A Sea Of Red

Liberty's 2016 MLB Draft Preview: Who You Should Keep an Eye On

http://www.libertyflamesnation.com/libe ... an-eye-on/

Last year Coastal had 1 player drafted! Somehow the MLB passed on Remillard, Young, Owings, Morrison, etc. Given our talent level I would be surprised to see any more than 2-3 get drafted and mostly in late rounds 20-30+.

They have Ashton in the Ranger organization. He's actually in independent ball with Travis City. What about Close and Lambert? Are they done?

I think the rounds in the article are way optimistic. I wouldn't be surprised to see no one drafted but I am hoping 3 or 4 of these kids get a chance. Remember getting drafted doesn't mean getting signed. Many teams don't have 40 openings in their organization and may only plan on signing their top picks and a few others who won't cost them much. Also as far as the teams paying for the rest of college for the juniors, maybe the top picks get that but the lower picks may just get offered an amount equal to their scholarship and nothing more.

Agreed. Not a very accurate look at the draft at all to me. I dont think theres any chance that cole gets taken a month and a half removed from surgery. Same with grabowski, i would be shocked if he got a sniff. Britt bean yacyk and shepherd are the 4 with a shot. Of those i think yacyk has the most to gain by coming back if hes drafted. He could easily be a 15 hr guy with another year improvement. Shepherd cant improve his stock much more other than maybe playing infield so he has more versatility listed. Bean...see adam parks. Britt, nice college player but i dont see him being good enough to play at next level either but some team may take a late round flier.

i agree, if anything they're getting drafted based on signing their top prospects, although that's a move usually for seniors. i fully expected all of them to be back. Also Livingston Morris is going to be selected in the top 12 rounds. He's just as good of a hitter as Alex and i fully expect him in the starting OF next year.

ballah09 wrote:i agree, if anything they're getting drafted based on signing their top prospects, although that's a move usually for seniors. i fully expected all of them to be back. Also Livingston Morris is going to be selected in the top 12 rounds. He's just as good of a hitter as Alex and i fully expect him in the starting OF next year.

Morris is a very athletic 6'4" 225 and in addition to baseball is a 200' plus javelin thrower who finished 4th in the junior nationals. Hard to imagine he could do both in college, but in this link it doesn't sound like he plans on giving up T&F.

http://www.ncsasports.org/mens-track-re ... on-morris1

As far as being just as good a a hitter as Alex, all I can say is I hope you are right but really doubt it. With his size and athleticism, if he could rake like that, he would be projecting as a high first round pick. He's not.

Morris sounds like a kid that if we get him to the mountain, he is not somebody you want to try to run on

Flamepop wrote:They have Ashton in the Ranger organization. He's actually in independent ball with Travis City. What about Close and Lambert? Are they done?

I missed Ashton playing in independent ball and Trey Lambert is in the Washington organization currently. From what I can find Close isn't on a roster this year. Can anyone find any info to the contrary?

Matt Marsh is still with the Yankees too. Don't know about Clowers.

A little Yacyk for you. You gotta be on facebook

https://www.facebook.com/pilots.cameraman?fref=nf



you gotta scroll down a little, there's two bombs

Guess we will find out soon. Draft starts tonight I believe. I think this will be a slim draft for the Flames except the HS kids.

Just checked on McKenna & Trevillian to see how they are doing since last year's draft. From what I can tell they both have injuries. They are still on their rookie league rosters but doesn't look like Trevillian has seen any action since signing last year. Did he have surgery? McKenna played about 10 games last year before injuring his ankle. Don't think he has played since.

Khalil Lee goes to KC in the 3rd round, #103 overall. That is about where he was projected I believe. Not particularly good news for us.

http://m.mlb.com/draft/tracker/#!ft=all

Kyle Funkhouser, the P from Louisville, who was the only 1st round pick not to sign last year, went in the 4th round, #115 overall.

The #103 overall pick last year signed for $554,000.00.

olldflame wrote:The #103 overall pick last year signed for $554,000.00.

We could pay him more;)

2.8 million is a figure you look at and figure with some smart and conservative investments you could be set for life. $554.000, not so much. The college degree starts to look better. In the case of Lee, I also think that whether he is really ready to give up pitching, which would surely be what happens if he signs, could play a factor. How great would it be to be able to bring a lefty with great stuff in from CF to face a tough LH hitter and not need to pull your starter? Pretty great.

olldflame wrote:Kyle Funkhouser, the P from Louisville, who was the only 1st round pick not to sign last year, went in the 4th round, #115 overall.

Proof positive that you should always sign if you're a first rounder.

adam42381 wrote:

olldflame wrote:Kyle Funkhouser, the P from Louisville, who was the only 1st round pick not to sign last year, went in the 4th round, #115 overall.

Proof positive that you should always sign if you're a first rounder.

I'm not going to say "always" because everyone has their own priorities. I totally agree that not signing with the idea of improving your draft position is fools gold for any first round pick.

After 10 rounds, we still have had only Kiralloff and Lee picked. Alex is gone. Khalil has a tough decision to make. I'm feeling pretty confident that the rest of our recruiting class will be in Lynchburg this Fall. A very good class without Lee and a great one with him.

olldflame wrote:2.8 million is a figure you look at and figure with some smart and conservative investments you could be set for life. $554.000, not so much. The college degree starts to look better. In the case of Lee, I also think that whether he is really ready to give up pitching, which would surely be what happens if he signs, could play a factor. How great would it be to be able to bring a lefty with great stuff in from CF to face a tough LH hitter and not need to pull your starter? Pretty great.

Don't forget taxes, agent fees, lawyers, etc will eat up 40-50 percent off the top, leaving substantially less to invest. Then you have new car, subsidizing minor league pay for two or more years...if you are going to sign a bonus like that you need to get as much as you can in deferred compensation.

Could Khalil Lee turn into the next A. J. Puk? Known best for his Bat in high school. Matured into great left handed pitcher in college.

LUDad wrote:Could Khalil Lee turn into the next A. J. Puk? Known best for his Bat in high school. Matured into great left handed pitcher in college.

The big difference (pun intended) is that Puk is 6'7", while Lee is 5'10". If Khalil comes to LU, I can see him being a contributor on the mound, but there is little question that whatever professional future he has will be as a CF.

In round 16 and no LU players taken...only I think 4 or 5 are on MLB.com's draft tracker list

I tend to agree with olldflame on Lee...unless he has some absolutely dominant stuff on the mound, he is making his money gunning runners down from the outfield

In Non-Liberty draftee news, I feel a little bad for Troy Rallings of Washington today...hopefully he has an outstanding career despite his draft position.