2013 Draft – 1st Round Discussion

2013 Draft

First Round Underway, have fun!

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About Matt Winkelman

Matt is originally from Mt. Holly, NJ, but after a 4 year side track to Cleveland for college he now resides in Madison, WI. His work has previously appeared on Phuture Phillies and The Good Phight. You can read his work at Phillies Minor Thoughts

155 thoughts on “2013 Draft – 1st Round Discussion”

    1. Has a lot of body movement in his swing but the ball sounds good off of his bat…dont mind the pick as he was the best available

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  7. I am very surprised there were no under slot guys taken yet.
    Pretty much all these guys taken as BPA

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    1. Jeff Kent comp.

      I remember Chase Utley getting that on draft day.

      Lack of bats is KC’s problem too. I got blocked on Twitter by Buster and Ken for spewing hate on the big trade, but who wishes they had Will Myers now?

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  11. Quickly can somebody explain why a HS Player would be best for an aging team? Waiting 3-4 years opposed to 1-2 seems 10 times more logical. I understand this isn’t the NFL Draft where you are counting on the pick to immediately produce, but a DJ Peterson or Ryne Stanek could produce at the latest in 2015. Smith is raw with power, I just don’t see why draft him now when you can acquire more recent big league wins.

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      1. you have to look long term. Do you want a future star under team control (or loud enough tools to be a big trade piece) or a 55 player who may never make it but if he does has a limited ceiling?

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      2. would you rather draft a college kid and rush him up, and maybe he turns into a servicable average starter, or take a kid who might take a bit longer, but has a higher chance of being something more. There arent many players, even polished college players, that will be ready in 1-2 years. especially with the phillies since they like to take their time with prospects. So if u think of it like 4 years for a college kid, and 5 for a HS. You cant worry about whether they are an aging team or not. They will be aging whether the kid gets right up or not.

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    2. Because you shouldn’t pick a potentially less talented person who will contribute sooner over a potentially more talented person who might take longer. You need to pick guys with the best star potential at least in the first round.

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    3. “Smith is raw with power, I just don’t see why draft him now”

      Why did the Mets keep David Wright? That’s the question.

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  13. Bickford and Dozier in top 10 is incredible news for Phils. Studs are falling to 16. I’m bugging out.

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    1. Shipley is one of those sliding a lot, but when you hear possible ‘shoulder’ concern that’s one red flag I don’t ignore.

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  14. Shipley, Renfroe, Peterson and Stanek still on the board. For some team other than the Phils, I’m sure.

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        2. Watched him last summer with USA Baseball, big gap to gap power, can drive the ball, athletic enough to hang a 3rd.

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    1. It is scary to imagine Stanek with 20 lbs of muscle put on… Great arm, ++ breaking ball

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  32. So the girl in the white dress behind the “dad” of DJ Peterson… lol distracting.

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  38. I’m not sure I like Crawford at 16, not sure if he’ll stick at SS and not sure if he will hit at all.

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  39. I’m fine with Crawford, Stanek or Shipley. I’m betting if Crawford goes here, they’ll reach for Anderson.

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  52. Can we just make Lakewood HS an extension to our Minor League system? First Watson now Crawford. Welcome to Philly J.P.!

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    1. so if he is the best SS , why didnt the Royals take him and if hes that good why have some doubted he will stay at the position. Im not convinced but he is a phillie now , so i got his back and im on team J.P. now aswell

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      1. Because he’s the best SS prospect in a very weak SS draft. A lot of guys listed as SS probably won’t stick. He also needs to develop his batting. He was a reach in the top-10, but he’s value at pick 16.

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      2. Royals made a major reach according to everyone, and i really think it was money related so that they had room to play with a few other high picks.

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    1. good glove, can stick with SS. bat isnt there yet, but there is potential for a decent average

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        1. speed apparently is the biggest knock from what ive read. He isnt a clog, but isnt a burner.

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          1. A little disappointed then, Didn’t looked like someone who would hit a lot of HR’s, was hoping he was someone who could steal 20-30 bags a year

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      2. There are plenty of free agent shortstops who have good glove and decent averages. Another 2 or 6 hole hitter at best. Blah.

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        1. would i have prefered a potential middle of the order bat like smith, peterson or renfroe? sure, but they werent there. They took the best player on their board. The only argument could have been made for a pitcher like stanek.

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  61. im thinking he is a slot signing, maybe even a bit below, so hopefully it frees them up to make a bit of a splash with the next few picks.

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  62. Crawford seems to have a nice swing from the left side. I would’ve preferred a prep power bat but we’ll see that in upcoming rounds. You can’t pass up the best SS in the draft.

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    2. this doesnt really mean anything for quinn. They will be at different levels in their development. Its a good problem to have if they both keep moving up and force a decision later.

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    3. Not at all. Both are so far away whoever is the better play offensively and defensively will hold the spot. It will probably take Crawford more than 2 or 3 years to close the gap between he and Quinn when it comes to level and playing time.

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    2. BA pegs him as No. 2 in the system, ahead of Quinn.

      “WHERE HE FITS: Crawford will enter the Phillies’ system at No. 2—ahead of Roman Quinn because of his better defensive ability and pure hitting ability. He could one day replace Jimmy Rollins.”

      I can’t imagine him being a better prospect at this point than Franco or Biddle, so this is surprising to me.

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      1. Franco still isn’t getting respect? He is the #1 position prospect with very little room for argument. Some guy who has never played a game in the minors and doesn’t have the scouting report of a beast should not even be able to challenge him for that spot considering what he’s doing in Clearwater.

