AMERICAN LEAGUE WEST 2018 DRAFT SUMMARY
PITCHING
Pitcher Breakdown
LAA: 20 Signed | 16 C | 4 HS/NS | 18 RHP | 2 LHP
TEX: 19 Signed | 9 C | 3 JC/CC | 7 HS | 16 RHP | 3 LHP
HOU: 16 Signed | 15 C | 1 HS | 15 RHP | 1 LHP
OAK: 16 Signed | 15 C | 1 JC/CC | 14 RHP | 2 LHP
SEA: 16 Signed | 11 C | 3 JC/CC | 2 HS | 11 RHP | 5 LHP
HOU: 2.74 ERA | 1.207 WHIP | 364.2 IP | 16 Active Pitchers
TEX: 3.27 ERA | 1.201 WHIP | 170.2 IP | 9 Active Pitchers
OAK: 3.57 ERA | 1.314 WHIP | 368.1 IP | 14 Active Pitchers
SEA: 4.44 ERA | 1.378 WHIP | 316.1 IP | 15 Active Pitchers
LAA: 4.63 ERA | 1.399 WHIP | 281.2 IP | 12 Active Pitchers
OAK: 19 Signed | 17 C | 1 JC/CC | 1 HS | 2 1B | 2 2B | 4 3B | SS | 7 OF | 3 C
SEA: 18 Signed | 18 C | 1B | 3 2B | 3 3B | 2 SS | 6 OF | 3 C
HOU: 14 Signed | 13 C | 1 JC/CC | 1B | 2B | 3B | 2 SS | 7 OF | 2 CTEX: 12 Signed | 6 C | 2 JC/CC | 4 HS | 2 2B | 2 3B | 3 SS | 2 OF | 3 C
LAA: 9* Signed | 3 C | 1 JC/CC | 5 HS | 2B | 3B | 2 SS | 4 OF | C
*One additional position player may be added to the totals to account for two-way player RHP/OF/DH William English; he has already been included in the pitching totals for the Angels.
Cumulative Stats for 2018 Draft Class (Position Players)
SEA: .263/.346/.386/.732 | 18 Active Players
TEX: .253/.339/.347/.686 | 11 Active Players
OAK: .243/.339/.343/.682 | 18 Active Players
LAA: .239/.317/.350/.667 | 9 Active Players
HOU: .232/.324/.362/.686 | 14 Active Players
TEX: .253/.339/.347/.686 | 11 Active Players
OAK: .243/.339/.343/.682 | 18 Active Players
LAA: .239/.317/.350/.667 | 9 Active Players
HOU: .232/.324/.362/.686 | 14 Active Players
OAK: 5 total (C LHP, C 1B, C SS, 2 C OF*)
HOU: 4 total (HS RHP, C SS, C OF* C OF)
TEX: 4 total (HS RHP*, 2 HS RHP, HS 3B)
LAA: 3 total (HS RHP/OF, HS SS, HS OF*)
SEA: 3 total (C RHP* C RHP, C C)*Top 10
AL WEST DRAFT CLASS NOTES: PITCHERS
My biggest takeaway from this group is that the Rangers pitchers appear to be the furthest away from helping at the big league level. Not only did they draft a high number of high school and juco pitchers, but a large number of them did not play at all in 2018. Those that did pitch logged the fewest number of innings per pitcher of this group as well. It is a high risk/high reward class with three high school pitchers in the Rangers Top 30 prospects, but we won't find out for a while whether risk or reward will win out. With that said, the Rangers did have some interesting college players in the mix who got off to very good starts. The Angels also had quite a few players who did not play in 2018, but they did have a couple of top 10 round college players who advanced to Full Season A (while the remainder of the class was held back in rookie league). The Angels pitchers weren't able to capitalize on playing against that lower level of competition, though, and the cumulative numbers for the lower round draft picks were not optimal. Houston had the best numbers from the group and, although many of these mostly college players didn't log a lot of innings, most were challenged to the Short Season A level. This class appears to be very deep based on these initial results. Oakland also promoted a good number of players beyond the rookie league level and showed a lot of strength in the lower rounds of the draft. However, the A's top pitching prospect did not play in 2018 and the other pitchers from the top 10 rounds had mixed results. The Mariners top pitching prospect was also missing in action in 2018 and their next highest pick was traded in the offseason. Another lower round pick, one who pitched the most innings from the Seattle group and was promoted to Advanced A, was traded as well. The Mariners were aggressive in promoting some of their lower round players with mostly good results and had the Mariners not traded two of their more promising prospects, I would have liked this group more. Because of that, I will give Houston a slight edge based on initial results. However, my enthusiasm is somewhat tempered by the lack of promotion and the relatively limited number of innings for some of these pitchers in 2018.
