2012 Cards Draft Wrap-Up

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phins
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2012 Cards Draft Wrap-Up

Post by phins »

Given the variables involved in this year’s draft, many of us had theories on the different ways the Cards could go with their top-5 picks, and whether signability would come into play with the new CBA. With the results there’s no doubt that factored into the picks.

The Cardinals have a new VP of player personnel in Dan Kantrovitz, who took the place of the departed Jeff Luhnow. Kantrovitz has a background with Oakland, and that showed with this draft, as the Cards went decidedly college heavy.

This draft is said to be one of the weakest in years, with not a lot of difference in the talent between picks 12 and 60. This draft was said to be the worst for college players in at least five years, but the prep players are all over the place in projection as well. A true “scout’s draft.”

In reviewing this draft, it has to be understood that the Cardinals philosophy is different than mine. The Cardinals tend to draft like a man set to retire in 12 months invests his money; safe, predictable, with a high chance he gets a return on his money. I tend to like prospects that have the tools to profile as more than role players in the big leagues. I tend to invest like a 22 year old fresh out of college; high risk, high reward with a vision towards the long term future. Both philosophies can get you to your goal, and both can be successful. The Cardinals have turned into one of the top minor league systems in all of baseball with this approach, and are one of the top systems at developing and finding players later in the draft rounds. Toronto is a team that drafts like I would, and they have several high-upside prospects and one of the top minor league systems as well.

If you like to shoot for the stars and be ultra-aggressive hoping you can find stars, this probably isn’t the draft for you. As far as I can tell, Kantrovitz loves college players who have performed well in wood bat summer leagues- especially the Cape Cod league.

Round 1. What the Cards did: Draft the BPA
The Cards took a tall, accomplished right-hander out of Texas A & M named Michael Wacha. At 6-6, 195 Wacha has long levers and a great pitchers frame. For me, I tend to like my pitchers in the 6-3 range, but the taller height does allow a pitcher to have a downward plane to his delivery, if a less consistent delivery. Wacha is athletic and has a clean delivery, standing more towards the 1B side of the rubber. His leg kick is fairly high and repeatable, and his arm action is smooth and fluid over the top as you would teach. He doesn’t show the ball to the CF’er and he doesn’t wrap the ball in the ‘inverted W’ you read so much about. Nice follow-through, but his landing brings him through a little bit and he’s not always in perfect fielding position. He doesn’t have a ton in his mechanics that I believe will need to be changed, and just some fielding practice and landing a little more balanced will improve that area.

Wacha has an above average fastball that he likes to throw up in the zone, producing lots of pop ups. He throws the fastball at 91-94 and touches 96. He has a circle change that is considered to be an above average pitch. The change comes in at 80-84 and provides a good deal of separation in velocity, with late fade. He throws both a curveball and a slider, but both are unrefined and below average. The curve coming in at 74-76 and slider at 82-84. His fastball is a current and future 6, his change is a current and future 6, his curve is a current and future 4, and his slider is a current 4 and future 5. His command, control and mound demeanor allow all of his pitches to play up a tick. He can spot his fastball to both sides of the plate and up in the zone. He tends to struggle to command the ball down in the zone, and is at his best when he does so.

