As for Appel, I actually really like him. His fastball sits at 94-95mph and he can reach 98mph every now and then. He has really good life to the fastball as well with some 2 seam action on it. The thing that separates him from Gausman and Zimmer, is the changeup. He has a really good changeup that fades away from lefties. I think with a little more fine tuning, this could be a major weapon for him. The slider is a bit hit or miss. When it's good, it's a plus pitch. When it's not, it's pretty average. I think a pro pitching coach can work with him to make it a consistent swing and miss pitch. The problem with Appel that I've read is really the fastball. Yes he has good velocity, but it's hittable. He doesn't hide it well. His arm action is pretty long and he bring his arm behind his back giving the hitter a good look at the ball throughout his arm action. He has good movement on the pitch, so realistically I can see him being a ground ball pitcher with his fair share of strikeouts. I could see a 220 inning workhorse with 160-180 strikeouts per year. He reminds me of Mike Pelfrey. Similar body, fastball has good movement, velocity is 93-94mph. Appel's slider and changeup are a grade or two better than Pelfrey though so I see a few more strikeouts for Appel. One thing I don't like about Appel is he loses alot of velocity when he's in the stretch. He's 91-92mph in the stretch whereas he's 94-95mph from the windup. Honestly, I don't see him being a true ace. I think he's a #2 type pitcher, and worst case scenario, he's a groundball throwing #3 pitcher. Locating his fastball will be key because he doesn't hide it very well. I'd like to see more changeups from him, and his slider also needs to be more consistent. If he can put it all together, he can be a potential #1. The stuff is there, but he still has little things that he needs to work on.
The fact that he is hittable is what makes me not want to draft him anymore. Anyone that you pick 1-1 (especially a college player) should be dominating in the level they are at. Appel just isn't doing that right now. He has a lot of mediocre games and has really good games against inferior schools. Gausman is at least doing the same thing against much better competition in the SEC. I have a feeling Zimmer is going to be the best pitcher out of the 3. I still am not uber impressed with any of them this year. They all seem to have #2-3 type pitchers. I think the position players are more likely to give you a better return. Correa would be my pick. He's a shortstop who's 17 and has power. The stros can most likely find a pitcher with a similar ceiling as the top three pitchers with their supplemental pick or 2nd round pick. A talent like Correa doesnt just fall into your lap every year.
I agree. I think Correa may be the best hitter out of the top 10 guys. Big projectable frame, bat speed, and he's a really good athlete. I think he eventually moves to 3B, but even then, he should be a 30 home run hitter. He's still raw, but he's faced better competition than Buxton and proven he can hit and hit with power.
Kinda funny when you think about the recent perception of Appel. He is a really good college pitcher with a fastball that sometimes nears 100, and with Buxton around Appel gets viewed as the red headed stepchild. Buxton is the sexy pic, not doubt about it. I think fair weather draft followers should just know that the Astros are not making a mistake taking Appel. Both could work out great, but in the world of baseball Appel is a much safer pick that has a better chance of not being a bust.
I have a question about the new bonus system ... and im not sure if anyone here can help me but its been bugging me so here it is ... The bonus pool applies to only the first 10 rounds right ?? So... what is stopping the astros from giving out a huge overslot bonus in round 11 ? Will there be any penalty for that ? Everyone says that the new slotting system kinda hurts the astros this year ... but we have the first pick in round 11 right ?? And of course due to the new system there will be players that wont be drafted due to signability concerns and it looks like we will have the pick of the litter .... of course this is assuming that there is no penalty round 11 onward ... does anyone know if there is ?
I wanna say someone here addressed this issue recently. Let me look around real quick and get back to you on that.
Ah i see ... so really the max they can spen after the first 10 rounds is 100,000 per pick unless they have bonus pool money left.... thanks a ton
This is what I found. It looks like after 10 rounds, anything over $100k goes against their budget. Edit- Looks like someone already answered the question. I should have refreshed the page before I posted this.
The only thing that really bugs me about this system is i can definitely see MLB trying it this year ... deciding it doesnt work and then changing it next year when we dont have the number 1 pick ...
I doubt they will, this was agreed upon by the players association and the MLB. Both Bud and the players wanted to reduce draft bonuses. Bud wants to remove some of the power and manipulation that Boras is creating every year with the draft. The players want more money to go to veterans rather than unproven kids. They wont change this new system at least for like 4 years. I have a feeling that when they do change it, they are going to create a hard slotting system for the draft. I think the power these young kids have is ridiculous. I prefer the system the NBA has with the draft.
Hey, does Section 5.d of the new CBA draft rules mean that those Competitive Balance Lottery picks (unlike all other draft picks) can actually be TRADED? If so, what are those "certain restrictions" on "assignment"? And would a team receiving such a pick via trade get an increase to its Signing Bonus Pool commensurate with the slot for such pick?
Yes, the Competitive Balance Lottery picks can be traded. But the bolded part of the following story lists the following limitations: -Only a team that wins a pick can trade. The pick can only be traded once. -Can't be traded for cash, and can only be traded during the season. -Trades can begin the day after the lottery, and the deadline is the end of the season. -Trading restarts at the beginning of the following season. I asked Jayson Stark on Twitter, what you asked me a moment ago (right now, I'm thinking that I should've asked someone else), but I am assuming that the team receiving the lottery pick should get an appropriate increase to their bonus pool. "Appropriate" meaning the slot value of the pick that they received. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20111130&content_id=26059392
Confirmed. In a trade for a Competitive Balance Lottery pick, the receiving team's bonus pool would increase, and the trading team's pool would decrease by however much that pick's slot value was.
^^^ beat me to it. trading sounds fun and all, but with the cash restriction, my guess is a trade of one of those picks will be extremely rare. trading 1st rounders or high 2nd rounder a year or two after they are drafted seemingly never happens. For one of these to be moved, a team who owns one would basically have to be in the market for a superstar at the trade deadline.
