PERFECT GAME CROSSCHECKER'S TOP TEN LIST
WEEK 48: 12/14/08 - 12/20/08
DRAFT '09: RAISING ARIZONA
BY ALLAN SIMPSON
Friday December 19, 2008
Arizona and Arizona State were the Nos. 1-2 teams in PG Crosschecker’s 2008 pre-season ranking of the nation’s Top 100 college teams. So it was a bit of an upset when both teams’ seasons ended one step short of the College World Series—even though the Wildcats lost to then No. 1-ranked Miami in super-regional play, and the Sun Devils fell to eventual CWS Fresno State.

Arizona’s only Division I teams, though, lived up to expectations in the 2008 draft as Arizona State had a record 15 players taken and Arizona chipped in with 11, including two first-rounders.

With such a talent drain, it’s apparent that both teams won’t be as big a factor in the 2009 college rankings or the draft, though Sun Devils outfielder Jason Kipnis, a fourth-round pick of the San Diego Padres, returns as a junior, and the Wildcats welcome back righthander Preston Guilmet and third baseman Brad Glenn, their top starting pitcher and power threat over the last two years. Both players were unsigned Oakland A’s draft picks.

ASU, in particular, helped itself by bringing in 11 recruits who were drafted in June, including two players that will be eligible again next June. Catcher Carlos Ramirez, a transfer from Chandler-Gilbert (Ariz.) JC who was selected the MVP of the Northwoods League during the summer, is the newcomer who should make the greatest impact.

In order, Kipnis, Ramirez, Guilmet and Glenn are ranked as the Nos. 3-6 college prospects in Arizona for the 2009 draft, according to PG Crosschecker. Over the next several weeks, the PG Crosschecker website will be providing updated, comprehensive state-by-rankings of the top prospects in the 2009, 2010 and 2011 draft classes (for PG Crosschecker subscribers only). We’ll also take a close-up, sneak-preview look at the frontline talent in several states along the way as part of our Daily Top 10 coverage.

Today’s focus is on Arizona. We have more than 125 players (college, junior college and high school) on our 2009 follow list from that state, and our top 10 prospects for the draft in June are noted below.

Though the college crop is understandably thinner than a year ago, Arizona’s strong junior-college ranks have more talent to offer than in 2008 and the high school ranks appear deeper, though they may not have a player who will be drafted higher than first baseman Jaff Decker (Padres), a supplemental first-rounder and the 42nd player picked overall last June, or lefthander Kyle Lobstein (Rays), the first player drafted in the second round (49th overall).

PG Crosschecker ranks 6-foot-6 Brophy Prep righthander/shortstop Trent Stevenson (click here to read David Rawnsley’s detailed scouting report on Stevenson) as the top Arizona prep prospect for the 2009 draft. But righthander Jake Barrett (Desert Ridge HS), third baseman Matt Helm (Hamilton HS), catcher/righthander Tommy Joseph (Horizon HS) and righthander Tom Lemke (Northwest Christian HS) rank right with Stevenson in a clump of five prospects, and any among that group could emerge as the first Arizona high school player drafted in 2009. Helm, Joseph and Stevenson are Arizona recruits, Barrett has committed to Arizona State and Lemke was tapped by Nebraska.

At this point, with the 2009 draft still almost six months away, the top four junior-college prospects in the state all hail from one school, Central Arizona, which finished third at last year’s Junior College World Series.

The top juco prospect, 6-foot-5 lefthander Kevin Gelinas, did not play for the Vaqueros a year ago and transferred to Central Arizona after spending his freshman season at Pepperdine. Gelinas pitched only briefly for the Waves in the spring, but excelled during the summer in the California Collegiate League with a fastball that topped out at 93 mph, and he fanned 47 in 26 innings while going 4-0, 1.01 in a closing role. He’s scheduled to work as a starter in the spring for Central Arizona, and has committed to play at UC Santa Barbara in 2010.

