The Official 2018 Amateur Draft Thread

[Dave Saltzer]

46 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

Seigler is very intriguing, seeing how catchers on the farm are somewhat scarse.

But with the pleathora of pitchers, it would be hard to not choose one.

There's actually a good reason for why catchers are becoming more problematic for everyone these days, and I may write a piece about it at some point.

[Dave Saltzer]

Another day, more predictions . . . This one at least has good video for each of the projections, so, if you want to see all of the players projected in the 1st round, it's a convenient site.

From: https://thebiglead.com/2018/05/30/2018-mlb-mock-draft-college-players-fly-off-the-board-early/4/

17. Los Angeles Angels: Jackson Kowar, RHP, Florida
The Los Angeles Angels are looking at college and prep arms and will likely select whoever they deem to be the best available.

Jackson Kowar is the No. 2 pitcher on his college staff, but he has plenty of upside himself. At 6’5″ and 180 pounds, there’s a ton of projection left in his frame. His fastball easily sits in the mid-90s and he’s already got an excellent changeup. If his curve develops he could develop into a frontline starter.

[Inside Pitch]

51 minutes ago, Dave Saltzer said:

There's actually a good reason for why catchers are becoming more problematic for everyone these days, and I may write a piece about it at some point.

Catchers have always had the lowest success rate of any position player in the draft -- HS catchers are even worse.   Yet another reason Jeff Mathis despite his being considered a failure is a massive success story.

[Angel Oracle]

1 hour ago, Dave Saltzer said:

Another day, more predictions . . . This one at least has good video for each of the projections, so, if you want to see all of the players projected in the 1st round, it's a convenient site.

From: https://thebiglead.com/2018/05/30/2018-mlb-mock-draft-college-players-fly-off-the-board-early/4/

17. Los Angeles Angels: Jackson Kowar, RHP, Florida
The Los Angeles Angels are looking at college and prep arms and will likely select whoever they deem to be the best available.

Jackson Kowar is the No. 2 pitcher on his college staff, but he has plenty of upside himself. At 6’5″ and 180 pounds, there’s a ton of projection left in his frame. His fastball easily sits in the mid-90s and he’s already got an excellent changeup. If his curve develops he could develop into a frontline starter.

Is there enough movement on Kowar’s heat?

His size is definitely projectable.

[Inside Pitch]

So...   Which MLB team bites the bullet and drafts this kid... https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/07/sports/luke-heimlich-sex-crime.html   The entire situation is pretty sketchy...    Here are a couple other links.. https://deadspin.com/mlb-prospect-luke-heimlich-denies-molesting-his-niece-1825831942 https://www.si.com/mlb/2018/05/16/luke-heimlich-oregon-state

[Stradling]

2 hours ago, Inside Pitch said:

So...   Which MLB team bites the bullet and drafts this kid... https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/07/sports/luke-heimlich-sex-crime.html   The entire situation is pretty sketchy...    Here are a couple other links.. https://deadspin.com/mlb-prospect-luke-heimlich-denies-molesting-his-niece-1825831942 https://www.si.com/mlb/2018/05/16/luke-heimlich-oregon-state

The Raiders

[Docwaukee]

5 hours ago, Inside Pitch said:

So...   Which MLB team bites the bullet and drafts this kid... https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/07/sports/luke-heimlich-sex-crime.html   The entire situation is pretty sketchy...    Here are a couple other links.. https://deadspin.com/mlb-prospect-luke-heimlich-denies-molesting-his-niece-1825831942 https://www.si.com/mlb/2018/05/16/luke-heimlich-oregon-state

I didn't read the whole story last year when the kid wasn't drafted.  What a crazy and unfortunate story.  

A 15 year old kid maintains his innocence yet agrees to a guilty plea on the advice of legal counsel and his parents.  Citing that it was felt he wouldn't have been given a fair trial and the risk of a guilty verdict was too much.  

It was his word against that of a then 6 year old who's father, Heimlich's brother ended up with primary custody after a nasty divorce.  Did the mother drum up the charges to get more custody?  Was the child confused?  Did he actually do it?  

If he did do it, he's a sicko.  If he didn't then why hasn't the truth come out?  And what a horrible ordeal for him if he didn't.  But if I'm being accused of such heinous things and I didn't do it, I'd be throwing everyone under the bus possible to prove my innocence.  That includes any potential motives .  

It's kind of hard to tell, but it seems he even passed a polygraph.  

What if the halos drafted him in the 40th round?  Or signed him as a UFA?  Would you be OK with that?  

