2014 Draft Class

[doublem23]

Originally Posted by DonnieDarko

Why so many people picking pitching in this thread? This team needs bats, if anything.

Best Player Available

[rdivaldi]

Originally Posted by DonnieDarko

Why so many people picking pitching in this thread? This team needs bats, if anything.

When you are drafting at the top of the first round you do not draft for need, you take the best player available.

[Bucky F. Dent]

We need help at absolutely every position. BPA!

[Domeshot17]

MLB draft is ALWAYS BPA in early rounds. You simply have too many can't miss specs that bust to draft based on need.

[ZombieRob]

Originally Posted by rdivaldi

When you are drafting at the top of the first round you do not draft for need, you take the best player available.

I'm with Dome on this. Sox need a Star Hitter. I'm still torn between Trea Turner and Alex Jackson.

[doublem23]

Originally Posted by ZombieRob

I'm with Dome on this. Sox need a Star Hitter. I'm still torn between Trea Turner and Alex Jackson.

Uh, OK, but that's like exactly the opposite of what he wrote

[SoxSpeed22]

This is what happens when you draft for need early on.

[TDog]

Originally Posted by Bucky F. Dent

We need help at absolutely every position. BPA!

I've never been a fan of BPA. But drafting the best player available in the baseball draft can be a nebulous thing. The Twins drafted the best player in the 2001 draft when they took Joe Mauer, but at the time it was pretty much universally believed they passed up the best player to go for a local boy, leaving the best player to the Cubs, who picked second. And what a crossroads moment that was. Who knows how Chicago baseball history would have changed if the Twins had taken Mark Prior. Not only would the adventures of Mark Prior and the Cubs teams behind him been lost, but the Twins wouldn't have picked up Joe Nathan for A.J. Pierzynski, who the Giants would be unhappy with after being an AL All-Star with the Twins.

Maybe the Twins believed they were drafting the best player in the draft when they took Mauer. The Nationals, given their recent drafting positions, certainly drafted the players they thought were best available. But some teams lose out on the draft because they pick the best available player. It was a no-brainer for the Orioles to take Ben McDonald six places ahead of Frank Thomas in 1989. We would like to think the White Sox would have drafted Thomas if they had been drafting third, but if they were picking first, they likely would have taken McDonald.

You can look for the best player available, but there were 24 selections in the 2009 draft where Mike Trout was available. Of course, the White Sox picked before the Angels, but the Nationals passed on him twice, only once in taking Stephen Strasburg.

The draft is a crap shoot. Even if you are looking to take the best available player, no matter how competent your scouting is, there is no way of knowing who the best available player is on draft day.

[SoxSpeed22]

Originally Posted by TDog

I've never been a fan of BPA. But drafting the best player available in the baseball draft can be a nebulous thing. The Twins drafted the best player in the 2001 draft when they took Joe Mauer, but at the time it was pretty much universally believed they passed up the best player to go for a local boy, leaving the best player to the Cubs, who picked second. And what a crossroads moment that was. Who knows how Chicago baseball history would have changed if the Twins had taken Mark Prior. Not only would the adventures of Mark Prior and the Cubs teams behind him been lost, but the Twins wouldn't have picked up Joe Nathan for A.J. Pierzynski, who the Giants would be unhappy with after being an AL All-Star with the Twins.

Maybe the Twins believed they were drafting the best player in the draft when they took Mauer. The Nationals, given their recent drafting positions, certainly drafted the players they thought were best available. But some teams lose out on the draft because they pick the best available player. It was a no-brainer for the Orioles to take Ben McDonald six places ahead of Frank Thomas in 1989. We would like to think the White Sox would have drafted Thomas if they had been drafting third, but if they were picking first, they likely would have taken McDonald.

You can look for the best player available, but there were 24 selections in the 2009 draft where Mike Trout was available. Of course, the White Sox picked before the Angels, but the Nationals passed on him twice, only once in taking Stephen Strasburg.

The draft is a crap shoot. Even if you are looking to take the best available player, no matter how competent your scouting is, there is no way of knowing who the best available player is on draft day.

All of this is true. There are just so many variables that go into drafting and developing a player. There are also a lot of things that are up for conjecture when it comes to figuring out who the "best player available" is.
I still don't have too much faith in our player development (for position players), but hopefully the reinvesting will pay off.

[SoxSpeed22]

10 picks in the first 10 rounds and $9.55 million to work with in the draft.
http://mlbdraftprospects.blogspot.co....html?spref=tw

[rdivaldi]

Nice little article going over some of the top players for next year's draft:

Next year's Draft deeper, packed with pitchers

[cards press box]

Originally Posted by rdivaldi

When you are drafting at the top of the first round you do not draft for need, you take the best player available.

So, who is likely to be the best player available at #3?

Originally Posted by ZombieRob

I'm with Dome on this. Sox need a Star Hitter. I'm still torn between Trea Turner and Alex Jackson.

Might it be one of these guys?

[doublem23]

Originally Posted by cards press box

Might it be one of these guys?

Obviously there's still a lot of time and baseball between now and the Draft, but if Jackson is still there at #3 you'd have a hard time making a case for someone else being BPA.

[rdivaldi]

Originally Posted by cards press box

So, who is likely to be the best player available at #3?

Honestly, it's just too early to answer that. You never know who might get injured once the season starts.

Might it be one of these guys?

Absolutely.