The beauty of picking this high, of course, is all the options you have. But as a fan, that means I just keep bouncing back and forth and talking myself into every potential pick.
"Oh, Lewis seems great. But so does Rutherford! But man, what if Groome fell to 3?! And Puk has huge upside- he could be a Randy Johnson type. I WANT ALL OF THEM!"
So watch us pick someone who hasn't even discussed here.
Hudson2 (04-14-2016), The Chosen One (04-14-2016), UNCBlue012 (04-14-2016)
I don't know how much input he has on this, but Kiley McDaniel had Blake Rutherford rated as the top bat in the draft before he took a job with the Braves.
Kiley I would imagine has a big influence.
Dang Groome ruled ineligible for the rest of the year. Does this effect his draft stock at all? Have to take him if he fell to #3.
usatodayhss.com/2016/potential-no-1-mlb-draft-pick-jason-groome-ruled-ineligible
High school sports eligibility is getting extremely complicated with "schools" like the IMG Academy springing up. We've got a private hockey school in Minnesota that is gumming things up. Difficult to know exactly what to do here. Groome, while not a victim in a truest sense of the word, is really penalized for his failure to update his address (if indeed that was his address).
My guess is this will free up Groome for a number of semi-formal side sessions with scouts in attendance. He may slip a few slots, but I don't think he'll fall that far.
Hudson2 (04-14-2016)
All this does is lower the chances he gets injured. He will pitch again this spring, he will dominate, and he will be drafted just like it never happened. MLB scouts probably don't need to see him blowing away high school hitters in April to draft him in June.
I could see him maybe falling to 3 after this. I pray he does anyways.
For those of you with ESPNU, AJ Puk is starting tonight against Arkansas, if you'd like to do some advance scouting.
The Chosen One (04-14-2016)
Puk has struggled some this year, but Coppy has a very high opinion of him based on his comments in a recent chat he made. He's a power lefty, and those tend to go high. I wouldn't rule him out at this point.
Another guy is Robert Tyler, who I don't think is an option at the #3 pick, but he has maybe the best stuff of any pitcher in this draft sans Groome. I've seen him pitch, and his stuff is excellent. His command is spotty at best, but the guy has impressive stuff.
http://www.perfectgame.org/Articles/...?article=12348
Perfect Game's Top 100 draft prospects. It is behind a paywall, so the notable mentions:
#3 Corey Ray
#4 Blake Rutherford
#5 AJ Puk
#7 Kyle Lewis
#47 Will Benson
Watching AJ Puk tonight. His fastball has some electricity. He's a left that has been working 93-95 while touching 97 a few times. His command is shaky. He's walked 2 and beaned one guy tonight. Through three innings, Puk has thrown 63 pitches. He has struck out 7 because Arkansas can't catch up to his fastball, and his slider has good late movement. Fastball and slider are the only two pitches I've seen him throw tonight. FB has some arm side run to it.
KB21 (04-14-2016)
In many ways that was the quintessential AJ Puk start- serious control issues, combined with an absolutely unhittable fastball. He didn't even really have the good slider tonight, but a great fastball with good location is going to get the job done more often than not against college hitters. Got a ton of late swings and misses on pure heat.
World Sports News @WordLinkSPORTS · 26m26 minutes ago
ESPN's Keith Law: I don't think Phillies are interested in N.J.'s Jason Groome #sports http://wordlink.com/l/3Db1b
Or do they have a different approach as well. They have a nice core coming up and are pretty close to competing again thanks to the Hamels and Giles trade... maybe they are looking at a college player as well...Or are looking at the Stros approach and going to play the slot $ game.. Sign 1st pick below value and try to max out on their next pick..
**edit.. I didn't read the article until just now.. Law thinks the slot approach, which makes sense, except Groome may be the best pitcher that comes along for a few years... I would love for him to slip to #3
Last edited by bravesfanMatt; 04-15-2016 at 09:54 AM.
Seems like the Braves want to play the same game with the 3 and 40 picks. An under slot college hitter at #3 (which Coppy has said they want) would allow them to sign another high level talent at #40 and pay him over slot. The Astros laid out the blueprint with Daz last year.
It would be hard to pass on Groome at 3 if he's there, but if it means getting Lewis/Ray at 3 and another top 15 guy at 40...I would be all for it.