Andrew Dewhirst
June 5th 2019
It’s been a pretty quiet week transactions wise. Likely because there was this small event called the MLB Draft. This is my first year really diving into the draft and being aware of the player pool, and largely it’s because of this process. With 6 picks in the first 3 rounds it is going to be important that I understand the pool, as well as the J2 prospects that come in as well. The other thing that is important is that I also need to understand development time to help me make decisions. If a college and prep player seem equal does the player who can be on my team in 2 years help me more than the player who could take 6. With that said, these are the players from the draft I have had an eye on.
Riley Greene – I am a Tigers fan, so I had to pay attention to Greene, but there is a lot to like here. He was seen as the best pure prep hitter in the class, and some have put a 70 on his hit tool. He will likely be a corner outfielder, but that isn’t a big deal. Also a lesser known fact is that Greene’s dad is a hitting instructor, which likely has helped play into that hit tool. If all goes well he could be up in 4 years.
Dasan Brown – Brown in a premium athlete, taken with the 88th pick by his hometown Blue Jays. Brown has had a 70 grade speed tag put on him, which will likely ensure that he gets taken in your first year player draft. What makes players like this harder to project is Canadian kids don’t necessarily have the eyes on them that many of their American counterparts have. That being said, he has seen big time competition at his age, having played for the Canadian national team since he was 16, which includes a bronze at the U18 Pan Am games. Don’t be surprised if you see him pop into the top 100 in a couple of years.
Jacob Sanford – What a great story this guy is. Coming out of high school, his only opportunity to play sports was an opportunity to play Volleyball at the academic first Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, but Jacob wanted to play Baseball. So what did he do? He took his SAT’s, and travelled nearly 2500 miles to McCook Nebraska as a walk on at McCook Community College. While there for two years he broke their slugging record each year and then transferred over to Western Kentucky for the start of the 2019 season. Not to be outdone in his first year of Division 1 play, he hit .402/.488/.828 with 22 homers and 65 RBI. Good enough for the triple crown in Conference USA. Now in the Yankee’s system we will see what they can do with him.
Jaden Brown – One last Canadian kid. Brown was previously thought to be the top Canadian in this draft, with some thinking he could go in the top 10. Brown has now slipped out of the first 2 days of the draft. Brown had gotten a 10 from Perfect Game in the past and has shown himself to be a tooled up shortstop. At this point it seems unlikely that he will sign with a MLB team, so keep an eye out for him at the University of Kentucky, as if he is the player that Perfect Game scouts thinks he is, he will be back in a big way if he can dominate SEC competition.
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