2006 Draft, Day 1 Recap
Wed, Jun 7, 2006
by Geoff Young
Special to Ducksnorts by Peter Friberg
Last night I wrote “Padres Poised to Pop Pitcher” for Ducksnorts.com. I had the Padres preference backwards. The Padres left Missouri St. right-hander Brett Sinkbeil on the table and tabbed Wake Forest third baseman Matt Antonelli with their first-round selection (#17 overall).
Antonelli is not a huge power bat and will likely move off of third base to either second base or center field, where his athleticism and bat will play better. He was a three-year starter in college and has great plate discipline. His power did start to emerge this year (7 HR in his first two collegiate seasons, 11 this year).
| BA | OBP | SLG | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| .333 | .439 | .584 | 39 | 24 |
With their supplemental first-round pick (#35), the Padres drafted a left-handed outfielder from Tennessee, Kyler Burke. Burke hit 20 home runs as a high school senior and aptly profiles to have “above average” raw power. He’s not just a masher, though. A pitcher in high school, his left-handed arm profiles nicely as above average for right field. Another nice tidbit about Burke — Baseball America indicates that he won his high school slam-dunk contest. That athleticism should play well in Petco’s spacious right field.
At #53, the other pick the Padres received from Baltimore’s signing of Ramon Hernandez, the Padres selected Chad Huffman. Huffman played first base, second base, and left field for the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs. Watching his video on MLB.com he doesn’t look like a second baseman. His actions seemed forced and rigid, but his bat should play wherever…
| BA | OBP | SLG | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| .388 | .498 | .742 | 38 | 31 |
The Padres had another second-round selection, their own, at #61; they chose University of Alabama left-hander Wade LeBlanc. LeBlanc won’t overwhelm anyone with his velocity, as he pitches in the mid- to high-80’s, but he’s been described as having the best control of any lefty in the draft. Padres’ scouting director, Grady Fuson, loves good changeups and Wade’s change is his best pitch.
| IP | H | HR | BB | SO | BAA | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 123.2 | 90 | 15 | 42 | 124 | .202 | 2.62 |
Picking in the fourth round with the 93rd overall selection, the Padres tabbed another high school outfielder, Cedric Hunter from Georgia. Hunter has played in the famed East Cobb summer program that produced Atlanta’s Jeff Francouer and other top prospects. Both Baseball America and MLB.com wonder if he has enough range to stay in center field or enough bat to play in left, but both say he has rare polish for a high school bat in this draft.
In the 4th, 5th, and 6th rounds, the Padres selected three collegiate “pitchability” guys:
- #123 Nathaniel Culp, LHP, U. of Missouri Columbia (bio)
- #153 Andrew Underwood, RHP, Fresno St. (bio)
- #183 Timothy Bascom, RHP, Central Florida U. (bio)
…and in the 7th - 10th rounds the Padres selected a bunch of collegiate infielders:
- #213 Craig Cooper, 1B, Notre Dame (bio)
- #243 Thomas King, SS, Troy U. (bio)
- #273 David Freese, 3B, U. of South Alabama (bio)
- #303 Kody Valverde, C, U. of Alabama Tuscaloosa (bio)
Then with the 333rd pick of the draft, things got interesting again…
In the 11th round, the Padres picked a high school pitcher with first- or second-round talent, Matthew Latos. Latos has a fastball that sits at 93-94 mph and touches 96-97. He adds a power curveball to his high-velocity fastball. Latos did not fall to the 11th round without reason. Latos had various “maturity” issues that dogged him on the field and off. At his best Latos is a premiere talent. At his worst, he can’t control his temper… The Padres may try to persuade Latos to attend a junior college while they retain his rights for a year.
Then, again in the 14th round, the Padres selected another tough-to-sign player — though this time, the player is a tough sign for a completely different reason. With the 423rd pick, the Padres selected Grant Green out of an Orange County high school. Green is a true five-tool shortstop (who projects more as a third baseman). Green played on the Junior Team USA squad. Green may be a tough sign because he has a solid commitment to the University of Southern California. While he was the scouting director for Texas Rangers, Fuson took several gambles with these types of players (frequently getting the player he wanted). Fuson had already indicated that the Padres have some money to spend and that he intended to take some chances.
Picking up where last year's version left off, the Ducksnorts 2008 Baseball Annual provides in-depth analysis of and commentary on the San Diego Padres. Get your copy today.