What the Cards didn’t do: Take a future ace
Wacha is a player with a nice frame, clean arm, solid character and work ethic by all accounts and a competitive mound demeanor. He is also not going to be overwhelming with his fastball and has inconsistent secondary offerings. In fact, I wouldn’t be opposed to having Wacha scrap the slurvy curveball all together and focus solely on the slider as his secondary offering. The fastball command and change combo should remove massive platoon splits, and his frame should allow him to throw gobs of innings. Something to be noted with Wacha is he a younger college prospect at age 20 (7-1-91) and could have a tick more projection once he gets stronger and has professional coaching. A safe, solid pick who will move quickly through the minor leagues, you have to be excited with the selection. Wacha may be a college junior, but he will not be a cheap sign, most likely costing a couple hundred thousand over slot to obtain his signature.
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Round 1. What the Cards did: Take a senior sign
James Ramsey is a standout OF’er at Florida State who has excelled with a line drive swing and being a max effort grinder who maximizes his tools. I want to be clear when I say that Ramsey isn’t a non-prospect, as he has serious baseball talent and a good chance to make the major leagues one day. When you assess his tools you have to get past his unorthodox style and feel. He truly reminds me of Hunter Pence more than any player in recent memory in both his batting style and throwing motion. Ramsey is not a physical specimen at 6’, 190 but does have an athletic frame and solid speed that plays up due to good instincts both on the bases and in the field. He’s also known as a try-hard type with an infectious energy. His left-handed swing stays in the zone for a long time and makes consistent contact. Hits from an open stance and has quick wrists with a little handsy short stroke to the ball. There is little doubt Ramsey will make contact, and handles the bat well. He is patient at the plate and has an idea what to do at the plate. He tends to move in the batting box and will take some Ichiro-like swings in the batter’s box that I’d like to see removed from his game. Ramsey was a guy thought to be an ‘organizational player’ last year, but then he went to the Cape Cod league and went crazy, hitting .314 with six homers and leading the Cape with a .571 slugging percentage while also hitting the longest HR of the summer. There are two questions that need to be answered: Is the power with a wood bat legitimate, and can he play CF or perhaps make the transition to 2B?

What the Cards didn’t do. Take a risk
Ramsey is the first player known to wear the Captain ‘C’ at Florida State and is all about make-up from his style of play to his leadership in the dugout. I don’t put any stock in this, but it’s worth mentioning that he is compared to Tim Tebow personality-wise and is said to be a religious young man who will represent the team well. If Ramsey truly is a player with one plus tool- the hit tool, he’s not worth anywhere near this spot. I see Ramsey as a player who profiles with a 6 hit both present and future, 4 power both present and future, 5 runner both present and future, and depends on where you ask for the glove. He profiles best as a 4th OF’er to me, but if he can stick in CF his tools would allow for him to be an average starter. He’s a 6 defender in a corner OF spot and has a solid 5 arm. Ramsey should sign for 50-60% of slot and move quickly as a 22 y/o (12-19-89) with a high floor and limited ceiling. The Cards hope his Cape power is for real and his advanced patience and approach at the plate equate to an OPS dream player who helps the club within two years.

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?conte ... 4&c_id=mlb

Round 1S: What the Cards did: Take a polished college bat.
Stephen Piscotty is a bit of a polarizing prospect. He is 6’3”, 195 and has an athletic frame with strong legs and a muscular upper body. He is long and lean and looks like a player. But with all the physical attributes, he doesn’t hit for a ton of power in games. You watch him take batting practice and you see that the raw strength and power is in there, but it doesn’t translate in the games very often. Piscotty played 3B at Stanford, but midway through the season he move and to the OF to make room for a freshman 3B’man and the OF is where his home will be in professional baseball. He has a solid arm and decent speed and profiles to be average at a corner spot. Piscotty is going to make his living with the bat though, and I recently watched a few games of his from the Cape and it made me like him more as a prospect. Stanford is notorious for teaching a power sapping swing that is wristy and forces a hitter to go the other way with the ball and after a hot start where Piscotty hit 3 HR’s all the pull side, the Stanford coaches made some adjustments and he hit just two more HR’s all season. Piscotty’s swing is level and quick and stays in the zone for quite a while. He has little to no stride and hits with a conventional stance with a small bat wiggle for timing purposes. If it were me, I would add a little loft to the swing and get him back to pulling the ball for power by using his lower half a little more and getting his hips more into his swing. I think there is a 15-20 HR guy in his bat with a plus hit tool and a great approach at the plate. Last summer, Piscotty led the Cape Cod league with a .349 average (had exact amount of at bats to qualify) and was an All-Star selection.

