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Last year's edition of this article found two players that were selected by the Jays.

Same rules as last week with the pitchers - since the Jays pick at #120 I'm only going to look at players who are ranked #120 or higher at Baseball America.

Cole Gillespie, OF, Oregon St, 6-1, 200, RH
BA Rank - 122

Year ABs Ave OBP SLG K/BB K%
2006 189 0.370 0.492 0.683 0.7 11.3%
2005 94 0.319 0.455 0.362 0.6 10.8%
2004 62 0.290 0.371 0.500 1.8 20.0%

Gillespie is a versitlie player who's played all three OF positions and both corner infield spots. He's improved his power considerably this year. I suspect his friends call him Dizzy, although thinking about it more I suspect his friends are too young to call him that.

Cyle Hankerd, OF, USC, 6-2, 205, RH
BA Rank - 129

Year ABs Ave OBP SLG K/BB K%
2006 230 0.383 0.469 0.587 1.4 14.4%
2005 218 0.298 0.378 0.404 1.8 16.9%
2004 141 0.333 0.443 0.411 1.6 22.7%

Another player who improved considerably this year, particularly his power. Note that USC plays one of the toughest schedules.

Jordan Newton, C, Western Kentucky, 6-0, 190, RH
BA Rank - 149

Year ABs Ave OBP SLG K/BB K%
2006 176 0.324 0.468 0.699 1.0 18.9%
2005 216 0.329 0.422 0.620 1.6 18.6%
2004 197 0.325 0.436 0.492 1.6 17.2%

He strikes out a lot, but when he hits it it goes a long way - to do it at catcher is nice to have. The average has remained the same for the most part with the power improving each year. Newton also takes a fair share of walks.

Matt McBride, C, Lehigh, 6-3, 205, RH
BA Rank - 154

Year ABs Ave OBP SLG K/BB K%
2006 204 0.417 0.464 0.667 0.7 6.1%
2005 182 0.258 0.312 0.385 1.5 8.0%
2004 172 0.366 0.415 0.547 1.4 10.1%

If you like catchers with a good average, good power, good speed (21 steals) who don't strike out you might like this guy. Plus, the first line of his BA scouting report is "McBride's strength has always been his catch-and-throw skills". Sounds like someone who should be a lot higher than #154.

Shane Robinson, OF, Florida St, 5-9, 165, RH
BA Rank - 169

Year ABs Ave OBP SLG K/BB K%
2006 257 0.350 0.430 0.490 0.7 7.7%
2005 286 0.427 0.532 0.605 0.5 7.9%
2004 275 0.280 0.358 0.371 1.5 11.3%

Robinson had a great 2005 but hasn't followed it up in 2006. He's a small, quick, leadoff type, but he might be too small to be an everyday player. His ISO Slg is just .140 this year which isn't a good sign. He's probably a lot of fun to watch though.

Tyler Colvin, OF, Clemson, 6-3, 190, LH
BA Rank - 170

Year ABs Ave OBP SLG K/BB K%

2006

247

0.360

0.426

0.632

1.5 13.8%
2005 258 0.283 0.323 0.442 2.2 11.3%
2004 128 0.289 0.350 0.414 1.5 11.4%

Like most juniors he's improved considerably this year. He's not considered to be strong in any one area, but isn't considered weak in any area either.

Whit Robbins, 1B/3B, Georgia Tech, 6-1, 208, LH
BA Rank - 177

Year ABs Ave OBP SLG K/BB K%
2006 221 0.367 0.480 0.620 0.8 12.1%
2005 162 0.265 0.411 0.444 0.5 10.2%
2004 144 0.313 0.421 0.438 0.7 11.5%

Another improved junior. Robbins held up well against the North Carolina duo of Miller and Bard, hitting a homerun off of Bard this spring.