Meanwhile, for all the talent drain that Arizona and Arizona State experienced after last season, those schools are still expected to yield the two best prospects in the state in 2009 in righthanders Jason Stoffel, a sure-fire first-rounder, and Mike Leake, a borderline first-round talent.

Stoffel saved 13 games for Arizona as a sophomore and punched out 79 hitters in 48 innings, while walking only 15. With a fastball in the mid-90s that touched 98 and a hammer curve, he was so dominant that he was used as the Wildcats closer while two first-rounders, lefthander Daniel Schlereth (Diamondbacks) and righthander Ryan Perry (Tigers), were merely his set-up men. It’s say to say that no team in college history had more end-of-game dominance on the mound than the 2008 Wildcats.

There are 10 college pitchers in PG Crosschecker’s Top 100 prospects for the 2008 draft who have seen significant time as closers, and Stoffel is the most established of the group. His unforgiving mound presence makes him well-suited to close.

By contrast, Leake isn’t overly physical at 6-foot-1 and 190 pounds and doesn’t possess Stoffel’s nasty raw stuff, but he can throw five pitches for strikes, including a heavy, sinking fastball in the 89-92 mph range. He’s the unquestioned ace of the ASU staff, but is so versatile that he can play virtually any position on the field and played a key two-way role last summer for Team USA’s undefeated college national team.

With that as a backdrop, here’s how we see the top 10 prospects from Arizona for the 2009 draft (projected round noted):

Rank Player Pos. School Hometown Projected Round
1. Jason Stoffel RHP U. of Arizona Agoura, Calif. 1st round
2. Mike Leake RHP Arizona State U. Fallbrook, Calif. 1-2
3. Trent Stevenson RHP Brophy Prep Scottsdale, Ariz. 2-3
4. Jake Kipnis OF Arizona State U. Northbrook, Ill. 3-4
5. Jake Barrett RHP Desert Ridge HS Mesa, Ariz. 3-4
6. Matt Helm 3B Hamilton HS Chandler, Ariz. 3-5
7. Kevin Gelinas LHP Central Arizona JC Thousand Oaks, Calif. 3-5
8. Tommy Joseph C/RHP Horizon HS Phoenix 3-5
9. Carlos Ramirez C Arizona State U. Tucson 4-7
10. Tom Lemke RHP Northwest Christian HS Phoenix 4-7
Alabama: Top 10 Prospects, 2009 Draft

DRAFT '09: ADVANTAGE ALABAMA
BY ALLAN SIMPSON
Thursday December 18, 2008
Alabama’s impact on the 2010 baseball draft should be significant as Auburn’s Hunter Morris and Kevin Patterson, and Wetumpka High’s Reggie Golden are potential first-round picks. Several other players, notably at the college level, are projected early-round selections.

By comparison, Alabama’s Draft Class of 2009 does not measure up to the same standard. But with PG Crosschecker about to unveil comprehensive state-by-state follow lists of the top prospects in the 2009 class (along with 2010 and 2011), we thought Alabama—the first state in alphabetical order, and the first one we’ll post—would be an appropriate place to take an a close-up look at the talent available. We’ll take a similar sneak preview with several other states over the next couple of weeks.

In all, we’ll identify and rank more than 125 college, junior college and high school prospects in this year’s Alabama draft class. The top 10 prospects, as we’ve scouted and ranked them, are noted below.

Unlike the 2008 draft, when high-school and junior-college prospects were the state’s more popular demographic, the emphasis this year will be on college talent. Jacksonville State junior righthander Ben Tootle, who was barely on the radar of most scouts at this time a year ago, has emerged as the state’s top prospect after switching to a closer role in a breakout summer in the Cape Cod League. He’s projected as a mid- to late-first rounder. (Click here for the scouting report that we wrote on Tootle as part of our coverage of the Cape’s Top 100 Prospects).

Like Tootle, whose fastball has touched 99 mph, the next two players on the accompanying list owe their lofty ranking to strong summer-league performances.

