Grading the Draft

Tim Lincecum is just one reason why the
Gun Show get the draft's highest grade.

Blunted Stophers - Grade: B-.
Added: SP Daisuke Matsuzaka, RP Octavio Dotel, SP Donald Veal
Lost: OF Ken Griffey Jr.
Adding Matsuzaka, a guy that's widely regarded as a top-20 -- and possibly top-10 -- starting pitcher, is as good as it gets. He's the lone reason this grade isn't lower. Dotel, a 33-year-old coming off Tommy John surgery pitching for the worst team in baseball. Color me skeptical. Veal is a good prospect, but dropping Junior over fourth outfielders Matt Murton and Melky Cabrera -- especially without shopping him first -- is questionable to say the least. Especially since the Stophers say they plan to compete this season.

AC's Gun Show - Grade: A+.
Added: SP Tim Lincecum, SP Clayton Kershaw, SS Reid Brignac,
C Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C M. Napoli
Lost: 1B Kendry Morales, C Jeff Mathis, 2B Dustin Pedroia
Unlike last season where they just tried adding any prospect available (notice the outgoing group of prospects), the Gun Show have added a group of top-notch high-ceiling prospects. Lincecum and Kershaw are both top-10 pitching prospects, Brignac the top-rated SS prospect and Salty the top-rated catching prospect. Throw in the useful Napoli and this draft was a potential franchise shaper for the Gun Show. The Lords and Rabbits may have helped him out by going with Luke Hochevar and McCutchen, otherwise you might have seen Hochevar and Peralta with Lincecum -- and a lower grade for AC and Breig.

Bashful Satanists - Grade: B.
Added: SP Andrew Miller, 3B Ryan Braun, SS Erick Aybar, OF Elijah Dukes,
SP Jarrod Washburn
Lost: 1B Chris Shelton, SP Zach Miner
While the Gun Show are taking a long-term approach to contending, the Satanists did the opposite in this draft, taking four prospects all within a year of contributing. Miller is a potential ace, Braun a top-notch 3B, and Dukes would be ranked much higher if not for the fear he'll become the next Pacman Jones. This is all well and good, except the team's most glaring hole -- they may go into the season with no closers -- wasn't addressed at all. This group of prospects could go a long way to helping fill that void via trade, but it doesn't help the team's prospects for contending this year. Dropping Shelton and Miner means Howie Kendrick, Ricky Nolasco and the pick that netted Aybar are what remains from last year's trade of Jim Thome and Roger Clemens to the MattroStars.

Norris Slum Lords - Grade: C.
Added: SP Luke Hochevar, 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff, SP Jonathan Sanchez
Lost: OF Chris Duncan, 1B Ryan Garko, SP Daniel Haigwood
The Slum Lords tried to trade their No. 4 pick with several teams, but ultimately took Hochevar, one of the top five SPs from last year's MLB draft. Both he and Sanchez are very good, but likely not great, pitching prospects. Kouzmanoff mashed in the minors last year and could very well help right away, especially with Hank Blalock's career in a freefall. Probably no superstars among this group, but definitely some good young pitching help for a team that might need it more than anyone. Dropping OF Chris Duncan -- a guy that hit .293/.363/.589 with 22 HR in a half season hitting in front of Albert Pujols -- over 1B Ryan Shealy and OFs Mike Cameron and Willy Mo Pena might come back to haunt them.

T-Baggers - Grade: C+.
Added: 3B Evan Longoria, SP Vicente Padilla, SP Kip Wells
Lost: SP Claudio Vargas, SS Orlando Cabrera.
Longoria was a no-brainer at a position of need for the T-Baggers, although they now have two minor league 3B (Josh Fields) backing up Mike Lowell. The T-Baggers ignored their void at closer, as Nip Weller followed that up with picking pitching veterans Padilla (over Taylor Tankersley) and Wells (over Salomon Torres) . Presumably both will help the team compete now, but as the team's only current closer is the 38-year-old Bob Wickman, the prospects of that happening don't appear to be too good. That said, Padilla won 15 games last year and Cardinals pitching coach guru Dave Duncan personally requested the team sign Wells. If they can somehow add another closer, those veteran arms may help -- especially with SPs Brandon McCarthy and Jason Hirsch looking like they're not going to help anyone this spring.

