2016

Baseball Today and Tomorrow

Welcome to this year's edition previewing the the 2016 ZSABL League. Our PIP grading system was a big hit in

last year's issue so we will continue the same format this year. As in last year's issue relief pitchers will not be rated.

THE EASTERN DIVISION

Amsterdam

Position

Round

Player

PIP Grade

OF

1

Jackie Bradley Jr

4.0

P

3

Tony Sipp

x

P

4

Sean Gilmartin

x

C

5

Curt Casali

3.3

UTI

6

Andres Blanco

3.8

OF

9

Brandon Guyer

3.4

P

10

Pedro Baez

x

UTI

11

Phil Gosselin

3.8

P

12

Brandon Maurer

x

INF

13

Danny Espinosa

3.4

OF

14

Mark Canha

3

THE DRAFT

With the 11th overall first round pick Amsterdam selected OF Jackie Bradley Jr. a very nice selection he

has limited at bats but the future looks bright. Relievers came in the 3rd and 4th round. In the 5th they

took catcher Curt Casali nice OPS but with very limited at bats and little upside. In the 6th came utility

infielder Andres Blanco he can play 3 positions and has a nice OPS but again limited at bats.  Outfielder

Brandon Guyer was selected in the 9th round he'll be paired with JB Jr. Relief pitching was taken in the

10th. Utility player Phil Gosselin was selected in the 11th round again limited at bats but a nice OPS.

Another reliever was selected in the 12th. Infielder Danny Espinosa was selected in the 13th round

great fielding card but not much else. With their last pick the Bulldogs picked outfieder Mark Canha.

PIP 3.46

TEAM SYNOPSIS

Amsterdam's starting pitching is rock solid with Greinke ACZ and Price AZ followed by Scherzer,

Iwakuma and Heaney all BZ's. The relief should be fine with three Az's. The Bulldogs came into the

draft needing to fill some holes to improve their offense and they did a very good job at getting it done.

They drafted players with limited at bats but when paired together should make for a stronger

ballclub.  Anthony Rizzo (5) and Jason Kipnis man the right side of the infield not to shabby. Seager (5)

and Iglesais are on the left, defensively they will get the job done but Iglesais doesn't bring much to the

plate. However the combination of Blanco and Gosselin really help at the DH position. Danny Espinosa

will be used in the late innings for defense. The catching will be a team effort of D'Arnaud and

Casali. The outfield consists of McCutchen, Bradley and Justin Upton all defensive (3) in the field and some

pop at the plate. Guyer will be used to fill in for  Bradley as needed. Amsterdam has the best pitching

in the division they don't boast the best offense but a strong draft should be enough to be right in the

thick of things come the end of the season.

Brooklyn

Position

Round

Player

PIP Grade

P

3

Ryan Madson

x

p

5

Will Harris

x

P

6

Erik Goeddel

x

P

7

Javier Lopez

x

P

8

Josh Tomlin

3.5

P

9

Sergio Romo

x

P

10

Rich Hill

3.2

P

11

Pat Neshek

x

P

12

Matt Belisle

x

P

13

Pedro Villarrel

x

SS

14

Brenden Rogers

3.8

THE DRAFT

Brooklyn did not draft till the 3rd round and from there through the 7th  they took relief pitching. In the

8th round they selected BZ Starter Josh Tomlin he has limited innings. Relief again came in the 9th.

Starter Rich Hill was selected in the 10th an ACZ but only 29 innings. Rounds 11 -13 was all relief. In

the 14th round they finally picked an offensive player in highly touted SS prospect Brendan Rodgers.

PIP 3.50

TEAM SYNOPSIS

The Mets pitching staff features four BZ starters however only one Carlos Carrasco has any measurable

amount of innings.  There is plenty of relief help with 9 relievers on the roster. On offense the Mets

feature Goldschmidt and Schoop on the right side, Schmitty features a 1.005 OPS. On the left side is

Brad Miller and Justin Turner the later is a defensive liabilty. Yasmani Grandal will handle the catching

duties. The DH is Miguel Cabrera and the Brooklyn skipper is not happy with his hitting card. The

outfield features Brantley, Springer and Will Myers. Dexter Fowler will see plenty of action as the 4th

outfieder. Brooklyn tried to address their pitching needs in the draft but there just wasn't enough there

by the 3rd round to have a large impact. With 9 relievers on the roster it's almost Woody like.

Brooklyn has a chance for the playoffs, it will depend how they manage the pitching because the

offense is certainly there. We would prefer to see Brantley leading off with Goldschmidt batting 3rd.

Las Vegas

Position

Round

Player

PIP Grade

P

2

Roberto Osuna

x

OF

2

Domingo Santana

3.9

1B

2

Chris Colabello

4

3B

4

Rafael Devers

3.6

P

5

Chris Bassett

3.4

C

7

Willson Contreras

3.9

C

8

Caleb Joseph

3

P

8

Brandon Finnegan

3.5

SS

9

Nick Ahmed

3.3

C

10

AJ Ellis

3.5

THE DRAFT

Las Vegas had 3 picks in the 2nd round and started with relief pitcher Osuna next came OF Domingo

Santana who has potential for big time power and they finished it off with 1B Colabello OPS 886.

