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- C.J. Cron being selected by the Angels is an interesting pick. The Angels already have two strong 1B candidates in the majors. One of them, Kendrys Morales, has been struggling with injuries lately and is currently out for the season after surgery on his ankle. He injured his ankle stepping on the plate after hitting a walk-off HR in early 2010 and it is still giving him trouble. The other is a rookie by the name of Mark Trumbo, and was listed as their 11th overall prospect prior to the year by SBnation's John Sickels. The Cron selection may indicate the Angels are concerned over Morales' ankle, as they should be. Since they are in the AL, the Angels may see a future 1B/DH combo of Trumbo and Cron. I think Cron has a much higher ceiling at the plate than Trumbo.
- The Nationals taking Purke is another interesting choice. Washington had already taken what many believed was the top positional prospect coming into the year in Anthony Rendon after he fell a few spots possibly due to concerns over a shoulder injury he dealt with this year. Their next pick was a high-upside pitcher from Kentucky University in Alex Meyer. Purke fits the Nationals profile since in recent years they haven't been afraid to pick guys with high upside and also with a high signing price. With the Rendon and Meyer picks, however, the Nationals are already going to need plenty of dollars to sign them so there is question on whether they will be able to afford Purke. This could have been a "draft-and-follow" pick where a team picks a guy to take a look at him and see if he will drop his price. If they are able to sign him he joins a very intriguing future core with Bryce Harper, Stephen Strasburg, and Anthony Rendon. I still think he ends up back at TCU.
- Have to feel bad for Kyle Winkler after leaving his start during the NCAA tournament. Winkler was seen as a 2nd or 3rd round pick going into the draft, but after the injury he ended up falling to the 10th round where the Diamondbacks selected him. The injury sounded bad since he was visibly holding his elbow and took himself out of his start. There was some rumor that he had been dealing with an elbow issue at times during the year, so this might have been connected to that. Will be interesting to see if he signs or returns to TCU for his senior year.
Follow me after the jump for a list of the MWC players selected.
The following is a listing of the players from current/future MWC and possible future MWC commits (in a "Round.Overall Selection" format).
If there is anyone I missed or any future MWC commits you know of let me know in the comments and I will update.
1.17 - Los Angeles Angels - C.J. Cron 1B/DH/C - Utah
1S.49 - San Francisco Giants - Kyle Crick RHP - Sherman HS (TX) TCU commit
3.92 - Seattle Mariners - Kevin Cron 1B - Mountain Pointe HS (AZ) TCU commit
3.96 - Washington Nationals - Matt Purke LHP - TCU
5.168 - Colorado Rockies - Taylor Featherston SS - TCU
6.190 - Houston Astros - Brandon Meredith OF - SDSU
8.252 - New York Mets - Danny Muno SS - Fresno St.
8.254 - Los Angeles Dodgers - Rick Anton LHP - Utah
10.304 - Arizona Diamondbacks - Kyle Winkler RHP - TCU
10.316 - Oakland A's - Dusty Robinson OF - Fresno St.
12.365 - Baltimore Orioles - Jason Coats OF - TCU
15.473 - San Diego Padres - Greg Gonzalez RHP - Fresno St.
16.496 - Oakland Athletics - Tanner Peters RHP - UNLV
18.542 - Pittsburgh Pirates - Josh Poythress LHP - Fresno St.
21.648 - Colorado Rockies - Jordan Ribera 1B - Fresno St.
22.664 - Arizona Diamondbacks - Garret Weber SS - Fresno St.
22.675 - Los Angeles Angels - Brennan Gowens OF - Fresno St.
27.824 - Los Angeles Dodgers - Taylor Garrison RHP - Fresno St.
27.836 - Atlanta Braves - Charlie Robertson RHP - Fresno St.
29.883 - Florida Marlins - Matthew Neil RHP - BYU
29.884 - Los Angeles Dodgers - Joe Robinson RHP - UNLV
29.889 - Toronto Blue Jays - Taylor Cole RHP - BYU
30.909 - Chicago Cubs - Arturo Maltos-Garcia RHP - Lamar CC (CO) NM Commit (h/t Russ Oates)
31.955 - Cincinnati Reds - Erik Miller RHP - TCU
33.1021 - Philadelphia Phillies - Brock Stassi OF - Nevada
37.1119 - Chicago Cubs - Steven Maxwell RHP - TCU
38.1145 - Baltimore Orioles - Jerome Pena 2B - TCU
43.1314 - Texas Rangers - Kaleb Merck RHP - TCU
50.1515 - Los Angeles Angels - Trent Garrison C - Fresno St.
Source: Baseball America
Other Notes:
- If I can find some scouting reports on guys like Featherston and Meredith I will post them here. Both were selected pretty high given the number of rounds so the teams obviously liked them enough to do so.
- There are likely many commits to MWC schools that I missed because Baseball America only lists the player's high school. I'll update if I find anyone else.
- Future football conference mate Hawaii had 4 guys chosen in the top 30 rounds, including one in the first (2B Kolten Wong) and one in the second (RHP Lenny Linsky). Wong is seen as a player with a good floor with a decent bat who should move quickly through the Cardinals system.
- San Jose St. also had a number of players picked in the lower rounds. I also saw 2 or 3 La Tech players chosen. There were some too from the future WAC schools that the conference just added.