It's draft time again and that means one of GM Josh Swain's favorite times of the year. Swain has done a fantastic job drafting taking the teams 2 superstars in Bryant and Doyle, as well as the team's current SS Adam Morrow and the team's future SS Lawrence Shroeder and recently traded Richard Coker. In 6 years of drafting one thing has been common for the Bags, taking a bat in the first round. And most notably taking an infield bat. 5 out of the 6 years the team's first round pick was an infiender: Bryant, Doyle, Coker, Schroeder and Brodeur. The only other first rounder that wasn't an IF was CF Ernesto Barzaga who never developed and is out of the league. This year we saw things change.
1st Round:
With Jersey's first pick coming at pick 31 in the first round they went and different direction and chose SP Gianluigi Ciottone out of the University of Nebraska. Ciottone was a solid starter for Nebraska for 4 season averaging over 11 K/9 while walking 3.5 per/9 and limiting his HR. Swain was ecstatic to get him at 31. "I'll be honest we had him as a Top 3 SP in this draft and him falling to 31 is amazing, I would have taken him 20-25 picks sooner if we had position" Swain said. The one knock on Gianluigi is the lack of a decent 3rd pitch. He does throw a changeup, but it is very raw and limits it in games. The Bags will try to help improve the pitch in the offseason and track his results from there.
2nd Round:
Having 2 second round picks, Jersey went the same route with both picks. Both high stuff/high movement MR, one out of HS and one out of college. The first was pick 40 of the 2nd round and 113th overall, MR Gil Dickson out of Randall HS. Dickson served as the closer for Randall for 4 years, totally 31 saves in his 4 seasons. He finished his HS career with a 2.70 ERA, racking up 99 K's in 60.0 IP. He throws an above average fastball and curveball and tops out at 94 MPH.
2 picks later at 115th overall, Jersey selected SP/MR Claude Pinard out of the University of Louisville. Pinard was a college starter and finished school with a 16-7 W/L record, striking out 271 batters in 67.2 IP. He was one of the best starters in the country his senior year having a 2.13 ERA and finishing 6-0. Jersey has already come forth and stated he might get some minor league starts but with only 2 pitches he will probably be regulated to straight bullpen duty. Pinard throws an excellent sinker which keeps the ball on the ground almost 75% of the time. Combine that with his power to hit 99 MPH, you have some great potential.
3rd Round:
For the 2nd round in a row Jersey would have 2 picks. With the first the trend continued and Jersey selected MR Pat Wright out of Dublin Jerome High School at pick 45 of the 3rd round, 169th overall. Wright started for 4 seasons tallying a 20-6 record in 32 starts amassing an amazing 319 K's and only 38 BB's 199 IP. He like Pinard only throws 2 pitches and probably will be regulated for bullpen duty and if there was a knock on his pitching it's his movement. He gave up 29 HR in 32 stats.
2 picks later Jersey selected another pitcher and it's 5th of the day taking MR Jesus Ramos out of Buchanan High School with pick 47 of the 3rd round, 171st overall. Ramos played at Buchanan for 3 seasons compiling a 3.53 ERA, making 14 starts in 23 appearances. His control is his strong point rating at a 16 on a 20 point scale. He will be sent to A ball Manhatten.
4th Round:
With it's 4th round pick, 203rd overall, Jersey selected Nicaraguan born 23 year old MR out of the University of Minnesota Sergio Hernandez. Hernandez was selected 90th overall last year by the New Orleans Looters but failed to sign. He reportedly played ball in the South American league this season before re-entering the draft pool. Sergio was the primary closer for UMN, but what stands out is his 73% groundball rate and the fact he only gave up 4 HR in 89.2 IP in college. He will report to AA Gainsville.
5th Round:
For Jersey's 5th round pick they finally shied away from the arms and selected a bat. At 231st overall they selected 3B Michael Swanson out of UCLA. This is the 3rd time time Swanson has been drafted and will turn 25 later this year. Not the ideal draftee. He was selected 134th overall by Toronto in 2014, then 160th overall by your Jersey Shore D-Bags last season. Swanson doesn't have much upside with the stick but has elite speed and has a great glove.
