MLB Draft Deep Dive: Los Angeles Angels

In order to satisfy my innate curiosity as it pertains to the MLB Draft, I have taken a comprehensive look at the 2018 draft for each of the 30 MLB organizations. But I also wanted to get an idea of what each of the teams had done for the 20 years prior so that is included as a prelude to the 2018 information. I'll be looking first at each team in each division, starting with the National League East, and then I'll follow up with a an overall look at both the historical draft results to date and the early 2018 results.

My goal is to get a better idea of the big picture as to how the systems compare in terms of draft results, as well as how a good or bad draft class affects a system, the overall impact of the draft on the baseball talent pool and the circuitous ways in which draft picks are used to bolster a system for which they may never even play. This project is just a first step. I intend to expand on this information over time (including a later revisit of the 2018 class and the addition of the 2019 class next offseason) and I will share my findings as I do so.

AMERICAN LEAGUE WEST

LOS ANGELES ANGELS

Historical Draft Results from 1998 through 2017 (TO DATE)
Drafted 944 | Signed 667 | Pitchers Signed 324 | Position Players Signed 343
Total WAR 331.4
Total Players to MLB 90

Note: The following players are listed at the position at which they were originally drafted.

1998 | 1 to MLB | WAR (0.7) | High WAR (0.7), RHP Seth Etherton, 1st rd
1999 | 6 to MLB | WAR 42.0 | High WAR 37.7, RHP John Lackey, 2nd rd
2000 | 5 to MLB | WAR 34.6 | High WAR 27.4, C Mike Napoli, 17th rd
2001 | 9 to MLB | WAR 10.3 | High WAR 7.5, 1B Casey Kotchman, 1st rd
2002 | 4 to MLB | WAR 41.6 | High WAR 30.3, 2B Howie Kendrick, 10th rd
2003 | 5 to MLB | WAR 4.8 | High WAR 8.4, SS Sean Rodriguez, 3rd rd
2004 | 6 to MLB | WAR 49.2 | High WAR 34.4, RHP Jered Weaver, 1st rd
2005 | 5 to MLB | WAR 5.8 | High WAR 9.6, OF Peter Bourjos, 10th rd
2006 | 5 to MLB | WAR 5.5 | High WAR 3.3, RHP Jordan Walden, 12th rd
2007 | 4 to MLB | WAR 3.1 | High WAR 1.7, RHP Ryan Brasier, 6th rd
2008 | 6 to MLB | WAR 11.6 | High WAR 9.6, RHP Tyler Chatwood, 2nd rd
2009 | 6 to MLB | WAR 95.0 | High WAR 64.3, OF Mike Trout, 1st rd
2010 | 5 to MLB | WAR 13.3 | High WAR 13.6, OF Kole Calhoun, 8th rd
2011 | 5 to MLB | WAR 12.7 | High WAR 8.4, RHP Mike Clevinger, 4th rd
2012 | 7 to MLB | WAR (2.6) | High WAR 0.4, RHP Yency Almonte, 17th rd
2013 | 4 to MLB | WAR 0.9 | High WAR 1.4, RHP Keynan Middleton, 3rd rd
2014 | 5 to MLB | WAR 2.3 | High WAR 2.4, LHP Sean Newcomb, 1st rd
2015 | 2 to MLB | WAR 2.0 | High WAR 2.0, SS David Fletcher, 6th rd
2016 | 0 to MLB | WAR 0.0 | High WAR N/A
2017 | 0 to MLB | WAR 0.0 | High WAR N/A

The highest WAR to date, both total and individual, is from 2009. OF Mike Trout (1st round, 64.3 WAR) is obviously the centerpiece of the Angels 2009 draft class, having played his entire career to date for the Angels. In his first eight MLB seasons, he was the American League Rookie of the Year (2012), a two-time MVP (2014 and 2016), a six-time Silver Slugger and a seven-time All-Star. The other 2009 draft pick to play his entire career for the Angels is RHP Garrett Richards (1st round, 7.3 WAR). LHP Patrick Corbin (2nd round, 12.4 WAR) never played a game for the Angels at the major league level, having been included in a July 2010 trade to the Diamondbacks for RHP Dan Haren. LHP Tyler Skaggs (1st round, 2.1 WAR) was also included in the Haren trade, but was eventually traded back to the Angels. OF Randal Grichuk (1st round, 9.4 WAR) was another player who was traded away before his major league debut (to the Cardinals in November 2013). The final signed MLB player from that 2009 class was RHP David Carpenter who pitched in 34 MLB games, 30 for the Angels, for a negative WAR, and left via free agency in 2014.