What the Cards didn’t do: Surprise anyone.
After going for back to back college players in the 1st round, many observers assumed the Cards were saving their money to take a high upside high school player, but they stuck to their Cape Cod loving ways and selected Piscotty. The move to a corner OF spot increases the need for Piscotty to hit, and hit for more power. His bat will have to carry him as he is a fringe average runner who will slow as he gains weight. The 21 y/o (1-14-91) does have some projection left as he fills out his frame, and he has a very high floor already. I like Piscotty as a 5 hit tool present and a 6 future, a 4 power present and a 5 future, with a 5 OF glove, a 6 arm (clocked as high as 93 as a pitcher), a 45 speed as he matures. If a mechanical change in his swing can make that power jump to a 6, we could have an above average regular on our hands. If not, he profiles as a solid average starter at the big league level, and those are always valuable. This pick fits the plan, and his Cape tape changes my mind on him (something I’m not great at doing).
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Round 1S. What the Cards did: Believe in the Wood.
Patrick Wisdom is a legitimate draft choice. Coming into the season he was among Keith Law’s top-40 prospects (I believe he was ranked in the 20’s in February). He is not a cheap pick without a ceiling. He is, however, a scouts pick as he had a poor season batting average-wise at St. Mary’s this season. A deeper look at the numbers shows Wisdom had a solid year otherwise and could have been the victim of a little bad luck on the batting average. Wisdom also fell into some bad habits with his swing and never got rolling after hitting well in summer leagues leading the Alaskan Summer League in HR’s both seasons with the Kenai Peninsula Oilers. Wisdom is a well-built kid at 6-2, 210 lbs and looks every bit of it. His swing is sound, if not a little mechanical (a very similar swing to the also right-hand hitting Piscotty at set-up). The bat speed is unexpected at first, but you can see it could be susceptible to good breaking stuff. He uses his hips to generate great pull power and drives the ball all over the field. Despite the strong swing, Wisdom hit only .262 this year and many people were a little down on him. A little deeper into the numbers shows he had a solid .385 OBP and .476 slugging. On the downside, my personal magic line has always been .500 slugging for a college player- especially one whose best tool is power.

What the Cards didn’t do: Ignore their scouts
Wisdom has talent, as he is not just a stiff defensive player. He has surprisingly soft hands, and a strong, quick arm that should easily lead to him staying at 3B. The swing I see has some power potential in it, and I’ll admit to being influenced by an especially good at bat against Trevor Bauer where he fouled off several tough pitches and then took Bauer deep to LF as a sophomore. A power potential 3B prospect who is still just 20 y/o (8-27-91) and has flashed in summer wood bat leagues is a prospect worth this pick in my view. He profiles as a 45 hit, 60 power, 55 glove, 60 arm, 40 run player at his peak and that’s a solid player.
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Round 1S. What the Cards did: Finally take a high school player
One of the fun things with doing exercises like this is you get to form an opinion on some unknown or unheralded players as you research w/o preconceived notions. I knew very little about Steve Bean other than he was a highly regarded catching prospect committed to the University of Texas. Bean is a lefty swinging C out of a Texas high school. His best tool is probably his arm, which profiles as plus both present and future. He’s 6-2, 190 currently and will fill out as he matures.

What the Cards didn’t do: Take the HS catcher I would have
Bean is going to be a scouts projection again, something we have seen in a few picks already. He has a quick left-handed stroke and it was actually impressive to see his potential with that bat speed. That said, he has an usual trigger mechanism with a high leg kick and a leg recoil while he waves the bat behind. It works for him and he seems to be on balance, but I wonder if better pitching will exploit it. He is said to have some power potential and should hit enough to not be a liability. He needs work behind the plate in both his receiving skills and handling of a pitching staff, but he has time to grow with the Cards having Molina on hand. In a limited snapshot I can’t give a complete assessment honestly. He has bat speed, and that’s the first step. He has a plus arm and that’s the second major hurdle to playing catcher here. As he grows and fills out he has potential to be a very nice prospect. I’d have taken Wyatt Mathisen , who was taken by the Pirates a few picks later personally. The Cards liked the left-handed bat and the better arm over the more athletic, righty swinging projection to Catcher in Mathisen. Bean will be a slow mover, who will benefit from professional instruction and I’m anxious to see his improvements in a few years.
http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?conte ... d=29113154

