2010 Draft: Day One Recap

Musings (in bullet points) from today's draft:

• I'll start with the Mariners. They grabbed prep righty Taijaun Walker with their only pick at number 43. Here is a nice write-up by the PI on him. Walker is a killer athlete, and committed to baseball. Those are both definitely pluses. Everything about him on the mound is inconsistent though. The ceiling is undoubtedly high, so we are going to find out what M's player development is like under Jack Zduriencik. Walker is a project. The obvious comparison seems to be Edwin Jackson - which frankly, doesn't enthuse me a ton. There were other prep arms I liked more that were available at the time (namely Tyrell Jenkins and Peter Tago), and a fair amount of my top 25. I am not a fan of this pick, but at least I do see the potential for it to pan out.
• Wooo, go Nationals, Pirates, and Orioles. They got the young studs. I have a hard time handing out pats on the back when it's pretty obvious what a team should do. But, none of them screwed up, and all of them came away with big-time talents.
• I think four was WAY too high for Christian Colon. Granted, it is a clear sign that the Royals now understand why Yuni Betancourt was available, Colon wasn't going to make it to their next pick, and he was clearly the best shortstop available at that point. I don't want to belittle the pick, but I think they could have still found a shortstop later that could push Betancourt in the relatively near future while grabbing a good pitcher early
• The draft "trended younger" than what's historically normal. That doesn't surprise me, given this crop of college players. I have said multiple times that the stars aren't there, but there is solid talent to be found. Teams like to grab stars early, and it seems most will take significant risk to preserve star potential with picks.
• The Angels had the potential for a big day, and they went swinging for the fences. They took high-schoolers with all five picks. My favorite one of the bunch is their second pick, Cam Bedrosian. Kaleb Cowart could work out really well for them too, but they have to convince him to sign AND be a pitcher. That's a tall order. Many mocks had the halos coming away with Dylan Covey, Bedrosian, and maybe even Reggie Golden. If that would have happened, I would have been scared as an M's fan.
• The Rangers also had the potential for a big day, but I don't think they got the same bang for their buck that the Angels did. Three of their four picks were high-schoolers, and the one college guy, Mike Olt, is far from a sure thing in my eyes. All of their picks, with the possible exception of Kellin Daglan, look like reaches to me though. It's about time they cool off in the draft though, because they have an absolutely loaded farm system.
• The A's had only one pick, and played it pretty safe with Michael Choice. I think they were looking for power, and that's why they went with him. I'm not as high on Choice as most, but in general, this was a bad draft to sit in Oakland's slot. I would have gone with a higher ceiling (or more toolsy) guy in that slot, but it's hard to look at the guys drafted around Choice and say that any of them would be more helpful to the A's than the guy they grabbed.
• I think the Rays had the best day of any team. I can't believe Justin O'Conner made it all the way to them at 31. I'm not as high on Josh Sale as most, but he was fair value at pick 17, and Drew Vettleson was good value at 42. This draft broke their way.
• If I were the Brewers, I would have picked Alex Wimmers over Dylan Covey. They really need the pitching help, and Wimmers is a safer bet, without a huge loss of upside.
• The Cubs easily made the most shocking pick of the day with their first pick, Hayden Simpson. I bothered to watch his scouting video and look at his numbers (after he was picked; I had no idea who he was until the Cubs grabbed him), and I'm not ready to ridicule him. Simpson has a power arm, and really good numbers in Division II. He could work out, though he also seems like a guy that they could have drafted later.
• The Red Sox had an interesting day, which isn't usually said when a team grabs three college players. Kolbrin Vitek was a very nice pick at 20, and picking up Bryce Brentz and Anthony Ranaudo in the supplemental first round could pay dividends. Both of their stocks sunk this year, so they are the types that teams may look back and kick themselves for missing on. I still think that was a little high for Ranaudo, but the kid is big with big-time stuff if he puts it all together. He was much more worth the risk with a couple prospects already drafted.
• I don't think the Tigers miss their first round pick at all after grabbing Nick Castellanos and Chance Ruffin in the supplementary round. They would have been looking at the same level of talent in the first round.

To finish the recap, here is a quick look at who is still available after day one:

• still around from my top 25 list: RHP Addison Reed (10), OF Reggie Golden (14), LHP Rob Rasmussen (15), 1B Hunter Morris (18), RF Rob Segedin (19), RHP Kyle Blair (21), C Micah Gibbs (23), RHP Jesse Hahn (24)
• other catchers still available (HINT HINT, Mariners): Robert Brantly, Blake Forsythe, Dan Burkhart, Ben Heath, Cameron Rupp
• other sluggers still available (HINT HINT, Mariners): 3B Yordy Cabrera, 1B Jordan Ribera, 1B, A.J. Kirby-Jones, 1B Paul Hoilman, 1B Kyle Roller
• other big school guys that interest me: 2B Phil Gosselin, 2B Jedd Gyorko, INF Davis Duren, 3B Phil Wunderlich, 3B Derek Dietrich, CF Tyler Holt, LF Austin Wates, CF Jarrett Parker, RHP Dan Klein, RHP Jordan Swagerty, LHP Drew Smyly, LHP Kevin Chapman, RHP Brandon Workman
• other small(er) school guys that interest me: SS Andrelton Simmons, CF Mel Rojas Jr, OF Nate Roberts, CF Todd Cunningham, 1B Wes Cunningham, OF Corey Taylor, OF J.D. Ashbrook, RHP Kevin Munson, RHP Boone Whiting, LHP Kenny Long, RHP Josh Slaats, RHP Donn Roach, LHP Bryan Harper,
• other prep guys that interest me: 2B Zack Alvord, 3B Chad Lewis, RHP Stetson Allie, RHP Robert Aviles, SS Marcus Littlewood, SS Jacoby Jones

Rounds 2 through 30 tomorrow, starting at 9 AM Pacific time. Especially with all the riskier, high upside picks made today, there is lots of solid talent still available.