Chad Huffman, 1B/2B, TCU, 6-1, 206, RH
BA Rank - 178

Year ABs Ave OBP SLG K/BB K%
2006 196 0.388 0.504 0.765 0.8 11.9%
2005 241 0.353 0.437 0.573 1.0 9.7%
2004 253 0.383 0.477 0.577 1.2 9.4%

You don't see too many 1B/2B combos do you? Well, outside of softball that is. Huffman's defensive position is the real question. Perhaps third, the OF, or maybe just DH. Regardless of the position he can hit. He continually had a high average and boosted his slugging over .750 with a .377 ISO. And he did that with a reasonable strikeout rate in a slight pitcher's park against decent competition. I like him the most of any player on this list. In my (primitive) adjustments for schedule and park Huffman comes out at #3 overall among hitters.

For what it's worth, where these players rank in my adjusted college stats:

Gillespie - 6
Hankerd - 19
Newton - 42
McBride - 85
Robinson - 340
Colvin - 124
Robbins - 34
Huffman - 3

Interestingly, last year Brian Pettway was #2 and Ryan Patterson was #4.

On Monday I'll look at who's likely to be gone, who'll be available and who the Jays might be likely to select when their pick comes up in round 1.

Beyond the First Round - Hitters | 9 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
CaramonLS - Wednesday, May 31 2006 @ 11:45 AM EDT (#148033) #
Pistol would you happen to have the top 10 in adjusted #s and cross that with their projected draft order (if that isn't too much to ask). 
Pistol - Wednesday, May 31 2006 @ 12:26 PM EDT (#148039) #

The only player in the top 10 that isn't listed above is Evan Longoria who is 9th, and will almost certainly be a top 5 pick.

Adj Player School BA Rank
1 Kellen Kulbacki James Madison n/a - Soph
2 Mark Shorey High Point over 200 *
3 Chad Huffman Texas Christian 178
4 Shawn Scobee Nevada over 200
5 Jacob Dempsey Winthrop over 200 *
6 Cole Gillespie Oregon State 122
7 Craig Cooper Notre Dame over 200 *
8 Mike Goetz Wisconsin-Milwaukee over 200 *
9 Evan Longoria Long Beach State 4
10 Jeremy Hunt Villanova over 200 *

Baseball America has only ranked the top 200.  For whatever reason most of these players are seniors (denoted by an asterisk).  If they were really that good they most likely would have been drafted and signed last year.  I wouldn't put too much stock in the numbers, I just like to use it to see what players might be undervalued.

 

Mick Doherty - Wednesday, May 31 2006 @ 02:18 PM EDT (#148055) #

Cole, Cyle, Jordan, Shane, Tyler, Whit, Chad, Kellen and Shawn? Yikes, whatever happened to the old standby names, Dave, John, Mark, names like that?

Oh, and Evan Longoria? Really? Think he'll take a few crass comments about that name? How many ways can you say "It's Evan with an 'n' you moron" before just hauling off and slugging Drunk Joe Fan?

Mike Green - Wednesday, May 31 2006 @ 02:36 PM EDT (#148058) #

Here's Chad Huffman's profile. 21 years old.  Check.  Succeeded in Cape Cod League.  Check. 

There's a highly-rated power hitting high school outfielder named Gabe Cohen, who I've got my eye on for the "Seed of Abraham" team.  We've got all kinds of ballplayers- Greenberg, Rosen, Shawn Green, Kevin Youkilis, David Eckstein, Koufax- but a "Cohen" is about as good as it gets in the name department.

Mike Green - Wednesday, May 31 2006 @ 04:17 PM EDT (#148064) #
Cole Gillespie has got the jazzbos covered first name and last, courtesy of Cole Porter and Nat King Cole as well as Diz.  Here's his profile.  Highlights: he turns 22 in June, played short in high school, favourites-Adam Sandler, Tom Petty, Catcher in the Rye, GPA at Oregon State-3.1. 
mendocino - Friday, June 02 2006 @ 07:17 PM EDT (#148192) #

Allan Simpson at Perfect Game has posted Draft & Follow signings and 5th year senior signings at pgcrosschecker.com

http://www.pgcrosschecker.com/draft/dr_06_06_02_draftnotebook_as.aspx

The Jays signed 45th rounder RHP Michael Barbara R/R 6'3" 175 1985-04-27. He played for St. Petersburg JC (same school as draft re-entry Pedro Beato)

Stats

http://www.flccaa.org/pdf_files/Baseball%20Stats%20W10.pdf

Beyond the First Round - Hitters | 9 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.