6th: CF Guillermo Cardenas
7th: MR Juan Patino
8th: CF Charlie Nichols
9th: LF Joseph Randall
10th: RF Greg McDaniel
Overall another strong draft for the Bags. The pitching will restock the system and give them one of the deepest systems in MR prospects in the BSA. If Ciottone can develop like Jersey hopes, he could be an absolute steal at pick 31.
GO D-BAGS
2015 was a little different than 2014 where the D-Bags had 9 picks in the first 4 rounds. This season they had two extra picks in the Supplemental round and a total of 7 picks in the first 4 rounds. With the amount of players not being signed in recent years as well as the amount of compensation picks those picks which use to be in the 60's-70's are now 100+ which creates not the talent level it once did.
As it has been in the past, Jersey drafted heavy on hitting and heavy on college players. 10 of their 13 players were position players, many older. Here's the breakdown:
Similiar to last year Jersey picked late in the 1st round, this year 25th overall. They picked a college IF with this pick as they did last year as well, this time taking 22 year old SS out of U of Minnesota Fabrice Brodeur. Brodeur is a rangy infielder with a big arm who projects as a SS or 3B with some time in the league. Fabrice was having a fabulous 3 year career before a sudden drop in production his senior year. Despite the drop across the board he still went 1st round. Fabrice will report to single A where Jersey hopes he can work the kinks out of his swing.
In the supplemental round Jersey had 2 picks, picks from the losses of Gordon Brown and Marv Williams. The 1st of the two was pick 10 in the supplemental round at 45th overall and with that pick the Bags selected CL Gerald "Top Dog" Johnson. Johnson attended Rocky Point HS in NY and is a flame throwing lefty. College closers don't see many innings, but in his 3 HR seasons Top Dog almost average 2 K's per inning. Johnson will just add to the relief arms in Jersey's already well stocked stystem.
Their 2nd pick in the supplemental round came 10 picks later at 55th overall. The pick was very similar to their last pick. In fact not only were the players the same age, the attended the same High School. The pick was local New Yorker 19 year old MR John Hall. This right hander was downright filthy in his 3 years at Rocky Point and most notably his Sr. year. In 28.1 IP he gave up 13 hits, walked 3 and struck out 50 on his way to an astounding 0.32 ERA and 0.56 WHIP. He doesn't strike out as many as Top Dog but he has better control, if signed Jersey plans to send him to A ball.
With Jersey's 1st of 2 2nd round picks, compensation from Niagara Falls, the Bags selected 23 year old OF Juan Cabanas. Cabanas, a local Jersey boy, played 3 years at Villanova and was drafted in the 2nd round and 64th overall last season by Kansas City and failed to sign. Jersey took him 36 picks later this year. Cabanas hit .330 in 4 years at Nova and has good speed while and being an above average LF.
With Jersey's own pick in the 2nd round they took another 23 year old speedy OF from St. Johns, Caleb Farrell. Farrell has a knack for stealing bases and some power. He doesn't project to be a great major league hitter, but should hang on with his speed and defense.
In the 3rd round Jersey took another speedy college defender in UCLA 3B Michael Swanson. Swanson has a big arm and his best attribute would be his power where he hit 35 HR in 3 seasons. He does have a knack to strikeout and at 23 years old already, his time might be running short.
4th Round Pick: C Juan Salas, 24 year old college catcher from Pittsburgh. Speed and good OBP player
5th Round Pick: 3B Jorge Perez, 24 year old 3B from Mississippi. Power player, above average defender.
6th Round Pick: College OF Dale Sims. Speedster, not much else.
7th Round Pick: HS MR Michael Pitts. Poor pitcher, won't last long. Never posted an ERA below 5.00
8th Round Pick: OF Flint Knight. College player, good speed and defense.
9th Round Pick: HS 3B Julio Manuel. Big arm, good speed, not much with the bat.
10th Round Pick: SS Tony Tibbs. Utility player, little talent.
Weird draft for Jersey, took a lot of older players. High potential with the first 3 picks and not much more out of the rest of the draft. Would be surprised to see half of them on the roster next year. Don't be surprised to see at least 2 picks not get signed and Jersey to receive picks next year.