[tdawg87]

His name is Heimlich and he's a possible child molester.

Draft the absolute F*ck out of him.

[Lou]

7 hours ago, Dochalo said:

But if I'm being accused of such heinous things and I didn't do it, I'd be throwing everyone under the bus possible to prove my innocence.  That includes any potential motives .  

I agree.

[Lou]

7 hours ago, Dochalo said:

What if the halos drafted him in the 40th round?  Or signed him as a UFA?  Would you be OK with that?  

Absolutely not. 

[Dave Saltzer]

Latest from Jonathan Mayo is out. Interesting thing is he still has McClanahan available if we wanted him. I had a discussion the other day with someone, and it comes down to risk and reward. McClanahan is the much higher risk (his command isn't as good), but, if harnassed would be quite lethal. Not to say that Gilbert isn't a very good pitcher, but his floor is probably higher than McClanahan's and his ceiling is a bit lower. However, he is more likely to hit his ceiling than McClanahan.

From: https://www.mlb.com/news/mock-draft-jonathan-mayo-predicts-1st-round/c-279050910

17. Angels: Logan Gilbert, RHP, Stetson

After a sluggish start to his spring, Gilbert's stuff has been steadily ticking upward and has more closely resembled the guy who dominated in the Cape last summer. The Angels were at his Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament start, and he pitched well.

[Dave Saltzer]

Does anyone have Insider to see what Keith Law has us projected to take in his latest mock draft?

[Dave Saltzer]

21 hours ago, Inside Pitch said:

So...   Which MLB team bites the bullet and drafts this kid... https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/07/sports/luke-heimlich-sex-crime.html   The entire situation is pretty sketchy...    Here are a couple other links.. https://deadspin.com/mlb-prospect-luke-heimlich-denies-molesting-his-niece-1825831942 https://www.si.com/mlb/2018/05/16/luke-heimlich-oregon-state

No way in hell would I recommend doing this. Even if he truly is innocent of this, and did this due to bad legal advice, do you really want the distraction at every level as he moves through the system? Every time he moves up, there'd be an outcry, you'd have to assuage the community, etc. Not worth it. You don't draft or sign problems into the organization, especially on that level.

The big question is how did this information get out? No matter what, his life has been heavily affected by it, and if it was revealed illegally, could result in some interesting litigation.

[Dave Saltzer]

Latest from the Bleacherreport: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2778655-2018-mlb-mock-draft-breaking-down-top-prospects-and-predictions

17. Los Angeles Angels: Ryan Rolison, LHP, Ole Miss

[Inside Pitch]

43 minutes ago, Dave Saltzer said:

No way in hell would I recommend doing this. Even if he truly is innocent of this, and did this due to bad legal advice, do you really want the distraction at every level as he moves through the system? Every time he moves up, there'd be an outcry, you'd have to assuage the community, etc. Not worth it. You don't draft or sign problems into the organization, especially on that level.

The big question is how did this information get out? No matter what, his life has been heavily affected by it, and if it was revealed illegally, could result in some interesting litigation.

I'd pass.. because of the attached BS..  but there is enough there to cast doubt on what happened and I find it hard to believe a 15 year old could fake passing a lie detector.   The entire thing is sketchy.

Mostly, I think it's complete horseshit that it got out the way it did and that someone who may have been innocent will have to carry the stigma around forever.  The information was supposed to have been sealed 5 years in, the problem is the paper put the piece out before it got sealed - it was public record until then.  Now, regardless of whether or not it's removed -- the cat is out of the bag.

Edited May 31, 2018 by Inside Pitch

[Blarg]

15 hours ago, Dochalo said:

But if I'm being accused of such heinous things and I didn't do it, I'd be throwing everyone under the bus possible to prove my innocence.  That includes any potential motives

If you are 15 and your parents are begging for this to go away, mom has probably balled her eyes out and the lawyers are all talking jail time you take the deal. After all, you're 15 and this stuff gets sealed up and never gets out, you still have some light at the end of the tunnel. 

But you're an independent 40 year old man that has developed more backbone over the years and have more on the line. Yes, you fight it. At 15 you do what your parents want and that is not bankruptcy court paying a lawyer. 

Someone is guilty here of wrongdoing but I guess you can't sue the press for violating your privacy rights. 

[Inside Pitch]

1 minute ago, Blarg said:

If you are 15 and your parents are begging for this to go away, mom has probably balled her eyes out and the lawyers are all talking jail time you take the deal. After all, you're 15 and this stuff gets sealed up and never gets out, you still have some light at the end of the tunnel. 

