So speaking of the draft ...

[A Boy Named Seo]

Monk, you are officially dispatched to Waukesha. Save your receipts.

[Edgy MD]

Why is Kelenic considered a cheap, underslot move?

[TransMonk]

Jarred Kelenic of Waukesha West High School becomes highest MLB draft pick from Wisconsin

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MLB Draft: Jarred Kelenic took an unconventional route

Jarred on Instagram

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

It's Jarred (2 R's) Kelenick. Billy Ripken says that "he loves to swing the bat" and "he comes to play every day" so I'm sold. MLBN comps: Logan Morrison and Mark Kotsay.

So... He's got Kotsay upside? HOT DOG!

Blanche Devereaux Jr. is still out there through 27 picks,
FWiW. (As is Kumar Rocker!!!!!)

[MFS62]

Oh great.
He "loves to swing the bat" on a home made field (because his town doesn't have one?) with friends and family pitching?
So would I.
And he hits lefty?
Wonderful.
Has he even batted against a lefty throwing a breaking ball?
Ever?
His ML comp is Mark Kotsay?
I'll save you looking it up. Mark Kotsay was a career .276/ .332/ .404 hitter with a 96 OPS score.
Oh. He's an outfielder. At least he's not a shortstop. (S/M = 94. I think it needs a tune up)

But, the last time the Mets drafted a player with similar background (small town with no HS team, lefty hitter) it was Brandon Nimmo. That's worked out OK. So who knows?

Later

Edited June 5, 2018 by Guest

[A Boy Named Seo]

The MLB draft is funny. That Libertore kid was the 4th rated kid by MLB and he went 16th. Hot shot #2 rated Brady Singer went #18 to the Royals. I know the slot $$ plays into it (which is stupid anyway) but this kinda shit would never go down in the NBA. Maybe baseball players are still tougher to project than other sports. Who knows.

[Edgy MD]

MFS62 wrote: Oh great. He "loves to swing the bat" on a home made field (because his town doesn't have one?) with friends and family pitching? So would I. And he hits lefty? Wonderful. Has he even batted against a lefty throwing a breaking ball? Ever? His ML comp is Mark Kotsay? I'll save you looking it up. Mark Kotsay was a career .276/ .332/ .404 hitter with a 96 OPS score. Oh. He's an outfielder. At least he's not a shortstop. (S/M = 94. I think it needs a tune up) But, the last time the Mets drafted a player with similar background (small town with no HS team, lefty hitter) it was Brandon Nimmo. That's worked out OK. So who knows? Later

I think it's being misunderstood that his high school didn't have a team, and so he didn't play organized baseball, but learned the game playing sandlot ball. But that's not true at all.

His high school did have a team. But they played a summer season and he was busy playing in more competitive leagues during the summer.

His family didn't have a "home-made field." They helped build an 11-field, high-end baseball academy. He played against top competition from ambitious families from a young age and developed to the point where, by the time he reached high school, joining his school's team would have been a step backwards.

He played with the USA baseball team and was their MVP in the Pan Am Games ... as a sophomore.

Last year, he helped bring home gold with the under-18 squad in the Baseball World Cup.

He was the first school boy chosen, and if he isn't the most projectable talent among high school seniors in the draft, he's almost certainly the farthest along.

[nymr83]

Draft for talent not for need. This guy is years away and who knows how redundant a lefty hitting outfielder will seem by then.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

The second-rounder is ranked in the mid-100s on most prospect lists, flashes 5 above-average pitches BUT offers nothing consistently good/great, and according to some whispers has a high asking price, given his commitment to in-state Texas. (And was taken with guys like Dallas Baptist stud OF Jameson Hannah and several other much more highly-regarded prep arms on the board.)

Hot diggity dog!

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Mark Kotsay had a 17-year career in the bigs. Don't sneeze at that neither.

Simeon Woods Richardson seems to go just by the surname "Woods" His twitter ID already says he's a Met but previously said he was committed to kollege. I guess the strategy here, not that I get it, is to use extra the $$ they get for this round to convince the young man to skip college.

[bmfc1]

The second-rounder is ranked in the mid-100s on most prospect lists, flashes 5 above-average pitches BUT offers nothing consistently good/great, and according to some whispers has a high asking price, given his commitment to in-state Texas. (And was taken with guys like Dallas Baptist stud OF Jameson Hannah and several other much more highly-regarded prep arms on the board.) Hot diggity dog!

The write-up at mlb.com (under his name) isn't great: https://www.mlb.com/draft/tracker/round-2
but I guess he's signing:
[tweet]

[/tweet]

[Benjamin Grimm]

"Simeon Woods" sounds like a good name for an ape sanctuary.