Alabama junior lefthander Del Howell has teased scouts with his two-way ability since being an 18th-round pick of the New York Yankees out of an Alabama high school in 2006, and it finally came together for him last summer in the Texas Collegiate League. Howell excelled in a predominantly closer role with a two-pitch mix that included a 92-93 mph fastball and a hard, biting slider. He was selected that league’s top prospect.

Auburn’s Joseph Sanders, the No. 3-ranked prospect, also enhanced his stock by earning all-star honors at second base in the Cape Cod League while leading Harwich to the league championship.

Interestingly, Tootle is scheduled to return as the Friday starter in the spring for Jacksonville State—despite clearly establishing his niche in a short role in the Cape. The versatile Sanders also is expected to switch positions, sliding over to third base from second, while Howell’s role should change, too, as he’s expected to concentrate more on pitching and less on hitting in the spring.

Alabama and Auburn, the two highest-profile colleges in Alabama, had a marginal impact on the 2008 draft after losing 28 games each, but their combined contribution should be significantly greater as PG Crosschecker projects the two schools will produce nine picks in the first 10-12 rounds between them next June.

While Morris and Patterson, who will join Sanders in the heart of Auburn’s batting order, were a major part of an exceptional Alabama 2007 high school crop, the No. 1-rated talent in that class was outfielder Kentrail Davis. He elected to attend the University of Tennessee out of high school and, at 21, will be age-eligible for this year’s draft as a sophomore. He should edge out Tootle as the first player with an Alabama connection drafted in June.

Davis elected to leave the state to play college baseball, and the top three players in this year’s prep class have also committed to out-of-state schools. Lefthanders Luke Bole and C.C. Watson recently signed with Mississippi State, while shortstop Cooper Moseley is a Georgia recruit.

At this point, none of the three prospects projects to be drafted in the top three rounds—a rare occurrence for a state that has produced more than its share of high school first-round talent in recent years. Outfielder Destin Hood (Nationals) and lefthander Tyler Stovall (Braves), both second-rounders, were the state’s best high school drafts in 2008.

While Alabama’s high-end, high-school talent is expected to be less prominent in 2009, the talent at the junior-college level should take an even more pronounced step back after the ’08 draft produced three significant arms: righthanders Craig Kimbrel (Braves, third round) and J.J. Hoover (Braves, 10th round), and lefthander Buddy Boshers (Angels, 4th round). The trio combined for 431 strikeouts in 275 innings as sophomores, including a national-best 176 by Hoover, who received a $400,000 bonus as a 10th rounder (a higher amount than either Kimbrel or Boshers received).

The top-ranked Alabama junior college player heading into the 2009 season is Shelton State sophomore shortstop Nick Vickerson, a Florida State transfer already attending his third college. Vickerson projects as a mid-round selection.

With the 2009 draft (set for June 9-10) still almost six months away, here’s how we see the top 10 prospects in Alabama (with projected draft range for each player noted):

Rank Player Pos. School Hometown Projected Range
1. Ben Tootle RHP Jacksonville State U. Oxford, Ala. 1st round
2. Del Howell LHP U. of Alabama Tuscaloosa, Ala. 2-4
3. Joseph Sanders 3B/2B Auburn U. Millbrook, Ala. 3-4
4. Luke Bole LHP Hartselle HS Hartselle, Ala. 3-5
5. Scott Shuman RHP Auburn U. Valdosta, Ga. 3-5
6. C.C. Watson LHP Cleburne County HS Heflin, Ala. 3-6
7. Taylor Thompson RHP Auburn U. Montgomery, Ala. 4-6
8. Cooper Moseley SS Success Unlimited Academy Montgomery, Ala. 4-8
9. Slade Smith RHP Fort Payne HS Fort Payne, Ala. 4-8
10. Brandon May OF/1B U. of Alabama Marietta, Ga. 4-8