ROUND 4
- The Nationals kicked off the day by drafting RHP A.J. Morris, a finalist for this year's watch list.
- The Mariners followed the Nats by picking James Jones, a 6'4" outfielder from Long Island University. He also pitched in college, and topped out in the low 90s.
- The Reds picked UNC catcher Mark Fleury 119th overall. He really emerged at the plate this year, and got some consideration for the watch list this year.
- Kent Matthes, 11th on the watch list, goes to the Rockies at 121st overall. He is the first player on the watch list to get drafted today.
- Scott Bittle, 8th on the watch list, is the Cardinals pick at 129th overall.
- The Yankees selected UNC right-hander Adam Warren 135th overall. He struggled in the Cape Cod league this past summer, but came on very strong during the 2009 season. He got some consideration for the watch list this year.
- The M's pick at 143rd overall is Tyler Blandford, a right-hander from Oklahoma State. He had a great junior season, but was a bit up and down from his freshman to sophomore year. If it were not for his inconsistency from year to year over his college career, he may have made the watch list this year. He was considered.
- The Padres followed the M's at 144th overall with Jason Hagerty, a catcher from Miami (FL). He played quite a bit of first base for Miami this past year, but has played some catcher in the past. He started to emerge as a hitter this year, and he was an intriguing player that I considered fairly strongly for the watch list this year. With how much first base Hagerty played this year, I wondered how good his defense is at catcher, and his offensive game was not developed enough to make the watch list at first base. It looks like San Diego thinks he can play catcher, and if he can they may have a nice prospect on their hands.
- Louis Coleman, 18th on the watch list, goes to the Royals 152nd overall.
- Kyle Bellamy, 5th on the watch list, goes to the White Sox 163rd overall. Chicago usually prefers power arms, so Bellamy does not exactly fit their usual mold. I am guessing they must have felt that he was too good of a talent to pass up at this point.
- Matt Way, a lefty from Washington State, is the Phillies pick at 167th overall.
- The Mariners pick Shaver Hansen, a switch-hitting third baseman from Baylor with the 173rd pick overall. Gotta love the name.
- The Mariners take Brian Moran, 6th on the watch list, with the 203rd pick overall. I can't believe the M's draft; I'm pinching myself to make sure this is really happening. They now have the first, third, and sixth players from the watch list!
- Kyle Conley, an outfielder from the University of Washington, was taken by the Cardinals 219th overall.
- James Gillheeney, a lefty from NC State, is the M's pick at 233rd overall. His fastball is not that good, sitting in the mid to upper 80s, but he has a big, slow curve ball that will be his key to becoming a legitimate prospect. I never considered him for the watch list, but his breaking ball is intriguing.
- Nate Freiman, a first baseman from Duke, was picked by the Padres at 234th overall. You may remember him from last year's watch list. Freiman is very tall at 6'8", which is probably what scared teams away from him. He was fantastically productive the last two years in the ACC, and even played a little catcher for the Blue Devils from time to time. What kept him off the watch list this year was improved pitching depth in this year's draft, and a lack of development from Nate this year compared to last. He went much higher this year, so good choice by him to come back to school, but in my opinion he should have been picked even higher than this.
- Stephen Richards, a great left-handed reliever from Arkansas, was picked by the Marlins 248th overall.
- Jason Stidham, 22nd on the watch list, was picked by the Cardinals 249th overall.
- At 259th overall, the Rays picked Brett Nommensen, a center fielder from Eastern Illinois University. Nommensen steadily improved at the plate throughout his college career, but completely exploded as a senior this season. In fact, in my rating system, he was far and away the best, even above guys like Dustin Ackley. That was even after adjusting for Nommensen's rather weak competition level. Brett's improvement was too dramatic for me to believe that he really developed out of nowhere, but he is nonetheless an intriguing prospect after such a huge senior season.
- The Mariners continue to focus heavily on college players in the draft. Their pick at 263rd overall is Trevor Coleman, a catcher from Missouri.
- Ryan Berry, 16th on the watch list, was picked by the Orioles with the 266th overall pick.
- Brian Pearl, a righty from the University of Washington, was picked by the Reds 269th overall.
- The M's take Vincent Cantricala, a third baseman from the University of Hawai'i, with the 293rd pick overall.
- With the 300th pick overall, the Tigers took second baseman Chris Sedon. He is undersized, but flashed surprising power this year in his lone season at the Division I level. With only one year at the D-I level, there is not a huge track record to go off of, but his one season is intriguing. He looks a bit like a poor man's Dustin Pedroia on paper.
- Tyson Van Winkle, a catcher from Gonzaga, was picked by Arizona 306th overall.
- The Angels made a very interesting pick at 321 overall, with significant local implications. They took Jake Locker, a center fielder from the University of Washington. More importantly to some perhaps, he is the starting quarterback for the Huskies, and one of the more dynamic quarterbacks in the nations with his tremendous athletic ability. Locker was a great baseball player in high school as well, and though he has not played on Huskies baseball team, he played some over the summer. He caught the eye of pro scouts, so much so to get drafted here. Isaiah Stanbeck, the Huskies QB before Locker was similarly athletic, and picked by the Orioles in the MLB draft while in college. However, that was very late in the draft, on what would be day three now. Baltimore really just took a flyer on him to see what might happen. Stanbeck never signed. However, with how relatively high the Angels picked Locker, they are probably going to try pretty hard to sign him. Husky football fans, hold your breath...
- M's go with Timothy Morris, a first baseman from St. John's University in New York, at 323rd overall.
