The Official 2023 MLB Amateur Draft Thread

[BTH]

1 hour ago, Second Base said:

I've also heard they were very interested in grabbing Johnny Farmelo in the second round and offering him a higher signing bonus. Highest upside in the entire draft, I'm told by an AL East front office worker. Raw though. 

They don’t have a second. They lost it when they signed Anderson.

[greginpsca]

The type of players i would like to see drafted. #1. players with a really high baseball IQ. #2. Stay away from high school guys. Let College & JC's help develop them. #3, go after Position players that are" athletic" with average speed at minimum. No base cloggers. Hitters that can hit to all fields, and hit behind the runners. and can bunt if the need occurred. High emphasis on defense. Again high emphasis on defense. #4. Pitching wise, only draft guys with the ability be starters. The ones that don't make it can be put in the pen. Preferably hard throwers with movement. No movement, no draft.

[Stax]

The Sporting News

Edward Sutelan

06-24-2023

11. Los Angeles Angels

• Nolan Schanuel, 1B, Florida Atlantic

Going back to 2014, the Angels have selected college players with seven of nine picks. As was evidenced with last year's pick of Zach Neto, who is already in Los Angeles as the starting shortstop, the Angels don't mind getting a guy to the big leagues quickly if he's ready. Nolan Schanuel has the advanced approach that could allow him to adjust to the minors well, and the power to be an impactful talent (he was second among Division I players with a .868 slugging percentage). He's likely limited to first base or the corner outfield, but his bat will play anywhere he's positioned.

[Second Base]

1 hour ago, Trendon said:

They don’t have a second. They lost it when they signed Anderson.

Shows what I know. When I hear after the first, I assume second round, incorrectly. I do know Farmelo has a very strong commitment to Virginia, and isn't expected to sign unless it's for first round money. 

[Second Base]

My guess is that if Dollander is there, they'll take him. If not, my guess is Jacob Gonzalez. 

Nimmala has too much helium, I think he'll be off the board earlier than anticipated. Dollander is too good to pass on and has probably like a 30% chance of falling to the Angels. 

Jacob Gonzalez fits all the criteria the Angels seem to look for. College bat, athletic, successful with higher competition from team USA, good defender, good plate discipline and better than expected upside with an expected quick trek through the minors. I think he's their starting third baseman in 2025.

So I thinj they'll take Gonzalez. 

[Angel Oracle]

49 minutes ago, Second Base said:

My guess is that if Dollander is there, they'll take him. If not, my guess is Jacob Gonzalez. 

Nimmala has too much helium, I think he'll be off the board earlier than anticipated. Dollander is too good to pass on and has probably like a 30% chance of falling to the Angels. 

Jacob Gonzalez fits all the criteria the Angels seem to look for. College bat, athletic, successful with higher competition from team USA, good defender, good plate discipline and better than expected upside with an expected quick trek through the minors. I think he's their starting third baseman in 2025.

So I thinj they'll take Gonzalez. 

And moving Rendon to 1B after 2024?

[Taylor]

4 hours ago, Second Base said:

Alao, one more thing, this one isn't Angels specific though. Ralphy Velasquez has some helium and has been scouted by pretty much every team as an athletic bat first catcher/first baseman. 

[Second Base]

1 hour ago, Taylor said:

He's got a pretty swing with good exit velos and is coming out of the So Cal high school scene. All desirable traits. 

[Taylor]

5 minutes ago, Second Base said:

He's got a pretty swing with good exit velos and is coming out of the So Cal high school scene. All desirable traits. 

His name is Ralphy. So I did a Ralphie GIF.

[Second Base]

1 hour ago, Taylor said:

His name is Ralphy. So I did a Ralphie GIF.

[Taylor]

Just now, Second Base said:

I respect your self-awareness.

[Second Base]

Lottery ticket: Max Clark or Walker Jenkins goes undrafted because of comical asking price in signing bonus for some kind of injury puts they're status in the air. 

Shocked if:.... Nimmala falls to the Angels. 

I hope for..... Dollander

I'd be happy with....Meyer, Gonzalez, Miller or Wilson.

I'd feel neutral about: Lowder, Houck, Bradfield, Morales

I'd be intrigued by....Farmelo or Velazquez

[m0nkey]

Adell and 11 to the Pirates for #1.  Paul Skenes and Reid Detmers lead the Angels rotation for the next 9 years.

Geneous

[totdprods]

Sonny DiChiara sure seems to have all but vanished in any discussion about the Angels current farm and future. Weird pick.

[mmc]

17 minutes ago, totdprods said:

Sonny DiChiara sure seems to have all but vanished in any discussion about the Angels current farm and future. Weird pick.

Probably because he was injured for most of the season...

[T-angel]

Lowder is one of the only upper tier college pitchers that has performed well outside of Skenes. He has a high floor but he might not have the ceiling of Dollander. I feel the Angels can help Dollander get back to where he was last year in a relatively reasonable period of time. He has underperformed this past college season. If the Angels choose a pitcher I wouldn't be upset with either Lowder or Dollander (although I prefer Lowder because he appears more ready and can help sooner).

