2022 Summer Draft Recap

(FWIW, I hope guys follow Hoppy's lead and do shorter recaps like this. I know everyone gets massively hard for the draft, but when I see multi-paragraph write-ups for dudes, I just get my scroll on.)

There's one more guy that I'd like to get, but I'm doubting my ability to move back into the draft to get him. So, I think the Angels' 2022 draft is over. To appease JIm's attention span, I'll try to keep these short.

1.9 - Jace Jung, 2B - Texas Tech (Detroit) - Me need big bat. Maybe he has big bat?
2.1 - Wilmer Flores, SP - Detroit Tigers org. - Cool hair. Unoriginal name. Parent fail. Baseball coach success.
2.10 - Andrew Dutkanych, SP - High School (undrafted, going to Vandy) - Me take risk. Big potential. Big risk. Payoff? Hope.
2.18 - Ivan Melendez, 1B - University of Texas (Arizona) - Me need big bat. And cool nickname. Hispanic Titanic give both?
3.9 - Jordan Beck, OF - University of Tennessee (Colorado) - Make ball go boom. Chicks dig boomed ball. I dig chicks. Natural fit.
5.18 - Sem Robberse, SP - Toronto Blue Jays org. - From Netherlands.

I'll be honest: I am a little pissed off about this draft. Tim has me pegged. Dammit I wanted Quero.

2.21 - Tyler Locklear - CIF - Mariners >>> Looking for power on the corners, a "pure hitter who exists at the very bottom of the defensive spectrum."
3.21 - Spencer Schwellenbach - RHP - Braves >>> TJ surgery took away 2022, huge ceiling, mid-90s pre-TJ topping at 97
4.07 - Hao Yu Lee - MIF - Phillies >>> Good hit tool with present power, only 19, probably stuck at 2B but the bat will play
4.14 - Dominic Fletcher - OF - D-Backs >>> This was a pick between multiple OF prospects, I rewarded the grindy tweener OF who has done nothing but hit since being drafted
4.21 - Malcolm Moore - C - undrafted (Stanford) >>> The best available player that was undrafted at this point, bat plays, position unknown
4.23 - Daniel Vellojin - C - Reds >>> I have one Reds catcher, why not another? Complimentary lefty hitting backstop with a well-rounded profile
5.07 - Robert Gasser - LHP - Brewers >>> I was already hype for Gasser when he got some publicity being included in the Hader trade, has a 6 pitch arsenal and I have no idea what his floor or ceiling should be
5.09 - Gabriel Martinez (2002) - OF - Blue Jays >>> My most boring pick of the draft, no plus tools, just plus performance and scouting reports, he compliments the Fletcher pick
5.21 - Ronan Kopp - LHRP - Dodgers >>> I drafted chalk most of this thing, so I went with a "Brewers Special" here, 70 grade name, 6'7"ish, throws real hard, throws real wild, in search of Dick Lovelady Part Dos

I didn't have a 1st round pick this year (traded for Bregman), but I like what I did with my 7 picks. I gotta say, between the extra round this past winter, and the extra rounds here...this draft was very challenging. I dug deeper than ever before.

2.24 - Alex Ramirez, OF, NYM - Toolsy teenager playing in full season ball. Big ceiling, but big red flags as well with his plate discipline. He's a Top 100 guy right now.
3.23 - Davis Sharpe, RHP, CLE - First of 3 picks in a row. He was a two-way player at Clemson. High-spin guy. Plus command (11 walks in 63 IP), but will need to ramp up innings totals totals to be a starter.
3.24 - Nick Nastrini, RHP, LAD - Struggled with command and injuries at UCLA. Huge K totals. Huge command issues. Promoted to AA a few days ago.
3.25 - Nelson Velazquez, OF, CHC - It's not very exciting to take a low-OBP, power-over-hit, likely 4th OF..., but he'll get ratings in CF and he's already doing OK in MLB.
4.08 - Yeison Morrobel, OF, TEX - Another toolsy Latin teenager. Better plate discipline than most guys in this profile, but then again...it's only Arizona league and he's 18.
4.24 - Robert Moore, 2B, MIL - Switch-hitting, small, VERY young 2022 draftee out of Arkansas (turns 21 in March). Son of Royals GM Dayton Moore. I think he'll move fast, but lack of power limits the ceiling.
5.24 - Emmet Sheehan, RHP, LAD - After Sheehan & Nastrini, apparently I have a type. Both college draftees by the Dodgers in 2021, that fell because of injury/bullpen/command concerns. Both have seen velocity spikes since joining pro ball. Both will have to improve their command if they have any hope of staying a starter. Until a few days ago, they were even teammates on Great Lakes (A+).

Overall I'm pretty happy with this draft. I got the exact players I wanted with my top three picks and the player I wanted at the beginning of the 5th. There were of course other players I would love to have gotten (Termarr Johnson), but I wasn't in the position to get them so I am not going to worry about it. I think my first round pitchers will pair well with Cade Cavalli to give me a formidable rotation quite soon. And Jones and Corbin Carroll will be a great pairing in the outfield for years to come.