AL WEST DRAFT CLASS NOTES: POSITION PLAYERS
The Astros weren't as reluctant to promote their position players as they were their pitchers. As a matter of fact, they were very aggressive and that played out well at the top of the pecking order, but not as well further down the draft. But I like that these almost exclusively college players were exposed to a higher level of competition early in their careers. Both the Angels and the Rangers went heavy on high school and juco players, making it hard to find much relevance in their initial results. It will likely be a couple of years before one can start to really get a handle on the strength of those draft classes. Oakland, however, drafted mostly college players. The A's class had solid results overall at the top of the class and really solid results in the later rounds as well, but they get dinged for (apparently) losing first round pick OF Kyler Murray to the NFL, although they are still reportedly pursuing Murray. The Mariners were 100% college on their position player draft picks and the class performed strongly. Seattle also lost a top player (to an offseason trade), but I still like the early depth of the Mariners class as a whole. However, even without Murray, Oakland probably has a slight edge right now with the shorter term potential of their highly ranked college prospects while the Angels and Rangers have some intriguing longer term potential with their younger prospects.
Houston Astros Draft Review
Los Angeles Angels Draft Review
Oakland Athletics Draft Review
Seattle Mariners Draft Review
Texas Rangers Draft Review
My biggest takeaway from this group is that the Rangers pitchers appear to be the furthest away from helping at the big league level. Not only did they draft a high number of high school and juco pitchers, but a large number of them did not play at all in 2018. Those that did pitch logged the fewest number of innings per pitcher of this group as well. It is a high risk/high reward class with three high school pitchers in the Rangers Top 30 prospects, but we won't find out for a while whether risk or reward will win out. With that said, the Rangers did have some interesting college players in the mix who got off to very good starts. The Angels also had quite a few players who did not play in 2018, but they did have a couple of top 10 round college players who advanced to Full Season A (while the remainder of the class was held back in rookie league). The Angels pitchers weren't able to capitalize on playing against that lower level of competition, though, and the cumulative numbers for the lower round draft picks were not optimal. Houston had the best numbers from the group and, although many of these mostly college players didn't log a lot of innings, most were challenged to the Short Season A level. This class appears to be very deep based on these initial results. Oakland also promoted a good number of players beyond the rookie league level and showed a lot of strength in the lower rounds of the draft. However, the A's top pitching prospect did not play in 2018 and the other pitchers from the top 10 rounds had mixed results. The Mariners top pitching prospect was also missing in action in 2018 and their next highest pick was traded in the offseason. Another lower round pick, one who pitched the most innings from the Seattle group and was promoted to Advanced A, was traded as well. The Mariners were aggressive in promoting some of their lower round players with mostly good results and had the Mariners not traded two of their more promising prospects, I would have liked this group more. Because of that, I will give Houston a slight edge based on initial results. However, my enthusiasm is somewhat tempered by the lack of promotion and the relatively limited number of innings for some of these pitchers in 2018.
AL WEST DRAFT CLASS NOTES: POSITION PLAYERS
The Astros weren't as reluctant to promote their position players as they were their pitchers. As a matter of fact, they were very aggressive and that played out well at the top of the pecking order, but not as well further down the draft. But I like that these almost exclusively college players were exposed to a higher level of competition early in their careers. Both the Angels and the Rangers went heavy on high school and juco players, making it hard to find much relevance in their initial results. It will likely be a couple of years before one can start to really get a handle on the strength of those draft classes. Oakland, however, drafted mostly college players. The A's class had solid results overall at the top of the class and really solid results in the later rounds as well, but they get dinged for (apparently) losing first round pick OF Kyler Murray to the NFL, although they are still reportedly pursuing Murray. The Mariners were 100% college on their position player draft picks and the class performed strongly. Seattle also lost a top player (to an offseason trade), but I still like the early depth of the Mariners class as a whole. However, even without Murray, Oakland probably has a slight edge right now with the shorter term potential of their highly ranked college prospects while the Angels and Rangers have some intriguing longer term potential with their younger prospects.
Houston Astros Draft Review
Los Angeles Angels Draft Review
Oakland Athletics Draft Review
Seattle Mariners Draft Review
Texas Rangers Draft Review
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