AL East 2018 Draft Summary

In conjunction with the MLB Draft Deep Dive series that I've been rolling out over the last few weeks (see links below), the following is a down and dirty summary of the early 2018 draft results for the AL East.

AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST 2018 DRAFT SUMMARY

PITCHING

Pitcher Breakdown
TBR: 20 Signed | 17 C | 1 JC/CC | 2 HS | 14 RHP | 6 LHP
NYY: 19 Signed | 18 C | 1 JC/CC | 18 RHP | 1 LHP

TOR: 18 Signed | 16 C | 1 JC/CC | 1 HS | 17 RHP | 1 LHP

BAL: 16 Signed | 10 C | 6 HS | 10 RHP | 6 LHP
BOS: 13 Signed | 10 C | 2 JC/CC | 1 NS | 10 RHP | 3 LHP

Cumulative Stats for 2018 Draft Class (Pitchers)
BOS: 2.83 ERA | 1.239 WHIP | 295.1 IP | 13 Active Pitchers

TBR: 3.07 ERA | 1.179 WHIP | 563.1 IP | 20 Active Pitchers

TOR: 3.22 ERA | 1.149 WHIP | 389 IP | 16 Active Pitchers
NYY: 3.85 ERA | 1.274 WHIP | 301.1 IP | 16 Active Pitchers
BAL: 3.97 ERA | 1.449 WHIP | 330.1 IP | 16 Active Pitchers

Position Player Breakdown
BAL: 16 Signed | 13 C | 1 JC/CC | 2 HS | 1B | 2B | 2 3B | 3 SS | 6 OF | 3 C
BOS: 15 Signed | 9 C | 6 HS | 1B | 2B | 3 3B | 2 SS | 6 OF | 2 C
NYY: 15 Signed | 10 C | 1 JC/CC | 4 HS | 1B | 3 2B | 3B | 2 SS | 4 OF | 4 C
TBR: 15 Signed* | 10 C | 2 JC/CC | 3 HS | 2 1B | 2 2B | 3B | SS | 6 OF* | 3 C
TOR: 14 Signed* | 10 C | 1 JC/CC | 3 HS | 1B* | 2B | 3B | 3 SS | 4 OF | 4 C

*Add one to the totals to account for two-way players already counted in the pitching totals.

Cumulative Stats for 2018 Draft Class (Position Players)
BOS: .266/.347/.374/.721 | 15 Active Players

TBR: .265/.368/.388/.756 | 16 Active Players

TOR: .245/.348/.371/.719 | 15 Active Players
NYY: .237/.335/.363/.698 | 15 Active Players
BAL: .219/.298/.322/.619 | 14 Active Players

MLB Pipeline Top 30 Prospects
BOS: 5 Total (C RHP, HS 3B*, 2 HS 3B, HS OF)
BAL: 4 Total (C RHP*, HS RHP*, C SS*, C OF)
NYY: 4 Total (C RHP, JC/CC C, HS C*, HS OF)
TBR: 4 Total (C LHP*, HS LHP*, C 2B, HS OF)
TOR: 3 Total (HS RHP, HS SS/3B*, C OF)

*Top 10

AL EAST DRAFT CLASS NOTES: PITCHERS

Tampa Bay signed the most pitchers from this group and got both quantity and quality in their initial results. The Rays' top pick, a high school lefty, had a particularly good debut as did their second round pick (a two-way player). But it was the middle of the pack that really impressed me and could portend good depth from this college-heavy group going forward. Only one player was promoted beyond Short Season A, but this group combined to pitch a lot of innings in their inaugural season and that should provide a good foundation. All of the remaining affiliates were college-heavy as well with the exception of the Orioles who signed six high school pitchers. Most of the high school players pitched well and performed as expected in rookie league. However, only two of the college players (both with good numbers) had much of a track record at the Short Season A level and none were promoted above that level. And four of the college players pitched 13.1 innings or fewer. It's hard to get much of a feel for the class, but my initial impressions are ambivalent. Three of the Yankees draft picks didn't play at all and ten of their college picks didn't play beyond rookie league. The top three picks performed well at Short Season A, but most of the rest of the class gets an incomplete until they actually put up a few innings and show some success at a higher level. The Blue Jays class doesn't look quite as strong as Tampa, but it does appear to have some nice depth with several lower round pitchers performing nicely. Their top pick, a high school right-hander, only pitched two innings and two other players did not appear in 2018. Boston had the smallest pitching class, but had one of only two players to advance beyond Short Season A out of the entire group. RHP Durbin Feltman made 11 relief appearances at Advanced A in 2018 and appears to be on the fast track for the Sox. Beyond Feltman, it was more of a mixed bag, but there were definitely a couple of bright spots in that mix. However, it is definitely Tampa Bay that stands out in the initial results.