But you're an independent 40 year old man that has developed more backbone over the years and have more on the line. Yes, you fight it. At 15 you do what your parents want and that is not bankruptcy court paying a lawyer. 

Someone is guilty here of wrongdoing but I guess you can't sue the press for violating your privacy rights. 

To piggyback on what you're saying here...  One of the things that was recorded AT THE TIME, was the desire of everyone involved to not have the niece go through the ordeal of the trial...    

[Stax]

The Angels drafted Zach Houchins, 2014, and  Tagen Struhs, 2010,  two guys with issues during their high school years. So, if Luke Heimlich is available in the middle rounds draft him.  

[Dave Saltzer]

Here's a thought. Not that I think it is likely, but, an interesting thought. What if Nick Madrigal falls from the top-3 (for those who don't know him, he's the top-rated college hitter, plays 2B/SS, great fielder, runner, but limited power and only 5'7"). It's possible because teams put such a premium on power that he could fall, even though his hit tool is considered far and away the best.

 

Now I've been mostly about the pitching in this year's draft, but, what if he fell down to us? It is possible (but again, not likely) that he could drop due to the small stature and lack of power (so many teams and scouts are married to traditional views, especially in the 1st round). If that happened, I think we would have to draft him as the BPA. What do you think?

[Jobu]

Heimlich's coach has some thoughts on the Rangers...

Quote

On the decision of the Rangers GM Jon Daniels to announce the organization would not draft Luke Heimlich. Heimlich had pleaded guilty as a teenager in 2012 to one count of sexually molesting a 6-year-old female family member:

"I think the Rangers are a team that took a chance on a guy (Josh Hamilton) who wrote a book about his problems, where he was sent to the store to get medication for his 2-year old infant and ended up in a crackhouse for a week and spent the money on crack cocaine. And they spent money on reliever (Matt) Bush who ran over a guy while he was drunk and left him to die. I don't think that anybody should be talking about who should or who shouldn't be drafted. I think every club has to make their own decision and that's certainly there. I feel like that's not fair to anybody to come out and talk about who should be signing somebody or who should be drafting somebody."

LOL

[Dave Saltzer]

3 hours ago, REDneck said:

2 mocks I just read has us taking Jordyn Adams a prep CF from NC

I've seen us linked to him as well, but I'd be a lot happier with him in the second round rather than the first. 

[Docwaukee]

3 hours ago, REDneck said:

2 mocks I just read has us taking Jordyn Adams a prep CF from NC

Jo Adell

Jo Adams

Nice swing.  High upside.  CF.  

Tough call to pick him at 17.  I'd be stoked to get him in the 2nd round.  

 

[Docwaukee]

8 hours ago, Dave Saltzer said:

Here's a thought. Not that I think it is likely, but, an interesting thought. What if Nick Madrigal falls from the top-3 (for those who don't know him, he's the top-rated college hitter, plays 2B/SS, great fielder, runner, but limited power and only 5'7"). It's possible because teams put such a premium on power that he could fall, even though his hit tool is considered far and away the best.

 

Now I've been mostly about the pitching in this year's draft, but, what if he fell down to us? It is possible (but again, not likely) that he could drop due to the small stature and lack of power (so many teams and scouts are married to traditional views, especially in the 1st round). If that happened, I think we would have to draft him as the BPA. What do you think?

My guess is that he's at the top of the halos big board and we'd take him if he fell to us.  It would surprise me if he went out of the top 10.  

[Dave Saltzer]

2 hours ago, Dochalo said:

Jo Adell

Jo Adams

Nice swing.  High upside.  CF.  

Tough call to pick him at 17.  I'd be stoked to get him in the 2nd round.  

 

Yes, you take the BPA. But, what does he offer that Trent Deveaux doesn't already offer in the system? Both are 80 runners. Both are comparable hitters. Like you, I'd be thrilled to get him in the 2nd round, but would much rather add a top pitcher or someone like Madrigal in the 1st.

[Dave Saltzer]

1 hour ago, Dochalo said:

My guess is that he's at the top of the halos big board and we'd take him if he fell to us.  It would surprise me if he went out of the top 10.  

It would surprise me a little bit as well, as we are a long way down from where he is most likely going to get picked. He's supposed to be a gold glove capable 2B with the best hit tool in the draft. A young Kinsler has been bandied about as a comp. That's something that could tempt me from some of the pitching that should be available to us.