8/21/10 Odds & Ends - Marban Goes Pro Edition

2010 Oiler Jorge Marban is the latest ABLer
gone pro.

Time again for another Odds & Ends post! This one is a little late in the day -- my apologies -- because it's been kind of a wild day for me. But thankfully I had most of the content rounded up in advance, so I was able to pound this one out before nightfall. So let's cut to the chase, because there's some good stuff this weekend...

- First things first, some great news: Oilers' RHP Jorge Marban has signed as an undrafted free agent with the Texas Rangers organization. Apparently he was scouted and signed out of the NBC tournament, so it was definitely worth the trip despite the Oilers' somewhat disappointing finish. If there are any Rangers prospect watchers out there looking for scouting reports or video, I'm afraid I don't have much (I only saw him once in person). He finished the season in Alaska with a 1.38 ERA, 4-0 record, surrendered 13 hits and just 8 walks on 26 innings of work, and struck out a whopping 32 batters. For his efforts he was chosen first-team All-ABL. Jorge is a great NDFA signing for the Rangers, and I'm stoked to see him get his chance at the pro leagues. Best of luck.

- I caught wind of a great blog post on Twitter this week, from the Kentucky Wildcats blog "Cat Scratches", entitled the "20 Greatest Games Since 2006". #10 on the list is a performance by former Glacier Pilot and Kentucky pitcher James Paxton, who (as you probably know considering my recent posts) was the #4 draft pick by the Seattle Mariners in the most recent draft. Great read, check it out.

2010 Draft Signing Deadline Wrap

A look at who signed...or more importantly, who didn't.

So it looks like nobody signed! That's anti-climactic. Or it would be, except for the fact that a lot of schools were probably sweating bullets all night wondering if some of their top players were going to get snatched up. If there are no contracts that have yet to come out in the media, here's where everyone will end up:

- James Paxton will likely finish out the season with the independent Grand Prairie Air Hogs and sign with Seattle sometime over the off-season.
- Kevin Jacob will return to Georgia Tech for his senior year, and possibly go as high as the first round in 2011.
- Francis Larson could hang up the baseball spikes and pursue his master's degree in philosophy.
- Bryan Harper will transfer to the University of South Carolina.
- Ryan Woolley has a year of eligibility left due to a redshirt season and will return to Alabama Birmingham.
- Dustin Emmons will return to UC Riverside.
- Kyle Richter will be a freshman at USC. He will be draft eligible again in 2013.
- Jesse Meaux will return to UC Santa Barbara.
- Troy Scott will return to the University of Washington.
- Zach Arneson will return to Cal State Bakersfield

This list is based on the best info I could scrape up. If anyone else has any better information, please let me know and I will post it here.

2010 MLB draft recap

Kawika Emsley-Pai snuck into the first
ten rounds. Photo: OilersBaseball.com

The 2010 MLB amateur draft has come and gone, and -- as usual -- dozens of ABL players were picked. Today we're going to look back at who was picked where, by who, and how good or bad my projections were.

I was correct in predicting that James Paxton (Pilots, 2008) would be the first one picked in the draft. What I was not correct in guessing was what round. I had him targeted as a first-round pick, and so did a lot of people once upon a time. For some reason his draft stock has slid down since leaving the ABL, as well as the couple other guys I had going in rounds 1-3. On the other hand, a few other guys snuck into the top ten rounds that I didn't see coming.

Overall, this draft was a mixed bag. I was really surprised that nobody from the Alaska League went in the first round...especially since I picked one to three guys to go. On the other hand, with 49 draft picks from the 49th state's league, it's a pretty good haul overall. I think that just kind of confirms my characterization of this league. Most of the future Boras clients and big bonus babies might be going to the Cape; we're turning out the blue-collar prospects who will be clawing their way to the top without the media falling all over themselves. And, of course, one off year doesn't mean that it's the end of ABLers in the first round. [Edit: for what it's worth, the Cape League had a bit of an "off year" in the top rounds, too. I think it has to do with a down year for college prospects in general.]

This list doesn't cover recruits who haven't logged a game for an ABL team. One guy who fits this bill is Darian Sandford. I guessed that Kansas City would take a late-round flier on him -- a local area guy who is the fastest man in the NAIA -- and I was right. I don't think he's signed yet but it's kind of a foregone conclusion that he will. He already stated something on Facebook to the effect that he was headed to Arizona, presumably to join the rookie-level AZL Royals. So where I'm going with this is obvious; he won't be in Fairbanks this summer. And I wasted an interview on the jerk! Just playin'. Darian is a good guy who deserves this opportunity and I wish him the best of luck in his newest journey.

