The amateur draft, held every year in early June, represents a time of hope for some of the lesser clubs. Many franchises have rebuilt their teams through the draft, and soon names like Chad Billingsley, Stephen Drew, B.J. Upton, Brandon Wood, and Delmon Young are going to become big. Here are a few names to know for the upcoming 2006 amateur player draft.
3B Mark Antonelli, Wake Forest – This 6-0, 198 lb third baseman was named to Baseball America’s preseason All-American team and is ranked the 27th best junior in the country. He was previously draft in the 19th round by the Dodgers, but figures to go in the first or second round if he goes into the draft this year. He’s a fine player, but only gets a lot of publicity because of a weak draft, especially on the offensive side of the diamond. Scouts believe he has that “winning attitude.”
SP Daniel Bard, UNC – I remember a quote in the book Moneyball: “Those who the gods wish to destroy first call promising.” That could be applied to Bard and this season. The junior out of UNC began the year as a potential top ten or fifteen pick; when he started playing the game on the field, it stopped looking that way. In eight starts, he has a 5.16 ERA. Many scouts think he’s lost his confidence, and it might be too late for him to piece it all together and get into the draft’s top 15 picks. If he’s looking for money and being a high draft pick, the 6-4/204 junior should go back for his senior season.
C Brian Jeroloman, Florida – This backstop isn’t the type of guy that will wow you with his bat. There aren’t many catchers who actually do. Jeroloman does do a lot of things right, however. Whenever I’m waiting a Gators’ broadcast, which is often, the announcers always say something like “Jeroloman lays down the perfect sacrifice bunt” or “the Gators’ catcher did a perfect job blocking that ball.” He plays the game right, which means he deserves some praise.
1B Matt LaPorta, Florida – Last year’s Southeastern Conference Player of the Year, Matt LaPorta, helped lead the Gators to a second place finish in the Championship series against the University of Texas. As a sophomore, he led the Division I country in home runs with 26, getting the final one in a game against Arizona in the playoffs. However, this season has been an injury nightmare. A strained oblique muscle has kept him out of the lineup and ineffective when he has been at the plate. His stock has dropped considerably and, like Bard, should return for his senior year and do well to raise scouts’ opinions. Everyone knows he has power.
SP Tim Lincecum, Washington – In last year’s draft, Lincecum dropped to the 42nd round because of concerns over his smallish body (6-0, 165). They might not be unfounded, because guys like that don’t usually hold up. However, his arm ranks as one of the best in Division I baseball, especially with that mid to upper 90s fastball. In fact, he is the best in terms of number of strikeouts: 109 in only 71 innings thrown. The best thing going for him is that he has what is called a “rubber arm” in scouting parlance.
SS Evan Longoria, Long Beach State – He is considered the best hitter in collegiate baseball available this summer. Longoria usually played third base, but moved to shortstop in the Cape Cod League last season. He has shown an aptitude at both positions and probably wouldn’t be overmatch at either. Many consider him Aaron Hill, but with a much better bat. With his tools and athleticism, that’s a very reasonable comparison. Longoria has all five tools, but doesn’t excel at any of them too well.
SP Andrew Miller, UNC – The aforementioned Devil Rays picked Andrew Miller in the third round of the 2003 draft, just as he was leaving high school. Many teams passed on him after perceiving he wanted to go to UNC to play college baseball. Well, they were right. The 6-6 lefty went to collegiate baseball and turned into an excellent pitcher. The southpaw has a mid-90s four-seam fastball, a two seamer, and a good slider. His control is good. Many people think he’ll be the overall first pick of the draft, which belongs to the Kansas City Royals.
SP Brandon Morrow, California – Last summer in the Cape Cod League, Morrow began throwing 96-99 mph. When someone lights up the radar gun like that, scouts are bound to notice just a little bit. Scouts say he needs more work on his other pitches, but he has improved his mechanics and (probably not unrelated to that) his control. At 6-3, 185 pounds, this pitcher could probably stand to gain a few pounds. Scouts don’t like skinny guys because they tend not to hold up over the long haul.
SP Jeff Samardzija, Notre Dame – The first thing you notice about Samardzija (except for how long and weird his last name is) is his size. At 6-5/215, he’s got a football player’s body. And Samardzija does play football. NFL analyst Mel Kiper is nominating him as the number one wide receiver in all of college football for the 2007 (next year’s) draft. Because of his talent, Charlie Weis is allowing the WR to spend a little bit more time on baseball, where he’s a starting pitcher. This has allowed him to clean up his mechanics, work more on his secondary offerings, and keep him fresher for his starts on weekends. While his stats are nothing super special (98 strikeouts in 143 innings with a 3.47 ERA), he’s struck out 13 in his last 13 innings, and he’s touching 96 on the radar gun. Plus, he’s loaded with athleticism.
OF Drew Stubbs, Texas – This Aggie began the year as probably the most talked about college hitter. He went in the third round to the Astros last year, but failed to sign. Many scouts rave about his tools, but they won’t matter if he doesn’t have a chance to use them. If he keeps striking out around thirty percent of the time, then it doesn’t matter how fast you can run to first base. There will be some team to take a gamble on him in the first round, however.
C Chad Tracy, Pepperdine – He’s not related to Chad Tracy, but rather Jim Tracy, his father. When Pepperdine picked him up two years ago, he was considered one of their best recruits. This year, the catcher has done very little to dismay. The backstop is second on the team in homers with 5, first in RBIs with 29, and leads in on-base percentage and slugging percentage. He’s very durable, having played in every single game this year and does well behind the plate. Don’t expect Tracy to go high in the draft; he’s only listed here because the offensive players are so weak.
Daniel is an AtHomePlate blogger; to see his article archive, click here.
