S20 Draft Review - St Louis Red Birds

St. Louis Red Birds

Needs: C, SP
Chuck Merrick, one of the steadiest backstops in the league for many years, is getting old and beginning to show it.
Plenty of talent and youth in the infield
Outfield in it's prime, excess infield talent can plug any holes
Currently rebuilding an aging rotation. This must continue for several years
Bullpen loaded with arms either in their prime or approaching it

Draft Preparation:
Player budget: above average (93 mill)
Prospect budget: low (8 mill)
Draft budget: Moderate - college scouting (12 mill)
high school scouting (12 mill)

Number of draft picks Rounds 1-5: 8

Picks

Round 1 Pick 25 SS Ajax Maybin 
Probably the best all round SS selected in the draft (how does ronazbill get these guys?). His defensive talents are second to none, plus he has enough hitting ability to contribute well from the lower half of the order. He is also capable of running well enough to substitute at the top of the order when needed on an emergency basis.
ML Proj: 500-550 AB/12 HR/.275 BA/ Perennial SS Gold Glove Candidate

Round 1 Pick 39 (supp) SP/RP Gene Leach 
Short inning starter or long reliever, will give the Red Birds quality innings on most occasions. Slightly above average left/right splits are bolstered by good velocity and control numbers, as well as by 3 outstanding ML pitches. His good FB/GB ratio will also keep the extra-base hit totals down. Feature pitch is the sinkerball.
ML Proj: 170-180 IP/12-15 W/150+ K/3.00-3.50 ERA

Round 1 Pick 54 (supp) SS Neil Adams 
Adept defensively, Adams is a liability offensively, other than his uncanny baserunning. He would be well-suited as a universal utility player to bring into games late as a pinch runner, and then taking over a skill position (especially in extra-inning games)
ML Proj: 150 AB/5 HR/.200 BA/20 SB

Round 2 Pick 74 RF Josh Benson 
An amazingly good find at pick 74, Benson is a very capable RF defensively, and is a surprisingly effective hitter. His left/right splits are definitely ML quality, and he has enough power to stroke 20 HR's in a full season. Although his contact and batting eye splits are pretty mediocre, they are plenty good enough for the all important 4th outfielder. He is also a very good baserunner and rarely gets caught making stupid mistakes.
ML Proj: 250 AB/10-15 HR/.240 BA

Round 2 Pick 91 SS Milt Darwin
not scouted, obvious signing issues

Round 3 Pick 123 SP Erik Throneberry 
High quality minor league pitcher has projected numbers good enough for possible emergency insertion into a ML staff. Realistically though, the ceiling here is AAA

Round 4 Pick 156 RF Dion Howard 
Probably better suited for 1B, Howard has deceptively good numbers all around. Although he will probably never see the ML, he will be dominant throughout the minor leagues. Ceiling AAA

Round 5 Pick 188 LF Johnny Dickens
Power hitting fielder still unsigned. Ceiling AAA

Hidden Gems: none apparent

Overall Grade: A
Once again, starting from the 25th overall pick, ronazbill manages to pluck no less than 4 very capable future ML prospects from the draft. The mark would have been an A+ except for the fact that he still has not addressed his growing concern behind the plate.