Third base prospect Rafael Devers was selected in the 4th round. Pitcher Chris Bassitt came in the

5th. We were surprised to see this next guy still on the board in the 7th round and Vegas jumped on him

catching prospect Willson Contreras. We had him rated very high. Another catcher Caleb Joseph was picked in

the 8th round their second highest OPS catcher on the roster at 693 that ain't saying much. In the same

round they selected pitcher Brandon Finnegan who will start for the Reds this year. Defensive whiz

Nick Ahmed came in the 9th and they ended it with catcher AJ Ellis their highest OPS catcher. PIP 3.57

TEAM SYNOPSIS

Vegas has 3 BZ starters with innings and they will pair Buchholz and Smyly to keep that same rating. Not

to shabby. They could be a little light in the pen, however they do have four A pitchers two with a Z rating.

The Crazy Horse have the second highest OPS in the division led by OF Bryce Harper 1.109. The right side

of the infield features Freeman and Carpenter (7) the left has Reyes and Yunel Escobar. DH duty will be

2nd round draft pick Colabello a very nice pick. JD Martinez and Yelich fill out the rest of the outfield.

Catching duties will be shared by Ellis a 10th round pick with limited at bats and Joseph. After Amsterdam

the rest of the division is pretty even in pitching so Crazy Horse like most of the rest of the East will battle

for a playoff spot.

Maine

Position

Round

Player

PIP Grade

OF

1

Michael Conforto

4

2B

1

Logan Forsythe

4

3B

1

Dan Valencia

4.2

P

1

Marco Estrada

3.9

P

2

Nate Karns

3.7

P

3

AJ Burnett

3.6

C

3

A. J. Pierzynski

3.6

1B

4

Byung-ho Park

3.5

P

5

Carter Capps

x

P

6

Jeff Manship

x

P

6

Matt Albers

x

THE DRAFT

Maine had 4 first round picks and all 4 will contribute to this year's season. The Maui's seemed  a little

out of sorts as the draft began but they settled down and chose OF Mike Conforto followed by Forsythe,

Valencia and Estrada no complaints here. In the 2nd round they selected P Nate Karns (B) who will slide

in to the starting rotation the same goes for their 3rd round pick AJ Burnett.

Also in the 3rd round they

selected catcher Pierzynski. In the 4th round they selected Korean 1B Park it's a gamble being he has no MLB

experience we'll see how it pans out. The final 3 picks were relief pitchers. PIP 3.81

TEAM SYNOPSIS

The Mauis have 5 (B) pitchers the problem is not one of them has control. Their led by Danny Salazar

Wacha and draftee Estrada, their a little light with relief pitching so managing the staff will be

paramount. The right side of the infield is anchored by Smoak and one of their 1st round picks Forsythe.

the left side has the young and upcoming Sano and second baseman Kang, defensively their both liabilities.

They drafted Pierzynski to handle the pitching staff and he will contribute offensively as well. Pedro

Alvarez is the DH. The outfield has Conforto, Betts and Souza with Conforto having limited AB. Maine did

a admirable job in the draft, they plugged the holes in order to compete. However the Mauis will have

a tough time in the East with no Z starting pitching and one of the lowest OPS teams in the divison.

They do have some good young players in Conforto, Betts and Sano in which to build around but this

year they will take their lumps.

Philadelphia

Position

Round

Player

PIP Grade

P

1

Jamie Garcia

4.2

P

2

George Kontos

x

P

3

Alex Wilson

x

P

4

Xavier Cedeno

x

P

5

Kenta Maeda

3.8

P

6

Raisel Iglesias

3.5

OF

7

Kevin Pillar

3.4

P

8

Eduardo Rodriguez

3.5

P

9

Arodys Vizcaino

x

THE DRAFT

Philadelphia's draft was similar to Brooklyn's as each only took one offensive player. With the very first

pick in the draft they selected AZ Garcia. In rounds 2 thru 4 they took all relief pitching and with their 5th

round selected uncarded pitcher Kenta Maeda. In the 6th round they selected another starting pitcher

Raisel Iglesias. They took the speedster outfielder Kevin Pillar in the 7th round and came back to pitching in

the 8th by selecting Eduardo Rodriguez. They ended their draft in the 9th round with more relief help.

PIP 3.68

TEAM SYNOPSIS

Philadelphia is building a pitching staff that has the potential to be one of the best in baseball. Garcia (AZ)

Gray(A) and Bumgarder (BZ) along with draftees Maeda, Iglesias and Rodriquez and and uncarded Ryu and

Stephenson speaks volumes. Sure most of these aren't on their 25 league roster but time is on their side.

