Dave Saltzer

Meet our 4th Round pick Brendon Sanger | Rank: 160 School: Florida AtlanticYear: JuniorPosition: OFAge: 21 DOB: 9/11/1993Bats: L Throws: RHeight: 6'1" Weight: 180 lb.Previously Drafted: Never VIDEO Scouting grades: Hit: 50 | Power: 40 | Run: 50 | Arm: 50 | Field: 50 | Overall: 45In three years at Florida Atlantic, Sanger has done nothing but hit, leading the team in batting average three years in a row. His ability to swing the bat should help him in a year where college bats are hard to come by. Sanger saved the best for his junior year, hitting .377 during the regular season and earning Conference USA Player of the Year honors in the process. While he doesn't have the most traditional setup at the plate, he has good timing and a knack for getting the barrel to the ball. He works counts well and has more walks than strikeouts in his college career. He's a little bit of a tweener defensively, without the power for right field or the speed to play center. Even if Sanger profiles more as a fourth outfielder than anything else, his ability at the plate will likely get him off the board in the top five rounds.

Meet our 3rd round pick. Grayson Long | Rank: 153 School: Texas A&MYear: JuniorPosition: RHPAge: 21 DOB: 5/27/1994Bats: R Throws: RHeight: 6'5" Weight: 215 lb.Previously Drafted: 2012, 39th (1181) - SEA VIDEO Scouting grades: Fastball: 55 | Slider: 50 | Changeup: 55 | Control: 45 | Overall: 45The first time he was eligible for the Draft, Long faltered as a high school senior in 2012 and dropped from a potential third-round choice to the point where he wasn't signable and lasted 39 rounds. He has fared much better in his second chance this spring, following lackluster freshman and sophomore years with an undefeated regular season as a junior. Long's fastball faded a little bit toward the end of the spring, but he's capable of pitching at 89-91 mph and reaching 93. His heater appears quicker because he unleashes it with an easy delivery, and its riding life helps it play up further. He does a nice job of maintaining his arm speed on his changeup, giving him a second solid pitch. Long's low-80s slider can rate as average, though it gets slurvy at times. He's built for durability but his lack of a true plus offering limits his ceiling to a back-of-the-rotation role. He'll need to refine his control and command to be effective as a starter in pro ball.

We are about 5 picks away from picking our 3rd rounder, so no more than 10 minutes. Tune in if you want.

He's played 2B and outfield, and most, including the Angels see him as an outfielder.

I like this pick, and hope we have enough money to sign him away from his college commitment. Good blend of plus speed and power.

I would bet in the 25 to 30 rank. But I'm on record many times as saying that there's lot more to baseball player development than an organization's ranking in a national magazine. Did those magazines spot Shoemaker? How did that factor into their rankings?

Did you see this from Jeff Fletcher? @JeffFletcherOCR: MLB exec says Angels draft pick Taylor Ward was probably a reach at No. 26, but would have been "risky" to wait till 70 to get him. In a weak draft, with very little consensus past the top 3, the Angels went in a different direction. Not whom I would have picked, but maybe this pick sets up their entire draft down the line. With a low draft rank and bonus pool, they do have to be more strategic. I'm not selling the pick, but it is growing on me.

If that is your best case scenario, that's projecting a lot of negativity. Why not a best case scenario of a starting catcher who hits .260 - .280 with 10 dangers in 120 games, all while throwing out 40% of all base runners?

It's not my job to spin, and in fact I'm not. But, my point was if we had that writeup Wed be focusing on the comments by some scouts seeing him as a pitcher better than a catcher, so the moment he struggles, we'd see a ton of posts saying move him to the mound (just as we've seen with Cowart). A high school catcher is ages away from the show and that one line in there is a positive spin. I get the frustration at seeing this as an overdraft, but I'm also liking the pick more. The Angels have been following him for more than a year, so, they may have a solid major league catcher. Not too many of those come along. With all the rants on Ianetta so far this season, I would think people would be a bit happier with this pick.

Yeah, I think the writeup threw a lot of people because it focused on his floor, not his ceiling. With a 1.8 to 1.9 time to 2B already, we know the defense should be good. Let's just work on the bat. That will determine the ceiling.