AL EAST DRAFT CLASS NOTES: POSITION PLAYERS


The Red Sox probably have the most interesting group of position players from the 2018 draft. Four of their high school picks appear on their Top 30 prospect list (although the top two only appeared in two games each in 2018) and several of their college players had very strong starts as well. If even a couple of these high school prospects pan out, this could turn out to be a very strong group for Boston. None of the college players were hidden away in rookie ball and two of them were promoted to full season teams. The Yankees also have some interesting younger players at the top of their class who performed as could be expected (and received much more playing time than the Red Sox top players). Further down in the draft, the results are mixed, but there are a few bright spots peppered throughout the group. Tampa Bay and Toronto also picked high school players as their top position player picks. Toronto's SS/3B Jordan Groshans got off to the best start of any of the top high school players out of this group, but there doesn't appear to be much depth in the Blue Jays class based on the early results despite a couple of very nice debuts among the lower picks. On the other hand, Tampa Bay's high school picks didn't exactly wow me in their inaugural seasons, but they had several college players up and down the ranks who showed good promise. The Orioles had two players who didn't appear in 2018 and seven more who batted under the composite group batting average of .219. Not exactly inspiring. Only three players batted over .250 and one of those three was a college player appearing in low rookie league. So once again, not inspiring. Boston does inspire me with their early results, just edging out the Rays as the most interesting group to watch.

Baltimore Orioles Draft Review
Boston Red Sox Draft Review
New York Yankees Draft Review
Tampa Bay Rays Draft Review
Toronto Blue Jays Draft Review

MLB Draft Deep Dive: Toronto Blue Jays

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 EAST

TORONTO BLUE JAYS

Historical Draft Results from 1998 through 2017 (TO DATE)
Drafted 938 | Signed 626 | Pitchers Signed 326 | Position Players Signed 300
Total WAR 260
Total Players to MLB 103

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

1998 | 4 to MLB | WAR 14.1 | High WAR 7.5, SS Felipe Lopez, 1st rd
1999 | 4 to MLB | WAR 44.4 | High WAR 27.4, 3B Alex Rios, 1st rd
2000 | 4 to MLB | WAR 1.9 | High WAR 1.7, RHP Dustin McGowan, 1st rd
2001 | 5 to MLB | WAR 6.3 | High WAR 4.6, OF Gabe Gross, 1st rd
2002 | 7 to MLB | WAR 2.5 | High WAR 3.6, RHP Dave Bush, 2nd rd
2003 | 7 to MLB | WAR 41.5 | High WAR 23.7, SS Aaron Hill, 1st rd
2004 | 6 to MLB | WAR 22.2 | High WAR 11.9, 1B Adam Lind, 3rd rd
2005 | 2 to MLB | WAR 10.0 | High WAR 9.9, LHP Ricky Romero, 1st rd
2006 | 3 to MLB | WAR 3.6 | High WAR 4.3, OF Travis Snider, 1st rd
2007 | 8 to MLB | WAR 8.8 | High WAR 6.6, LHP Brett Cecil, 1st rd
2008 | 7 to MLB | WAR 0.5 | High WAR 1.8, OF Eric Thames, 7th rd
2009 | 10 to MLB | WAR 34.8 | High WAR 11.7, C Yan Gomes, 10th rd
2010 | 10 to MLB | WAR 25.1 | High WAR 13.2, RHP Noah Syndergaard, 1st rd
2011 | 9 to MLB | WAR 22.7 | High WAR 14.3, OF Kevin Pillar, 32nd rd
2012 | 5 to MLB | WAR 12.3 | High WAR 10.9, RHP Marcus Stroman, 1st rd
2013 | 9 to MLB | WAR 10.3 | High WAR 5.5, RHP Kendall Graveman, 8th rd
2014 | 3 to MLB | WAR (1.0) | High WAR 0.1, RHP Justin Shafer, 8th rd
2015 | 0 to MLB | WAR 0.0 | High WAR N/A
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 1999. 3B Alex Rios (1st round, 27.4 WAR) spent all or part of six seasons with Toronto and those years, including his two All-Star seasons in 2006 and 2007 were among his most productive seasons. The Blue Jays lost Rios to the White Sox on the waiver wire in August 2009. The other three players from that 1999 class to make it to the bigs were OF Reed Johnson (17th round, 10.3 WAR), RHP Brandon Lyon (14th round, 6.3 WAR) and LHP Matt Ford (3rd round, 0.4 WAR). Lyon was also lost to a waiver claim (after two seasons with the Blue Jays) and ended up bouncing around among four teams before being traded back to Toronto 10 years later.  Johnson was released after five years with the Blue Jays and went on to play for five other clubs over eight seasons. And Ford was lost to the Brewers in the Rule 5 draft and never played for Toronto at the major league level.