[seawolf17]

MFS62 wrote: But, the last time the Mets drafted a player with similar background (small town with no HS team, lefty hitter) it was Brandon Nimmo. That's worked out OK. So who knows?

Yeah, I feel like Nimmo is our (best-case?) parallel right now. Regardless, it'll be a few years since we hear from him, so no worries.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Grant Brisbee gave our pick a D. But in all fairness to Tommy Tanous, those rocs are quieter than you'd think, and grade out at, like, a 70 for speed, easy.

[seawolf17]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Grant Brisbee gave our pick a D. But in all fairness to Tommy Tanous, those rocs are quieter than you'd think, and grade out at, like, a 70 for speed, easy.

RIP, Jarred.

[MFS62]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Grant Brisbee gave our pick a D. But in all fairness to Tommy Tanous, those rocs are quieter than you'd think, and grade out at, like, a 70 for speed, easy.

I think his point was that because he was drafted by the Mets he is destined to failure. He also basically admitted that judging these guys so early is a crapshoot.
I have hope, despite the usual sarcasm in my response above.

Later

[A Boy Named Seo]

I wonder why MLB's draft prognostication is still such a crapshoot? Back in the day when you could see a guy once or twice in person and there was no video, sure. But there's so much info on all the players now and hours of film. Looking at more recent drafts, there seem to be way more major leaguers in the top of the draft. I think as a sport, they're dialing it in pretty well. Still odd to me that a couple of blue chippers that seemingly everybody loves would drop ~15 spots in the first round. I know the NBA is different, but no way Luca Doncic will fall 15 spots.

[Edgy MD]

Baseball is hard.

Also, with amateurs playing mostly with aluminum bats, often on synthetic fields, they're largely playing a different game. That leaves a hole of speculation in the middle of even the most comprehensive scouting efforts.

Lastly, I have to celebrate whenever any organization deviates from the prevailing philosophy, win or lose. Draft watchers always miss that, but it's fun.

[Centerfield]

On the other hand, MLB drafts are great fodder for second guessers.

None of us are qualified in any way to make any distinction between these players. So we are not about to actually make any selections ourselves except to pick out cool sounding names.

And you can all but guarantee there will be some Cody Bellinger that emerges that your team passed on where you can say "We let Bellinger go and selected Joe Swinganmiss? How stupid!"

[Centerfield]

Anyway, I like what I'm reading about Kelenic. Maybe a bit short for a corner OF, but sounds like a hitter and an overall athlete.

I read a few articles about an eventual OF of Conforto, Nimmo and Kelenic. Let's be honest. The chances of Conforto and Kelenic being teammates is pretty slim, for a number of reasons.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Round 3 starting up...

[bmfc1]

Round 3 is only on mlb.com and it's us watching 3 guys listening to the picks. Way to go MLB!
https://www.mlb.com/video/2018-mlb-draft-day-2/c-2107400183?tid=262722544

[A Boy Named Seo]

Mets just went now. Looks like Carlos Cortes, 20-year old second baseman out of South Carolina.

[A Boy Named Seo]

he's a switch thrower! throws lefty as an outfielder and righty as an infielder!

[bmfc1]

Apparently, the Mets drafted him 2016 as well, so Sandy really must like him.

[nymr83]

Centerfield wrote: On the other hand, MLB drafts are great fodder for second guessers. None of us are qualified in any way to make any distinction between these players. So we are not about to actually make any selections ourselves except to pick out cool sounding names. And you can all but guarantee there will be some Cody Bellinger that emerges that your team passed on where you can say "We let Bellinger go and selected Joe Swinganmiss? How stupid!"

Joe Swinganmiss would definitely be a Met.

[Edgy MD]

If he isn't Cortes the Killer, I'm retiring from the nickname business.

[Centerfield]

If we're doing nicknames, we just drafted Jarred Colonic.

[A Boy Named Seo]

Centerfield wrote: On the other hand, MLB drafts are great fodder for second guessers. None of us are qualified in any way to make any distinction between these players. So we are not about to actually make any selections ourselves except to pick out cool sounding names. And you can all but guarantee there will be some Cody Bellinger that emerges that your team passed on where you can say "We let Bellinger go and selected Joe Swinganmiss? How stupid!"

I obviously agree, but the crapshooting becomes infinitely crapshootier in the later rounds. The top half of the first round shouldn't be too much dart-throwing in 2018.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Centerfield wrote: If we're doing nicknames, we just drafted Jarred Colonic.

Please describe, in detail, your Nickname Methodology.