Even though there are still a couple of weeks before pitchers & catchers report for spring training, and an additional month before my beloved Illowa APBA League kicks off its season with playoffs, the World Series, the rookie draft, & the start of another season, I’ve got baseball on the brain. So I’ve decided to do a rookie draft preview. I’ve done many draft reviews, but this is my first shot at a draft preview. It’s kind of tough to do, without tipping my hand. I’d love to hear your thoughts on my evaluation.
TOP TEN
C Buster Posey, OF Jason Heyward, P Jaime Garcia, P Daniel Hudson, P Madison Bumgarner, SS Starlin Castro, P Stephen Strasburg, OF Mike Stanton, P Jhoulys Chacin, P* Neftali Feliz
11-20
P Brian Matusz, 3B Pedro Alvarez, P Ian Kennedy, C Carlos Santana, 2B Neil Walker, OF Tyler Colvin, SS Ian Desmond, OF Austin Jackson, P Jonathan Niese, 1B Ike Davis
21-30
3B Danny Valencia, P* Jonny Venters, P* Alexi Ogando, 3B Chris Johnson, OF Jose Tabata, 2B/SS Reid Brignac, P Alex Sanabia, P Mike Leake, P Travis Wood, P Jake Arrieta
31-40
P* Wilton Lopez, C John Jaso, P Wade Davis, OF Logan Morrison, OF Lorenzo Cain, P* Ryan Webb, OF Brandon Boesch, 1B Justin Smoak, 1B Brett Wallace, P* Sergio Santos
41-50
P* John Axford, P Hisanori Takahashi, C Josh Thole, P* Kenley Jansen, P* Craig Kimbrel, P* Chris Sale, P* Zach Braddock, P Jeanmar Gomez, P* Drew Storen, P* Ernesto Frieri
OVERLOOKED ROOKIES
P* Michael Kohn, P* Michael Dunn, P Josh Tomlin, 1B Gaby Sanchez, SS/2B Jason Donald, P Mitch Talbot, P* Fernando Salas, P* Henry Rodriguez, P Jenrry Mejia, P Tyson Ross
P Barry Enright of the Arizona Diamondbacks was completely overlooked, perhaps he should be inserted in the overlooked rookies, just ahead of Josh Tomlin.