UPDATE 6:48 PM: Sandford has officially come to terms with the Royals. He's signed the contract and it's now a done deal.

Live blogging the 2010 MLB Draft

Kevin Jacob, drafted by New York Yankees.
Photo courtesy of AnchorageBucs.com

It's day one of the 2010 MLB draft, and I will be doing what I like to call "more-or-less-live blogging" it. Obviously my primary concern will be former ABL players who are drafted, and I'll do a little analyzing as we go along. I just got into the house and missed picks 1-5, but no ABLers yet. I would be surprised if there weren't a few to go off the board here soon, so here we go!

3:39 PM Day 1: No ABL draft picks yet. Gone through picks 1 through 6. Just waiting for the name James Paxton to be called! I'll make the post as soon as it's official, or if someone else (Kevin Jacob? Logan Darnell?) comes up before him.

4:11 PM: Still waiting. I have to confess that this is the first time I've ever watched the draft live. I have to wonder, is it really necessary for teams to be "on the clock" this long in the first round? I mean, if I were a Major League GM, I would start preparing by making a list of my top draft choices and my very first pick would be the highest ranked player left on my list. It wouldn't take a lot of phone calls and hand-wringing or whatever the heck these clowns are doing. But obviously I'm not a Major League GM so I don't know.

6:42 PM: The first/comp A rounds are complete and none of our top draft picks are anywhere to be seen. I checked a few of the big prospect watchers' draft boards and our guys have slid completely off the first-round radar, and the MLB teams seem to agree with their analysis. I wonder when the last time we went through a first round without any ABL players was? In any event, draft day is only one day out of a player's career, and although I expected to have at least one guy out of our league, and as many as three, drafted by now, the second round should be a lot more action-packed. Stay tuned as we pick up the coverage tomorrow.

2010 Draft Eligibles: Anchorage Glacier Pilots

With every passing day we're hurtling headlong toward the biggest day of the year for prospect watchers: the MLB Rule 4 draft. We're going through the ABL team by team, seeing which former players are eligible to be drafted this year, and today we're going to have a peek at the Anchorage Glacier Pilots. The Pilots have one of the most exciting draft classes in the league this year, so let's see who they've got.

The biggest names on the list have to be a pair of Pilot pitchers out of the University of Kentucky: James Paxton and Logan Darnell. Paxton is a big, hard-throwing southpaw with a fastball that he can run up to about 98 mph, settling in at about 95. He compliments this with a power slider and a changeup. We mentioned this the other day when we updated the Pro Prospects list, but Paxton somehow rubbed the NCAA the wrong way and instead of butting heads with them all year long, he opted out of his senior season at UK and went to work in the independent leagues (this does not nullify him for the MLB draft).

His teammate Darnell took over the role of staff ace for the Wildcats after he proved he could make the move from the pen with a stellar Glacier Pilots season last year. Baseball America named him the sixth-best prospect in the ABL for his efforts. Darnell is also a lefty; he doesn't throw as hard (topping out at 91-92) but he has a three-quarters delivery that helps him generate some interesting movement. 

Pro Prospect Transactions: May 26, 2010

It's been a long time coming, but I've finally gone back through the Pro Prospects list and updated as many players as I could find info for. 

One of the more interesting guys on this list is James Paxton. The former Glacier Pilot was set to begin his senior season this year with Kentucky, but after a big drama bomb with the NCAA exploded he opted not to pitch the college season. Instead, he's signed on with the Grand Prairie Air Hogs of the independent American Association. However, signing with an independent professional league does not make you ineligible for the MLB Rule 4 draft, and Paxton is still a draft prospect -- in fact, one projected to possibly go in the first round. So, in a strange sort of way, Paxton is both a pro prospect and a draft prospect.

The rest of the list is available "below the fold". But before we get into it, a couple more notes. First, we're getting a lot of the blanks on the pro prospect list filled, but there are still quite a few left. This is because most of those guys will be assigned to short-season leagues, we just don't know which ones yet. Next, under the "In MLB" section, this is obviously not a complete list of all ABL players in Major League Baseball. These are just the ones considered prospects who are making their first stint in the major leagues. Finally, the "New to List" section is composed of players who I previously missed, who are just now being added to our pro prospects watch list. And, as always, if you notice any errors or omissions, please let me know!