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1.01 – Druw Jones – CF – Consensus best player in the draft. Not going to lie, I was hoping this would be a better draft for pitchers or maybe a great 3B prospect, but it didn’t work out that way. With Corbin Carroll in house already, CF wasn’t a priority for me. But if the Diamondbacks are going to make it work with Jones, Carroll, and Alek Thomas, then I’m sure it will work out for me. Gold Glove quality defense on Jones with a chance for a 60 bat and 60 power.

1.12 – Dylan Lesko – RHP – The top pitcher on my board, and widely considered the top pitcher in the draft before he had Tommy John surgery. Kiley McDaniel called Lesko the best pitching prospect he had seen in 10 years and that his changeup is a true 80 grade pitch. Hoping he can be ready to pitch by mid-season 2023 and get some time in A ball. I packaged all the picks I sent to Rich to get this pick with the sole target of hoping to get Lesko. It worked.

1.18 – Ricky Tiedemann – RHP – The #2 pitcher on my board. I figured I could wait until this pick to try to get Tiedemann due to most people concentrating on the MLB draft. He’s a Top 40 prospect at this point after being taken in the 3rd round by Toronto last year. He’s recently been promoted to AA, but the Blue Jays are trying to manage his workload right now in regards to his innings limit. Plus Fastball and Change, and an average Slider for now, works in the 94-98 range.

1.23 – Gavin Stone – RHP – 2020 pick for the Dodgers that has of course become better in their system. Sits 93-96 with the a moving Fastball and 70 grade Changeup. Good Slider and control. BA puts a possible “multi-inning reliever” tag on him, but he holds his velocity deep into starts and has good control. I could see him getting shipped to another team to bring in a star and getting a real chance in a rotation next year. Just got promoted to AAA and allowed 0 hits in his first outing (4ip).

1.24 – Peyton Graham – SS – Back to the MLB Draft here. Graham went in the 2nd round IRL, but I liked him enough to pop him here. Most sites had him in the Top 30 of draft prospects due to him being a 5 tool SS that should be able to stick at the position. Most of his tools grade out as just slightly above average, but if he can stick at SS, that’s a great player if he reaches his potential.

1.28 – Ceddanne Rafaela – OF/IF – A bit of a pop-up prospect, but one who I think can be useful on the sim for many years. He was moved from the IF to the OF in 2021, and in the first year became the best defensive outfielder in the Red Sox system. Plus speed and an above average arm should allow him to play pretty much any position. And despite him being only 5’8” and 145lbs, he has some power in his bat due to the speed in which he swings it. 30 doubles, 7 triples, 18 homers, and 25 stolen bases this year between Hi A and AA as a 21 year old.

5.01 – Joel Ibarra – RHP – Ibarra did quite well in the Complex League, but is finding A ball considerably more difficult. But I drafted him simply because of the comment that Longenhangen made in April, “On Tuesday, he sat 94-98 mph with around 17 inches of vertical break, and threw several plus sliders in the 82-84 range at roughly 2,700 rpm, some plus cutters at 92-93 mph, and a good changeup or two in the 86-88 mph band. This is a 19-year-old former shortstop with monster stuff. I ask this question a lot because I think it’s a useful lens through which to view very young players who are far from the big leagues: If Ibarra were draft eligible, where would he get picked? The obvious caveats about this being one look at two relief innings apply here, but his stuff is better than any college pitcher’s available in this year’s draft and is at least comparable to top-of-the-draft high schoolers like Dylan Lesko and Brock Porter. When he’s pitched, Ibarra’s control/command have been well-below average to this point, but it looked fair this outing. As he continues to throw in extended, and especially as he accumulates stats on the complex, we will learn whether he’s progressed in this area. This is another potential impact prospect in a loaded Dodgers system.”

5.10 – Will Brennan – CF – Yet another outfielder for me. It’s okay, I needed some. Unfortunately there weren’t a lot of COF types I liked at times I was looking to get them. But Brennan is a guy who strikes out less than 15% in AAA and walks enough. He hasn’t hit under 280 in the last two years or had an OBP under 368. His power output is growing and he still has plenty of speed. Even if he just becomes a platoon outfielder, he’s at least is a LHH so he’s on the big side of it.

5.25 – Paxton Kling – CF/SS – You all know why I drafted him. I wanted him because he went the same school as the one, the only, the famous…. Dan Claycomb, our Guardians owner. But otherwise, Kling was the Pennsylvania Player of the Year and decided to withdraw from the draft and go to LSU like a couple other highly rated HS Seniors did. Kling didn’t show a lot of pop his Senior year but has the frame that can add more muscle and maybe add some more hopefully. Not sure how much playing time he’ll get as a freshman with the talent on that campus, but hopefully by his sophomore year he is a starter.