2011 Draft – Round Three

After running through the 2012 draft picks and attempting to predict where the signed players may land in 2013, I thought it would be interesting to quickly buzz through the 2011 draft picks to see how they are getting on.  I’ve got a few reasons for this.  One, spring training has sprung, but the Jays really have very few questions to answer in the next month or two.  After following up a  2012 Grapefruit League  24-7 record with a 73 win season I really don’t give a crap how they do this spring.

Two, the earlier signing dates only kicked in for 2012 so many ’11 picks actually didn’t see any pro action until this past season.

Finally, I’m just curious to see how these kids are getting on.  As pundits such as Marc Hulet have noted, the Jays recent trend of drafting athletes with high ceilings hasn’t really borne fruit thus far.

Thanks to the commenters who made suggestions after my 2012 series finished up.  The main theme being that it tended to drag on a bit, especially as I made it a mission to delve into the potential college careers of those that got away.  Well, the constructive criticism has been taken on board and I’ll be glossing over the 2011 unsigned picks.  Also, as noted in Round One of this exercise, if any of the players drafted also have made Colleague Kyle’s top 30 prospect breakdown, I’ll be deferring to him for any scouting breakdown.

Round three is when our fighters are starting to tire, let’s see if any later picks get their second wind.  A quick note, the signing bonus information for the latter rounds is often guesswork:

Richard Prigatano – 16th Round – 499 Overall – Unsigned – a tidy 0.20 BB/K ratio at Long Beach State.  That’s not good.

Brady Dragmire – 17th Round – 529 Overall – $250,000 – Dragmire made a very brief debut in 2011 with a whole one inning pitched.  Last year saw some more action and all in all, it wasn’t bad.  I can’t find any scouting reports to see what the right-hander throws, but at 6’1″ there isn’t a ton of projectability.  Brady had a low era despite his below average LOB% of 60%.  His WHIP was 0.93 so he does have a knack of getting outs.  Having just turned 20, Dragmire should begin this season in Bluefield.

Jon Berti – 18th Round – 559 Overall – Unknown – Apparently the 42nd Bowling Green Falcon to be taken in the mlb draft, Berti had a bit of a split season in 2012.  After a fairly good debut season with Vancouver, which was augmented somewhat by a .361 BABIP, the second basemen began 2012 in full season ball.  In sixty games with Lansing JB was rolling with a .391 OBP, highlighted by a nice 12.7% walk rate.  A promotion to Dunedin followed, which may have been a bit of stretch.  His walk rate remained consistent at 12.6%, but everything else dropped.  A .250 BABIP didn’t help his cause, but his time in Dunedin really accentuated his lack of power.  A .282 slugging percentage and .098 ISO are pretty ugly.  When you consider that the ISO was actually his highest over the three levels then Berti is destined to be org filler.  He’s a scrapper, and a player that fans will love, he just won’t progress much further than AA.  Next year will see a return to Dunedin, but Christian Lopes will soon surpass him.

Luke Weaver -19th Round – 589 Overall – Unsigned – 40 strike outs in 41 innings with Florida State his freshman year.  Not bad.

Joel Seddon – 20th Round – 619 Overall – Unsigned – Is 6 foot 165 pounds?  That’s not that big for a right handed pitcher.

Peter Mooney– 21st Round – 649 Overall – $90,000 – For me, the most interesting thing about Peter Mooney is his height.  The

June 24, 2011; Omaha, NE, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks infielder Peter Mooney (6) throws to third base during the game against the Virginia Cavaliers during the 2011 College World Series at TD Ameritrade Park. South Carolina won 3-2 in 13 innings. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Thorson-USA TODAY Sports

diminutive shortstop is listed as 5’6″ by BaseballReference, 5’8″ by Fangraphs, and 5’7″ by the South Carolina Gamecocks website where Mooney spent his Junior year.  After getting drafted in both of his junior college seasons, Peter signed with the Jays post a College World Series title with the Gamecocks.  Making his pro debut in 2011, Mooney saw time over three levels, enjoying success at each one, albeit with tiny sample sizes in the GCL and Lansing.  In twenty-one games for Bluefield, Mooney put up an .827 OPS with a 1.31 BB/K ratio and .182 ISO.  All quite positive.  Unfortunately though, the momentum shuddered to a halt in 2012 when the middle-infielder missed the season through injury.  I can’t find much info on the injury or if he has recovered so this prediction is strictly a guess.  If he is healthy, I would think another tour in Lansing would be on the cards before a possible mid-season promotion to Dunedin.

Aaron Nola – 22nd Round – 679 Overall – Unsigned – there was both an Aaron and Austin Nola on LSU web page.  ‘Hey, are you guys brothers or something?’

K’Shawn Smith – 23rd Round – 709 Overall – Unsigned – another shortstop, Smith went the junior college route with Indian River State College.  And now I found a link saying he’ll play for the Stetson Hatters as a sophomore.  Maybe he collects hats, who knows.

David Rollins –  24th Round – 739 Overall – Unknown – Another part of the Houston trade, I’ll leave it to Marc Hulet at Fangraphs to break down his stuff as he will be plying his trade in 2013 with Quad Cities in the Midwest or Lancaster in the California league.  He’s dead to me.

Eric Arce – 25th Round – 769 Overall – $100,000 – Drafted twice by Toronto, first in the 27th round of the 2010 draft before signing after being tabbed in the 25th round of the ’11 draft.  Signing seems to have been a wise move, as Arce lit up the Gulf Coast League, leading it in home runs with fourteen.  He also showed excellent plate discipline with an 18.4% BB rate leading to a fantastic .437 OBP.  Bluefield was the next station stop in 2012.  The numbers weren’t quite as superb as the left fielders K rate spiked to 34.6% and slugging % fell .150 to .472.  Still, at age 20, he walked at a 17% clip, put up a .244 ISO and managed a .850 OPS.  Not bad.  I’m going to pull the homer card here and predict a Vancouver assignment for Arce.  Simply because I want to see him at the Nat and get a close up look.