2014 Draft class

[NorthSideSox72]

I saw somewhere that Rodon got hammered. Anyone see the line?

He struggled at first but dialed it in later a bit better. Had trouble with command both of the FB and the slider. And his FB velocity was, at least early on, well below what people were expecting from him.

 

That all said, I wouldn't read a ton into it just yet. It was the first game of the season.

 

He also hit 3 batters.

 

[fathom]

Great article on Hoffman

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/college/gam...p-jeff-hoffman/

[DirtySox]

Short BA piece on Trea Turner's debut as well. Video too.

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/college/gam...ss-trea-turner/

[SoxAce]

Short BA piece on Trea Turner's debut as well. Video too.

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/college/gam...ss-trea-turner/

 

He is going to be very special, where ever he goes. He's probably my favorite prospect to watch and keep tabs on other than maybe Toussaint. (and a few others, albeit some of the keeping tabs on variety) Don't think I've been this pumped (this early) about the draft ever.. (2008 was the closest and even that doesn't compare)

[GGajewski18]

Short BA piece on Trea Turner's debut as well. Video too.

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/college/gam...ss-trea-turner/

 

If he has a good year, Turner would be number 1 on my board.

[Jake]

I remain more excited about Turner than anyone else.

[Dunt]

I remain more excited about Turner than anyone else.

 

The fact that we have the opportunity to score either Turner or Hoffmann makes me very excited. Looking a couple years down the line, a 1-2 of Turner and Eaton in front of Avi and JDA makes me very excited.

[Eminor3rd]

Relevant excerpts form a BP piece today:

 

Carlos Rodon, LHP, NC State

Scouting Video

It was a disappointing start all around for NC State ace Rodon. After weather-related issues bumped State’s opener from Friday in Southern California to Sunday in Raleigh, the lefty took the mound without his usual overpowering arsenal. Rodon sat as low as 89-90 mph and generally 90-92, several ticks shy of his usual comfort zone, while struggling to command the pitch to his typical ability. His power breaker, normally the go-to pitch in his repertoire, was unresponsive, and with his fastball velocity down Canisius was able to succeed with a choke-and-poke approach, taking advantage of Rodon’s bouts of wildness and a flat NC State defense. The final line was a ho-hum six innings pitched, four hits, three runs (one earned), and one walk allowed, with six strikeouts and three batsmen hit by pitches. While Sunday’s performance was less than ideal, Rodon’s track record, and the fact that he has more than three months’ worth of starts before draft day, lessen the blow for evaluators. He gets Appalachian State next weekend. –Nick J. Faleris

 

Tyler Beede, RHP, Vanderbilt

Scouting Video

Beede enters the season as one of the top right-handed pitching prospects in the 2014 draft. It's a deep crop and while he's near the top as the season begins, the former first-round pick will face heavy competition for the top half of the first round. Beede's arm is fast and loose with a clean arm action, allowing him to work comfortably in the low-mid-90s throughout his starts and occasionally reach a bit higher. He features a hammer curveball that flashes plus and a changeup with average to above average potential. In his opening day start at Long Beach State his command and secondary stuff were both inconsistent, particularly in the early going. But he made adjustments and found the release point on his curveball and was able to be efficient in his later innings, getting through five innings while allowing just an unearned run. If he improves command and consistency as the season progresses he has a chance to come off the board in the first 10 picks. While that is not a foregone conclusion, going by physical capacity Beede is among the elite prospects in the 2014 class. Viewed in a vacuum, Beede looked like a mid-late first rounder in a rusty first start of the year. But given his track record, ceiling and clean bill of health, he is likely to go higher come June, with a profile similar to that of Kevin Gausman in 2012. –Todd Gold

[DirtySox]

Im going to throw out a random early draft prediction. Max Pentecost is going to be a top 5 pick.

[harfman77]

Im going to throw out a random early draft prediction. Max Pentecost is going to be a top 5 pick.

 

I dont know much about Pentecost, how does he compare to Zunino out of Florida a couple years ago?

[DirtySox]

Kiley McDaniel's updated draft rankings broken into tiers. Interesting.

 

http://sbb.scout.com/2/1376626.html

[Quin]

Let's discuss people we can take with the Ervin Santana pick.

 

As I've stated before, I like Jakson Reetz the high school catcher.

[Marty34]

Kiley McDaniel's updated draft rankings broken into tiers. Interesting.

 

http://sbb.scout.com/2/1376626.html

 

Interesting that a scout thinks Turner could go ahead of Rodon. I have a sneaking suspicion that Hoffman will go ahead of Rodon (caveat being of course that it's early.)

[Quin]

Interesting that a scout thinks Turner could go ahead of Rodon. I have a sneaking suspicion that Hoffman will go ahead of Rodon (caveat being of course that it's early.)

 

I'll take Rodon.

[royoung]

I'll take Rodon.

 

Would love for Hoffman, Rodon or Turner. Not sold on Kolek

[GGajewski18]

Would love for Hoffman, Rodon or Turner. Not sold on Kolek

 

Same. Any one of those 3 and I would be beyond happy.

[2nd_city_saint787]

Kiley McDaniel's updated draft rankings broken into tiers. Interesting.

 

http://sbb.scout.com/2/1376626.html

 

 

Let's discuss people we can take with the Ervin Santana pick.

 

As I've stated before, I like Jakson Reetz the high school catcher.

