High Upside, Hard Sign Draftees
Posted on June 22nd, 2011 by Jeff in 2011 MLB Draft, tags: Aramis Garcia, Brett Graves, Chadwick Pookela Kaalekahi, Chris Kirsch, David Schmidt, Justin KamplainIn the MLB First-Year Player Draft, all that glitters is not gold because not every player will sign on the dotted line for the Cardinals and join the system. After the jump, lets take a look at a few of the diamond in the rough players signed later in the draft who have high upsides. Diamonds and gold! All after the jump!
Round 20: Aramis Garcia, C
AZ finds a few quotes and notes about Garcia from the draft review.
Derrick Goold adds more from the Cardinals on Garcia:
The Cardinals aren’t optimistic that they’ll be able to come to a deal with the South Florida catcher. They have him sized at 6-foot-3, 200 pounds, and his frame and ability projects increasing power as he matures. He’s committed to Florida International, though his fondness for the Cardinals is part of why they drafted him.
We will see that with most of the low round Cardinals picks. They will attempt to buy players out of their college commitments while smartly leveraging their franchise and the kids that have grown up rooting for the Birds on the Bat.
No word on Garcia signing or even any baseless rumors.
Round 22: Justin Kamplain, P
I wrote about Kamplain when he was drafted. He’s a strong commitment to Alabama, his “lifelong dream” school. Kamplain did visit Busch Stadium with other potential draftees, so he had to know the Cardinals were interested and I’m sure the Cardinals were trying to put the full court press on the kid to impress him enough to sign.
Round 26: Brett Graves, P
Brett played in an All-Star game at Busch recently and here’s his postgame quote:
“It’s fun to think about playing at Busch someday,” Graves said. “Even if I wasn’t drafted by the Cardinals, I would still be really happy to be here, but the fact that I could be back here in a few years makes it that much more special. I’ve been to a million games since I was a little kid and this is definitely a dream come true.”
Graves is committed to Missouri, but from that quote it seems like he is interested in signing with the Cardinals. No word on what his plan is for making a decision.
Graves is listed by Baseball America as having the best arm in Missouri and throwing in the low to mid 90s.
Round 47: David Schmidt, P
Schmidt is another local kid, however, he is committed to Stanford. With Austin Wilson last year, we know how difficult it is to get a player to sign away from heading to Palo Alto to play for the Cardinal (no ‘s’). The Cardinals will have an advantage this year no one’s college commitment could have been as strong as Wilson’s and with Schmidt they will be able to offer the cap of the team he grew up rooting for when he signs.
Schmidt already tops out at 94 with a frame that’s pretty filled out. Could see him added a few MPH, but the key for Schmidt is that he already has mastered a sinker and slider and has a lot of late movement on his pitches.
Needless to say, all of these guys would be great signs for the Cardinals. I’m going to guess that the Cardinals sign the first 3 and not Schmidt.
Other players I’m keeping my eye on are in “Honorable Mention” below.
Honorable Mention:
Round 21: Christopher Kirsch, P
Round 46: Chadwick Pookela Kaalekahi, C
Who is your diamond in the rough in the Cardinals draft?
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My diamond in the rough was actually reported as signed just yesterday, 6th rd pick C Adam Erlich. I think a kid that is said to already have a very strong feel for the defensive part of catching including throwing out base runners, and even though his offensive game lags behind his defense, he atleast seems to have power upside being a decent sized kid and just from what ive heard from scouting reports. Thought he would be a really tough sign since he seems like the exact type of kid that a couple years of college could really help his draft stock, especially if his bat develops even some, great get imo. A diamond in the rough that was much later in the draft is that kid from Georgia Tech who was clocked in the upper 90s pitching but saw a velocity drop this year, could turn into a nice prospect if we sign him and some things go right for him.
41st round draft choice Michael Knox 1B GCL hit 3 Homeruns today
I like Erlich as well.
I wouldn’t consider Sam Gaviglio a diamond in the rough, because he went in the 5th round, nor high upside, but I like pitchers that can pitch and catchers that can catch.
Diamonds in the rough:
Michael Knox. Power is power. I know its DIV II (UNC transfer) but .832 slugging is impressive.
Moseley. Has shown some power for a second baseman.
Knox hit went deep in 3 consecutive ABs off of three different pitchers today. That’s impresive at any level.
Definite fan of the Knox pick. He could be the next Matt Adams to come through the system. All the caveats about small schools and lack of athleticism and the like certainly apply, but you can’t teach power. Look for what you can’t give a player.
I wonder if any of you know how Austin Wilson is doing at Stanford? Just a silly question.
I followed him a little bit throughout the year. He had a solid, but not overly impressive freshman season starting in the outfield for the Cardinal. His line for the year was .311/.348/.423; 7 2B; 5 HR; 30 RBI; 7:56 (B:SO) in 196 ABs.
Really wish he would have signed with the Cards, not just for the team but for himself as well. Hitters really seem to struggle at Stanford for some odd reason. They do a fine job of developing pitchers, but position players rarely do well there.
Watched few games of his on tv, i believe he must be part dominican because he swings at everything.
I would like to see Lance Jeffries succeed, I know he was drafted higher than most of the guys being mentioned, but 10th round is definitely a place where a diamond in the rough can be found. My other pick would be Knox, but the question is does he have anything more than power to offer? Matt Adams at least hits for a good average, and I honestly know nothing about Knox defensively or in regards to his ability to take a BB or hit for average.
Jeffries is my favourite pick in the draft as well. Think he could be real value at #10.
Garcia sounds like a big upside guy at 20 as well, if he was more signable I’m guessing he would’ve been a fair bet to go in the first 5 or 6 rounds. I don’t think he signs, though.
I will be pleasantly surprised if any of the 4 sign: Garcia, Graves, Kamplain, Schmidt.
I hope Kirsch signs.
I’m really hoping fthe Cards can get Garcia signed. Huge fan of the pick and the player. If they could somehow get all four of these guys to sign it would immediately make this draft look a dozen times better to me than it does now.
Big fan of any team drafting local talent, especially the Cardinals. We’re not going way over slot for anyone else in the draft. Get Graves and Schmidt.
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Any word on Sam Tuvalviaaialaia (aka—the 3rd rounder from last year….not sure what the last name actually is)?