Freeland is being underrated by other teams. I'd take him over Nola any day.

[RIPEXPOS]

Sucks we're gonna miss out on Nick Gordon, but I'm all for taking Hoffman. Sure he needs to recover from TJ, but once he does he'll still be further along, while having better projectability and stuff, than the prep arm options.

 

Hoffman and Turner are the 2 guys I'm hoping for at #9 and #11.

Edited June 2, 2014 by RIPEXPOS

[TwistedLogic]

Watch the f***ing Rockies take Hoffman. This pick is stressing me out, this draft needs to happen now.

[RIPEXPOS]

I think the top 6 is all but set, but yea, I'm going to be stressed when the Phillies and Rockies are picking...

[Abomination]

I definitely want Hoffman. I'm not big on Turner, but I think Zimmer could be interesting on the bat side (assuming no one really falls). On the pitching side I would love for us to redraft Nola if he's still on the board, or Freeland if not in addition to Hoffman.

[GD]

I think the top 6 is all but set, but yea, I'm going to be stressed when the Phillies and Rockies are picking...

 

I just saw a report saying the Phillies may be going more for MLB ready picks.

 

I'm feeling Nola to the Phillies.

[RIPEXPOS]

Nola to me seems to have supplanted himself as the 4th best arm in the draft due to his floor and major league proximity, so I think he goes in the 4-6 range along with Gordon and Jackson. After that is when I think it gets interesting.

[43211234]

The reports of lacking funds for the Blue Jays draft is very concerning. If they don't spend the entirety off their draft pool it will be even more pathetic than the standing pat of last off-season

[TwistedLogic]

The reports of lacking funds for the Blue Jays draft is very concerning. If they don't spend the entirety off their draft pool it will be even more pathetic than the standing pat of last off-season

 

They're not "reports", it was one random line Shi Davidi made the blasphemous mistake of adding into a completely unrelated article, and the Jays community being the Jays community collapsed and went f***ing ape-s*** about it. In other words, it's all ********. If it was an actual thing, Shi wouldn't have masked it inside one of his articles; the guy's a hound for controversial Jays stories, he would have made an entire piece about it.

[NorthOf49]

http://www.bluejaysplus.com/touki-toussaint-blue-jays-taking-righty-thursday-night/#sthash.dHmioDsV.dpbs

 

Source tells BJP that the Jays are set to take Turner at 9 and Touki at 11

Stop enabling those guys. They're not journalists, we have no idea how good the sourcing is. And nobody knows anything at this point anyway.

 

---

I think I'm going to post in here more. I'm in full draft mode now.

[Frenchsoup]

http://www.bluejaysplus.com/touki-toussaint-blue-jays-taking-righty-thursday-night/#sthash.dHmioDsV.dpbs

 

Source tells BJP that the Jays are set to take Turner at 9 and Touki at 11

 

So if that's true do they both sign underslot?

[crazy47larry]

I just saw a report saying the Phillies may be going more for MLB ready picks.

 

I'm feeling Nola to the Phillies.

 

Could be a smokescreen. Those Phillies love drafting high risk players.

[NorthOf49]

Yeah I hope they are wrong and then I can laugh in their face, they get on my nerves.

You won't get to. If they're wrong, they'll just sweep it under the rug by saying "our source was wrong, what are you going to do." Because they're not a reputable publication they have no reason to have journalistic integrity. Reporting everything they hear it good for their website since it gets clicks and they're bound to be right every once in a while.

[TwistedLogic]

You won't get to. If they're wrong, they'll just sweep it under the rug by saying "our source was wrong, what are you going to do." Because they're not a reputable publication they have no reason to have journalistic integrity. Reporting everything they hear it good for their website since it gets clicks and they're bound to be right every once in a while.

 

Yeah I'm almost certain that they just went around and picked the two most popular mock choices for the Jays and thought "Well everyone is saying these two players, sounds like a slam dunk! Let's pretend we have a source and write this article so that after the draft we can say 'see? we've got our own sources.'" At least I'm hoping that's what's happening because I'm not gonna be happy with Turner/Touki.

[GD]

BJP is soooooo bad.

[NorthOf49]

BJP is soooooo bad.

All of their articles are needlessly detailed and it gives me hemorrhages. Overfitting and obfuscation everywhere.

 

Three paragraphs from a recent article on Dioner Navarro.

 

"As well, basic statistical observations allow us to see that he isn’t extremely durable either. Navarro hasn’t played in 100+ games since 2009, when he appeared in 115 for the Rays. Navarro is currently on pace to play in over 100 games for the first time since that year, but with the emergence of Erik Kratz behind the dish, and Josh Thole being Dickey’s personal catcher, the playing time for Navarro is likely to slow down immensely. However, do keep in mind that Navarro has DH’d quite a few times this season, so he likely isn’t going to catch more than 90 games this season.

 

Though, of note, despite the holes in Navarro’s game, he truly has had an impact on Mark Buehrle. Buehrle is currently off to a blazing hot start and some of that success can be attributed to Navarro’s pitch selection as well as his ability to adapt to the quick pace. It really is quite amazing the difference catchers can make when pitchers are comfortable throwing to them. Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Matt Garza has also been a big fan of Navarro in the past, and once called him his favorite catcher he has worked with. The two worked together in Tampa Bay and in Chicago. Buehrle has been locked in this season, and has executed whatever pitch Navarro puts down.

 

Now having delved into Navarro’s 2014 statistics, he is definitely reaping the benefits of being Arencibia’s successor. The limited ability that Navarro does have is still upgrade over J.P Arencibia, but he stacks up far less favourably to other catchers around the MLB than you might think."

 

Here is what they should have written:

 

"Dioner Navarro has been a back-up catcher in recent seasons; this is his first year as a regular since 2009. The pitchers he has caught are off to hot starts, however it'd be irresponsible to attribute that to Navarro. Catchers have a limited ability to impact pitchers outside of framing, and Navarro is a below-average framer. He may not be a great hitter either, but Blue Jays fans are just happy he's not JP Arencibia."

[Mikeleelop]

I don't like the potential pick of Turner.... if his hit tool is his weak link then why risk it? The Jays need a solid position player who can make contact and has a solid approach at the plate. Not a speed burner who needs a major FIX

[43211234]

Could someone post who Klaw has the Blue Jays taking in his latest mock?

[43211234]

Touki/Hoffman

 

Will post in ~35 minutes

Thanks