5 Tool Talk - Draft-Related Baseball Notes

Draft Notes 2-5-11

West Coast Sleepers

In my most recent story at Perfect Game, a column I write each and every year, I assembled a team of sleeper prospects at the college level that have the potential to dramatically improve their current draft standing with big springs. That story prompted a few individuals to reach out to me to point out a few other players that could be preparing for big springs.

Right-handed pitcher Jesse Darrah spent the first two years of his college career at Sacramento State, where he was named a freshman all-american in 2009, before transferring to NAIA school Fresno Pacific University. He has an athletic and lean 6-foot-3, 190 pound frame, with easy arm strength and repeatable mechanics. He throws four pitches for strikes, and really started to draw attention by recently throwing in the 92-95 range.

Hawaii right-handed pitcher and closer Lenny Linsky who usually has worked in the low-90s with a heavy, sinking fastball, has reportedly been pitching in the 95-97 range recently, and is also touching the upper-80s with a hard slider. Linsky went 4-0 with a 1.64 ERA and 12 saves for the Rainbow Warriors last season. If that velocity continues, he's going to be missing a lot more bats this spring, and it's not surprising that with his hard sinker only seven of the 40 hits he allowed last year went for extra-bases.

Representation

Jim Callis mentioned via his Twitter account yesterday that Anthony Rendon, Gerrit Cole, Bubba Starling, Jackie Bradley, Jr. and Joshua Bell all will be advised by the Scott Boras Corp. I already knew of Cole's affiliation, as well as Brett Mooneyham's since high school, and Starling's connection has been well documented recently. The other three though were news to me, and I'm sure there will be a few more prominent names that pop up with the same connection between now and draft day.

If you know any others, feel free to send me an email or use the comments box below. I don't think the so-called 'Boras effect' has been as great in recent years, as more and more smaller market/revenue teams (the Pirates, Royals and Orioles come to mind) have recognized the importance of signing the best players regardless of the price tag involved. However, you never know who may fall a little farther than they should for a variety of reasons, and some players may be looking for an even bigger payday with hard slotting expected to be a part of the next Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Speaking of...

Be sure to follow the recently formed 5 Tool Talk Twitter page. I'm not sure how active I will be at posting updates, but I'll try to post as many pertinent updates both there and on the 5 Tool Talk Facebook page as I can. I still intend to add links to all of the site's social media pages, including the 5 Tool Talk YouTube channel, at the top of each and every page as soon as I can figure out a few coding quirks I am having.

PG boosts college presence

Perfect Game has hired Kendall Rogers, previously of Yahoo! Sports and Rivals.com, to beef up their coverage of college baseball. Read more about it here.

Back to BA

Since Baseball America and the college game were both brought up, I need to point out an amazing story written by Aaron Fitt. This feature on UCLA teammates Gerrit Cole and Trevor Bauer is one of the best, well-done pieces I have ever read.

Mock Draft

Now that the 2011 draft order has been finalized, stay tuned to 5 Tool Talk for an updated mock draft. That won't occur this weekend, as my sights are set on the Super Bowl with the hometown Packers facing the Steelers, but I hope to carve some time out for this feature in the next week.

Ebert Design

Not draft related, but related to this site, is the newly designed ebertdesign.com. If you have read my bio under the About page you will know that I have a full-time gig as a graphic designer with budding skills designing websites from scractch. The re-designed site that showcases a sampling of my portfolio and resume was nearly two years overdue (5 Tool Talk will be two years old next month), and I still have a few navigational issues to iron out. In the meantime, please check it out, and I welcome your comments.

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Dandy Dozen

SP	Andrew Gagnon	Well rounded RHP w/ good size, repertoire
SP	Erik Johnson	Big bodied RHP with good FB/CB combo
SP	Deshorn Lake	Live-armed RHP with sharp breaking ball
CL	Nick Maronde	Lived-armed LHP tough to catch up to
C	Nick Delmonico	May not be C long-term, big body, LH bat
1B	Zach Wilson	Aggressive hitter can put sting in ball
IF	Sean Trent	Well built hitter with pop, speed, arm
3B	Dante Bichette, Jr.	Clone of father with big build, power
SS	Austin Nola	Steady D' at shortstop, improving strength
OF	Nick Martini	Good all around player with patient eye
OF	Shon Carson	Shorter, well built 2-sport speedster
OF	Granden Goetzman	Fast riser w/ exciting power/speed combo

more

Analyzing Amateur Baseball Talent as it pertains to the MLB Draft