2020 MLB Draft

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

The evaluators were really at a disadvantage for this draft. In senior year of High School and during college these players can make huge developmental jumps. Missing a full season was just huge in being able to make the evaluations. I think that down the road we will see an unusually large number of undrafted kids from this class making it to the majors.

 

That was the scenario with Benintendi. He hit .276 as a college freshman, then exploded as a sophomore, hitting 100 points higher and leading the US in home runs as the national player of the year; suddenly, he was the #7 pick overall.

[Kimmi]

At least it shows that what the Sox projected him to be. If they really thought he was the guy, then they needed to grab him.

 

I remember the fallout from the 2017 NBA draft when the C's had the first pick. They traded down two spots to get an additional 1st round pick and ended up getting the best guy in the draft at #3. Fans were upset because they wanted Fultz and Tatum was just a "safe" pick. Well, let's just say it worked out in the C's favor.

 

The Pats have also made a few curious draft selections that caused fans to scratch their heads. Sometimes they work. Sometimes they don't.

 

It's hard for me to get too worked up over it.

 

You never know how these things are going to work out. Being a #1 prospect guarantees nothing.

 

I agree, it's nothing to get too worked up over. To be honest, I usually don't even follow the draft. I only know what's going on this year because there's nothing else being reported, except for the ongoing saga between owners and players.

[Kimmi]

When I said "future" needs, I wasn't talking about now -- like Pedroia's done and we need a second baseman. As we all know, many good prospects are shifted to other positions in the pros (growing up, they all seem to play shortstop when they aren't pitching).

 

I was thinking more about projections that Yorke could become a star hitter; we can always use one of those, especially after losing Mookie and soon, JD. Betts is a one-of-a-kind, but one report compares Yorke to Youk... for a #17 slot, I'll take a three-time MLB All-Star with a career .861 OPS.

 

I have no problem with the Sox picking Yorke. It seems like they did their homework on him.

 

I just initially didn't get the logic behind the reports that the Sox took Yorke early because they didn't think he'd be available by the time they got to their 3rd round pick. If there was someone that they valued higher in the first round, then that's an odd reason to go with Yorke instead.

[Larry Cook]

The key with this kid is the hit tool. If it is that good coming off of shoulder surgery, then you have to think that once he is 100 percent, he could be special.

 

Hang’em Chiam is making an upside gamble. And if hang’em Chaim gets the kid signed significantly under slot, then the hedge is a tough sign draftee later in the draft.

[a700hitter]

My great nephew wasn't in the 2020 draft although he got draft packages from the Diamondbacks and the Reds. He didn't register so he wasn't listed on the portal. He is working back from an arm injury and didn't feel the it was the best timing for him.

 

His dad, my nephew is pretty familiar with a lot of these players, because my great nephew has played with or against them. Here are the comments that he sent me by text:

 

It's by no means a full evaluation, but he has a very good eye for talent. But here it is-- evaluation by text:

 

nick yorke .. can flat out rake ... .. kid just hits everything

robert hassel III is a JOKE at #8 ...he sucks

Austin Hendrick #12 is horrible, he is a pederson-type -- all or nothing

Mike Abel #15 is real deal

i have no f***ing idea who Ed Howard is...never saw.him ...ever .. his f***ing bio say LITTLE LEAGUE WORLD SERIES.. are they f***ing kidding

pete crow armstrong SUCKS, figures the mets would waste a 1st round pick

nick bitsko is real deal.. tons of arm... great body .. at 15u USA nick topped at 87, [my great nephew] was already 89 at USA

and drew romo .. no clue ...says USA catcher for the last 2 years .. he wasn't there prior to that

best catcher in this draft class out.of HS is a kid Jack Bulger from MD ... kid rakes and is solid behind the plate

next kids from NY might be lazarus holdings .. sick outfielder...definite MLB bat and fast

jason savacool, rhp from arojnd syracuse.. sick 91-93 FB and devastating CB for strikes, mixes well and hits his spots

Alex Santos.. big lanky power arm. but typical power arm that cant hit a f***ing barn

[notin]

Ed Howard is a local Chicago kid. He’s the star shortstop at Mount Caramel High School, a school with an incredible reputation for athletic alumni. Notables include Denny McLain, Simeon Rice, Antoine Walker, Donovan NcNabb and Chris Calloway, among others...

[mvp 78]

With their 3rd-round pick (No. 89 overall) of the 2020 #MLBDraft, the #RedSox select @dc_jaguar 3B Blaze Jordan, No. 42 on the Top 200 Draft Prospects list: atmlb.com/3hmAxhg

[mvp 78]

Light tower power for Blaze.

[Noles_1335]

How are we not taking arms..... let’s just go ahead and draft bats....

[mvp 78]

4 (118): @RedSox select Hawaii (HI) P Jeremy Wu-Yelland.