Jackrabbits - Grade: B.
Added: OF Andrew McCutchen, RP Salomon Torres
Lost: OF Shin-Soo Choo
Brandon Brown changed his mind at the last minute, electing to go with the toolsy outfielder over the big-hitting shortstop prospect Brignac. McCutchen has drawn comparisons to Carl Crawford, and could form an incredibly talented OF along with youngsters Chris Young, Jeff Francoeur, Matt Kemp, and if he ever gets his head out of his ass, Jeremy Hermida. Throw Barry Bonds and Juan Rivera into that OF situation, however, and you've got 6 OFs for 3 spots. Torres finishing the season as the Pirates closer would be shocking, but he does have a job and should help fortify a bullpen that includes an injury risk (Izzy) an age risk (Saito) and a setup man (Zumaya). Whether it was worth dropping the guy Brown called "the next Grady Sizemore" remains to be seen.

Elephant Balls - Grade: D.
Added: SP Kei Igawa, SP Chuck Lofgren
Leave it to the E-Balls to draft two soft-tossing lefties. Igawa and Lofgren bring the E-Balls' southpaw total to eight. With balls that big, you best use two hands. The early reports on Igawa is that he's nothing special, and if the Yanks sign Clemens he may very well be sent to the pen. For a team that's starting Lyle Overbay at 1B, Juan Pierre in the OF and a shortstop-catcher combination at utility, they might have been better served going with a bat. Lofgren is a good prospect though, so it wasn't entirely a waste.

Limerick Lynchmob - Grade: B+.
Added: SP Clay Buchholz, SS Jhonny Peralta, 1B Joey Votto
Jeff Wickersham filled his two major holes -- shortstop and young pitching -- while picking up a near-ready offensive talent in Votto. Buchholz has four very good pitches and with a future spot in the Red Sox rotation, a very good chance at putting up some wins. Peralta sucks, but among the shortstops available after Brignac, he probably has the most upside. Votto could put up monster numbers in one of the best hitting parks in baseball. A solid draft from a team that normally has solid drafts.

Isotopes - Grade: C.
Added: OF Fernando Martinez, RP Brian Wilson, SP Mike Maroth,
SP Micah Owings
Lost: C Jeff Clement
Rocky Pagnotta's draft started with a bang, but quickly went downhill after that. Martinez was raking in A-ball last year when most players his age were still playing in high school. The Wilson pick, however, was out of left field. He may be in line to get saves after Armando Benitez, but the Giants are reportedly unwilling to eat half his salary, making a trade very difficult. Jonathan Sanchez may also be in the Giants' future closer picture if he doesn't get a starting gig. For a team that already has Kerry Wood and Mark Prior, another roster spot used on a worthless pitcher might not help their championship aspirations. Maroth, if healthy, could provide depth. Owings, while a solid prospect, may have a hard time finding a spot in the Diamondbacks rotation.

MattroStars - Grade: A.
Added: OF Jose Tabata, SP Brandon Erbe, OF Corey Hart
Lost: 3B Ian Stewart
Like Martinez, Tabata is well advanced for his age and both are projected to be top-10 prospects next season. He might not even be the best OF taken by the gold standard MattroStars. CNN/SI had this to say about Hart: "Ned Yost has handed Hart the rightfield job for a reason: He's a fantastic athlete whose power, speed and stature recall a young Andre Dawson. Hart stole 31 bases in '05, his last full season in the minors, and a 30-30 season isn't out of the question if he gets 500 at bats." For a team that just traded away their lone young OF in Chris Young to get Garrett Atkins, that's music to their ears. Erbe may have been a stretch in the second round, but if he can improve his control, he could be a potential star. And just 19, he has the time to do so. It's certainly a much better use of their second-round pick than last year, when they needlessly used their second-rounder to move up and draft the worthless Chad Orvella.

Daddy's Little Boys - Grade: A.
Added: SP Phillip Humber, RP Taylor Tankersley
Short and sweet, the DLB's draft class adds to their already-impressive stable of arms. Humber joins one of the other '05 draft class "Big 3" pitchers in Niemann. Tankersley, despite spring shoulder soreness, is still regarded as the Marlins closer of the future and may very well be ready by Opening Day, according to recent reports. He would have certainly been a better pick than guys like Octavio Dotel and any of the Herzogs' picks. Another crafty draft by a crafty old man.

Hells Kitchen Herzogs - Grade: F.
Added: RP Joel Pineiro, RP Henry Owens, RP Armando Benitez
Three picks, three guys that may very well not be closing for anyone this year. All the momentum the Herzogs gained this off-season came to a crashing hault in this draft. Instead of blindly throwing darts at possible closers, the 'Zogs would have been better served helping that starting pitching depth -- especially with Scott Kazmir and Chris Capuano getting hit around like piñatas this spring.