Round 2. What the Cards did: Take an upside hard to sign player
Carson Kelly is a player that was looked at so often by the Cards you almost had to say it was too obvious they’d pick him. My friend emailed me and said who are they going to take? As a joke, I responded Carson Kelly because I knew they had watched him that many times. He’s the top high school player in the Pacific Northwest, and was a prospect as both a pitcher and a hitter. MLB announced Kelly as a RHP and I was borderline distraught, as I see Kelly as a hitter, and a hitter only. A fringy 88 mph fastball and a decent curve is not going to get him the bonus money this slot required, and Kelly has stated vehemently he wants to hit, and hit only. I was afraid announcing as a pitcher he’d go to the University of Oregon instead. He’ll still be a difficult sign, but you have to believe they’ll get it done at this spot in the draft.

What the Cards didn’t do: Mess it up
They are letting Kelly hit, and in doing so, made a strong pick. Kelly is 6-2, 200 lbs with an athletic frame and quick reactions. He has a clear plus arm and lateral agility that could lead to him being a plus defender at the major league level. His best tool other than his arm is his ability to make consistent contact against velocity while also possessing clear power potential. He has a quiet load and great bat speed generated by quick wrists, but the leg kick can get too high and throw off the timing for the righty-swinger. He has a strong lead leg and the hips work well with the swing. Being from a colder climate he has immense projection with professional coaching and an emphasis on just hitting. Serious power potential to the pull side and an ability to hit the ball up the middle and the other way with gap power. A raw, high ceiling player who grades out at 40 present hit, 55 future, 45 present power, 60 future, 60 present and future arm (with a chance for 65), and a 55 glove and 50 runner. That’s a star potential player who is a long ways from that potential. Another younger than their class player at 17 (7-14-94), the Cards clearly subscribe to the younger player has more potential theory. Really fond of this pick.
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Round 3. What the Cards did: Take a left-handed pitcher
Tim Cooney is a guy I’m familiar with being an ACC guy out of Wake Forest. He’s a 6-3 crafty lefty who will sit at 88-91 with a fastball that he commands very well, and a slurvy curve that can be effective when down. He is another Cape performer who walked just 8 batters while striking out 46 in 48 innings. Cooney throws a very good cutter that is his best pitch in my view. He’ll be a guy that plays up some in professional ball due to the cutter. With aluminum, batters weren’t afraid of him getting inside as much as they will with the cutter in pro ball.

What the Cards didn’t do: Take a star
Cooney’s best projection is as a back-end starter who will keep hitters off balance with his fastball, cutter, change, curve and command the zone. When he overthrows he loses command and gets hurt. For a pitcher who is already short on stuff, some of the control issues he had as a junior will need to cease. I think Cooney has a chance to be a big leaguer due to a combination of size, deception in delivery (a high knee kick, ball hidden in glove, leg coming at you, and then his right shoulder dips to 3B side and the ball comes at what looks like an angle to the hitter with the pitcher ‘jumping at you’), command and excellent pitchability. 21 y/o all season (12-19-90)
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Round 4. What the Cards did: Go cheap
Alejandro Mejia is a kid who some say is a plus defender at SS, while some believe he will have to move to 2B. The 6’, 170 lb player out of Arizona is a solid athlete who I believe will be fine sticking at SS defensively, and had a night where Keith Law stated he was “channeling his inner Ozzie Smith.” The problem is he simply does not project to hit at all.