[mvp 78]

Perfect Game Scouting Coordinator:

 

Wu-Yelland has good stuff from the left side. Likely a reliever but has a plus slider and ya know, lefties who can spin.

[jacksonianmarch]

Don’t like the Sox first rounder. Love the third rounder. Seems like a punt on the 4th rounder. Their first rounder and fourth rounder should be well undershot to sign Jordan. Jordan was hitting 500 foot bombs as a 13 year old

[jacksonianmarch]

Beck Way for the Yanks. Like the pick. Second time in last 3 yrs that we selected the top JuCo player (Josh Breaux in 2018). Gonna try him as a starter. Fastball-changeup guy. Good value here

[DontCallMeUncleRico]

What the heck kind of pick was this? Really? You get the 17th overall pick and you pick a 4th rounder? Please stop, lol

[Tedballgame]

Like what the Red Sox did in today's draft, especially the Jordan pick. Hope they can sign him. Don't give a flying F*** about who the Yankees drafted.

[mvp 78]

What the heck kind of pick was this? Really? You get the 17th overall pick and you pick a 4th rounder? Please stop, lol

 

Sox had him graded as a first rounder. Evaluations this year are screwy since there wasn't much to go on. They really wanted him and didn't think he'd fall until the third round. The plan was to grab Yorke with an underslot sign and use the additional money to sign whatever guy fell into their lap in the third. Seemed like it worked out.

[notin]

Sox had him graded as a first rounder. Evaluations this year are screwy since there wasn't much to go on. They really wanted him and didn't think he'd fall until the third round. The plan was to grab Yorke with an underslot sign and use the additional money to sign whatever guy fell into their lap in the third. Seemed like it worked out.

 

 

I thought Yorke’s draft stock fell due to an injury his senior year...

[Tedballgame]

Lots of top prospects not drafted due to draft only being 5 rounds. Sox now have a chance through free agency to get some good guys.

[mvp 78]

https://twitter.com/OverTheMonster/status/1271427301255917569

 

The infielder was ranked well below this slot by every major publication and no one saw this coming from anywhere. Of course, the MLB Draft is as much a money game as it is simply picking the best player available at your slot, and that goes doubly when you’re missing a pick like the Red Sox were. They, of course, had their second rounder stripped as part of their punishment for the 2018 sign-stealing scheme.

 

And so, it became pretty clear that while they like Yorke a lot as a player, a lot of this had to do with signing him to a below slot deal in order to save money to spend later. If they hadn’t done this, they would have had among the lowest sums of cash remaining for their Day Two picks and would’ve been hamstrung on what they could’ve done in the final three rounds of this shortened draft.

 

I think it’s possible to recognize that said scouting department knows a lot more about these kids and just scouting in general than I do while also acknowledging that they are fallible. And I think after seeing how Day Two played out I still would have preferred they go for upside with that first selection and maybe sacrificed a little bit of that depth later. As I’ve talked about before, I think the Red Sox have a lot of that depth in the middle of their system and what they are really missing is that impact talent at the top of the system. Guys like Garrett Mitchell and Nick Bitsko were available at 17, and I think I would rather see that kind of upside personally.

 

Of course, the Red Sox would argue that they did get upside with all three of Yorke, Jordan and Drohan, and even to a lesser extent with Wu-Yelland. My counterargument would be that there is just a harder road to upside with those types of players. They can all certainly get there, but we’re talking about a second baseman with good not great power and good not great defense, a likely first base-only righty, and a left-handed pitcher with good not great stuff.

[mvp 78]

Lots of top prospects not drafted due to draft only being 5 rounds. Sox now have a chance through free agency to get some good guys.

 

Yeah, if they want to sign for this year's max of $20k. Not sure how many undrafted HSers would just go to college or JuCo. Maybe they can get some cheap senior signs?

[Kimmi]

Sox had him graded as a first rounder. Evaluations this year are screwy since there wasn't much to go on. They really wanted him and didn't think he'd fall until the third round. The plan was to grab Yorke with an underslot sign and use the additional money to sign whatever guy fell into their lap in the third. Seemed like it worked out.

 

This, plus I'm kind of inclined to trust Bloom's drafting system, based on the job done with Tampa Bay.

[Kimmi]

Red Sox Stats

 

@redsoxstats

·

10h

 

 

Speaking of Manfred, here's why the Red Sox don't have a second round pick tonight in a 5 round draft.

MLB's report. Here's the list:

 

Alleged Alleging Appeared Appears Assumed Belief Belief Believed Believed Evidently Implied Indicated Indicated Indications Inferences May have Surmised Suspected Suspected Suspected

[mvp 78]

This, plus I'm kind of inclined to trust Bloom's drafting system, based on the job done with Tampa Bay.

