June 9th MLB Draft Prospects

[msreason]

The draft is coming and we hope some seniors get drafted but we hope the current juniors stay put. Among the juniors, Ciolli is a good bet. Lesser bets, but still possible, are Petricka and Valdez. Jett? Strausborger?

Seniors include Shoemaker, Lafrenz and possibly even Manus.

What do you think?

 

[BankShot]

Not sure about Manus.

"Shoe" is a shoe-in ...LaFrenz a real "sleeper" in my book. Could become a DH in the AL because of his power.

 

[Beav89]

I'd have to agree that Manus is most likely not high on the draft radar due to his injury issue and lack of real playing time this season. If he did get tapped, I'd have to believe it would be a late round.

My picks are Shoemaker and Ciolli, with a possibility of LaFrenz, Strausborger and remotely, Valdez.

I'm hoping that any juniors selected will be low enough to make the jump out of ISU not worth giving up their senior year.

 

[bent20]

I'm hoping that any juniors selected will be low enough to make the jump out of ISU not worth giving up their senior year.

And that's the real question. I don't know much about all of the players available in the draft, so I have no idea where our guys would go.

 

[isualum]

kinda sad that you guys want our players to go in lower rounds... yeah losing players hurts, but it only helps our program having players drafted high and sign. Also by looking at the posts in here, you guys dont know how the draft works all that well. From seeing the team play your front runners for getting drafted are Shoe, Lafrenze, Petricka, Ciolli, with the possibilities of Valdez and Straus. Best of luck to all of these guys and I hope they get the chance to sign and play rofessionally as soon as possible.

 

[BankShot]

MLB Draft "Helps" ISU's Program?

losing players hurts, but it only helps our program having players drafted high and sign

Explain to me how a program becomes BETTER when MLB signs one of your stars with one or two years of eligibility remaining? I've heard that crap for years.:naughty:

If the college was given "severence pay" for their time & $$$ in player development, fine. But that's not the way it works, is it?

Long-time collegiate baseball powers (generally Sunbelt-based schools) that have a steady pool of talent are pretty much immune from such draft losses, but programs like ISU are seemingly locked in a perpetual state of recovery. A coach recruits and develops, then has his road map fractured by the loss of KEY players. It's not fair to the coaches, fans or institution.

Personally, I feel that MLB should be fiscally endowed to colleges whenever they sign a player BEFORE his eligibility ends.

 

[msreason]

I saw an interview with Mark Teixeira on the CBS College Sports Channel a couple of days ago. He was strongly advising young men to go to college and get a degree and enjoy the college experience. He said he was very glad he chose not to sign out of high school or after his junior year in college. To him college was a valuable experience and a time to grow physically and become a better ballplayer who will do a lot better in the minors! It is hard to pass up good money...but too many young men jump at the novelty of going pro (for little or no money) and languish in the minors...never getting close to the big show! Get your degree...enjoy college...be a better pro prospect!

 

[isualum]

"Explain to me how a program becomes BETTER when MLB signs one of your stars with one or two years of eligibility remaining? I've heard that crap for years."

It gives your program the credibility of being able to get players into the pros. Why would a kid want to sign to go to a school if he is not going to be exposed to scouts? Kids go to schools who are known for getting them into the pros as soon as possible. You can say ISU is in a constant state of recovery, but not from the draft, from the lack of solid players from freshman to seniors. This year the ISU team was great with the juniors and seniors, but besides one or two hopefulls in the sophmore and freshman year, they got nothing. That is why the program is always in recovery. This year might be the first year the draft actually hurts ISU, but it will give them credibility that is much needed to get kids to go there as freshman and sophmores.

 

[BankShot]

MLB scouts are EVERYWHERE. Anyone that selects a college because an inherent UNIQUE "exposure" are living in the 19th century. Transportation and communication technology have changed scouting, as evidenced by the various talent "rating systems" available on your PC.

Don't get me wrong, the "power rating" of conferences has reasonable validity and impact upon player performance #'s, but that in itself does NOT preclude a player from having the opportunity to play MLB.

As MSREASON stated, the PRIMARY goal of a college athlete should be to get their degree. Too many YOUNG & INEXPERIENCED athletes bite at the 1st worm on the hook, with many never establishing reasonable goals BEYOND sports. College is an OPPORTUNITY of a lifetime and should be cherished far above a "bird dog" signing bonus that'll generally blow out the window in a couple years.

The MLB Draft in itself gives credibility to the coach more than the "program." If you want program credibility, your post-season record is viable evidence. As long as MLB keeps tampering with collegiate rosters, colleges will NEVER maximize their potential.

According to your logic, the "power base" of a collegiate program should be based on frosh & sophs. Did you ever think of WHY this pattern has developed? Because of roster instability and threat of MLB.

 

[Beav89]

Also by looking at the posts in here, you guys dont know how the draft works all that well.