June 7, 2006 at 8:22 am
If they sign Antonelli, Burke, and Latos, the draft is made. I like Huffman’s statistical profile but I don’t know where he fits, and the various finesse pitchers are interchangeable. Sign half or two-thirds of them, fine, the minor league teams are taken care of and we might get a major leaguer out of it.
I’ve seen different reports on Green. BA is glowing. Others say that you really have to project to see him hitting as a pro.
Does anyone else see Joe Borchard when they look at Stubbs?
June 7, 2006 at 8:26 am
Good stuff Geoff. Anyway I wanted to let this go because whenever you see Nick Canepa writing about the Padres in the SD-UT is it always negative or it’s just me? And just because he doesn’t know what’s going on in the draft, like most columnists at this time who make crazy proposals about mixing up the draft:
http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/mlb.....;type=lgns
and
http://www.eveningsun.com/localsports/ci_3905431
I think our draft was okay so far and you never know if you’ll find diamonds in the rough on this second day and late rounds.
June 7, 2006 at 8:56 am
Canepa vacillates between sucking up to the Padres to retain his access and crying about today’s spoiled players and the salary structure.
June 7, 2006 at 9:13 am
Great info, Geoff. I’m excited about the possibility of this draft class. At worst, we’ll get a decent OF bat and a lefty arm. If the later draft picks turned out to be good, it’s even better.
The columnists who wrote about mixing and trading draft picks are nuts. On one hand, they described the gambling nature of the drafts by citing the busts and the successfull lower draft picks, on the other hand, trading draft picks would be exciting. For whom?
There are fewer guaranteed successes in baseball than in football. The fact that some highly touted athletes never made it in baseball while their less gifted collegues found success is a tribute of how hard it is to play a game of baseball and how difficult it is to judge talented baseball players.
Leave the MLB draft alone. It’s exciting enough for us. I don’t it to be a televised circus that is the NBA and NHL drafts, not to mention NFL.
June 7, 2006 at 9:17 am
actually it was my mistake.. gotta give credit to Peter here for this special to Ducksnorts.
June 7, 2006 at 9:45 am
Geoff - Happy Father’s Day early (I bought the book through your link — hope you get your cut!). Lynch - Thanks for the review and OSU preview. Geoff again - Thanks for reminding me that you reviewed the book. I had indeed forgotten.
June 7, 2006 at 10:02 am
OT … perhaps rougher days ahead for Barry? http://www.theonion.com/content/node/48904
June 7, 2006 at 10:24 am
I’ll post later, or maybe someone else can get to it before me, but the 7 guys I didn’t comment on all have VERY NICE statistical profiles. I don’t think there’s a star in the bunch, but I think we may have a few Major League players in there… Geoff and I were talking on the phone last night and we were quite impressed…
June 7, 2006 at 11:13 am
Peter, thanks for your hard work. That was fun going through the draft yesterday. Are you no longer doing Spotlight or Future Padres blogs?
On other note, I hope the Padres would really check Peavy’s shoulders and shut him off for the season is necessary. Very much concern with Jake’s injury and also Carillo’s.
June 7, 2006 at 11:32 am
Hitters:
7th Round - Craig Cooper, 1B, Notre Dame:
.425/.522/.654 with 19 2B & 9 HR & a 38/14 BB/SO ratio
8th Round - Tom King, SS, Troy:
.411/.475/.625 with 35 2B & 8 HR & a 27/28 BB/SO ratio
9th Round - David Freese, 3B, South Alabama:
.414/.503/.661 with 21 2B & 12 HR & a 34/27BB/SO ratio
10th Round - Kody Valverde, C, Alabama:
.346/.462/.616 with 17 2B & 12 HR & a 40/36 BB/SO ratio
June 7, 2006 at 11:34 am
Correct, with my work schedule I’m not able to do much more than just a couple articles here and there…
June 7, 2006 at 11:34 am
Also remember with King, he transferred to troy after hitting in the .230s in two years with South Carolina. but maybe he just wasn’t comfortable there.
June 7, 2006 at 11:39 am
Geoff,
11) Steve Singleton, SS, University of San Diego went to the Twins.
June 7, 2006 at 3:03 pm
Padres were one of two teams to pass (forgo selecting additional players)
The Padres passed in round 46.
The A’s passed in round 42