Official 2021 MLB draft thread

[Inside Pitch]

29 minutes ago, Lazorko Saves said:

Ya'll thought you were joking about catchers.  Four UDFA so far.

• Myles Emmerson, C, Cal Poly
• Zach Humphreys, C, Texas Christian
• Kyle Lovelace, C, Houston
• Gabe Matthews, 1B, Oregon
• Matthew McMillan, RHP, UT-Tyler
• Lucas Torres, C, Cayey, P.R.
• Paxton Wallace, 3B, Wichita State
• Joey Walsh, LHP, Boston College
• Kenyon Yovan, RHP/IF, Oregon

I'd be shocked if they don't grab two more.

[rafibomb]

Mason Albright was the lone prep arm we took in round 12 (351 overall) and was ranked 122 among all draft prospects by MLB Pipeline.

https://www.fredericknewspost.com/sports/level/professional/angels-take-chance-on-thurmonts-albright-in-12th-round-of-mlb-draft/article_70d57fab-fe4f-54fe-b5e7-0e0f29fe4fd1.html

“We thought he was going to get called [Monday], and he did. He got multiple calls throughout the day [from various teams]. It just didn’t work out financially,” Albright said. “So, I wasn’t really expecting it to happen today.”

When Mason’s agent called again a few hours later, informing him on the construction site that his son had been selected in the 12th round of the draft by the Los Angeles Angels with the 351st pick overall, Gary Albright was both “super excited” and “super surprised.”

“A lot of people don’t see what happens behind the scenes,” Albright said of his son’s determination and work ethic to make a moment like this possible. “He works his tail off when nobody is watching.”

Mason Albright is a 5-11, 185-pound left-handed pitching prospect who played at Catoctin High School before transferring to the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, for his senior year and the chance to play alongside some of the best prospects in the country.

Albright is the first Frederick County baseball player to be drafted right out of high school since Thomas Johnson graduate and former Baltimore Orioles pitcher Branden Kline was selected in the sixth round of the 2009 draft by the Boston Red Sox with the 198th overall pick.

It’s unclear what sort of financial offer the Angels might have made Albright to convince him to give up his college scholarship and sign with them right away.

“I don’t think teams draft a kid, only having 20 rounds this year, without knowing the kid is possibly going to sign,” said T.J. Hose, Albright’s pitching coach. “Kudos to [Mason] for staying firm [on what he wanted financially] and betting on himself.”

Hose is familiar with Albright’s thinking and has been kept in the loop throughout the entire draft process.

“From what I am hearing, he is getting a significant offer that is going to be a very tough decision for him to make,” Hose said.

If Albright turns down whatever the Angels offer and decides to go to Virginia Tech, he will not be eligible to be drafted again until after his junior season.

Edited July 15, 2021 by rafibomb

[rafibomb]

 

 

[Lou]

Thanks, scouts! 

[Docwaukee]

2 hours ago, rafibomb said:

 

 

I actually like this approach a lot.  They might as well.  I presume most of these guys are college level.  You get to be a lot more selective as to who essentially ends up your round 21 and on picks.  

I'm not saying that I know the halos draft approach, but it probably makes sense that these guys have as much chance of being an eventual prospect as anyone in the 15th-20th rounds over maybe even sooner depending on the criteria they might have used.  

[Docwaukee]

12 hours ago, Lazorko Saves said:

Excellent, Perry and Co. moving on UDFAs.  This will be important in a short draft era.

It's criminal that we only signed *one* last year in the shortest draft in everyone's lifetime.  That was like passing on your 6th round pick, passing on your 7th round pick, etc.

This year, according to the BA UDFA tracker, we're moving on more players than any other team so far.

the pool of draftable players was much smaller.  the UDFA's were probably mostly seniors who were done with college.  The rest got an extra year of eligibility.  There was probably less of that this year.  

[Docwaukee]

12 hours ago, greginpsca said:

If the team gets 2  good starters and 2-4 solid relievers out of this group, it bodes well for the future.

that would be considered a tremendous draft.  Personally I wouldn't expect that out of any draft.  Expect 1-2 decent to good major leaguers.  hope for a 3rd.  Incredible if you get a 4th.  1 starter and 2 good relievers would be absolutely great.  

[rafibomb]

 

[Stradling]

23 minutes ago, rafibomb said:

 

Weird. So a tough sign, but the Angels should have some extra money with some of these college pitchers going below slot. 

[ten ocho recon scout]

12 hours ago, Lou said:

Thanks, scouts! 

Back at ya!

[Angel Oracle]

On 7/14/2021 at 12:10 AM, rafibomb said:

Albanese looking a little bit like his Louisville teammate we drafted a season ago

 

Touching mid 90s with good mixture of pitches and locations

[Second Base]

Angels are using the UDFA function of things to compensate for only a 20 round draft. Smart move. 