2018 DRAFT
40 Drafted | 29 Signed | 20 Pitchers | 9 Position Players
23 College | 19 Signed | 16 Pitchers | 3 Position Players
2 JC/CC | 1 Signed | 0 Pitchers | 1 Position Player
15 HS/NS | 9 Signed | 4 Pitchers | 5 Position Players

Notable: The Angels signed their first 21 players with the first miss being 22nd round HS LHP Hunter Milam (AL).

PITCHERS
Eight of the 20 pitchers signed (18 RHP, 2 LHP) did not pitch in 2018. This includes 5th round two-way player William English; English did not pitch in 2018 nor did he play a position, but was instead used exclusively as a DH. Since English was considered a very good pitching prospect when drafted, I will leave him with the pitchers for the time being (as far as draft totals go). Two of the signed pitchers were promoted beyond the Short Season A* level, both to Full Season A. One pitcher from the class debuted on MLB Pipeline's Top 30 Prospect list for the Angels.

Top Prospects

RHP/OF William English, 5th round, Western International HS (MI), Rk
Did not pitch or play a position in 2018; used exclusively as a DH

Noteworthy Debut

RHP Jake Lee, 9th round, Oakland University (MI), Rk
23.2 IP | 17 G / 0 GS | 2.66 ERA | 1.056 WHIP | 4 BB : 30 K | 5 Saves

In total, the Angels 2018 Draft pitchers combined for a 4.63 ERA and a 1.399 WHIP over 281.2 innings as compared to the 3.67 ERA and 1.299 WHIP (average of 376.2 innings per affiliate) compiled by the total 2018 Draft class in 2018.

POSITION PLAYERS
All but one of the 9 position players signed (2B, 3B, 2 SS, 4 OF, C) logged at least some playing time. (One additional outfielder can be added to the totals to account for two-way player English.) Two players were promoted beyond the Short Season A* level, one to Full Season A and one to AA. Two position players (plus English) debuted on MLB Pipeline's Top 30 Prospect list for the Angels, one as a Top 10 prospect.

Top Prospects

🔟 OF Jordyn Adams (R/R), 1st round, Green Hope HS (NC), Rk
29 G | .267/.361/.381/.742 | 14 BB : 30 K

SS Jeremiah Jackson (R/R), 2nd round, St. Luke's Episcopal School (HS/AL), Rk
43 G | .254/.314/.491/.805 | 15 BB : 59 K

RHP/OF William English (R/R), 5th round, Western International HS (MI), Rk
30 G | .220/.325/.260/.585 | 11 BB : 34 K
Did not pitch or play a position in 2018; used exclusively as a DH

🔟 Top 10 Prospect

Noteworthy Debut

3B Tim Millard (R/R), 35th round, Dallas Baptist University, A
71 G | .276/.365/.433/.798 | 33 BB : 57 K | 14 2B / 9 HR | 41 RBI

In total, the Angels 2018 Draft position players combined to hit .239/.317/.350/.667 as compared to .261/.349/.386/.735 batting line compiled by the total 2018 Draft class in 2018.

*Notes on players include the highest level achieved for the 2018 season using the following abbreviations:
Rk = Rookie
SSA = Short Season A
A = Full Season A
A+ = Full Season A Advanced

GENERAL NOTES: Information was obtained from Baseball-Reference and the MLB Draft History site. The occasional discrepancy in historical information was resolved to the best of my ability by delving into the player information available on B-R. On the historical information, the player position in the totals reflects the position at which the player was drafted (and not any subsequent change of position). On the 2018 information, the player position reflects the primary position played in 2018 for all players who were signed and the position at which the player was drafted for those who did not sign. Prospect listings on MLB Pipeline were as of early January and may not reflect any subsequent changes to that site.

PREVIOUSLY

NL EAST
Atlanta Braves
Miami Marlins
New York Mets
Philadelphia Phillies
Washington Nationals
NL East 2018 Draft Summary

NL CENTRAL
Chicago Cubs
Cincinnati Reds
Milwaukee Brewers
Pittsburgh Pirates
St. Louis Cardinals
NL Central 2018 Draft Summary

NL WEST
Arizona Diamondbacks
Colorado Rockies
Los Angeles Dodgers
San Diego Padres
San Francisco Giants
NL West 2018 Draft Summary

AL EAST
Baltimore Orioles
Boston Red Sox
New York Yankees
Tampa Bay Rays
Toronto Blue Jays
AL East 2018 Draft Summary

AL CENTRAL
Chicago White Sox
Cleveland Indians
Detroit Tigers
Kansas City Royals
Minnesota Twins
AL Central 2018 Draft Summary

AL WEST
Houston Astros

COMING NEXT
Oakland Athletics