What the Cards didn’t do: Solve SS
Mejia was the Pac-12 player of the year, so we are not talking about a kid who hasn’t performed. Mejia hit .367/.398/.504 and hit extremely well in-conference as well. Mejia worked hard to lose weight and improve his athleticism once he got to college. A try hard kid with an excellent feel for the game, I just don’t see the tools to be a big leaguer. His approach is mostly contact based, and he will be challenged with velocity until he proves he can handle it. Below average speed, range and power. He is a hollow batting average type with great hands at SS.
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Round 5. What the Cards did: Draft velocity
Cory Jones is a huge right-hander with plus velocity and not much else. He is 6-5, 220 and will touch the mid-90’s. He has a swing and miss breaking ball when it’s on, and a slurvy, ugly pitch when he over throws or is out of rhythm. He originally attended Pepperdine but transferred to a Juco.

What the Cards didn’t do: Avoid upside
Jones is inconsistent, but has a great arm and was moving up the draft boards quickly. If he can iron out his mechanics and throws strikes consistenly, his two pitch mix could land him in a major league bullpen. Another solid pick.

Round 6. What the Cards did: Draft bullpen arm
Kurt Heyer is the ace of Arizona’s Super Regional squad, but profiles in the bullpen to me. He’s 6-3, 200 but his fastball/slider combo will make him a ROOGY in time. He has an unorthodox delivery that is sort of ¾ style and creates tons of deception.

What the Cards didn’t do: Maximize the pick
At some point, the college Cape Cod All-Stars will start to produce diminishing returns. Heyer is a nice college player who has re-worked his delivery in college to the point he is only a ROOGY in my view, and excels on supreme control, mound demeanor, competitiveness, and deception rather than stuff. He throws his fastball in 88 mph range, and has worked hard to make his slider a decent pitch. I still wouldn’t call it a plus pitch, but it plays up due to motion. I think the curve will be emphasized less in the pros personally. Strike thrower with results thus far.
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Round 7. What the Cards did: Take another Senior sign
Kyle Barraclough is not someone I know much about. He’s a senior on St. Mary’s pitching staff, and I never paid him much attention due to Agosto and Wisdom being on the team and much better prospects.

What the Cards didn’t do: Shock me
The Cards are continuing to take bullpen type arms who will sign for less than slot. 6-2, 220 lb righty is 22 y/o (5-23-90). Barraclough actually has good stuff and throws a splitter. A dying breed. He set the school’s all-time strikeout record, but also struggles with command, walking 47 batters in 79 innings. He can dial it up to 91-93 and then put you away with the splitter. I imagine he’ll throw fastball/splitter/changeup out of the bullpen and scrap the curveball, which looks slurvy and loopy to me. A straight up and down delivery already suited to throwing out of the stretch, Barraclough has improved his stock by smoothing out the arm angle over last year (definitely notice the difference when looking at the two years).
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Round 8. What the Cards did: Take someone I don’t know
Yoenny Gonzalez is an athletic, diminutive Juco player out of Florida who will move to the OF in professional baseball. Had good numbers, a little pop in his numbers, but I don’t know the player and found very little on him. 6’, 175 was a 1st team All-Dade County high school player, which is strong praise.

Round 9. What the Cards did: Take a nice swing
Rowan Wick has a nice swing plane and good size at 6-2, 220. He has a solid arm and a possibility at staying at C. He’s also a young 2nd year Juco player at 19 (11-9-92).

What the Cards didn’t do: Hurt themselves
Wick has a long swing, that gets off balance, but it has a nice swing plane and some bat speed. Power projection is real and the arm can play. Decently athletic, but will probably not hit for average, and is a slow runner expected to get slower. He’s going to fill out and be 235 lbs before it’s said and done. May get too big and have to move to 1B. Was a decent prospect coming out of high school as well (Canadian prospect), where he was a RF’er. If he has to move off C, he’s a much lesser prospect. Worth this spot.
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Round 10. What the Cards did: Take one of 21 Seniors drafted in round 10
Jacob Wilson is a 2B-only senior prospect out of the University of Memphis. Scrappy type who will get dirty and was Conference-USA player of the year hitting .320 with 17 HR’s and a monstrous .615 slugging percentage.

