The Official 2018 Amateur Draft Thread

[Dave Saltzer]

I'm going to post this in both this thread and the official Adams draft thread. I checked with some people in a variety of organizations and was told that there was no way Adams was going to go much lower, and definitely zero chance he'd make it out of the 1st round. A couple of clubs were really hoping he'd drop to them and were ready to pounce if we didn't take him.

In his interview with Alex Curry, Matt Swanson used the word "athleticism" a whole bunch. The people I talked to said that our picks were by design to get younger and more toolsy. That's the plan under Eppler, and that's what they were looking for at the top of the draft. 

Another thing that Swanson and a few others mentioned was maturity/mental makeup. That is definitely a big factor. Having interviewed our top prospects for a decade or so, I can definitely say that the more recent ones in particular, Jones, Canning, Adell, Marsh all carry themselves a lot better and come across as more mature and articulate than those that we have drafted in the past. Again, I've been told that having a higher mental approach to the game and other aspects is very highly sought after by our organization. 

Hearing how desired Adams was by other organizations makes me feel a lot better about the pick. 

[Inside Pitch]

Keith Law's draft day winners and losers article...

http://www.espn.com/blog/keith-law/insider/post?id=8429

Listed among the best picks...

LA Angels: Jeremiah Jackson, SS, St. Luke's HS, Mobile, Alabama

Rank: No. 23 / Pick: No. 57

The Angels had a heck of a day, taking Jordyn Adams with their first pick, landing a kid who might have been a top 5 or 10 pick if he'd been a full-time baseball player in high school (he was more committed to football until his senior year), and then landing Jackson, a first-round talent, with their second pick. Jackson is very likely to stay at short, and he has shown a broad mix of tools and skills at the plate, with above-average power, plus speed and a good idea of the strike zone, at least in high school. I'm surprised a true shortstop like Jackson lasted beyond the first 40 picks.

[Inside Pitch]

FG's scouting reports https://www.fangraphs.com/scoutboard.aspx?draft=2018mlb&type=0&pos=all&team=all

Jordyn Adams

TLDR

Adams is one of the top wide receivers in the country and was a unrefined, middle tier prep prospect until he had a breakout tournament performance in late March. His elite toolset reminds some of Byron Buxton or Royce Lewis, but the track record is very short.

Full Report

Adams was not talked about as a top-3 round prospect in this class before late-March's NHSI tournament in his home town of Cary. Adams wasn't even one of the top dozen prospects at the event when it started, but looked like a sure first day pick by the end of the event. He offers top of the scale athleticism, which you'd expect from one of the top dozen wide receiver prospects in the country. He has 80 speed, a loose swing, plus bat control, projectable raw power and athletic actions. Adams wasn't a top tier baseball prospect entering the spring in part because of limited reps, since he was seen as likely to go to North Carolina to play football, where his father is the defensive line coach. He's now in line for a multi-million dollar bonus offer and is expected to sign. We think he goes in the 10-17 range.

Jeremiah Jackson

TLDR

Bad last summer, Jackson got a pair of glasses and raked all spring. He's hit and should play somewhere on the dirt.

Full Report

Jackson was bad last summer. He was swinging through pitches in the zone at Area Codes and made some defensive mistakes, so while he looked great in the uniform and taking BP, there was skepticism surrounding his on-field ability. This spring, Jackson got glasses and became such a dominant force of nature that he was intentionally walked in 11 of his final 13 high school at-bats. There's some concern that Jackson's spring is fool's gold as he's performed against bad high school pitching. We're buying the corrected vision makes a significant difference and think he'll hit and stay on the dirt. He projects as a good everyday third baseman.

*****************

Angels went lottery pick route with their top two guys....  FG's had them ranked 19th and 31st overall... and had Adams going anywhere between 10-17.  The questions about Jackson's bat due to the quality of competition is eerily similar to the criticism of Jo Adell last year.

Get hyped!

Edited June 5, 2018 by Inside Pitch

[Lou]

On June 3, 2018 at 10:08 PM, Inside Pitch said:

I can tell you the Yanks people think the Angels are extremely high on Adams.   One of the Halos cross-checkers was seen at multiple games and apparently they had more than one person at some of his games recently.  The love for Weathers was said to be real but, its now believed he will be gone....   Again from Yankees sources - the Angels are putting an extreme amount of weight on make up and athleticism, which may also keep them away from Adams as some wonder if he's supposedly too caught up in being paid.  There are some whispers the Angels are very high on Bubic out of Stanford in the second round if he's still there.