- I am loving the Mariners more and more. Their pick at 353rd overall is Andrew Carraway, a righty from Virginia, and finalist for the watch list. I will have to check at the end of today, but I am pretty sure the Mariners are picking off my list more than any other team, and under Bavasi it took years for them to even pick one guy I was somewhat interested in.
- The Twins at 372nd overall picked Tony Davis, a southpaw from the University of Florida. He had a great season out of the bullpen, but came out of nowhere. On top of that, he is undersized. He had too many question marks to make it on the watch list, but he is a guy that intrigues me. If he does not sign and has another big season with the Gators, he could improve his draft position considerably.
- The Mariners take University of Georgia center fielder Matt Cerione with the 383rd overall pick.
- Jeremy Johnson, a senior righty from Washington State, was picked by the Indians 395th overall.
- With the 413th pick overall, the M's go to the high school ranks for only the third time this whole draft, selecting third baseman Adam Nelubowich. The M's will likely have to go well above slot value to sign any high-schooler at this point of the draft, so I do not know how good Nelubowich is, or how likely it is the M's will sign him. With all the college players the M's have picked, and the rumored pre-draft deal they had in place with the high school catcher they picked in the second round, there is a chance that they will have the money to go well above slot value with this pick.
- Houston, with the 431st overall pick, picked David Berner, a lefty starter from San Jose St. He was among the best starters in college this past year, but might have been a one-year wonder, looking at his whole college career. Still, every now and then a guy just figures something out, and this is a great place in the draft to take guys like Berner.
- Speaking of one year wonders, the Rays take reliever Zach Quate from Appalachian State with pick 439 overall. He was one of the best relievers in all of college baseball this past year, but could be just a one-year wonder looking at his whole college career.
- M's latest pick is Blake Keitzman, a junior lefty from Western Oregon State College.
- Austin Hyatt, 25th on the watch list, goes to the Phillies 467th overall.
- Mariners take their first player from a community college so far, Tillman Pugh, a centerfielder, with the 473rd pick overall.
- Daniel Bibona, 23rd on the watch list, is now with the Cardinals. They picked him at 489 overall.
- Seattle takes Joseph Terry, a second baseman from Cerritos College, 503rd overall.
- With the 516th pick overall, the Diamondbacks took Andrew Wolcott, 20th on the watch list.
- LHP Anthony Vasquez from USC is the M's pick at 533 overall.
- The Marlins take RHP Brett Bukvich from Mississippi with the 548th pick overall. He is a reliever I liked quite a bit. He was one of the best in college this past year.
- Bethune-Cookman RHP Eric Thomas is the M's latest pick, 563rd overall. They are going way more college-heavy than they ever were under Bavasi.
- Luke Murton, 10th on the watch list, goes to the Yankees in the 19th round. I had him listed as an outfielder, but the Yankees listed him as a first baseman.
- The M's continue to draft somewhat heavy on pitchers today. The latest addition is University of New Mexico lefty John Hesketh with the 593rd pick overall.
- Boston took Duke RHP Alex Hassan with the 618th pick overall. Like his teammate Wolcott that went a few rounds earlier, I like him and think he should have gone a bit higher than this. Duke's baseball program is underrated.
- The Cubs picked LHP Eric Erickson from Miami (FL) with the 620th overall pick. Erickson did not pitch at all this past year because of major arm surgery, but before that looked like he was developing into a real good pitcher. I am guessing he will not sign with the Cubs and pitch next year with the Hurricanes. If he shows any of the ability he has flashed the two seasons prior to this one, he will get picked much higher. Despite the injury, I considered putting him on my watch list this year. I left him off because I would only draft him lower anyway because of the injury risk, and he probably would not sign this low in the draft.
- USC RHP Daniel Cooper is the M's pick at 623rd overall.
- Vanderbilt RHP Andrew Hayes is the M's pick at 653rd overall. As a junior, Hayes could go back to school, and might to try to improve his draft status.
- Gonzaga 3B Matt Fields goes to the Blue Jays 670th overall.
- The M's are officially making a big run on pitchers. The latest pick is junior college LHP David Rollins. I don't know his plans, but he seems to be a likely candidate to not sign and try to improve his draft status.
- Seattle's run on pitchers comes to an end. They picked C Carlton Tanabe from Pearl City High School in Hawai'i with the 713th overall pick. High school players picked this late rarely sign.
- UW RHP Jason Erickson was picked 715th overall by the Pirates.
- WSU C Jason Berg was picked 717th overall by the Giants.
- Yale RHP Brandon Josselyn is the M's pick at 743rd overall.
- Kennewick High School RHP Anthony Bryant was picked by the Twins 762nd overall.
- Mariners take Troy RHP Chris Sorce with the 773rd pick overall.
- Central Florida RHP Austin Hudson is the M's pick 803rd overall.
- Marlins take Washington-born 2B Nathan Simon, from Pepperdine University, with pick 818 overall.
- Blue Jays take Washington-born RHP Brian Justice, from St. Mary's college in California, with pick 820 overall.
- Seattle takes high school first baseman Reegan Flaherty with the 833rd pick overall.
- Royals take local product Eric Peterson, a first baseman from Liberty High School, 842nd overall.
- Brandon Haveman, a center fielder from Purdue, is the Mariners pick at 863rd overall.
- Dallas Baptist C Brandon Bantz is picked by the Mariners 893rd overall.
- Tigers take Shorecrest High School first baseman James Robbins with the 900th pick overall in the draft.
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