What do you think the rest of us don't get about the draft? Is it based on who we've all named as potential picks? You should know that it's all pure speculation on anyone's part at this point.

BTW, my opinion is that if there are a decent number of guys drafted off of this team this year, it's not going to make the program that more prestigious. It just means that they had a good year with some good potential professional players. It's a blip on the radar. If ISU starts becoming competitive in the MVC, makes the tournament on a consistent basis and can get into the NCAA tournament, THEN ISU will earn "credibility."

 

[msreason]

Great thoughts, BankShot! I'd like to add that the reason you're seeing a lot of JC transfers is that these players are more proven. It's that first two years of college! And, when you consider that there are only 11 scholarships available per D1 team, you can't spend too much on developing players who will see little playing time for a year or two. Out of state players are basically getting enough money at most schools to cover the gap between in-state and out-of-state tuition. "Full-rides" are rare...very rare.

 

[BankShot]

Excellent points, MSREASON!

I'm kinda torn in the middle of the JC transfer "feed mill." If we get 'em for only a year before the MLB Draft, their "contribution" barely impacts the long-term closeness & solidarity of a roster. Look how many JC players we lose this year. How many new psyche's will Coach Megg's have to re-program again next year? Hopefully as we improve, we'll be able to wean ourselves out of this JC dependence.

I think that 4 yr. baseball alumni would tend to develop a greater allegiance to the ISU Alumni "spirit" than that of only 1 or 2 yrs. on the Sycamore campus.

 

[msreason]

It is interesting as you look at this year's roster to see that only a few players made it from their freshman year. Investing in 1st year players is tough for a mid-level D1 like ISU. You don't get the super performers. You are usually getting players that have "promise."

 

[BankShot]

But what % of our JC transfers actually replicated their JC #'s @ ISU? Just because they excel in the community college format is no guarantee of a "promise" @ ISU. To wit:

During the early 90's while living in Florida, I convinced Coach Warn that a boy from my area fit well within his ISU Baseball format. The kid ultimately chose to stay in FL @ Manatee CC in Bradenton, where he was voted FL JC Player of the Year after his soph season. He then transfered to U. of Miami, where he was rarely heard of again.

There's a tremendous difference between JC ball and QUALITY Division I that many are not capable of adapting to. It's kinda like MLB Class A thru AAA, where the building blocks are put into place and the "engineers" find out the load capacity of each.

A good coach has the INSTINCT for finding those "promising" recruits and developing their abilities. Once in motion, it's quite a machine! There may be "breakdowns" now & then which require ordering "replacement parts" from the JC's, but generally speaking, I think it's better to have players under your home roof for 4 seasons, not just 1 or 2.

 

[msreason]

Again, with high school standouts you'll find the same thing. How many HS grads replicate their numbers at the JC level? It's a much bigger jump to D2 or D1 from HS. Again, how many of the freshmen at ISU make it through four years. There were only a couple on this year's team!

 

[SydCamore]

I think that Ryan Strausborger could get drafted pretty high. He may surprise some people...... He has VERY good speed. There are below average hitters and below average fielders with weak arms that get drafted in the top 15 rounds because they are very fast runners.

Speed means more than we might think and Ryan has that.........

 

[BankShot]

"Again, with high school standouts you'll find the same thing"...

But expectations of HS & JC are far different. A coach expects IMMEDIATE production from a JC transfer, where it's a given that the HS kid is always a "project in motion" with an inherent learning curve.

 

[msreason]

But with only 11 scholarships to divide amongst the team, the more instant production the better. There is a lot of fallout between the freshman and junior years. We'll just have to agree to disagree. At a higher level D1, you would see more productive freshmen.

 

[Beav89]

OK, for what it's worth here is Perfect Game Crosschecker's follow list (posted in May) for the ISU players for the draft this week. The list is divided into groups based on rounds as follows:

Group 1 (Elite) - Rounds 1-3
Group 2 (High) - Rounds 4-10
Group 3 (Mid) - Rounds 11-25
Group 4 (Low) - Rounds 26-50
Group 5 - possible draft

Nick Ciolli - Group 2
Brady Shoemaker - Group 3
Ryan Strausborger - Group 4
Jacob Petricka - Group 4
Mike Manus - Group 4
Bronco LaFrenz - Group 5

Granted, like all mock drafts or prediction lists, I'd take it with a grain of salt. Last year I saw guys that were considered Group 3 on PG that didn't even get selected. Just depends what teams are shopping for out there.

On the flip side of things from the high school list, none of the in-state kids signed to ISU are higher than Group 5.

 

[msreason]

Good educated guesses by Perfect Game! Round one of the draft is televised live Tuesday from 6:00 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. (Eastern Time) on the MLB Network. Then they'll do the remaining rounds on Wednesday and Thursday.