Fwiw... These were the same two people that told me last year the Angels were leaning heavily towards Adell .... that turned out to be spot on. 

BIG FLY !!!

Once again, IP knocks it out of the park. Trust his sources, gentlemen, they are legit. 

 

 

[T.G.]

I've been reading IP's post for years and he's absolutely legit.  He's "Inside" Pitch for a reason...

[Chuck]

Does anyone know when the draft resumes today?

[Lou]

11 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

Does anyone know when the draft resumes today?

10 am our time 

[Mark68]

11 hours ago, greginpsca said:

That "3 Dog Night" reference is probably going over the heads of many of the young'uns in here.

Joy to the World

All the boys and girls

Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea

Joy to you and me

 

[Second Base]

I know everyone else already gave their takes, so I'll just briefly offer mine as they probably don't offer anything we don't already know.

Jordyn Adams - Obviously a superior athlete. The swing itself looks loose and fitted to drive pitches to all fields, but I don't see the power in it. I don't like that we loaded up on another outfielder when the systems seems full of those already, but he never focused on baseball before. Maybe the experts are right, maybe this is a great pick. He's likely to get a lot better and judging by the dunk and the football highlight videos, he has more upside than pretty much everyone in the draft.

As soon as the Angels switch sports, they'll have the best football team by far with Adams, Hunter Jr., and Marsh at wide receiver and Hermosillo at RB. We'll put Trout at TE. Need a QB.

Jeremiah Jackson - I don't know a lot about him, only briefly read his name pre-draft. But there are two things he has in that video that you can't fake, size and power.

If the experts say they did good, then I'll buy it. 

[Make Angels Great Again]

 

[T.G.]

http://highschoolsports.al.com/news/article/-6337374652636444521/after-11-intentional-walks-st-lukes-star-jeremiah-jackson-shows-class-even-in-defeat/

[Chuck]

13 minutes ago, Scotty@AW said:

I know everyone else already gave their takes, so I'll just briefly offer mine as they probably don't offer anything we don't already know.

Jordyn Adams - Obviously a superior athlete. The swing itself looks loose and fitted to drive pitches to all fields, but I don't see the power in it. I don't like that we loaded up on another outfielder when the systems seems full of those already, but he never focused on baseball before. Maybe the experts are right, maybe this is a great pick. He's likely to get a lot better and judging by the dunk and the football highlight videos, he has more upside than pretty much everyone in the draft.

As soon as the Angels switch sports, they'll have the best football team by far with Adams, Hunter Jr., and Marsh at wide receiver and Hermosillo at RB. We'll put Trout at TE. Need a QB.

Jeremiah Jackson - I don't know a lot about him, only briefly read his name pre-draft. But there are two things he has in that video that you can't fake, size and power.

If the experts say they did good, then I'll buy it. 

Damn... That would be a great football team. Even Upton has a ton of athleticism and could be an outside linebacker. 

But Trout would be a Tony Gonzalez type TE for sure. 

[Chuck]

#Angels first and second round picks, side-by-side - Jordyn Adams (left), Jeremiah Jackson (right) pic.twitter.com/zoSAfnF9it

— Taylor Blake Ward (@TaylorBlakeWard) June 5, 2018

[Broad Street]

19 minutes ago, Scotty@AW said:

I know everyone else already gave their takes, so I'll just briefly offer mine as they probably don't offer anything we don't already know.

Jordyn Adams - Obviously a superior athlete. The swing itself looks loose and fitted to drive pitches to all fields, but I don't see the power in it. I don't like that we loaded up on another outfielder when the systems seems full of those already, but he never focused on baseball before. Maybe the experts are right, maybe this is a great pick. He's likely to get a lot better and judging by the dunk and the football highlight videos, he has more upside than pretty much everyone in the draft.

As soon as the Angels switch sports, they'll have the best football team by far with Adams, Hunter Jr., and Marsh at wide receiver and Hermosillo at RB. We'll put Trout at TE. Need a QB.