What the Cards didn’t do: Take a prospect as good as those numbers say
He had monstrous numbers, but there’s a reason I point out 21 seniors went in the 10th round, which is the last round where slots are set (teams only get the slot money in their draft pool if they sign the kids). Wilson is a kid who deserved to be drafted, and he does have soft hands and decent bat speed. He has a chance, but he is a 2B-only prospect, meaning he has to hit well enough to be a starter in the big leagues or he can’t be a major leaguer. You have to be able to play SS to be a utility guy, and he can’t do that.
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Round 11. What the Cards did: Take a monster upside player
Trey Williams is a way over slot 3B prospect with good bloodlines and an exciting combo of power, arm strength, athleticism, upside and projection. Bat speed generates power for him and a kid talented enough to go in the top-60 picks.

What the Cards didn’t do: Save money
If they’re going to spend the excess, it will be here. He’s an expensive sign whose family doesn’t need the money. Another extremely young player 18 y/o (3-4-94). Muscular, athletic, powerful kid with bright future. He profiles as a star 3B’man if things break right for him. He needs to shorten the swing and work on his timing mechanism, but he is a stud if we can find a way to sign him.
http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?conte ... 4&c_id=mlb

Round 12. What the Cards did: Take another expensive sign
Max Foody is a huge left-handed pitcher with upside and projectability. Already 91 peak, and has a very fast spinning curveball. You can generally see projectable velocity by how well they spin a break ball. It shows arm speed, which generally translates to better velocity in the future. Projects to two plus pitches in the fastball/curveball. Shows very little feel for a changeup, but that is not unusual.

What the Cards didn’t do: Go back to cheap
Foody will cost to sign, but has potential to be worth it. He’s 6-4, 220 and could use professional coaching and conditioning in my view. Clean arm action, but has a ways to go with command/control/pitchability and feel for a changeup. Tools are there to be very good though and could be signed. Not a huge bonus kid that I’ve heard.
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Overview: This was a very strange draft for all teams. After a while, the strategy became clear; take Seniors who will sign for under slot, bank the pool money left for the slot, and then go for the high upside high schoolers after round 10 where there is no penalty for not signing them (in the form of the loss of bonus pool money). Taking high floor players who will probably make the majors is a smart strategy in a draft like this. The Cards will probably spend close to 10-11 million in this draft when you include all the picks after round 10, and they only really need to obtain 3 WAR to recoup that money and I think Wacha will do that on his own.

The Cards continued their affinity for younger than normal prospects for their class, and have seen solid results with this approach in the past. The more I researched and looked at the players we obtained just on film, the more I liked what we did. Wacha and Piscotty were both good picks. Ramsey was an understandable pick given the statistical models the Cards love, and gives them some money back in their pool. Wisdom brings a power potential bat and I’m a fan of power. Kelly is a kid they liked all along and then actually took him. Big talent in that spot. From 3-8 they took safe kids who will sign for slot or under, and then had some big time upside kids with big bonus demands in 11 & 12.

When I was watching last night I was wanting more upside, but after seeing the pieces fit together, I’ve come around to this draft and this strategy that would not be my own. There are some physical projection types here. Some Cape Cod All-Stars. Some high floor, limited physical tools types. Finally, there are some upside types who will be tough signs, but you have to believe they knew their bonus demands and we prepared to make competitive offers to pop them immediately after the 10th round threshold passed.

I’d call it a safe draft that fell well for the Cards and their philosophies. If I were to ever ask something of the people in charge of my team, it would be to be competent, have a set strategy, and then go out and make decisions that fit that strategy. I thought the Cards did exactly that while keeping the bonus pool and the new CBA rules in mind. I’m happy with the draft, and feel the Cards hit some holes in their system, and found enough upside sprinkled in that they really did have a plan in mind all along. Mozeliak can stay for another day. Good job Cardinals…now go get us some more talent tomorrow.

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pioneer98
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Re: 2012 Cards Draft Wrap-Up

Post by pioneer98 »

Excellent! Thanks for putting this together.

