Round 16 - Thomas Davis, Fort Wayne, 1.42 ERA, 19 ip
After starting this season with a 1.42 ERA in 19 innings out of the bullpen in Fort Wayne, Tom went on the DL in mid-May.
Round 17 - Derek Shunk, released
Derek, a senior infielder out of Villanova, had a .346 obp and a .341 slg in Eugene last summer. This spring we had to make some decisions among the utility infielders for both Lake Elsinore and Fort Wayne, and Derek ended staying back in extended spring training. We released him toward the end of May.
Round 18 - Nick Vincent, Lake Elsinore, 2.97 ERA, 36.1 ip
A reliever at Long Beach State, Nick started nine games last summer (including one in Portland), because we thought he could handle the load. This year he has been a workhorse in the Elsinore pen, walking just 10 and striking out 38 en route to finishing 14 games (two saves).
Round 19 - Robert Lara, Fort Wayne, .214/.277/.306
Assigned to Arizona, Robert had a huge first summer, hitting .344/.490/.484. He hasn't gotten consistent playing time yet this season in Fort Wayne (just 28 games played out of 70). He has, however, helped out on the mound twice, pitching two shutout innings while striking out five.
Round 20 - Jason Codiroli, Eugene
Jason tied for 5th in the Arizona League in 2008 in hits (56) and was 4th in OBP (.422) while also leading the team in stolen bases (15). A centerfielder, Jason is off to a hot start in Eugene going 5 for 12 with two leadoff homers.
Round 21 - Joey Railey, Eugene
An infielder out of U. San Francisco, Joey split time last season between Arizona and Eugene. This year he opened the season on the Eugene roster and has played one game so far.
Round 22 - Chris Wilkes, Eugene
A 6'4", 250 lb right-hander, Chris was not a high-profile pitcher in high school, but he was a quarterback. Nevertheless, he adapted quickly to pro ball and had a fantastic rookie season - 1st in the Arizona League in wins (7), 4th in innings (61.2) and 8th in ERA (3.21). In 10 starts he was 5-1 with a 3.06 ERA and on the season he struck out 45 while walking just five. This season the 19-year old was targeted for Eugene, though he did make three appearances for Lake Elsinore due to some injuries on the staff.
Round 23 - Nick Conaway
Nick was the closer at Oklahoma during the 2007 season but had surgery during the winter of 2007/2008 and didn't pitch in the spring. We ended up not signing him last summer.
Round 24 - Eric Gonzalez, Lake Elsinore, 1.80 ERA, 5 ip
A pitcher for the Spanish National Team, Eric tore up the Arizona League in 2008 - 1.19 ERA with 34 strikeouts in 22 innings. That earned him a promotion to full season Fort Wayne to begin 2009, and after 38.2 ip with 38 k's, we recently promoted him to Lake Elsinore. So far he has made two appearances for the Storm with a 1.80 ERA covering five innings.
Round 25 - Logan Power
Logan decided to return to Ole Miss for another year. I believe he went undrafted this spring.
Round 26 - Dean Anna, Fort Wayne
An infielder from Ball St, Dean split the 2008 season between Eugene and Arizona hitting a combined .232/.341/.351 with 11 steals in 12 attemps. So far this season Dean has split time between extended spring training and Fort Wayne, where he has 44 ab's in 13 games covering 2B, SS, and 3B.
Round 27 - Aaron Murphree, released
A left-handed hitter out of the University of Arkansas, Aaron played the 2008 season in Arizona where he hit .250/.376/.421. Due to the plethora of outfielders we had scheduled to go to Fort Wayne and Lake Elsinore, Aaron was released at the end of spring training.
Round 28 - Nick Schumacher, Fort Wayne, 1.23 ERA, 22 ip
A senior out of Wayne St in Michigan, Nick split the 2008 summer between Arizona and Eugene, compiling a 4.02 ERA in 40.1 innings. He began this season in extended spring training before getting the call to Fort Wayne where he has a 1.23 ERA in 22 innings. Over his career he now has 56 k's and just nine walks.
Round 29 - Omar Gutierrez, released
After just three appearances in Eugene (6 ip, 0 er, 9 k's) after the draft, Omar went to full-season Fort Wayne (he was 23 years old) to fill a role in the pen. He got caught in the numbers game for A-ball relievers this spring.
Round 30 - Bobby Verbick, retired
A right-handed hitting outfielder, Bobby had a nice debut in Eugene last summer, hitting .257/.402/.431. He decided to retire midway through spring training in March.
Round 31 - Sean Gilmartin
We knew Sean would be a tough sign, and he decided to enroll at Florida State. Though primarily an outfielder in high school, Sean had a strong freshman season on the mound for the Seminoles, going 12-3 with a team-leading 3.49 ERA.
Round 32 - Kyle Heyne, released
Kyle spent most of the 2008 season in Eugene, where he had a 4.19 ERA in 38.2 innings. Due to the competition for A-ball bullpen spots, he was released at the end of spring training.
Round 33 - Daniel Robertson, Fort Wayne, .321/.400/.462
Sometimes it just works out. Dan was the Northwest League MVP in 2008 while setting a league record with 114 hits and finishing first in the league in average (.377), runs (59), total bases (150), and obp (.443). Not a bad debut. Dan hasn't really missed a beat this season in Fort Wayne putting up an .862 ops while striking out just 18 times in more than 200 plate appearances.