Jeremiah Jackson - I don't know a lot about him, only briefly read his name pre-draft. But there are two things he has in that video that you can't fake, size and power.

If the experts say they did good, then I'll buy it. 

Calhoun can absolutely sling it. He can be our Steve Young.

[Broad Street]

6 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

Damn... That would be a great football team. Even Upton has a ton of athleticism and could be an outside linebacker. 

But Trout would be a Tony Gonzalez type TE for sure. 

Trout would be more like an early-mid career Jason Witten. You know, lose your helmet but still fight for a few more yards type.

[Make Angels Great Again]

Ohtani has the size, speed, and arm strength to be a QB.

[Dave Saltzer]

9 minutes ago, True Grich said:

http://highschoolsports.al.com/news/article/-6337374652636444521/after-11-intentional-walks-st-lukes-star-jeremiah-jackson-shows-class-even-in-defeat/

I have to say I'm getting more and more excited about this pick. Prior to the draft I heard some mixed reports (might not stick at SS, needs some work, power is legit, but most likely a 3B down the road). But, if that power is truly legit, and the mental makeup is there, he could surpass Maitan in a year or two. And, if he can stick at SS, that could be special.

[Broad Street]

1 minute ago, Make Angels Great Again said:

Ohtani has the size, speed, and arm strength to be a QB.

But how's his deep ball accuracy? We know Calhoun can run and has great deep ball accuracy.

[Warfarin]

12 minutes ago, Dave Saltzer said:

I have to say I'm getting more and more excited about this pick. Prior to the draft I heard some mixed reports (might not stick at SS, needs some work, power is legit, but most likely a 3B down the road). But, if that power is truly legit, and the mental makeup is there, he could surpass Maitan in a year or two. And, if he can stick at SS, that could be special.

Great to hear!  I think Maitan is being projected as more of a 3B/1B type, so maybe they won't truly overlap in positions if Jackson can remain at SS, or be more of a SS/3B.

[Second Base]

12 minutes ago, Dave Saltzer said:

I have to say I'm getting more and more excited about this pick. Prior to the draft I heard some mixed reports (might not stick at SS, needs some work, power is legit, but most likely a 3B down the road). But, if that power is truly legit, and the mental makeup is there, he could surpass Maitan in a year or two. And, if he can stick at SS, that could be special.

If Maitan hits like the Angels think he will, he could end up moving over to 1B and it wouldn't hurt his value.

But I don't think we've seen the best of Maitan yet. Here in the next couple years, something is going to click and he'll be a monster at the plate and in the field.

[Dave Saltzer]

1 minute ago, Warfarin said:

Great to hear!  I think Maitan is being projected as more of a 3B/1B type, so maybe they won't truly overlap in positions if Jackson can remain at SS, or be more of a SS/3B.

That just got me thinking. What if Jackson does move to 3B, and Maitan becomes more of a 1B prospect? The big draw to Maitan was his bat first, defense second. So, if Jackson develops as hoped, and Maitan does as well, maybe they can become the corner INF down the road. Just a thought. For now, leave Jackson at SS, and Maitan at 3B. But, that could be interesting.

[Warfarin]

9 minutes ago, Dave Saltzer said:

That just got me thinking. What if Jackson does move to 3B, and Maitan becomes more of a 1B prospect? The big draw to Maitan was his bat first, defense second. So, if Jackson develops as hoped, and Maitan does as well, maybe they can become the corner INF down the road. Just a thought. For now, leave Jackson at SS, and Maitan at 3B. But, that could be interesting.

Definitely a possibility!  We are amassing lots of projectable talent.  We have many options, which is not a bad position to be in

[Chuck]

A good read heading into today's draft.

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/2018-mlb-draft-day-one-analysis/

[tdawg87]

Eppler knows what he's doing. Every draft he's gotten a gem in the 2nd round.

[jordan]

45 minutes ago, True Grich said:

http://highschoolsports.al.com/news/article/-6337374652636444521/after-11-intentional-walks-st-lukes-star-jeremiah-jackson-shows-class-even-in-defeat/

That must have really stunk to be intentionally walked and unable to do more damage for his team.  That is great to hear of the class he showed.  Seems like another character guy.  And his bat sounds really good.