But honestly my pick would be Matt Shaw. He should be there at 11 and he's the third best college bat behind Crews and Langford. The Angels can use a productive hitting 2B/SS/3B that has the ability to be ready in a year or two. The guy was the hardest out in college. He hit a ball 500 ft with an exit velocity over 105 mph for a grand slam on an 0-2 count with his team trailing by 3 runs. Sure its only one at bat, but he's definitely one of the hardest outs in college, who doesn't strike out all that much, and hits homers without trying to hunt for them. His bat speed and exit velocity are legit.  Versatile on defense (he's a good defender at multiple positions!), and he can steal bases too. Don't know why people aren't mentioning him for a top 5 pick; he was MVP of the Cape Cod League to boot! 

[Dave Saltzer]

15 hours ago, Stax said:

The Sporting News

Edward Sutelan

06-24-2023

11. Los Angeles Angels

• Nolan Schanuel, 1B, Florida Atlantic

Going back to 2014, the Angels have selected college players with seven of nine picks. As was evidenced with last year's pick of Zach Neto, who is already in Los Angeles as the starting shortstop, the Angels don't mind getting a guy to the big leagues quickly if he's ready. Nolan Schanuel has the advanced approach that could allow him to adjust to the minors well, and the power to be an impactful talent (he was second among Division I players with a .868 slugging percentage). He's likely limited to first base or the corner outfield, but his bat will play anywhere he's positioned.

I'm glad to see some others thinking this way. Drafting Schanuel (again, if Dollander, Lowder, or Waldrep are available, I'd take them over Schanuel) isn't about a position need: it's about drafting a left handed MOTO bat that we always need. And, it will allow us to do more in the draft in down rounds. 

 

I'm hopefully going to have some more to say on this if I'm feeling better and able to write an article in the next few days. 

[totdprods]

8 hours ago, mmc said:

Probably because he was injured for most of the season...

Even despite that he never really gets mentioned when folks talk about future rosters and such, ie all the Cabbage talk, etc about first base. Obviously he hasn’t played well either. Just kinda interesting how invisible he’s been. 

Edited June 28, 2023 by totdprods

[Revad]

Keith Law Mock Draft 3.0 :

https://theathletic.com/4646310/2023/06/29/mlb-mock-draft-paul-skenes-pirates/

11. Los Angeles Angels — Chase Dollander, RHP, Tennessee

DOB: 10-26-2001 | Height: 6-2 | Weight: 200

The names here are all over the place – Dollander, Bradfield, Braden Taylor, Arjun Nimmala, Colin Houck. If you see a common thread there, let me know. Nothing wrong with just taking the best player available, though.

Scouting Report: Dollander will be one of the most fascinating names to watch on draft day, as he came into the year as the top college pitcher in the class but struggled all spring with command and never found the grade-70 slider he had as a sophomore. That slider was short and tight with what appeared to be very late downward break, and Dollander could throw it for a strike or use it as a chase pitch. This spring, however, it never had the same bite, and hitters whiffed on it less and chased far less, about two-thirds as often as they did the year before, so Dollander had to rely more on his fastball. His fastball is still 93-97 mph and he throws it for strikes, albeit not quite as much as he did in 2022, so if some team can figure out what went wrong with his slider – Did Tennessee try to get him to change the pitch? Is he dealing with some injury or discomfort? – there’s a good chance they’ll get the draft’s best or second-best college pitcher. He had No. 2 starter ceiling or better last spring, and that pitcher might still be in here.

Edited June 29, 2023 by Revad

[Docwaukee]

On 6/27/2023 at 11:03 PM, mmc said:

Probably because he's not very good

 

[Angel Oracle]

On 6/27/2023 at 11:07 AM, Stax said:

The Sporting News

Edward Sutelan

06-24-2023

11. Los Angeles Angels

• Nolan Schanuel, 1B, Florida Atlantic

Going back to 2014, the Angels have selected college players with seven of nine picks. As was evidenced with last year's pick of Zach Neto, who is already in Los Angeles as the starting shortstop, the Angels don't mind getting a guy to the big leagues quickly if he's ready. Nolan Schanuel has the advanced approach that could allow him to adjust to the minors well, and the power to be an impactful talent (he was second among Division I players with a .868 slugging percentage). He's likely limited to first base or the corner outfield, but his bat will play anywhere he's positioned.

Problem is, when he played in the Cape Cod League a year ago, he barely put up a .600 OPS.

Has to be a college player picked, but not this guy.

 

Edited June 30, 2023 by Angel Oracle

[totdprods]

I’m in the college arm camp here, best available. Detmers, Bachman, Joyce, Silseth…Perry has done well getting these guys to reinforce the bigs super fast and we will have that same need next year still.

[totdprods]

New MLB.com mock has…

11. Angels: Kyle Teel, C, Virginia (No. 7)
Teel should fit in the top 10 somewhere on talent and would be a nice get for the Angels, who are linked to several college position players who could move quickly like their 2022 first-rounder, Zach Neto. Florida Atlantic first baseman/outfielder Nolan Schanuel, who posted the best batting line (.444/.612/.864) in NCAA Division I, fits that mold and this would be his ceiling. Their need for pitching could divert them to Lowder or Dollander if one of them is available, and they also get associated with the Draft's best two-way player, high school first baseman/right-hander Bryce Eldridge.

[Angel Oracle]

A catcher?

They already have O’Hoppe and Quero.

Desperately need either another college pitcher, or a college 3B.

[totdprods]

6 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

A catcher?

They already have O’Hoppe and Quero.

Desperately need either another college pitcher, or a college 3B.

Catchers can be converted/traded.