Toronto Legion
Needs: C, SS, CF, SP
Toronto is another of those teams filled with aging veterans that need to be backfilled now. There are several young stars to build the next generation team around, but pitchers like Poppell, and Martin, or position players like Johnson and Speier have very little time left.
Draft Expectations: Extremely high
thisdude62 is loaded with high end draft picks this season. Four 1st round picks starting at number 24 overall, and 10 picks in the first 5 rounds, means Toronto could theoretically field an entire team based on the first five rounds of their draft.
Draft Preparation:
Toronto's payroll is pushing 100 milion, meaning they have limited options in how to distribute their funds. thisdude62 chose to emphasize college scouting at the expense of high school and international scouting. Considering the extensive number of draft picks at their disposal, this severely limits the number of prospects they will have access to. The absence of international scouting means that the mil set aside for prospect signing should be more than enough.
Prospects
Round 1 Pick 24 RP Gorkys Cano
In the late 1st round, I can be convinced of the merits of selecting an elite closer with the first pick. I don't consider Cano to be an elite closer. His overall rating is deceptively high, and is largely based on his durability/stamina split. His obvious weakness will be against good righthanded hitting. This will limit him to setup duty, and against a righthanded hitting batting order, he will often get shelled.
ML Projection: 100-140 IP/5 W/.270-.280 OAV/4.00 ERA
Round 1 Supp Pick 39 OF Brian Huskey
He is listed as a CF, but that position may be too demanding for him. He is a very light hitter, but in his case, that is ok because he is a poster boy leadoff hitter much in the mould of Juan Pierre. He has a very good contact/batting eye split, which means he will often find ways to get on base.
ML Projection: 0-5 HR/.280-.300 BA/.400 OBP/40-50 SB
Round 1 Supp Pick 44 2B Jumbo Hinske
Hinske represents an average ML player that can fill in capably at a position until a more talented player can be found. He will probably put in 8-10 years at the ML level, putting up very average-mediocre numbers.
ML Projection: 20-25 HR/.250-.260 BA/20-25 SB
Round 1 Supp Pick 52 OF Benny Simpkins
Simpkins is a notch below Hinske and will spend a lot of time moving back and forth between AAA and the bigs. 4A player a sretch pick in the supp round.
ML Projection: emergency replacement
Round 2 Pick 64 RP Sean Hernandez
Hernandez should have a very long and productive career as a long reliever. He may be thisdude62's best pick in this draft. He doesn't come without his weaknesses, the most obvious being his low durability, and his questionable control. He otherwise has very impressive numbers.
ML Projection: 50-60 IP/5-7 W/.230-.240 OAV/3.25-3.50 ERA
Round 2 Pick 80 LF Hamlet Fabregas
Typical 4A player does not have what it takes to claim a big league job. Will put up impressive numbers at AAA until he decides to pack it in.
Round 2 Pick 81 SP Patrick Swan
Will be an outstanding AAA pitcher, but will get clobbered by big league hitting if he ever gets promoted to the majors.
Round 3 Pick 112 SS Terrence Hughes
Better off moved to 3B, Hughes is another 4A player that will reach AAA, and only dream of the bigs.
Round 4 Pick 144 3B Ben Outman
Defense not good enough for 3B, so he should be moved to RF. Outman is different from the previous few players in that his hitting ability is good enough to warrant a few call-ups in case of injury on the big team.
ML Projection: Emergency Replacement
Round 5 Pick 176 RP Arthur Bennett
Similar to Sean Hernandez, but not quite as talented. Still he will get his innings in the bigs somewhere.
ML Projection: 60-70 IP/3-5 W/.250-.270 OAV/3.80-4.20 ERA
Hidden Gems: None foreseeable
Overall Grade: D+
Oh how I wish I had the picks Toronto had in this draft. Considering thisdude62 had 10 picks in the top 176 players available, coming away with only 4 ML prospects, none of which project to be anything special, has to be seen as a major missed opportunity.
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