Think of it this how: how would we be reacting had we drafted this guy? So far, he's been the only other catcher taken, and there are serious questions about him as well. Return to MLB.com 2015 Draft More Draft Content 2015 Draft Tracker: Live Coverage Presented by Bowman Watch onMLB Back to Draft Results Tyler Stephenson Pick: 11th Overall (1st Round) Pick By: CIN Position: C Born: August 16, 1996 School: Kennesaw Mountain HS Class: HS Height: 6'4" Weight: 225 Bats: R Throws: R Comments: Scouts have bemoaned the lack of catching in this Draft, so Stephenson's emergence this spring qualifies as a pleasant surprise. Some evaluators liked him more as a pitcher last summer -- he has a 90-mph fastball and a hard slider -- but now he's the consensus best backstop available and a dark-horse candidate to go No. 1 overall to the Diamondbacks. Clearly a better defender than Betts, Stephenson is quite advanced for a high schooler. His strong hands and arm translate into quality receiving and throwing skills, and he has surprising agility for a 6-foot-4, 210-pounder. Stephenson's combination of strength, bat speed and loft in his right-handed swing translate into huge raw power. There are some concerns about his ability to make contact against pro-level pitching, however, because his swing can get long. His frame and skills remind scouts of Matt Wieters, and Stephenson will follow his path to Georgia Tech if he doesn't turn pro. MLB.comBoys and Girls Club of America ©2015 MLBAM, LP. All rights reserved. The following are trademarks or service marks of Major League Baseball entities and may be used only with permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. or the relevant Major League Baseball entity: Major League, Major League Baseball, MLB, the silhouetted batter logo, World Series, National League, American League, Division Series, League Championship Series, All-Star Game, and the names, nicknames, logos, uniform designs, color combinations, and slogans designating the Major League Baseball clubs and entities, and their respective mascots, events and exhibitions. Use of the Website signifies your agreement to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy (updated May 24, 2013). View MLB.com in English | En Español From all the info available, we know we have a solid defender in Ward, who we think will hit. And, he's a college player, so a lot closer to being ready. Catching is always in short supply, and we'd have a more difficult time sign ING a prep catcher than a college player. I'm starting g to like this pick more as I think about it.

I get it. The organization is thin at a lot of positions. Catching is definitely a weakness. His times to 2B are great, and with some of our current pitchers being slow to the plate, will help out a lot. And, as Fletcher pointed out, we've had picks ranked higher than Ward flame out and not make it. So let's give the FO some slack here. With our pitching in development, we will need a good catcher coming up.

This most likely means that they are going to be going heavily after a bunch of pitchers in the next few rounds.

With this pick, I'd like to reiterate that we should spend more on some of these Cuban players who are available while we still can go over our limit (albeit with a penalty).

I was thinking of writing a series about some of the other prospects that we have who hadn't quite gotten the attention they deserved. Jonah was one of the ones who I wanted to talk about. I think he was a steal in the draft and that he has a chance to develop as a good left-handed arm for the pen. He throws in the low 90s and is still very young. He was scheduled to come to the Fanfest this year, but a last minute commitment forced him out. Maybe next year. Thanks for the writeup this week.

Even if he did fall to us in the 1st round, we've had so few first round choices over the past few years, that I'd take a more sure thing than him. Now, if he fell to us in the second round (which i doubt he will), then yest, I'd take him in a heartbeat there.

When the HGH issue became public knowledge, I thought and suggested that Arte go after GMJr for fraudulent inducement to contract and breach of contract. He was going to pay him either way, so he should have made GMJr the test case about drugs and PEDs and fought him in court over it. I wonder how things would have turned out with Hamilton and A-Fraud had they made GMJr a test case.

Scotty, The only way the Angels waste a first round pick is if they take anyone other than the best player available at the time. Drafting for a projected need or non-need is ridiculous. Too much can happen between the draft and the Majors, and to things in the Majors (such as trades and free agents) to make drafting for need pointless. If two players are rated equally, the Angels will take the pitcher. Under this regime, they, like Stoneman before them, believe that it's cheaper and easier to develop quality pitching than it is to develop quality hitting. They believe that they can always trade pitching at a premium. So, I would expect them to continue in the trend of loading up on pitching. This does not mean that they won't take a hitter in the 1st round. It just means if they do, that in their opinion he was the best player available. This is one reason why I believe and have stated that the Angels should go after more of the Cuban players who have become available to offset their overall drafting strategy.

I wanted to get Delino Shields, but, didn't think we'd get him in a Rule V draft. I've been suggesting that we need a true leadoff hitter for 2 seasons, so that we can drop Kole to #2 and Trout to #3.

Moncada landed in Boston. Huge gamble for the Red Sox, but I think it will pay off. We need to be more aggressive this year because in 2 months, we lose the ability to sign a player for over $300k for two years. I wouldn't go Moncada money, but I'd go past Baldoquin money if need be.

I can guarantee you that Dipoto does not undervalue OBP. It's just not that easy to find that these days, and if you do, it's expensive as all hell in most cases.

Adrian, thanks for doing these! I know how much work goes into doing them all, and appreciate all of your efforts.

We have those if they continue to pan out. Kubitza looks pretty damned good and Baldoquin is warming up. He could be/should be ready by the end of 2016, when Aybar will be gone.

What if Hamilton is gone and Joyce isn't resigned?

I was thinking about Cespedes as well, but, I don't see it happening because Dipoto is a big believer in OB%, and Cespedes is not good in that regard. What I would like to see is a true leadoff hitter so we can drop Calhoun and Trout 1 spot each. In that vein, I'd go after Dexter Fowler, if he's still available and then look for power in other areas.