Looking for some info

by Rajah358 on Sep 26, 2007 2:04 PM EDT

I was looking over the draft today and noticed a few college players that went in round 2 that had good college stats. Kellen Kulbacki/Matt Mangini/Corey Brown are just three of them. I was wondering if anyone had info or opinions on these guys. I am in an AL only keeper league and the minor league draft class this year will be thin. No Wood/Gordon/Butler types are left. Kind of looking for some names that might be ready to break out,flying under the radar or playing winter ball. Preferable bats but anything will help. Thanks

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College Stats

Have to be careful of college stats what with metal bats and all. Not much info to go on, but I'd rate them Kulbacki/Brown/Mangini. Mangini may be a bit lacking in power and Brown may have contact issues. Kulbacki seems the most well rounded.

What about Andy D'Alessio who dropped all the way to round 19? Giants fans are cautiously excited about him.

by DrBGiantsfan on Sep 26, 2007 2:28 PM EDT reply actions

Kulbacki

One thing to watch for with him is that in college he played in a bandbox for a home field, and if I'm not mistaken his home-away splits were pretty severe.

Vice-Chairman of the Sonnanstine Underground Railroad

by Brickhaus on Sep 26, 2007 2:33 PM EDT reply actions

brown

as an A's fan, i was a little excited about brown when they drafted him. he's definitely got a full set of tools, and his secondary skills (power, batting eye, speed) are off the charts. but his K rate is a huge red flag.

to be honest, he reminds me a lot of richie robnett, and that's never a good thing. toolsy college guys are a strange bunch. obviously it's too early to label brown as the next robnett, or the next bj szymanski, or even the next drew stubbs (and stubbs isn't a lost cause yet himself). but despite the fact that there's a lot to like about brown, i think the odds are stacked against him.

by jpahk on Sep 26, 2007 4:50 PM EDT reply actions

Greg Desme

The A's drafted another college hitter, Greg Desme, who put up great numbers at Cal Poly SLO. Showed great discipline in the NWL, but a disappointing BA and SLG%.

by DrBGiantsfan on Sep 26, 2007 7:49 PM EDT reply actions

Tony 'Thomas Jr.

What about this guy? .430/.522/.733 for Florda State. Drafted by the Cubs. .308/.404/.544 with 28 SB, 2 CS for Boise in the NWL!

by DrBGiantsfan on Sep 26, 2007 7:54 PM EDT reply actions

Don't You Know?

Any ballplayer unlucky enough to be drafted by the Cubs is instantly becomes a non-prospect.

I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.

by WayneCampbell05 on Sep 27, 2007 11:23 AM EDT up reply actions

Matt Laporta

will arive quicker than most 2006 drafties and hit a lot of home runs. Can I assume he's been picked?

Kulnacki is going to be a good big league hitter, i think.

I also like Beau Mills (Indians #1) as well. He had quite an adjustment coming from NAIA ball but he held his own. Look for BIG things next year.

Todd Frazier is going to be a good hitting infielder as well and was a college star.

Can you draft guys who are STILL in college? If so get ahold of Pedro Alvarez while you can.

by casejud on Sep 26, 2007 10:05 PM EDT reply actions

2007 Picks

Oakland had the best position player draft in my opinion and certainly has the greatest number of guys that will see the bigs early.

I would definitely take Brown if you have the chance. I love his skill set and while His K rate wasn't good, he is only going to develop more power (18 doubles in A-ball). Desme K'd in nearly 50% of his AB's, so I don't understand what Giantsfan is talking about. If Josh Horton or Michael Richard develop some pop to go along with their good OBP (over .400) one of them will make it up as a Crosby injury replacement sooner than later. If Dan Hamblin cuts his K's he could be a special hitter.

I've never been a big Mangini fan, he's lived off of one season in the Cape Cod League and some decent years in college. However, I do think he will eventually be a slightly above average offensive 3b.

Kulbacki has alot of work to do on his approach and I have my doubts that his will get folks to overlooks his negatives (poor defense, slow, poor plate discipline) with his hitting, which I'm not sure is that great. That said, the Padres have little hitting so he might get a shot soon.

Brewers also have a good catching prospect in Jon Lucroy and a nice 2b prospect in Eric Farris to go along with LaPorta

Others:
Marcus Davis, OF, PIT- 18th rounder, good power and speed. Longer-term prospect.

Emeel Salem, OF, TB- 7 rounder, absolute burner with plate discipline. Longer-term prospect.

Josh Donaldson, 1b, Cubs- good hitter, Lyle Overbay type.

Ty Wright,OF, Cubs-polished hitter, on par with Brown in my opinion.

by Sage Sam on Sep 27, 2007 1:40 AM EDT reply actions

What Am I Talking About?

OBP-BA about .100 for Desme. Don't care about the K's if he's getting on base. An out is an out. Patient hitters often K more because they see more two strike counts. That's what I'm talking about!

by DrBGiantsfan on Sep 27, 2007 10:34 AM EDT up reply actions

Addendum

The K's probably contributed to his low BA which I think I said was disappointing. They may have kept his power down if he was always working with two strikes. Maybe Desme needs to be more agressive rather than more selective?

by DrBGiantsfan on Sep 27, 2007 12:36 PM EDT up reply actions

RE: Mangini.

The general consensus of him is that he's too big to stick at third base for very long and unless he finds that power stroke again, he's probably doomed to be an average to below average bat at first base or left field.

However, someone spotted that a big problem of his is that he has a weight transfer problem that is sapping him of the power seen in his Cape Cod tour. The basics of his swing are fluent in a Wade Boggs sort of way, but another adjustment to make for more power is to have more tilt to it in an Albert Pujols sort of way. So he does have some monster potential if he changes a few things, but you know how those "if" kind of things go with prospects. Right now the best comp to him is a left-handed Xavier Nady.

Here are a few small pieces about him that I dug up for now:
http://ussmariner.com/2007/07/03/future-forty-updated-for-july/
http://prospectinsider.com/?m=20070608
http://detectovision.com/?p=1134 **This blog has an optimistic reputation and should definitely be taken with a grain of salt

Also, ctrl+f is your friend.

by elrey34 on Sep 27, 2007 10:11 PM EDT reply actions