Also, they brought in a while bunch of catchers. Why? Because all those pitchers they drafted are going to need someone to throw to. 

[Inside Pitch]

On 7/14/2021 at 11:22 AM, GrittyVeterans said:

So I stopped paying attention after the first round due to work. I understand that we went very heavy on pitching, but can someone fill me in on if the selections make sense/are solid picks with upside?

@Dochalo

@Inside Pitch

@totdprods

I can say I'm a fan of what they did going with all pitchers but I don't think it will come back to hurt them.  Not a big fan of their 3rd rounder based on reputation, but having never seen him pitch I'm in no position to offer opinion.   

I think they may have made out really well on day 3.  

[aznhockeyguy]

Signing more lotto tickets.  Many of these don't pan out, but you're happy when one does. 

[John Smith]

 

 

Angels Radio AM830

 

@AngelsRadioKLAA

 

On this week's episode of the #AngelsRecapPodcast, host

@TrentRushSports

recaps the 2021 All-Star Game and Angels Scouting Director Matt Swanson stops by to discuss the team’s recent draft picks! Listen Now: http://angels.com/podcasts

Starting at about 21:30

 

[tdawg87]

17 minutes ago, John Smith said:

 

 

Angels Radio AM830

 

@AngelsRadioKLAA

 

On this week's episode of the #AngelsRecapPodcast, host

@TrentRushSports

recaps the 2021 All-Star Game and Angels Scouting Director Matt Swanson stops by to discuss the team’s recent draft picks! Listen Now: http://angels.com/podcasts

Starting at about 21:30

 

Thank you for posting this. Be interested to hear his thoughts.

[tdawg87]

1 hour ago, Inside Pitch said:

I can say I'm a fan of what they did going with all pitchers but I don't think it will come back to hurt them.  Not a big fan of their 3rd rounder based on reputation, but having never seen him pitch I'm in no position to offer opinion.   

I think they may have made out really well on day 3.  

Did you like the first 2 picks? I did, personally. Mainly because of what Rocker will cost.

And yeah, they seemingly got a lot of guys with upside in the last 10 picks that fell into their lap. Hopefully they can sign Albanese.

[rafibomb]

27 minutes ago, tdawg87 said:

Did you like the first 2 picks? I did, personally. Mainly because of what Rocker will cost.

And yeah, they seemingly got a lot of guys with upside in the last 10 picks that fell into their lap. Hopefully they can sign Albanese.

Albanese I'm not worried as I believe he is a senior at 23 years old. The tough signs will be our 11th and 12th rounders Silseth and Albright. Silseth can return to Arizona for his senior year to improve his draft stock as his numbers this season didn't reflect how good his stuff really is. Albright is a prepster with a VT commit who was mentioned to not go Day 2 in the draft because he was not able to reach any financial commitments with any teams. Hopefully the Angels can work something out despite taking him in Day 3.

Edited July 15, 2021 by rafibomb

[ten ocho recon scout]

1 hour ago, tdawg87 said:

Did you like the first 2 picks? I did, personally. Mainly because of what Rocker will cost.

Is that the consensus basically, that we (and others) didnt take rocker because of the signing bonus money?

[tdawg87]

33 minutes ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

Is that the consensus basically, that we (and others) didnt take rocker because of the signing bonus money?

Possibly. There's certainly more to it than that, but we probably won't know. 

We'll get the most shit if he ends up being a stud, but 8 other teams passed on him. 

[m0nkey]

Go eaters!

 

 

[tdawg87]

Looks like a Vaudeville actor.

[Lou]

Reminds me of Johnny:

[Docwaukee]

2 hours ago, rafibomb said:

Albanese I'm not worried as I believe he is a senior at 23 years old. The tough signs will be our 11th and 12th rounders Silseth and Albright. Silseth can return to Arizona for his senior year to improve his draft stock as his numbers this season didn't reflect how good his stuff really is. Albright is a prepster with a VT commit who was mentioned to not go Day 2 in the draft because he was not able to reach any financial commitments with any teams. Hopefully the Angels can work something out despite taking him in Day 3.

with all the back and forth going on between these guys, I would be surprised to see the halos take guys that they didn't think they'd have the money for.  Especially if a couple teams already passed on him for that reason.  

If these were 'pick not picks' for the purpose of saving money then man.  That would really suck.  

[AngelStew43]

Strad, in the case of Goebel, I'm pretty sure that they see an 18-21 yo kid at 6'6' and 245, who is going to fill out even more and probably throws 95-97 now.  Refine the technique a little, and now he's 99-100 plus.

P.S.  I also like the kid catcher we signed out of UH.  Good looking young catcher.  If he can hit a little, who knows.  If not, we signed a Jeff Mathis clone.