MLB Draft Day 2 Reactions (Rounds 2-10)

Unlike yesterday's massive running diary, I will merely just be posting some random thoughts as I have day 2 of the draft on in the background. I'll focus a bit on New York picks since that is what people reading this will probably care about.

- Pirates take Stetson Allie 52nd overall. Nicely done by them, taking, in my opinion, the guy with the most upside left in the draft. Between Taillon and Allie they got arguably the two best prep arms in the draft.

- Indians draft Levon Washington 55th, he was taken in the first round by the Rays last year. Washington has only hurt his stock since last year's draft and the Rays were probably wise not to sign him as it turns out.

- The Red Sox take Brandon Workman 56th... he's probably the best college pitcher left on the board. Boston, as always, continues to draft really, really well... this day is not off to a good start.

- A's take upside pick Yordy Cabrera #60, A big upside play for them but a very raw player. Oakland has come a long way from the Moneyball days with their draft strategy.

- Jays are continuing to draft a TON of upside high school pitchers, their short-season teams are going to be entertaining next year.

- Yankees take Angelo Gumbs #82, A very raw outfielder with some tools. Apparently he was unable to hit high school breaking pitches and was not ranked in anyone's top 100. Sigh.

- Mets take Norman Forsythe #89, MLB does not have any video of him and I don't see him ranked on any lists anywhere. All the info they can give us is that he is a catcher who did not hit in college this year and apparently took his struggles with him onto the field. Ummmm, I'm guessing this is all not good.

- The Astros finally appear to have made a pick that the consensus likes with Austin Wates at #90

- Cubs take Micah Gibbs at #97, a very good defensive catcher who had a big offensive season at LSU this year. One of the guys I liked most left on the board

- Mariners take Ryne Stanek #99, I don't know much about him but was just watching his scouting video and that fastball has some amazing movement and good velocity, really jumped out at me

- At #112 the Yankees take someone that people have heard of, finally. Robert Segedin, a big third baseman who hits the ball hard and has a cannon arm. Not a bad pick in this spot.

- Nationals with a great pick at #116, A.J. Cole. He's a tough sign but is a much better prep pitcher than a lot of guys who have been taken off the board already. An excellent risk/reward play at this point in the draft.

- We've reached the point where taking college relievers makes sense, and they're starting to go, Kansas City gets a good one in Kevin Chapman at #119, Arizona takes Kevin Munson at #121 who lacks plus velocity but is also good.

- Mets take Greg Vaughn's son, Cory at #122, a great athlete who swings and misses a whole lot. He has the polish of a high school kid but is 21-years-old.

- At #125 Oakland selects HS 3B Chad Lewis. I like his compact swing and he seems to have the size to hit for power as well. Should be interesting to follow his development

- At #130 the Cubs draft someone no one has ever heard of, Hunter Ackerman and they actually spelled out his name on the conference call, apparently knowing that people would be confused. The broadcasters pass on doing analysis entirely... I guess they don't even have a cheat sheet with his name on it.

- Mariners pop James Paxton at #132, the Jays sandwich pick last year who did not sign. He has not wowed anyone in Indy Ball this year but looked to have really good stuff while at Kentucky. A very good risk/reward pick. The Mariners have drafted very solidly under their new front office and this year appears to be more of the same.

- At #134 the Braves take David Filak, the first DIII player taken, he throws in the mid 90s with a good breaking ball. Sneaky good pick for Atlanta.

- At #143 the Red Sox players took a tough sign, Garin Cecchini who did not play this year due to injury. He was a top prospect before the injury but seems more likely to go to school unless he is wowed by a bonus. I wouldn't put it past Boston locking him up though.

- Yankees picking again at #145 and they take Mason Williams who is listed at 6'1 155 lbs. He is toolsy but actually has some polish apparently and is a solid hitter. With his size I'm guessing he won't be hitting many home runs, but at least the is more than just an athlete.

- The Royals take Jason Adam at #149, one of the most advanced prep pitchers in the class. He's a big kid with a workhorse body, a solid pick in this spot.

- At #152 the Mets take Matt Den Dekker, a college senior who was apparently awful in his junior season, sounds like an organizational guy to me.

- Studio guys really struggling to come up with info on some of these picks now as guys are getting more and more obscure. A part of me is enjoying watching them fake their way through it.

- Dickie Thon taken by the Blue Jays at #156. He is from Puerto Rico and the son of a former major leaguer... really like the swing and actions from his scouting video. Doesn't seem to be a big name but subjectively I like what I'm seeing.

- At #166 texas gets a potential power reliever in Justin Grimm with a mid-90s fastball. He has very poor results in college but the stuff is there, worthwhile gamble in the 5th round.

- At #167 the Giants take Richard Hembree, a very similar player to Grimm. An inexperienced college pitcher with a big arm and no results to speak of.

- At #170 the Rockies take another pitcher I like, Josh Slaats, good stuff, good delivery, not a huge upside guy but there's a lot to work with here.

- The Phillies take Scott Frazier at #171, a very tall high upside pitcher with an ugly delivery but intriguing stuff. Reminds me a bit of Dellin Betances, a Yankees pick that hasn't panned out yet. Overall I like him more than a lot of the project pitchers that have been drafted so far.

- The Yankees end the 5th round by taking Thomas Kahnle, a bulky 6'1 kid from Lynn University. The broadcasters have no idea who he is but luckily there is a scouting video and a short write up from Keith Law. He looks to have a live fastball in at least the low-90s. I guess that's something. Looks like a pure arm strength guy.

- At #182 the Mets select Greg Peavey, he's been on the radar forever but his stuff never jumped like some predicted, looks like a back end rotation guy at best.

- #205 is the Yankees with Gabe Encinas, a high school pitcher with a solid sinker and the size to add more velocity as he grows. A solid pick that was ranked in the top 100 by a couple sources.

- #211 the Mets take Jeffrey Walters, another low ceiling college senior.

- #235 the Yankees select Taylor Anderson, I can find nothing on him other than that he is 6'0 and looks like he weighs roughly 170 lbs. Seems to have a solid arm and a pretty left-handed swing with a two-hand follow through.

- Round 8 sees the Mets take Kenneth McDowell, one of Bryce Harper's teammates. Looks like McDowell can touch the low-90s and has a nice clean pitching motion with a 3/4 arm-slot.

- The Yankees round 8 pick is East Carolina 1b Kyle Roller. He's a bulky senior with some pop and some plate discipline. Looks like an org. guy at best to me. Not sure why they are not trying to grab a high impact tough sign guy here. Austin Wilson is still sitting out there somehow.

- Mets round 9 pick is Jacob Degrom, a pitcher who apparently only started pitching this year. I can find no real info on him but his stats are very underwhelming.

- The Yankees choose Taylor Morton with their 9th round pick, a raw high-school righty that can touch the low-90s and has a ridiculously long arm action.

- The round 10 pick for the Mets is Akeel Morris who has a real quick arm and can sit in the 90s with his fastball. I like his delivery a lot, although it is a little violent, he follows through very well. Does not appear to have a secondary pitch worth mentioning at this point.

- The Yankees tab Ben Gamel, brother of Mat Gamel a Brewer. Ben is a 5'10 outfielder with a solid swing and apparently not enough arm strength to play right based on his scouting video. Judging by the lack of additional info available I'm guessing I shouldn't be excited.