2010 Draft Eligibles: Fairbanks Goldpanners

Justin Schafer is one of the more intriquing
draft prospects for the Panners this year.
Photo courtesy of Goldpanners.com

As we continue our countdown to the 2010 MLB amateur draft, today we're going to have a look at the Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks, and their draft-eligible alumni. The Panners have a good haul of draft-eligible players in this year's draft class, most of them from their 2008 & 2009 squads. Before we see the whole list, let's take a look at some interesting players.

Justin Schafer (2009) is a guy who I believe has a shot -- not a lock, but a possibility -- of cracking the first ten rounds. Schafer is a junior shortstop out of UC Davis. He's got a solid glove, not a ton of power potential but he can get on base and shows good speed. I picture him as a leadoff or 2-hole type hitter, though if he wants to fill that role he'll need to learn to take a few more walks (but patience is something that can be taught in the minors). He hit .314 and swiped 6 bases on 7 attempts in 2009 for the Panners.

Derek Wilson (2009-10R) is a Scottsdale CC redshirt sophomore; he's eligible to be drafted as a JuCo player but where he'll be picked is kind of hard to pin down since he has college eligibility left. Anyway, he's from right down the road in North Pole and picked up a couple at-bats for the Panners in 2009. He's probably more of a late-round pickup for any team this year, but he'll be looked at by scouts in the ABL this season and should see his draft stock rise next year. The locals will be pulling for him, in any event, along with fellow Fairbanks-area products and 2009 teammates Zach Peek and Nigel Morton.

Matt Newman (2008) was ranked #99 on the College Baseball Blog's Top 100. The Arizona State outfielder is a Junior, so he might not be tearing up anybody's draft board, but keep an eye on him. I reckon any of the top 100 college players is definitely draft material, so be careful not to overlook him. Newman was one of the best-hitting Panners in 2008, posting a .339 AVG and a .906 OPS, and hit a pair out of the park to boot. He struck out nine times, but walked 11, which is also good to see.


Well there's some food for thought on a couple of the guys, but the whole list is obviously much bigger. As was the case with the lists for the Bucs, Miners, Oilers and Pilots, be sure to let me know if there are any omissions or errors on this list. And you're always welcome to comment with any draft-day prospects that you have a take on. Here's the list:

Last	First	Pos	College	Team	Year
Ashenbrenner	Josh	SS	Lewis-Clark State	Panners	2007
Brule	Kyle	RHP	Arizona State	Panners	2008, 09
Burnett	Stuart	1B	Sacramento State	Panners	2009
Chung	Derrick	SS	Sacramento State	Panners	2009, 10
Clauson	Andrew	RHP	Stanford	Panners	2008
Colvin	David	RHP	Pomona-Pitzer	Panners	2009
Davis	Greg	RHP	UC Santa Barbara	Panners	2009
Davis	Steve	C	SW Missour Baptist	Panners	2008
Diedrich	Trent	C	Pepperdine	Panners	2008
Duran	Tyler	RHP	Oklahoma Baptist	Panners	2008
Gaylord	Adam	2B	Stanford	Panners	2008
Greene	Scott	RHP	Chico State	Panners	2009
Grieve	Derek	RHP	New Mexico Highlands	Panners	2009, 10
Kountis	Jonathan	RHP	Embry-Riddle	Panners	2007
LeGros	Jordan	RHP	McNeese State	Panners	2009
Maggiolo	Matt	RHP	Hawaii Pacific	Panners	2008
McCarthy	Mike	RHP	CS Bakersfield	Panners	2009
McClain	Patrick	RHP	CS Monterey Bay	Panners	2007
Meaux	Jesse	RHP	UC Santa Barbara	Panners	2009
Morton	Nigel	2B	Southwest Baptist	Panners	2008-10
Newman	Matt	OF	Arizona State	Panners	2008
Peek	Zach	3B	Yuba College	Panners	2009
Schafer	Justin	SS	UC Davis	Panners	2009
Stevenson	Casey	2B	UC Irvine	Panners	2008
Torrez	Raoul	3B	Arizona State	Panners	2008, 09
Vawter-Scoggins	Zach	LHP	Yuba College	Panners	2009
Wilson	Derek	2B	Scottsdale CC	Panners	2009