Round 34 - Matt Gaski, released, signed by the New York Mets
An infielder out of UNC Greensboro, Matt played the 2008 season in Arizona. We released him at the end of spring training, and the Mets signed him a few days later.
Round 35 - Logan Gelbrich, Lake Elsinore
A solid receiver out of USD, Logan spent 2008 in Eugene hitting .240/.358/.310 while splitting time with Emmanuel Quiles behind the plate. Logan remained in extended spring training this year and recently joined the Storm where he's played in one game.
Round 36 - Jake Shadle
A right-handed pitcher, Jake didn't sign and enrolled in Green River Community College.
Round 37 - Matt Means, retired
Matt pitched 16 innings last summer and decided to retire prior to spring training.
Round 38 - Zach Herr, Fort Wayne, 4.22 ERA, 32 ip
A left-handed reliever out of Nebraska, we signed Zach later in the summer so he only made nine appearances for Eugene, posting a 3.12 ERA in 17.1 ip. This year his ERA doesn't tell the whole story, as he's given up just 28 hits and 10 walks while striking out 38 hitters in his 32 innings. Zach has a good breaking ball that is tough on lefties, and he's struck out 14 of the 37 he's faced so far this season.
Round 39 - Gary Poynter, Arizona
A right-hander with a quick arm, Gary split the 2008 season between Arizona and Eugene with a 4.18 ERA over 32.1 innings. Unfortunately, he broke his wrist early this spring, and it required surgery. He's now back on the mound and pitched one inning on Sunday for Arizona.
Round 40 - Colin Lynch, Fort Wayne, 1.35 ERA, 6.2 ip
After leading the Arizona League in appearances last summer, Colin stayed in extended spring training before getting activated in Fort Wayne in early June. So far he's made five appearances, yielding just one run.
Round 41 - Zach Dascenzo
Rather than signing, Zach decided to enroll at Ohio Dominican University.
Round 42 - Brad Brach, Fort Wayne, 1.69 ERA, 32 ip
Brad may have been the last player we signed out of the 2008 draft, but once guys step on the field that doesn't mean anything. The right-hander reliever out of Monmouth has dominated so far as a pro, compiling a 1.82 ERA over 54.1 innings. He's also struck out 76 while allowing just 54 baserunners. As Fort Wayne's closer, he already has 17 saves.
Round 43 - James Tunnell
Rather than signing, James decided to enroll at Lipscomb University.
These 2008 draft roundups certainly don't cover everyone in our system or even everyone at the A-ball level. There are players we've signed internationally and players for whom we've traded, so at some point I'll have to recap those as well. Nevertheless, it's always interesting and instructive to take a look back.
11 comments:
Lucky number 42: Blanks in the 42nd in 2004, Brach in the 42nd in 2008... I'm looking forward to the 42nd round of the 2012 draft!
Paul,
When do you expect to see some of the 2007/2008 international signings, show up in A ball.
Spunky,
Delphey has some high expectations!
field39,
Out of the 2007 and 2008 signings, Galvez, Minyeti, Liriano, Portillo, Pozo, DeLaCruz, and Sanchez are all on the roster in Arizona right now. Rincon, Tabachnik (Mexico) and Angelucci (South Africa) are in Eugene.
Some of the guys from 2006 - Carrasco, Castro, Lara, and Osuna - are already in full-season A ball. A few others from 2006 are in short-season as well.
Thanks for these updates on all the 08 draftees Paul.
I was wondering what had happened to guys such as Poynter, Means and Verbick and now I know.
As for Tom Davis, MiLB unfortunatly had him as having retired about 2 weeks ago, despite a great start in Ft. Wayne. Sad...
Paul,
Can you tell us a little about what exactly extended spring training is? Also, any updates on Cory Adamson? Where is he, what do you expect him to play?
Thanks so much, Paul. I was wondering, what is the advantage to drafting high school guys in the late rounds whom you are pretty confident are going to opt for college. Thanks!
~Pat
PDP,
Can you please give us a little scouting report on Brach?
Thanks,
peter
TheEveryServer,
Extended Spring Training is exactly what it sounds like. They continue to do drills followed by games against other organizations, and it's an informal setting like minor league spring training - Major League guys can bat every inning, they can stop the inning due to pitch count, etc. This is also similar to Instructional League in the fall.
Pat Andriola,
This is somewhat a remnant of past strategies when "draft-and-follows" were allowed. Under the old rules once you drafted a player you retained his rights until roughly a week before the next draft or until he enrolled in a four year school (whichever came first). So, sometimes you would draft a high school player, and he would opt to attend junior college instead of a four year school. That way you would "follow" him the next spring, and you could sign him before the next draft, often for significant dollars. This is what we did with players like Kyle Blanks, Mat Latos, and Drew Miller.
These days the deadline for signing has moved up to the middle of August for all players regardless of their school choice. Therefore, we only have the summer to follow them. Though we expect most of them to go to school, you never know. Also, if for some reason you're unable to sign a pick higher in the draft, you may have the budget remaining to meet the player's expectations.
Peter,
Brach is an aggressive 6'4" right-hander with a FB that runs mainly 88-91. He complements the fastball with a slider and a split-finger, which is his out pitch.
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