As for their staff going into this season they will need to stretch out the rotation with 5 perhaps 6 starters

and pare down once they are in the later part of section 2 of their schedule. As far as relief they are deep

with 6 (A) relievers two with Z ratings. The offense features Teixeira and Pedroia and on the right Beltre

and a Seager/ Suarez combo on the left not bad. The DH is the Prince and Cervelli will handle the catching duties.

The oufield is manned by Peralta, Cespedes and  Either. Ya gotta love that.  The Black Sox have just enough

pitching and combined with their potent offense have a real shot at the playoffs.

Rochester

Position

Round

Player

PIP Grade

P

3

Jerad Eickhoff

3.6

P

4

Jake Peavy

3.2

P

4

Joe Blanton

x

OF

5

Billy Burns

3.2

P

5

Vidal Nuno

3.5

1B

7

Justin Bour

3.4

INF

7

Cesar Hernandez

3.1

SS

8

Zack Cosart

3.5

2B

8

Kelby Tomlinson

3.2

3b

9

Alex Rodriguez

3.6

OF

10

B.J. Upton

3.4

THE DRAFT

After their blockbuster trade with Union Station the Rockers did not pick till the third round. In the 3rd

they took starting pitcher Jerad Eickhohff he won't provide much help this year but we'll see what the

future brings. In the 4th round they selected starting pitcher Jake Peavy. In the 5th came OF Billy Burns

and starting pitcher Vidal Nuno. First Baseman Justin Bour was selected in the 7th along with Inf Cesar

Hernandez. SS Zack Cosart a wiz with the glove but not the bat was selected in the 8th along with 2B Kilby

Tomlinson. In the 9th round they chose 3B Alex Rodriguez and finished up with B.J. Upton in the 10th.

PIP 3.37

TEAM SYNOPSIS

Rochester has seven B starters but three out of the four BZs have limited innings and they will need all

seven as the relief help is almost non existent. The right side of the field features Pujols and Brandon

Phillips. Bour will also see playing time. The left side has Cozart and Bryant. Alex Rodriguez is the DH and

a combo of Wieters and Salvador Perez handle the catching duties. The outfield consists of Trout, Jones and

BJ Upton. The combination of Trout and Bryant is something to build a team around and that is why their

draft was so puzzling. There were so many young players both carded and uncarded available with the

potential to greatly improve this club next year. They had 4 slots left on their roster for uncarded players.

We would have looked to the future and rebuilt. With that being said the Rockers will have a tough time in

the Eastern division.

Sherwood

Position

Round

Player

PIP Grade

SS

3

Trevor Story

3.8

P

4

Shawn Kelly

x

P

5

Tyler Duffey

3.5

P

6

Charlie Furbush

x

P

6

Cesar Ramos

x

OF

7

Ryan Rayburn

3.8

P

8

Tim Cooney

3.5

P

8

Chris Young

3.8

P

9

Addison Reed

x

P

10

Miguel Socolovich

x

P

11

Felipe Rivero

traded

P

12

Andrew Chafin

x

P

13

Jhoulys Chacin

3

OF

14

Justin Ruggiano

3.6

THE DRAFT

Sherwood did not draft until the third round of the draft and with the 42 pick they selected SS Trevor

Sherwood did not draft untill the 3rd round and with the 42nd pick selected SS Trevor Story. He is off to a

a wonderful start sort of reminds us of Chris Shelton back in the day. Though we feel Story is legit. In the

4th they took relief pitching followed by starter Tyler Duffy (B) but only 58 innings. They had 2 picks in the

6th round and took two relief pitchers. In the 7th round they selected the hatchet card OF Ryan Raburn every

body should have one. In the 8th they selected 2 starting pitchers in Cooney and Young we really like Cooney.

More relief help came in the 9th thru the 12th rounds. Followed by starting pitcher Jhoulys Chacin. With their

final pick they selected OF Justin Ruggiano .805 OPS not bad for this late in the draft.

TEAM SYNOPSIS

Sherwood likes coming in to the draft with their roster pretty much set. They traded Joey Votto  and

got Noah Syndergaard in the off season but still they are light in pitching. They got 2 young pitchers in the

draft Cooney and Duffey they have limited innings but will help. They are a little light in (A) relief but the

Sherwood manager is one of the best in baseball and we feel he will make the moves necessary to get the most

out of the staff.  The infield features one of the best defenses in baseball. Belt and LeMahieu are on the

right and Tulowitzki and the newly acquired Duffy on the left. Behind the plate is Russell Martin the best

player in baseball at least in the eyes of the Forest. Longoria will handle most of the DH duties. They will

have their work cut out for them in managing the playing time of their outfielders as most have limited

at bats. Sherwood goes in to the 2016 season with just enough pitching to be competitive but the

hitting is not up to par with some of the others in the division. The Forest has had quite a run. They have made

the playoffs every year since the 2010 season unfortunately that is about to end.