 

According to Kiley McDaniel Jacob Gatewood could be there with the "Ervin Santana" pick.....Another catcher on the list dirty posted, Evan Skoug looks pretty interesting as well. Left handed, local kid, said to have a real good bat with good power, but isn't great defensively.

 

If they got one of Gatewood, Reetz, or Skoug in the 2nd I'd be a happy panda.

[Marty34]

Gatewood is interesting because he was once touted a top ten pick. He looks incredibly raw to me but I do like drafting upside at premium positions.

 

Would Gatewood take 2nd round money?

[southsider2k5]

Gatewood is interesting because he was once touted a top ten pick. He looks incredibly raw to me but I do like drafting upside at premium positions.

 

That is Chris Beck's story to a T.

[DirtySox]

Gatewood is interesting because he was once touted a top ten pick. He looks incredibly raw to me but I do like drafting upside at premium positions.

 

Gatewood is very divisive. Law released his tiers today and had him in the second group with Hoffman, Kolek, and Jackson. Rodon still in the top tier by himself.

[witesoxfan]

Would Gatewood take 2nd round money?

 

I would say that's highly doubtful. May have to pay up for him, but it could definitely be worth it in that instance. He's a USC commit.

[royoung]

I think Tyler Beede, at least in Kiley McDaniel's list, is being overlooked to an extent. I'd appreciate any ESPN insiders who could say where Beede ranked on Law's list.

 

Rabbit, Keith Law put the first round draft prospects into tiers today. I'll copy and paste the first three tiers. Some players of interest...He doesn't appear to be as high on Trea Turner as others, and Gatewood in tier 2 was the highest I've seen him.

 

Tier 1

 

Carlos Rodon, LHP | NC State

 

You know you're a boss when you have your own tier. Rodon is far and away the best available player in this draft class, with a 70-grade fastball (on the 20-80 scouting scale) and at least a 70 slider, a track record of missing bats, and a pretty good swing too. The Astros aren't guaranteed to take him first overall, but they did buy four season tickets down in Raleigh, so I'm going to go out on a limb and say he's in their mix.

 

Tier 2

 

Jeff Hoffman, RHP | East Carolina

Tyler Kolek, RHP | Shepherd (Texas) HS

Jacob Gatewood, SS | Clovis (Calif.) HS

Alex Jackson, C/3B | Rancho Bernardo HS (San Diego)

 

Right now, this looks like the decision set for teams drafting second or third -- with the obvious, enormous, I-can't-emphasize-this-enough caveat that it's February and teams won't even think about limiting themselves to just a few names until we get to mid-May. Hoffman has one of the best fastballs among college starters and will show the necessary secondary stuff, but until the Cape Cod League last summer he didn't have any real history of success.

 

Kolek is already massive at 6-foot-5 and roughly 250 pounds, but hit 100 mph last week with a better slider and curveball than he'd shown last summer; the Marlins pick second, and scouting director Stan Meek is a big fan of physical power arms like this. Gatewood is ahead of Jackson in the early going among prep bats; Gatewood has the power, but is now showing he can use the whole field instead of just trying to pull everything 500 feet, while Jackson appears to want to move off catcher, meaning his hit tool will have to carry him to stay in the top-five selections.

 

Tier 3

 

Tyler Beede, RHP | Vanderbilt

Sean Newcomb, LHP | Hartford

Erick Fedde, RHP | UNLV

Max Pentecost, C | Kennesaw State

Trea Turner, SS | NC State

Derek Fisher, OF | Virginia

Brady Aiken, LHP | Cathedral Catholic HS (San Diego)

Grant Holmes, RHP | Conway (S.C.) HS

Justus Sheffield, LHP | Tullahoma (Tenn.) HS

 

The six college players in this tier could all move up a tier with strong springs in which they address specific questions about their skill sets. Beede shows the stuff to be in the second tier but not the command, as does Newcomb, whereas Fedde has flashed that kind of stuff but needs to show it more consistently.

 

Pentecost -- no relation to Karsten Whitsun or Michael Mas -- looks like the best college position player in the draft, a true catcher with ability at the plate, standing out in a class with little catching at either the college or high school levels. He's a better bet for me than Turner, an 80 runner with no power and an unorthodox swing; or Fisher, the toolsiest college position player in the class who has to show better ability to hit. Turner may still be the highest drafted of the three, however, with the bankable run tool and the fact that he'll be seen extensively while playing behind Rodon every Friday night.

 

After Kolek, Holmes, Aiken and Sheffield are the cream of the rich high school pitching crop for now, but I don't think any leaps up into the top eight overall picks barring a velocity spike. Sheffield is the biggest variable among the three, whereas Aiken is the most polished and Holmes offers the least projection because he's already physically mature.

[Eminor3rd]

That's insane that Law considers Gatewood a top 5er but McDaniel has him in the sixth TIER.

[Quin]

According to Kiley McDaniel Jacob Gatewood could be there with the "Ervin Santana" pick.....Another catcher on the list dirty posted, Evan Skoug looks pretty interesting as well. Left handed, local kid, said to have a real good bat with good power, but isn't great defensively.

 

If they got one of Gatewood, Reetz, or Skoug in the 2nd I'd be a happy panda.

 

If Gatewood is there, holy s*** take him.

[DirtySox]

That's insane that Law considers Gatewood a top 5er but McDaniel has him in the sixth TIER.

 

With how early it is, I don't think it's that crazy. Especially with toolsy prep players.