2011 Draft: Day 3 Recap

Go me. I claimed that someone interesting from college football gets picked in the draft every year, and of course this is the year that didn't happen. The one year where they might sign for a month or two because of the NFL lockout, and none of them are picked. I never got why football players get picked with mild regularity, so I guess it is par for the course that once I warmed up to the idea, nobody went. Go figure.

There were some entertaining picks though:

• Scott Boras had two sons picked in the draft, Trent Boras (30th round by the Brewers, so actually yesterday) and Shane Boras (39th round by the Athletics). No word on whether either of them fell due to signability issues. Is there anything more ironic than the Athletics selecting one of Boras's sons? It's got to be pretty high on the list.
• Speaking of keeping it in the family, the Angels selected Matt Sciosia in the 45th round. He was the backup catcher at Notre Dame, and unless you think a .198 wOBA as a reserve is what caught the Angels eye, daddy Mike Scioscia might have something to do with the pick.
• Trent Gilbert, the last player remaining on my top 33 list, finally went in the 40th round, to the Marlins. It is easily the longest one of the players on my list has waited to get drafted, unless players that didn't get drafted at all count. Yes, I've missed that badly a few times. In Gilbert's case though, I am positive teams hit a point where they realized they would not invest the money it would take to break his college commitment. We'll see where he is at in three years.
• The Mariners took Bo Reeder in the 36th round. He was a two-way player at East Tennessee State, but I like that he was introduced as a pitcher. I think that's where his more likely future is. I highlighted him as part of my day 2 preview, but he lasted until day 3.

There were lots of picks that did not happen too:

• College players with eligibility remaining which I highlighted on either the day 2 or day 3 preview that did not get drafted: C Brandon Miller, C Jeremy Schaffer, 1B Dave Ciocci, 1B D.J. Hicks, 2B Ross Heffley, 2B Eric Phillips, 2B Marquis Riley, 3B Matt Juengel, 3B Trenton Moses, INF Kevin Tokarski, 3B/OF Chas Crane, OF Marty Gantt, OF M.L. Williams, RHP Joey Denofrio, RHP Quintavious Drains, RHP Caleb Reed, RHP Dave Walkling, and RHP Mark Zecchino. I should have known better than to list so many non-seniors with the final re-load. It doesn't make sense for them to sign late. They can only improve their draft stock by returning in most cases.
• College seniors that I highlighted in the day 3 preview which did not get drafted: C A.J. Miller, 1B/3B Peter Copa, 2B Ryan Jones, INF Tyler Robbins, OF Steven Brooks, LHP Andrew Barbosa, LHP Richie Goodenow, RHP Matt Larkins, RHP J.T. Odom, RHP Trever Vermeulen, and RHP Terrance Washington. I am surprised and disappointed that this many productive seniors did not get drafted.
• Steven Brooks was drafted by the Cubs in the 17th round last year. He had a down senior season, but was it really bad enough to tumble completely out of the draft? Apparently.
• What happened to Andrew Barbosa? He got drafted three times in the past by the Giants (twice in the 15th round, once in the 48th), and now he isn't worth a pick at all? A 6'8" southpaw with some production in the Big East isn't worth one of over 1,500 picks?
• Why wasn't Richie Goodenow worth a pick? He is 23 years old, but used to pitch at Vanderbilt, where he was rather good out of relief his final year there. This past season, his BABIP was an insanely high .437, and he also did a fair amount of hitting. Isn't he a strong enough candidate to rebound to take a shot on late in the draft? Especially as a left-hander?
• J.T. Odom burns me the most. He posted great strikeout rates his entire college career, and yet nobody ever gave him a sniff in the MLB draft. He is undersized, and maybe I'd have second thoughts too if I saw video on him. However, at some point a team needs to take a chance on the production and see what happens.

That's enough about the third day. I shouldn't get too incensed about guys not getting drafted, because so many players get the call with MLB's absurdly long amateur draft. It has been a fun three days, as it always is. Now it is time to dig into the Mariners draft further. With a little luck, a pick-by-pick analysis will be up by Friday night.