2018 DRAFT
40 Drafted | 32 Signed | 18 Pitchers | 14 Position Players
29 College | 26 Signed | 16 Pitchers | 10 Position Players
2 JC/CC | 2 Signed | 1 Pitcher | 1 Position Player
9 HS/NS | 4 Signed | 1 Pitcher | 3 Position Players

Notable: The Blue Jays signed all of their first 20 draft picks (and 25 of the top 26) with the first miss being California HS LHP Kobby Lopez in the 21st round.

PITCHERS
All but two of the 18 pitchers signed (17 RHP, 1 LHP) logged at least some playing time. None of these pitchers were promoted beyond the Short Season A* level. One of the pitchers debuted on MLB Pipeline's Top 30 Prospect list for the Blue Jays. One player, 33rd round RHP Matt Harris voluntarily retired in October.

Top Prospects

RHP Adam Kloffenstein, 3rd round, Magnolia HS (TX), Rk
2 IP | 2 G / 2 GS | 0.00 ERA | 1.500 WHIP | 2 BB : 4 K

Noteworthy Debut

RHP Joey Pulido, 32nd round, University of Houston, SSA
36.2 IP | 23 G / 0 GS | 0.98 ERA | 0.873 WHIP | 11 BB : 32 K

In total, the Blue Jays 2018 Draft pitchers combined for a 3.22 ERA and a 1.149 WHIP over 389 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 of the 14 position players signed (1B, 2B, 3B, 3 SS, 4 OF, 4 C) logged at least some playing time. (Note: One additional 1B can be added to the totals breakdown to account for two-way player Andy McGuire. Also, although I have included Jordan Groshans as a SS in the totals, he actually played an identical number of games at 3B.) One player was promoted beyond the Short Season A* level, to Full Season A. Two players debuted on MLB Pipeline's Top 30 Prospect list for the Blue Jays, one as a Top 10 prospect.

Top Prospects

🔟 SS/3B Jordan Groshans (R/R), 1st round, Magnolia HS (TX), Rk
48 G | .296/.353/.446/.799 | 15 BB : 37 K

OF Griffin Conine (L/R), 2nd round, Duke University, SSA
57 G | .243/.314/.430/.744 | 20 BB : 65 K | 15 2B / 2 3B / 7 HR
Currently serving a 50-game suspension for testing positive for a banned stimulant.

🔟 Top 10 Prospect

Noteworthy Debut

OF Cal Stevenson (L/L), 10th round, University of Arizona, Rk
59 G | .369/.511/.523/1.034 | 64 BB : 24 K | 21 SB : 1 CS | 15 2B / 6 3B / 2 HR / 73 R

Although Stevenson should have been challenged to a higher level than the Rookie level Appy League, there is no denying that he had an excellent freshman season, including leading the entire 2018 Draft class in walks and runs scored.

In total, the Blue Jays 2018 Draft position players combined to hit .245/.348/.371/.719 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

COMING NEXT
AL East 2018 Draft Summary