2021 MLB Draft / College Baseball Thread

[Criznit]

That's it. There are only 20 rounds.

21 for us technically.

We ended up with 19 pitchers out of 21 total picks.

 

[kriegs]

Johnston

 

[kriegs]

Miller

 

[BimboColesHair]

Not sure people realize how thin the pitching quality is from Lynchburg on down, especially with Espino moving up to LC.

International signings have favored position players about 5 to 1 the last 3 years and they have signed some very, very young and inexperienced pitchers who are not ready to come stateside yet. There is some testing/trials going on with their Dominican pitching development and how they want to go about that that has led to a bit of a lull.

There is a huge gap between Cantillo, Morris, Burns, Allen, Hickman, Espino, etc in that next group that will be bubbling up to the upper levels and the next group of worthwhile arms in the system. Draft plugged that gap and then some.

Couple of reliever only guys who should fly through the system too, like they always grab.

 

[CalBuckeyeRob]

I wonder if the team has decided that the international money should never be spent on pitching? This feels like the results of a deep dive on analytics and the success ratio of college arms rather than other sources.

 

[BimboColesHair]

This is a result of the draft being 5 rounds last year and a limited pool of "undrafted free agents" with the NCAA laxing on their eligibility rules due to Covid. Because of that, the Indians system is about an entire level worth of pitchers short as far as numbers go.

Has nothing to do with a new strategy or new ways to spend their pools of money for amateurs'.

Next year will be more balanced, don't expect this to be the new norm.

 

[sportscoach]

Not sure people realize how thin the pitching quality is from Lynchburg on down, especially with Espino moving up to LC.

International signings have favored position players about 5 to 1 the last 3 years and they have signed some very, very young and inexperienced pitchers who are not ready to come stateside yet. There is some testing/trials going on with their Dominican pitching development and how they want to go about that that has led to a bit of a lull.

There is a huge gap between Cantillo, Morris, Burns, Allen, Hickman, Espino, etc in that next group that will be bubbling up to the upper levels and the next group of worthwhile arms in the system. Draft plugged that gap and then some.

Couple of reliever only guys who should fly through the system too, like they always grab.

Do you think that the hitting/position player situation will be fine taking so few hitters though?

 

[Tondo]

They’ve loaded up on big conference arms with big bodies and stuff plus smaller school sleepers with smaller frames, but great pitchability. They’re banking on their pitching development team to teach the former group pitch sequencing and a new wrinkle here or there, and they feel confident they can teach velocity to all those small school arms.

The Abney pick in rd 15 was strange, but he’s a sidearmer and they like those. Recent very strong (17/3 K /BB ratio in 9.2 IP) Cape performance might have led to the selection.

Pick after pick they kept drafting solid talents, won’t complain about that. Early grade is a solid B for this class. Adding depth to an already deep system. Nice 1-2 punch with Williams and Nikhazy to start and they kept going with light versions of that model all the way through round 20.

My guess is we’ll see a lot of 150-300K signings from day 3 to spread the leftover budget around, with Kokx, Denholm, Ventimiglia, Miller, Sharpe and Thornton the most likely over slot beneficiaries.

 

[Tondo]

Do you think that the hitting/position player situation will be fine taking so few hitters though?

There's already a logjam in Arizona and DSL, those will bubble up to refill low A, but there's next to nothing coming from ACL to Re stock class A. That and more pitchers getting injured than hitters, as we're experiencing this season.

 

[BimboColesHair]

Do you think that the hitting/position player situation will be fine taking so few hitters though?

Yes. There are a ton of position player prospects coming from the Dominican next year/later this year. They could field 3 teams in the Dominican this year if they had more pitchers.

A lot of the Arizona guys shouldn't be long for that league either.

A lot of position player talent in the rookie leagues, not much to say about the pitching though.

 

[Randolphkeys]

Hearing good things about Trenton Denholm, RHP, University of California-Irvine. Undersized and had a bad year, but has a 94 mph fastball and a great changeup. Sounds like middle relief stuff.

 

[Out of the Rafters at the Q]

If we sign Williams for $1.8 to $2.0 million, someone's going to owe me an apology for complaining that he would sign for "pennies on the dollar." Because that is $0.64-$0.71 on the slot dollar.

I will not be waiting on baited breath for that apology. Because I am a good sport. Whoever you are, you're welcome.

Dicky: Williams is a senior. He has no choice but to sign here for cheap because he can't go back to school!
Everyone else: No, Williams is a RS junior with a year of eligibility left.
Dicky: If he signs for underslot, you all owe me apologies for being right!!!

 

[BimboColesHair]

Hearing good things about Trenton Denholm, RHP, University of California-Irvine. Undersized and had a bad year, but has a 94 mph fastball and a great changeup. Sounds like middle relief stuff.

Denholm has been pegged to the Indians for almost 3 years now.

 

[Criznit]

All and all I like this draft. I know nothing about the players this year (normally I at least follow names a little bit) but very unique to go so pitcher heavy and likely we have one or 2 more quality ML arms in this mix. Gutsy draft IMO

Could be a huge draft for us in a couple of years, or could look pretty bleak. Either way, going to be a fun follow.

Criznit's uninformed grade: A-

 

[BigBBQMutt]

Thank you all for the updates. Truly.. Hard or me to follow college or HS baseball.