Interesting Draft Development

by batonball on May 21, 2008 2:32 PM EDT Comment 15 comments

Anthony Hewitt, a raw HS prospect from CT, has rocketed from an unknown to a possible 1st Round Rookie selection, according to Baseball America. Hewitt’s name was not on ANY of their top prospect lists. One of his coaches asked BA how this was possible?

“Hewitt is one of the more intriguing players in the 2008 draft, because he's not only the best pure athlete available, but he's also the ultimate high-risk, high-reward talent in this class. Thus there's some difference between how we regard him as a prospect and where he might go in the draft.” answered Jim Callis.

“Hewitt's athleticism stood out on the showcase circuit last summer, but his performance didn't. As a result, he didn't make our preseason Top 100 High School Prospects list. And though he has plenty of helium, Hewitt has yet to appear on our Draft Tracker.” added Callis.

Why the hype on this supposedly “undiscovered gem” right before the draft. How could he possibly be drafted before Anthony Gose or Hicks - equally raw hitters, but with a golden arms?

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Toolsie New England OFer, raw, flying under radar

see Estee Harris

by ScottAZ on May 21, 2008 3:11 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Excellent Example

Estee, a 2nd round bust, was very similar to Hewitt. I’m not saying that he’ll turn out like him, but there is a very good chance. He now is out of MLB baseball and playing for the LI Ducks of the independent league. You’d be crazy to take an unproven talent that high.

New York (AL): Estee Harris, OF, HS, Central Islip, N.Y.
A tools hound, Harris is fast, wiring strong, and has a quick swing from the left side. A cold weather player without a lot of exposure, he could be a major bargain, or a major bust.

by batonball on May 21, 2008 5:49 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Mayo has the Brewers taking Hewitt at 16

16. Milwaukee Brewers: Anthony Hewitt, SS, Salisbury School, Salisbury, Conn.
Guessing what Jack Zduriencik and his scouting department will do in the first round is easier said than done. Remember, this is the organization that brought you Matt LaPorta as an outfielder last year. They might be interested in the power arms Perry and Cashner have to offer. They could go the college catcher route with Jason Castro out of Stanford. But Hewitt’s got as much helium as anyone as a toolsy high schooler and the Brewers, with multiple picks, could reach a bit for him here.

by batonball on May 21, 2008 6:00 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

um

but he wasn’t an unknown.

He was very well known after being all over the showcase circiut.

He just wasn’t regarded as a first rounder

by nms on May 21, 2008 8:09 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Youtubed him

Damn, looks pretty solid to me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgsGN_G-c5U&feature=related

by ScottAZ on May 22, 2008 10:18 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Sick speed on the basepaths...

Here’s his first hit in a game. Watch him accelerate towards first. And, watch him almost think about taking second base…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTmtHkRLZgs

by Francois on May 22, 2008 11:35 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm sold

with tools like that there is no way he slips out of the 1st round

by ScottAZ on May 22, 2008 1:58 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Not buying it

Maybe he’s that talented, but youtube videos of a skinny kid taking BP and running to first should convince us he’s a first rounder?

Instead of “We’re not selling blue jeans here,” maybe it should be “We’re not trying to virally promote a video here.”

by aap212 on May 22, 2008 2:01 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

What tools? The first round of the local softball league? C’mon… that’s not the real Hewitt.

by albo4lyfe on May 22, 2008 8:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Is there sarcasm here? I thought i was watching a little league game...

by Alon on May 22, 2008 6:39 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

looks like you

and francois were the only two to figure that one out….

by ScottAZ on May 23, 2008 11:34 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

That’s not the real Hewitt. That’s some skinny kid hacking at pitches.

by albo4lyfe on May 22, 2008 8:43 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Response

I think it has a lot to do with what individual teams happen to be looking for in the draft. I think teams often have profiles of the type of player they’d like to add into the system, and then they go looking for players who fit those profiles. The Phillies, for example, love using early picks on raw prep players with high upside. Their board, therefore, probably looks substantially different from what your board (or Baseball America’s board, for that matter) looks like.

So say (and I’m just throwing this out there), their top three guys on their board at the time of their pick are Gose, Hewitt, and Hicks. And I’m sure the Phillies have scouted Gose and Hicks a lot, and maybe there’s things they don’t like about them as position players. That might just make Hewitt the pick. Then again, I’d be surprised if Hicks got to their pick, and it might just be that the Phillies aren’t planning on him being available at No. 24 either. This draft kind of sucks as far as guys with plus or plus-plus athleticism go. The list gets even thinner when you narrow that to prep players (and maybe Ladendorf who straddles the line there).

It’d be nice to think that major league teams have VERY similar draft boards, and that their idea of substantially downgrading a guy is dropping him like 4-5 spots from the “consensus” opinion, kind of like how community prospect lists are done here. In reality I think most people would be surprised and perhaps shocked at how much variance there is in the only “consensus” that matters, that of major league scouting directors.

by mrkupe on May 22, 2008 12:16 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I haven't seen Hewitt

but comparing a tools guys from los Angeles to one from new York is night and day. Athletically they may be similar, but those Cali boys are going to be more polished than anything coming out of NY. Especially since Gose and Hicks are playing every day at that Compton Academy and getting MLB instruction already and are playing year round baseball because of the weather

by ScottAZ on May 22, 2008 2:01 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs