Saturday, June 13, 2009

2009 Draft: Complete Reds Draft List

Here's a complete list of all players drafted by the Reds in the Rule IV amateur draft:


Round Overall Player Position School State
1 8 Mike Leake RHP Arizona State Ariz.
1s 43 Bradley Boxberger RHP Southern California Calif.
2 57 Billy Hamilton SS Taylorsville (Miss.) HS Miss.
3 88 Donnie Joseph LHP Houston Texas
4 119 Mark Fleury C North Carolina N.C.
5 149 Daniel Tuttle RHP Randleman (N.C.) HS N.C.
6 179 Mark Serrano RHP Oral Roberts Okla.
7 209 Josh Fellhauer OF Cal State Fullerton Calif.
8 239 Juan Silva OF Puerto Rico Baseball Academy, Gurabo, P.R.
9 269 Brian Pearl RHP Washington Wash.
10 299 Tucker Barnhart C Brownsburg (Ind.) HS Ind.
11 329 Harold Johnson RHP Trinity Christian Academy, Lake Worth, Fla. Fla.
12 359 Joshua Garton OF Volunteer State (Tenn.) CC Tenn.
13 389 Nick Christiani RHP Vanderbilt Tenn.
14 419 Timothy Crabbe RHP Westmont (Calif.) Calif.
15 449 James Wakzak RHP Mercyhurst (Pa.) Pa.
16 479 Chase Fowler C South Forsythe HS, Cumming, Ga. Ga.
17 509 Devon Marrero SS American Heritage HS, Plantation, Fla. Fla.
18 539 Steven Perez SS Gulliver Prep HS, Miami Fla.
19 569 Mitchell Clarke LHP Forest Heights Collegiate Institute, Kitchener, Ont.
20 599 Matt Valaika 2B UC Santa Barbara Calif.
21 629 Jonathan Reed RHP Memorial HS, Tulsa, Okla. Okla.
22 659 David Stewart 1B Grayson County (Texas) JC Mo.
23 689 Chris Richburg 1B Texas Tech Texas
24 719 Derrick Lowery 1B Young Harris (Ga.) JC Ga.
25 749 Michael Monster RHP Rutland SS, Kelowna, B.C.
26 779 Vernon Manz C South Florida Fla.
27 809 Stefan Del Pino LHP Dorman HS, Roebuck, S.C. S.C.
28 839 Derek Poppert SS San Francisco Calif.
29 869 Jason Brawn RHP Corban (Ore.) Ore.
30 899 Yovan Gonzalez C Wabash Valley (Ill.) JC Ill.
31 929 Adian Kummet RHP St. Scholastica (Minn.) Minn.
32 959 Shane Carlson SS UC Santa Barbara Calif.
33 989 William Stramp 3B Lubbock Christian (Texas) Texas
34 1019 Forest Cannon RHP UC Santa Barbara Calif.
35 1049 Oliver Santos 3B South Carolina-Salkehatchie JC S.C.
36 1079 Chris Burleson SS Southern Maine Maine
37 1109 Dayne Read OF Chipola (Fla.) JC Fla.
38 1139 Tommy Nurre 1B Miami (Ohio) Ohio
39 1169 Paul Barton RHP Kwalikum SS, Qualicum Beach, B.C.
40 1199 Mike Robertson OF Bellevue (Wash.) CC Wash.
41 1229 Jake Wiley RHP Marist N.Y.
42 1259 Blair Carson RHP Anderson (S.C.) S.C.
43 1289 Ricky Bowen RHP Mississippi State Miss.
44 1319 Jason Shepherd OF Navarro (Texas) JC Texas
45 1349 Brian Adams OF South Forysth HS, Cumming, Ga. Ga.
46 1379 Timothy Dunn RHP Trevecca Nazarene (Tenn.) Tenn.
47 1409 Jason Hampton RHP Rocklin (Calif.) HS Calif.
48 1439 Kenny Swab C Young Harris (Ga.) JC N.C.
49 1469 Darion Hamilton OF Taylorsville (Miss.) HS Miss.
50 1499 Chris Page 1B Genesee (N.Y.) CC N.Y.



One guy that jumps out at me is 17th round pick Devon Marrero, as he would have been drafted much higher if not for signability concerns. If the Reds can get him under contract, then he could be a real steal. His tools make him a very intriguing prospect, but he won't be an easy sign.

Another is Matt Valaika who is the brother of current prospect Chris and also plays middle infield. The Reds like what they have in Chris and are hoping to find something of value in his brother. I wonder if there are any other Valaika's coming through the baseball pipeline.

Billy Hamilton is a very athletic player, but I have questions about his "hit tool." He strikes me as being the type of player that will struggle to translate his raw athleticism into production. Baseball requires such a particularized set of skills that it rarely just bends to the will of the athletically gifted. Hopefully, Hamilton proves me wrong.

As for Mike Leake, the more I think about it, the more I like the pick. Granted, I would have gone with the high upside Shelby Miller, but as is often the case, high upside comes with high risk. The Reds decided to go with a pitcher whose ceiling is *arguably* lower than Miller, Matzek, or White, but whose risk is substantially less. Leake is a very polished and savvy pitcher who has had great success and anchored a rotation that is in the College World Series this year. Leake already has a tremendous understanding of how to pitch, which is what I like to see in my pitching prospects. By and large, I tend to favor "pitchers" over "throwers." Leake *may* not have #1 starter upside, but he is far more likely to have a solid MLB career than most of the other arms in the draft.

Typically, I favor going with the high upside in the top of the first round, because you don't often find elite upside later on, but it's hard to argue with what the Reds have done. Since the Reds already have Johnny Cueto and Edinson Volquez in the MLB rotation, they may not have the pressing need for another #1 starter and the risk that subsequently comes along with it. Add in the lack of pitching depth in the system resulting from an injured Kyle Lotzkar and an ineffective Homer Bailey and what the Reds really needed was certainty. They needed a polished pitching prospect who was very likely to contribute and soon. Leake was that pitcher.

Oddly enough, the general consensus has changed on Leake since he was drafted. Prior to the draft, the pundits were projecting him as a mid-first round pick, but when the Reds drafted him everyone seemed to applaud the pick. There was no talk of it being an overdraft, but rather a good decision on the part of the Reds. And, I happen to agree.

4 comments:

  1. There are two more Valaika brothers, both are suposed to be just as good as there older brothers are.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anon,

    Thanks for the info!! Maybe the Reds can establish a pipeline for all the Valaika talent from UCSB to Cincinnati.

    Chris is certainly paying dividends, so hopefully his brothers do equally well.

    Best,
    Lark

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oliver Santos will make a great selection for the Reds. He has the tools to make it at the next level and if he isn't traded along the way, look for him in a Reds uniform in the next several years.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hey Tired,

    Thanks for the comment and the heads-up on Santos. I hope you're right about him, as the Reds can use all the help at third base that they can get. I'll be looking forward to seeing what he can do at the professional level.

    Best,
    Lark

    ReplyDelete