Texas Players and MLB Draft

Great preview from BON on Texas players and draft which starts tonight.

Previewing Texas players and the 2021 MLB Draft

 

I hope we get to see Stewart for at least a year or two on the 40.

 

Thanks for the link FW.

 

7 picks in, no Madden.

 

I can't believe Kumar Rocker went at #10, but the Mets have never been known for their intelligent picks. I would not have taken Rocker in the third round.

 

Now with owner Steve Cohen, the Mets (practically speaking) have an almost unlimited bag of $$$$$ to spend on salaries and new prospects. Cohen seems to like a very deep, high $$$$$ salaried, pitching staff. We’ll see if Rocker pans out.

 

Rocker's arm is great; head and maturity? We'll see, but if they are ok, it wasn't on display in Omaha.

 

The Rangers picked up Leiter - the top arm from Vanderbilt.

The Giants took Bednar.

 

Madden to the tigers at 32

 

I still have a hard time believing MLB teams year after year spend millions of dollars on 17 and 18 yr old high school talent over 20-22 yr olds who have played against better talent… I can see a handful of high school pitchers going that high based on projections but positions players wow thats a gamble….

 

Texas RHP Ty Madden selected No. 32 by the Detroit Tigers

 

A victim of MLB's rule preventing trading of draft picks.

 

Thru 10 rounds only horns taken so far besides Madden, Antico to the Cardinals in the 8th and Cole Q to the Nationals in the 9th…Hopefully Melendez and Hansen return to increase there draft value for next year… Looking good also to get our signees to campus… fingers crossed

 

On a side note tech has had a lot of pitchers taken so far thru 10 rounds…

 

It’s always a double sided coin. On the one hand you want your recruits to come to UT. But it seems like a possibly “down” recruiting year that we haven’t had as many drafted. Idk. Just thinking out loud.

 

The Nationals got a bargain by drafting Cole Quintinilla in the 9th round. I figure he’ll stick there or somewhere in MLB as a middle/late reliever, or closer. He’s got the velocity/arm strength, control, and some pretty good movement.

 

If Hansen is back and Stewart goes to college (instead of going pro) we should be strong.

potential starters:

Hansen
Witt
Stewart
Gordon
Kubichek

If Stewart is on the 40 next year, then either Gordon or Kubichek might be a middle reliever. I think Gordon is good enough to bump up to a starter in the rotation in any event.

 

Texas CF Mike Antico selected No. 241 by the St. Louis Cardinals

Texas RHP Cole Quintanilla selected No. 263 by the Washington Nationals

 

College coaches might burn out a few arms...

 

BON is doing great job tracking the baseball draft:

Tracking Texas players as the 2021 MLB Draft holds Rounds 11-20

 

Stewart not getting picked yet makes it more likely he’ll do a year or two on the 40.

 

While, IMHO, by the end of the year Hansen was up there in the running with Madden as our best starting pitcher, his low 90s/high 80s velocity may be pushing him down the draft charts in the eyes of the big leagues--at least for this year's draft. He's a fantastic college pitcher, and will ultimately probably make a solid MLB pitcher. I figure that, for now, the big leagues may be shying away from using up a high round pick this year on Hansen simply because of velocity. I think they like consistently seeing 95 mph on their radar guns for a high round draft pick.

Hansen should be back next year as our staff's ace.

 

Ivan Melendez goes in 16th round at 479 to the Florida Marlins. Interesting to see how that affects whether he decides to come back and play a year at first base to improve his stock or jump ino a minor league role and develop a position.

 

Kolby Kubichek goes in 18th round at 532 to the Mets. I suspect he will be back but this could be interesting and he has to be wondering if he can even crack the weekend rotation next year. If not then he might as well go pro now.

 

Cam Williams goes in 19th round at 559 to the Royals.

 

Zach Zubia goes in the 20th round at 599 to the Florida Marlins. Glad to see Zach get drafted.

 

Joshua Stewart goes undrafted which is fantastic sign we will see him on the 40 acres next year, have to believe a message was sent that he was going to college so no one took flyer on him in late rounds. Hansen isnt drafted so look for him to be the Friday starter next season (early favorites for Saturday and Sunday will be Witt and Gordon).

Tristan Stevens goes undrafted which is biggest surprise but I still think he is likely gone. If by some weird circumstance he returns, the starting rotation may be the best in nation and certainly top five with as many as five solid weekend level starters on the roster.

 

So if Stevens is not drafted at all, do you think he'll go ahead and sign a lowish $ contract now and scrape it out in the minor leagues (possibly for years) instead of staying another year?

Seems that the MLB teams are really putting the heavy premium on pitchers who can consistently throw >= 95 mph. I guess that's always been the case, but it seems there would still be a place for control pitchers who throw in the low 90s, live low in the zone, and get a lot of ground outs (e.g., Stevens). Bednar went to San Francisco in the first round, and he throws in the low 90s with a season ERA higher than Stevens. But... Bednar's fastball has a lot of movement. And, of course, Bednar had an insane postseason for all the world to see. I think Stevens will ultimately make the majors and stick around for some time. Maybe he can maximize his $$$ potential by sticking around Austin another year. Who knows...?

Now I'm not Jon Daniels..., but if I saw Tristan Stevens still available in rounds 15-20, I think I'd jump on that opportunity. IMHO, he's a lot better than a lot of pitchers who were drafted. Would you really rather have one of those Texas Tech pitchers over Tristan Stevens???

 

The Mets have drafted the following 12 pitchers this year, out of a 20 round draft. That's pretty darn heavy on the pitching, and all of them (except the Canadian Auburn U. commit) come from the college ranks. I wouldn't bet against Steve Cohen (supposedly the main guy from the show "Billions" was loosely based on him). Here they are:

Kumar Rocker, RHP - Vanderbilt
Calvin Ziegler, RHP - Canada (an Auburn U. commit)
Dominic Hamel, RHP - DBU (an excellent pick IMHO)
Christian Scott, RHP - Florida
Carson Seymour (Butz), RHP - Kansas State
Mike Vasil, RHP - Virginia
Levi David, RHP - Northwestern State (La.)
Keyshawn Askew, LHP - Clemson
Nathan Lavender, LHP - Illinois
Trey McLoughlin, RHP - Fairfield
Nick Zwack, LHP - Xavier
Kolby Kubichek, RHP - Texas

Kubichek is the last of 12 pitchers drafted by the Mets (drafted in the 18th out of 20 rounds). He may be back to Austin. As a thrower whose velocity tops out in the low 90s, he's got to either have masterful control or wicked movement to make it to the majors. It seems that he had some control problems here-and-there this year. I wish he'd come back and get that hammered out in Austin rather than spending years in crummy motels eating cold hot dogs in the minors. If Kubichek comes through as a reliable starter in Austin next year, Coach Pierce may have the option of keeping one or more of Gordon, Witt, and/or Stewart in the bullpen. Although, I think Witt's destined to be a starter next year and a very, very good one at that...

 

Hopefully it was Chris Young at the controls for the Rangers.