ATLANTA — With the first day of the MLB Draft behind us, let’s assess what stood out. From teams to players to positions to the venue, here are my biggest winners and losers after the first three rounds on Sunday.
Winners
1. The Orioles
The Orioles were the clear winners of Day 1 by virtue of having six picks among the first 69 selections, including their first pick at No. 19 and additional picks thanks to their trade with the Rays for reliever Bryan Baker and because they lost Corbin Burnes and Anthony Santander in free agency. Besides the 19th pick, they selected at 30, 31, 37, 58 and 69.
Baltimore, as it’s usually done under the leadership of general manager Mike Elias, crushed its selections, taking three consecutive college bats to open the draft: Ike Irish, an outfielder out of Auburn at No. 19; Caden Bodine, arguably the best catcher and framer in the draft, out of Coastal Carolina at No. 30 (Burnes compensation pick); and shortstop Wehiwa Aloy out of Arkansas at No. 31 (Santander compensation pick). Then the Orioles nabbed Slater de Brun, a high-ceiling high school outfielder from Oregon at No. 37 (Barker trade with the Rays) before drafting some pitching, taking lefty Joseph Dzierwa out of Michigan State with pick 58 and righty JT Quinn out of Georgia at No. 69. An impressive haul to say the least.
Baltimore has a record $19,144,550 in their bonus pool to try to sign its entire draft class, which should get the job done.
2. Corona High School
Corona High in Southern California became the first high school in history to have two players selected in the top 10 of the MLB Draft: Right-hander Seth Hernandez, considered the best prep starting pitcher in this draft, went to the Pirates at No. 6, and Billy Carlson, the best defensive shortstop, was plucked by the White Sox at No. 10.
And Corona High wasn’t done, as third baseman Brady Ebel, son of Dodgers third-base coach Dino Ebel, was selected by the Brewers with the 32nd pick. Go Panthers!
3. Shortstops
There were six shortstops taken in the first 10 picks as the Nationals chose Eli Willits at No. 1, the Rockies selected Ethan Holliday at No. 4, the Marlins landed at Aiva Arquette at No. 7, the Blue Jays got a steal with JoJo Parker at No. 8, the Reds took speedster Steele Hall at No. 9, and the White Sox were thrilled to see Billy Carlson, who could be a future Gold Glove Award winner, sitting there at No. 10.
Overall, a record 14 shortstops were drafted in the first 27 picks. It shows you how loaded this shortstop class was and how much clubs value positional flexibility, as some of these shortstops will have moved to second base, third base or the outfield by the time they reach the major leagues.
4. The Red Sox
Considering they had the 15th and 33rd picks, the Red Sox did really well on Day 1. First, they selected right-hander Kyson Witherspoon out of Oklahoma. He has four plus pitches, including a 94-99 mph fastball, a hard downer curveball that’s in the low 80s, a mid-80s slider and a cutter. He also has an improving changeup with solid fade. He gets hitters to chase out of the strike zone and has compact arm action with little effort.
Next, at No. 33 (acquired from the Brewers in the Quinn Priester trade), they took righty Marcus Phillips, out of Tennessee, who had 98 strikeouts in 83 innings last season as the Volunteers’ No. 2 starter. He throws a 96-100 mph fastball, a plus slider and an average changeup.
Witherspoon and Phillips should be relatively quick to the majors. And, with the Red Sox’s strong pitching coach and analytics staff, both have large runways to improve over the next couple of years. Boston finished off its solid Day 1 by taking infielder Henry Godbout out of Virginia at No. 75 and right-hander Anthony Eyanson out of LSU at No. 87.
5. The venue
Atlanta was hot and humid as usual, with temperatures north of 90 degrees. That’s why the venue, Coca-Cola Roxy, was such a winner — its air conditioner must have been set around 65 degrees, as I was more than comfortable covering the draft in my hoodie. The main room was also the perfect size for the event, both for fans and the media.
Losers
1. The players — not attending the event
No players showed up for this year’s draft, which, in my opinion, was a missed opportunity for them. It’s such a memorable time in a player’s career. Many of us remember when Mike Trout was taken with the 25th pick in 2009 and was at the draft, and we’ll remember it when he’s being inducted into the Hall of Fame someday.
Last year, six first-rounders attended the draft at Cowtown Coliseum in Fort Worth, Texas, including the Angels’ Christian Moore, the Cardinals’ JJ Wetherholt, and Braden Montgomery, who was drafted by the Red Sox and later dealt to the White Sox in the Garrett Crochet trade.
The players who attend the drafts get to be on all the major TV and radio shows and are able to build relationships with the media and fans that can significantly help them as they develop into big leaguers. Hopefully, this year is an aberration and some players will be on hand for the draft next year — because not being there is a big loss for them and even a bigger loss to the game.
2. The Angels
The Angels whiffed on the No. 2 pick when they selected right-hander Tyler Bremner from UC Santa Barbara. Not because he’s not a good pitcher; he is, he has three pitches, and should be quick to the big leagues.
No, the Angels blew it because of what they left on the table to take Bremner. They could have drafted left-hander Kade Anderson, who just won a national championship with LSU and led Division I in strikeouts with 180 (and left many more strikeouts on the table to get early count outs). They could have had future third baseman and 30-40 home run power hitter Ethan Holliday, who I thought was the best overall player in the draft.
Taking Bremner, who was projected to be drafted behind several other college pitchers, was a reach for the Angels, which has been their modus operandi recently, but I think they’ll regret it — especially with Anderson pitching in their division with the Mariners and Holliday eventually getting to show off his power 81 games a year at Coors Field. From now on, Bremner will be compared to both of them, and in the long run, I don’t think the rear-view mirror will be kind to the Halos.
3. The Dodgers, Yankees and Mets
The Dodgers, Yankees and Mets had no picks in the first round because they exceeded the competitive balance tax thresholds last year, which pushed their picks back 10 spots, to 40, 39 and 38, respectively. Those are the rules, and those teams made payroll decisions knowing the consequences. But it’s still disappointing to me that the biggest markets in the game were not in the first round.
(Top photo: Jamie Squire / Getty Images)