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        1. Baseball America has a grading system. The Phillies had mostly players graded as 55 on a 20-80 scale. Biddle was a 55 high risk, Quinn was a 60 Extreme risk and Franco was a 55 High risk. Players taken in the top 20 of the 1st round almost always get at least a grade of 60. Crawford and anybody else they had ranked in the top 20, would be the #1 or #2 ranked player in the Phillies’ system.

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  65. Baseball America’s take:

    “He has become a much more fluid defender over the last two years, making him the rare prep prospect with a real chance to play shortstop in the major leagues. His long arms and game awareness give him good range, especially to his left and on balls in front of him. He needs to improve on balls to his right, but his above-average arm should allow him to make plays from the hole, and he has sure hands and good actions. He projects as a solid-average or slightly better defensive shortstop and an average hitter with fringy power. Crawford has good hand-eye coordination, which allows him to spray line drives to all fields, but he has a high set-up and a bit of a loop in his swing. He can turn on balls on occasion, but he needs to get stronger and smooth out his swing in order to get on top of good fastballs. Crawford is a solid-average runner who takes good turns and has baserunning savvy.”

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  66. By all accounts he can stay at the position and he fits the Phillies m.o. for taking HS players with questions around their hitting skills.

    Time will tell.

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    1. the more i read, it doesnt really sound like their are major questions around his bat, There are just mechanical problems and they dont think its potentially a plus. Who knows, hes here now and we can hope if they smooth out his swing, his good hand eye coordination will come out in a better hit tool.

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  67. Reading up on him it doesn’t sound like anything to get excited about. Decent ceiling but nothing is really anything great. Again a waste of a pick imo. And what was he dressed for? Prom?

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    1. I wish the Phillies had read up on him so they would have had the same keen insights you have. Can you suggest some reading resources for them to read up on potential second rounders so they don’t waste another pick?

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    3. Hmmm. The best prep Shortstop in the entire country is a wasted pick. Interesting.

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  68. Well I guess I can’t complain about Crawford too much. I had 12 guys I was hoping for (some pipe dreams to be sure) and all of them were off the board jby the time the Phillies picked. I had crawford just outside that dozen.

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  69. Was Crawford ranked high just because he projects to stay at SS? Also is this a weak draft?

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    1. Yes to both. Crawford’s most developed part of his game right now is his glove and it’s a glove at SS. His bat needs work. If he was looked at as a 2B he’d be slotted down a bit more so SS boosted him.

      This is also a weaker draft. If Crawford was in last years draft he probably goes half a round later at minimum.

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    1. Interesting point about him being an old HS draftee. That is a significant negative. I hope the Phillies gave a little discount to what they were seeing based on age. They apparently did not with Hewitt. Still, Crawford seems a reasonable choice, considering all the hitters who had already been taken. There really wasn’t a hitter I would have preferred at that point. A pitcher would have been fine. I don’t think the Phillies wanted to have to take a pitcher with the first rounder.

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      1. I agree with those who say no need to make a decision on Quinn for a while. Still, if the Phillies were sold on Quinn staying at SS, I doubt they take Crawford here.

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      2. He doesn’t really compare to Hewitt in terms of being old- I’m seeing that Crawford turned 18 in January, which probably isn’t much older than average, whereas Hewitt turned 19 (19! seriously!) before the draft.

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        1. Any comparison to Hewitt is silly and is just lazy stereotyping. Crawford plays in a baseball hotbed, and is probably as polished as any HS player you are going to get.

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    1. I bet that violent delivery scares all of the teams. Has TJ surgery written all over him.

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    2. That seems confirmation that he either wasn’t a screaming value at #16 or is expected to not be signable at #16 or later

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      1. He could let a team ‘punt’ if they decided to. Considering this draft isn’t considered that strong a team could draft him with their late 1st/2nd and then basically watch him go back to school and regain that pick next years draft 1 pick later.

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  73. Giants just picked a guy that MLB.com didnt have in their top 100. that is some kinda reach there

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    1. haha his MLB promo clip had him saying he cant stand the yankees, and now he gets picked by them.

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  79. A lot of good players still left as of the 41st pick. Denney, Balog, Ward, Hunter Green…

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  80. I wish James would make a cameo appearance during the draft. Like the new guys but James did a heck of a job.

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  81. knapp at 53. sounds like he has a pretty established tool with both average and power, and the questions are about his defense behind the plate. On the plus side, he also played 1b and the corner OF in college.

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  82. I like the catcher pick. Switch hitter who can hit for average and power. Needs some work behind the plate but he has time.

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  83. was kinda hoping for cord sandberg, maybe even the biggio kid , but im down with this guy he seems like a hitter

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  84. Buddy of mine is an MLB scout. Just sent me a text.

    :Knapp is a good pick. Can hit, good athlete as a catcher. Needs some polish defensively, but can stick there probably.

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      1. thanks for the info ketch. im pleased to hear hes athletic behind the plate and has a chance to stick there. Im way more interested what kind of bat he has. Ive heard its pretty decent in both average and power, so even if catcher doesnt work, it sounds like he can swing it enough to play somewhere else.

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  85. Not impressed with either pick . Rube wanted a Bat at 16 and got a defensive SS in a poor SS class. The catcher was a terrible pick , no power, average defense,

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    1. We all get your opinion, yet everything I have read is the complete opposite of what you state as your reasoning. Crawford = best available player and at a position that provides premium value. Knapp could be signed for under slot allowing for higher ceiling picks later on.

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  86. Hoping for some toolsy players and high ceiling pitchers form here on out. Would like to get some more flamethrowers in the org. if possible, don’t really know anything about who is left.

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