The 2014 was an exciting one for Jersey Shore having compensation picks for free agents they totaled 9 picks in the first 4 rounds and 14 picks total. As the draft wound down bats filled the draft board, taking 12 of 14 position players.
Their first pick came with the 28th overall pick. The Bags selected 22 year old SS Lawrence Schroeder out of the U of Virginia. Schroeder is a rangy SS who hits with good contact and for average power with a decent eye. He hit .340, had an OBP of .453 and hit 45 HR's in his college career. He will be sent to AA Gainesville where he should play right away and should have one of the quicker paths to the big leagues of any player in the draft.
With their 2nd pick in the draft, and 34th overall (former pick of the Toronto Titans and compensation for SP Jose Brito) the D-Bags selected 22 year old OF Armando Gonzales out of the University of Florida. Gonzales played mainly CF in college but projects as a corner OF with good contact and great eye potential, scouts see him as an ideal #2 hitter. He finished his college career witha .323 BA, and a .481 OBP and will also report to AA Gainesville.
For their 3rd pick and 48th overall in the supplemental round (compensation for Brito) the Bags took Gonzales teammate at Florida, 22 year old OF Matthieu Vancini. Vancini follows in a similiar to mold to Gonzales, good contact and low power. Vancini though has a knack for limiting strikeouts and has more speed. He will join the first 2 picks in AA.
3 picks later, at 51st overall (compensation for SP Hector Hernandez) Jersey selected their first HS player of the draft in 19 year old 3B Cesar Reyes. Coming out of Sante Fe HS in New Mexico, Reyes played 2 years of HS ball hitting with a 185 OPS+ both years. Reyes isn't the most athletic player but projects with plus gap and power potential.
In Round 2, at pick 77, (formally belonging to Jacksonville, compensation for Hernandez) the Bags went back to college and selected 2B Armando Martinez. Martinez is a Domincan born player who played his college ball at Texas Tech. He plays every IF positions, but mainly stays on the right side at 1B and 2B. He is a high contact hitter, but doesn't add too much else. Hit .355 with a .455 OBP in 518 college AB's.
With their own 2nd round pick, the Bags took an interesting player in college 1B Clay Hawkins out of Arizona. Hawkins was selected last year by Seattle, but didn't sign. Hawkins was at UA for 4 years, but only had 4 AB in his first 2 seasons and then bust out. Back to back 20 HR seasons led Arizona both years. Sources say he is asking for a large signing bonus, so it could get interesting.
The rest of the draft is as follows:
3rd: 3B Jesse King - 19 year old high contact player out of Washington
4th: C Pedro Ramos - 22 year old college player from Rutgers
5th: P Wayne Barksdale - 19 year old projected MR from Pennsylvania
6th: SS Henry Paul - 19 year old speedy IF from New York
7th: P Tony Gurerrero - 22 year old P from Penn State
8th: RF Ben McKay - 22 year old util player from Pittsburgh
9th: P Sean Shaffner - 22 year old MR from USC
10th: RF Dan Pierce - 19 year old speedy OF from Arizona
This is the most drafted players the Bags have ever brought in one year. How many of these players are future D-Bags? Hopefully we will see a lot of them in the future.
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