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Re: 2012 Cards Draft Wrap-Up

Post by Fat Strat »

That's a really interesting draft. Great write up. I like what they did. Great mix of upside, low floor, easy signs and hard signs.

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Re: 2012 Cards Draft Wrap-Up

Post by a_smith »

thanks phins

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Re: 2012 Cards Draft Wrap-Up

Post by MinorLeagueGuy »

This was almost a better read than the Game of Thrones books. As expected, a top-drawer job, phinstromdamus.

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Re: 2012 Cards Draft Wrap-Up

Post by Fan_In_NY »

Thanks a lot for the insight!

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Re: 2012 Cards Draft Wrap-Up

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I am late to the 'phins is a minor league/drafting genius" party, but, seriously, do you at least get to work in this industry? Or are you doing this for yourself (and us)?

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Re: 2012 Cards Draft Wrap-Up

Post by sighyoung »

Thank you, phins. A wonderful write-up.

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Re: 2012 Cards Draft Wrap-Up

Post by phins »

docellis wrote:I am late to the 'phins is a minor league/drafting genius" party, but, seriously, do you at least get to work in this industry? Or are you doing this for yourself (and us)?
At one point I wanted to work in the sports industry and had no idea what capacity. I interned with Hammons Field (which is where Springfield plays) and had a chance to meet scouts and some other industry execs. At the time, Missouri State had a huge prospect on their team named Ross Detwiler, and I was able to pick the brains of several gracious scouts and even a few cross checkers (who are like scouts on steroids).

At the same time I was interning with the MO Sports Hall of Fame and had a chance to meet some professional athletes and pick their brains on the recruiting/signing process, and that perspective was great for me to get the 'other side' of things.

While doing these things I also found out how much these individuals get paid, and the amount of time they spend on the road. This made me realize I wanted to do something different with my life and I added a Finance major to my Sports Management studies (SM was too interesting to just drop for me). Unbeknownst at the time, but the Finance background really helped with the baseball endeavors as it is becoming increasing analytical and statistical. I work in the Finance field, and use statistical models and things of the sort to help me with my amateur scouting stuff.

A big shift in the way the industry handles this sort of thing is occurring where teams are going to video more than solely relying on seeing a player live. That gives me a little confidence in the things I see on film and gave me a little motivation to do it more often.

Closest I've come to doing anything with it is I've thought about doing a blog to follow in the great JL21's footsteps. Thanks for the kind words though...happy people enjoy it, as I gain joy out of it as well.

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Re: 2012 Cards Draft Wrap-Up

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phins wrote:
docellis wrote:I am late to the 'phins is a minor league/drafting genius" party, but, seriously, do you at least get to work in this industry? Or are you doing this for yourself (and us)?
At one point I wanted to work in the sports industry and had no idea what capacity. I interned with Hammons Field (which is where Springfield plays) and had a chance to meet scouts and some other industry execs. At the time, Missouri State had a huge prospect on their team named Ross Detwiler, and I was able to pick the brains of several gracious scouts and even a few cross checkers (who are like scouts on steroids).

At the same time I was interning with the MO Sports Hall of Fame and had a chance to meet some professional athletes and pick their brains on the recruiting/signing process, and that perspective was great for me to get the 'other side' of things.

While doing these things I also found out how much these individuals get paid, and the amount of time they spend on the road. This made me realize I wanted to do something different with my life and I added a Finance major to my Sports Management studies (SM was too interesting to just drop for me). Unbeknownst at the time, but the Finance background really helped with the baseball endeavors as it is becoming increasing analytical and statistical. I work in the Finance field, and use statistical models and things of the sort to help me with my amateur scouting stuff.

A big shift in the way the industry handles this sort of thing is occurring where teams are going to video more than solely relying on seeing a player live. That gives me a little confidence in the things I see on film and gave me a little motivation to do it more often.

Closest I've come to doing anything with it is I've thought about doing a blog to follow in the great JL21's footsteps. Thanks for the kind words though...happy people enjoy it, as I gain joy out of it as well.

No but f'realz, it's an excellent write-up.

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