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DRAFT 2008 - STATE-BY-STATE PREVIEW
ARIZONA

2008 FOLLOW LIST

OVERVIEW: It’s been apparent since most of the players enrolled at Arizona and Arizona State three years ago as freshmen that 2008 would be a banner draft crop for the two college baseball powers. PG Crosschecker spoke to the talent lode when it ranked Arizona No. 1 and Arizona State No. 2 in its pre-season Top 100 college rankings.

Between them, the Wildcats and Sun Devils could have as many as 25 players drafted, which would be the highest combined total ever for the two long-established programs. One or the other could even match the record for most drafted players from one club, 14, which ASU originally set in 1982 and has been duplicated twice since. It’s not just marginal talent that will be sprinkled through the draft’s 50 rounds, either, as there is a strong likelihood that the two schools will produce at least three first-rounders and as many as 12 or 13 selections in the first 10 rounds. Both schools have reached far and wide for talent, and a majority of their draftable prospects this year are from out-of-state.

The draft haul could have been even more pronounced had the two schools not let former Arizona high school lefthander Brian Matusz, who will be one of the first 3-4 players drafted, not skip off to college in San Diego. Both schools have struggled in recent years to lock up the best home-grown talent, and many of the state’s best high school players have gone elsewhere. This year, the state’s two best prep recruits, lefthanders Kyle Lobstein and Jaff Decker, chose to commit to the state’s only Division I colleges. Overall, the Arizona prep ranks are a little thinner than they have been in recent years.

STRENGTH: High-end college position players.
WEAKNESS: High school position players.
OVERALL RATING (1-to-5 scale): 5.

Best Out-of-State Prospect, Arizona Connection: Brian Matusz, lhp, U. of San Diego (Attended high school in Cave Creek).
Top 2009 Prospect: Tom Lemke, rhp, Northwest Christian HS, Phoenix.Top 2010 Prospect: Seth Blair, rhp, Arizona State U.

Highest Pick, Draft History: Rick Monday, of, Arizona State U. (1965, Athletics/1st round, 1st pick); Floyd Bannister, lhp, Arizona State U. (1976, Astros/1st round, 1st pick); Bob Horner, 3b, Arizona State U. (1978, Braves/1st round, 1st pick).
Highest Pick, 2006 Draft: Jason Donald, ss, U. of Arizona (Phillies/3rd round).
Highest Pick, 2007 Draft: Tim Alderson, rhp, Horizon HS, Phoenix (Giants/1st round, 22nd pick).

Best College Team: Arizona State.
Best Junior College Team: Central Arizona.
Best High School Team: Chaparral (Scottsdale).

TOP PROSPECTS / By Allan Simpson

GROUPS (College, Junior College, High School)
 1 Premium-round draft (Rounds 1-3)
2 High-round draft (Rounds 4-10)
3 Mid-round draft (Rounds 11-25)

GROUP ONE
Rank Player Pos. Class B-T HT WT College Hometown Prev. Drafted B’date
1 Brett Wallace 1B/3B Jr. L-R 6-2 245 Arizona State Sonoma, Calif. Blue Jays ’05 (42) 8/26/1986
SCOUTING REPORT (3/1): Wallace was expected to be a major offensive contributor for Team USA last summer after leading the Pacific-10 Conference with a .404 average, 16 homers and 78 RBIs during the spring of 2007, but he hit a soft .312-2-26. He homered in his first at-bat of the season but contributed only one more long ball along with four doubles in his next 108 at-bats. When he’s on his game, Wallace has an aggressive, fundamentally-sound approach to hitting and the size and strength to put up big power numbers. He also has good pitch recognition and plate discipline, and puts the barrel on the ball consistently. He has natural lift in his stroke, shows good power in BP and occasional big power to all fields. But his flaws in his swing were exposed somewhat with wood. He doesn’t always incorporate his lower half and he gets too much top spin on his swing—negating his power. The development of his power this spring will establish his draft worth. He has the track record and makeup to be a solid first-rounder, but Wallace is a below-average runner and marginal defender. Though he spent much of the summer in left field for Team USA to accommodate Justin Smoak at first base and accorded himself adequately there, he is expected to see considerable action at third base (his high school position) for Arizona State this spring. He will be pretty much limited to first base at the next level, however. Though he needs to tone up his body a bit, he runs better and handles himself around first base better than expected. He has soft hands and average arm strength.—ALLAN SIMPSON
UPSIDE (5/15): Wallace put up almost identical numbers at the plate this spring (.409-19-77 entering the final weekend of the regular season) to what he did a year ago, and solidified himself as one of the best natural hitters and power hitters in this year’s draft. He’s a physically strong hitter with an aggressive approach who made consistent contact. Scouts were curious how he might take to third base after spending the two previous seasons at ASU at first, and he handled the move as well as could be expected. He committed just 10 errors in 53 games. If nothing else, his play there will help him with his range and footwork when he returns to first base at the pro level.—AS
 


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