2022 MLB Draft

Awesome pick. Better prospect than Tyler Whitaker who they took in the 3rd round last year. They must think they can sign him if they took him this high. All those Sr signs yesterday should help close the gap. Excellent excellent pick if they sign him. Fangraphs had him ranked as their 57th best draft prospect. I would expect him to be in the 9-15 range on Houston’s prospect list.

 

If they can get him to break his Vanderbilt commitment, then this is a big signing. He is basically a second rounder if he hadn't told everyone he was a strong commit. He likely will have to DH or play 1st but his bat is pretty good IMO. Some scouts seem to think he can stick as a corner outfielder... I will defer as I have seen him maybe twice in the field.

 

Round 11, Pick 343: Ryan Clifford, RF, Crossroads FLEX High School (Cary, North Carolina)
The first pick in this draft I have been excited by.

 

What is the idea behind college and playoff in terms of value acquisition (don't care about current or future team needs)? College you have more data so more confidence in projections? Seems like younger kids there's more variance so maybe a higher max payoff compared to college?

 

Dezenzo is another good pick. Good exit velos. Can play SS. Big kid so might get to even more power. Swing and miss an issue. Would have gone higher last year.

 

Round 13: SS Jackson Loftin, Oral Roberts (Grad transfer from SHSU). Local kid from Klein Collins HS. Here come the infielders.

 

You gotta think that the Astros had a verbal agreement before making the pick.

 

College is a higher level of competition.

Players fill out in the first 1-2 years of college, naturally. The D1 players also train 40 hours a week, so they work hard on their conditioning and their skills.

By three years in college, scouts have a way better idea how to project players to years 24-25 when they would entering the MLB.

I do not have a clue how the international scouts project 16 year olds.

 

Seems liked they'd know how much it would take to flip him pro. I'm surprised nobody else had him earlier. Maybe he feels better with Astros system also can't hurt A ball clubs are close to home. We shall see.

 

As I said the pick before, here come the infielders.

 

Ken Caminiti was here at 3B and was considered secure there. Bagwell replaced Glen Davis who was doing well, but must have been injured in the 1990 season. (only 93 gms)

Bagwell became a well above average defensive 1B as well as an elite hitter. Gurriel was primarily a 3B in 2016 but became well above average defender at 1B. The Astros were ahead of the curve looking at defensive 1B who could hit and not just a place to stash a bat.

 

Only in the 2012 draft did they fail to sign their 11th rounder (Hunter Virant).

We've mostly signed regular guys in that spot, but Virant in 2012, German in 2013, Sandavol in 2015, and Gusto in 2019 were all 11th rounders that we signed using bonus pool money. Sandavol is the only success so far.

I'd assume they need at least $500K in pool savings + overage to get a deal done.

 

Let's not forget that High School players have leverage of going to college so they more of a signing risk for less certain future performance.

And of course they take 2+ additional years of development time but only get 1 additional year before having to be protected from rule 5 draft.

 

Yes Davis had an injury ( I believe it was his back if memory serves) but was also traded well before spring training and any ideas of moving Bagwell may have been formed.

Bagwell had Ken blocking him ( who was a superior fielder) and Yuli was moved in favor of Alex.

Both of those moves were great. The difference is the moves were made because another player necessitated it.

Here you are talking about moving the starting 3B without a better 3B option in place.

"Let's move the 3B to 1B and find a new 3B" really only makes sense if there is a reason he needs to move off of 3B.

 

Really liking these picks from today. Following Clifford with college middle infielders who have stats that show both power and speed. Guys who weren't on the radar whose big 2022 seasons might show a breakout that scouts missed because of COVID. Guys with size who might have projection to increase their tools thru maturity.

 

Dezenzo: 6'4" 220; 19 HR in 51 g; from Prospects live: Dezenzo got plenty of attention in the 2021 draft, but elected to return to school in the hopes of raising his stock even more in 2022. It's a slug-over-hit profile with some swing-and-miss concerns moving forward. The exit velocities here are impressive, and Dezenzo's ability to play shortstop in a pinch can't be understated. He's a projectable body with budding on-field performances. Dezenzo is a sleeper for sure.

Loftin: 6'2" 195; 10 HR 25 SB, 34k/35bb in 58 g
Sacco: 14 HR 18 SB in 60 g 34bb/42k