Sierra Nevada Goldens Draft Review

Sierra Nevada really went for it in 2090 and was left without a 1st Round, a Bonus Round, a 4th Round, or a 7th Round pick in the 2101 Draft. We had 2 empty AM slots as well, since we graduated Elvis Andrus and Brett Anderson this year. Going into the 2101 season, we were in the need of CF depth, 1B depth, and needed to fill in about 150+ innings in the middle of the rotation to follow Beckett and Anderson . Looking forward to the 2112 season based on 2010 MLB performances thus far, we can determine that SP is our BIGGEST need with Beckett having a miserable start and Anderson on the DL early. The philosophy going in was to select 2 AM pitchers in the 2nd round that could make the rotation sometime between 2112 & 2123.

Pick 1, Round 2: Kyle Gibson (SP/AM) - We are THRILLED with this pick and both happy and surprised he dropped to us. A true, groundball pitcher is exactly what we need, playing in Great American Ballpark. He figures to put up good numbers in pitcher friendly Target Field once he reaches the Twins. Also, he is dominating AA ball as we speak. He has a 1.68 ERA in the minors this season, with a .211 BAA in 69 IP. His GO/AO ratio in currently 3.48. Many had him as the best pitcher in the MLB draft behind Strasburg.

Pick 2, Round 2: John Ely (SP/AM) - This pick made sense for us because he is already contributing to the Dodgers starting rotation and will help the Goldens in 2112. While I think we may have been able to get him in a later round, we did not want to risk seeing him go to another club, especially in our own division. While Ely may be obscure to many around the country, living in Los Angeles & watching Dodger Games every night, I see this guy pitch and he is SOLID! I know my rivals, the SoCal Knights & Phoenix Phoenix, get a lot of visibility to him, and it seems Duluth-Superior gets his share of Dodgers players as well. While watching him pitch thus far, he is very composed and really locates and hits his spots well and is holding an ERA at 2.54 and a WHIP of .91 thru 7 starts. His ceiling may not be top of the rotation SP, but he looks to me like a Greg Maddux the way he can hit spots, change speeds, and not walk batters. Plus he pitches at friendly Dodger Stadium which will help us out when he plays for the Goldens at Great American.

Pick 3, Round 3: Trevor Crowe (CF) - At this point, we were looking to do SOMETHING in CF. We were a little disappointed to see Borbon, Gwynn, & Brantley get picked ahead of us, so we made the best of the situation. With Borbon and Gwynn struggling an in CF in 2010 so far, maybe we will end up with the right guy in Crowe anyway. Crowe is struggling himself, but at least he's leading off and playing a regular CF with Sizemore on the shelf. Plus, Sizemore could get traded, leaving an opportunity for Crowe if he can seize it. We like that he switch hits, too.

Pick 4, Round 5: Koji Uehara (SP) - He gives us a solid 67 IP to help fill the #3 slot in the rotation in 2101. He's aged and has injury issues, so he is pretty much a stop gap for this particular season.

Pick 5, Round 6: Chris Jakubauskas (SP) - While is ERA in 2009 was 5.32, his BAA of .254 & WHIP of 1.27 are respectable and his 93 IP will help fill the #3-#4 slots in our rotation in 2101. He's a late bloomer, so I'm not sure we expect much from him long-term. Like Uehara, he's filling innings and anything productive long-term would be a bonus. To be honest, we are much happier we got Uehara & CJ than to have picked Josh Geer or Dave Bush who were both picked well ahead of this pair.

Pick 6, Round 8: Sammy Gervacio (RP) - We are happy to get this potential future closer for the Astros. He's ranked #4 in BA for Houston & he will be handy for a September call-up this season, too. He seemed like a good value here. We were a little frustrated at this point as we were going to select a LH Reliever with this pick like, Schlereth or Ni, but they both got nabbed ahead of us. No lefties remaining really caught my eye.

Pick 7, Round 9 & Pick 8, Round 10: Michael Aubrey (1B) & Tommy Everidge (1B) - With Aubrey being LH and Everidge RH, this will be a nice tandum this year to sub for Dunn. Aubrey brings good Range-2 DEF and will kill RH Pitchers in Great American. While neither is getting his shot in the bigs right now, they will provide useful cards in 2101. I have read rumors that Aubrey could get a shot in Baltimore, so we are crossing our fingers. We were a little shocked to get both of these useful bats so late in the draft.

Pick 9, Round 11: Eli Whitside (C) - Simply a backup to Yadier. We really had our eye on Jose Molina, but he got snagged.

Pick 10, Round 12: Eddie Bonine (RP) - SHOCKED he was still here! While his 2009 card is not so hot, the knuckleballer is quietly doing a great job for the Tigers in 2010 posting a 1.79 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, in 25 IP. He should be handy in 2112.

Pick 11, Round 13: Sam Fuld (OF) - Kind of surprised he was sitting here to pick, too. While he will probably never be more than a 4th OF for the Cubs, he has a useful LH vs LH card in 2101. He can play CF, and we needed help there.

Pick 12, Round 14: Dustin Richardson (RP) - It's funny, we had our sights in Trevor Bell of the Angels with this pick, but he got snagged by Plainsfield a few picks prior. Richardson is a lefty and has been doing very well at AAA in 2010 for Pawtucket. Maybe he will be a callup for the Red Sox sometime this year and we will strike gold with our last pick of the draft. He's the Red Sox #27 ranked prospect in BA, and currently has 38 K's in 29 IP and holding opponents to a .158 BAA.