 

I was wondering about how much of a say he had in Tampa.

 

Bloom began working for the Tampa Bay Rays in February 2005 as an intern, was hired by the Rays full-time to work in Minor League Operations in October 2005.[2] He was promoted to Assistant Director of Minor League Operations in 2008, with responsibility for all aspects of the team's minor league system, including player evaluation and assignments, expansion of video, strength and conditioning, and mental skills initiatives, creating of the "Rays Way" player development manual, and executing individual development plans for organization's prospects.[13][2][14] He was named Director of Baseball Operations in 2011, expanding his job to include contract negotiations, salary arbitration, budgeting, and overseeing major league support staff and international scouting.[2][13] In 2014, when General Manager Andrew Friedman left the Rays organization, the Rays promoted Bloom to Vice President of Baseball Operations.[15][16] His responsibilities expanded to include his overseeing domestic and international player development, a newly created baseball performance science department, trade negotiations, pro, amateur, and international scouting philosophy, personnel additions and changes throughout baseball operations, and short- and long-term strategic planning.[13] He was named Senior Vice President of Baseball Operations in 2016, second in command behind President of Baseball Operations Matthew Silverman.[2][17]

[mvp 78]

Red Sox Stats

 

@redsoxstats

·

10h

 

 

Speaking of Manfred, here's why the Red Sox don't have a second round pick tonight in a 5 round draft.

MLB's report. Here's the list:

 

Alleged Alleging Appeared Appears Assumed Belief Belief Believed Believed Evidently Implied Indicated Indicated Indications Inferences May have Surmised Suspected Suspected Suspected

 

If it wasn't for his support of Robot Umps, I'd probably say he was worse than Selig. I'm hoping he doesn't stick around as long as Selig did.

[mvp 78]

Per Yorke's hitting coach (four-time All-American in softball at Fresno State from 1993-97, aka his mom):

 

His shoulder injury was a torn labrum in sophmore year. After surgery and rehab, he wasn't 100% his junior year. Now he's back to 100%

 

https://twitter.com/redsoxstats/status/1271446846280536064

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

In their eyes, the Sox basically benefitted from the cancelled high school season, as it wiped out most of Nick Yorke's senior year and kept him off other teams' radar.

 

I might be still skeptical of Bloom's judgement, assuming he made the final call -- even though Boston scouts closely followed the kid since the DD days.

 

But what sold me are quotes about Yorke from the head coach of one of the top college programs around -- Tim Corbin of Vanderbilt: "We really recruited that kid. I thought he was the best hitter in high school baseball."

[mvp 78]

In their eyes, the Sox basically benefitted from the cancelled high school season, as it wiped out most of Nick Yorke's senior year and kept him off other teams' radar.

 

I might be still skeptical of Bloom's judgement, assuming he made the final call -- even though Boston scouts closely followed the kid since the DD days.

 

But what sold me are quotes about Yorke from the head coach of one of the top college programs around -- Tim Corbin of Vanderbilt: "We really recruited that kid. I thought he was the best hitter in high school baseball."

 

Ceiling of Jeff Kent without the attitude problem?

[mvp 78]

@alexspeier

Within this story on Red Sox decision to buck consensus and the wisdom of crowds with the surprise pick of Nick Yorke in the 1st round, some details on their evaluation of him (top-20 talent) and the process that helped them reach that conclusion

 

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/06/11/sports/selecting-nick-yorke-red-sox-relied-their-own-evaluations-buck-system/

[jacksonianmarch]

With all these guys, it is a crap shoot. Maybe Bloom is right. Here is the interesting thing about Bloom. His drafts have been so-so. It is his own system evaluation that led him to be labeled a genius. He knows his own players inside and out and knows the EXACT minute to deal them. He maximizes value, almost always wins his trades and then takes the assets obtained and deals them for even more once their value peaks.

 

BTW, nobody is bitching about losing Mookie Betts now, are they? The sox lost Sale for the year and may only be playing 60 games this year before woefully fading and ending the year. Heck, Bloom even picks his pandemics right. If there was ever a tank and reset year, it is this one

[a700hitter]

I am hearing that some of the very top players are not getting drafted ... possibly because signing money is short this year. 21 of the pre draft ranked top 100 weren't taken. 15 of those 21 were HS kids.

 

Two of the best available pitchers: Victor Mederos and Jordan Walker went undrafted.

 

Red Sox pick Blaze Jordan was my great nephew's roommate in USA 15 & Under team. Kid has been hitting 400 ft bombs since age 14-15. Kid wins every HR derby, but in game action he swings and misses a ton. Swings and misses at 90 mph fastballs. Maybe his swing is too long and can be fixed or his quick twitch is too slow. He also has a big arm 92-94 mph. Maybe they will turn him into a pitcher. He has a Clemens' type build.