Rank our 2008 draftees

[DennisTheOsFan]

Now that they've had some time to play (except for Matusz), I'd like to see how you'd rank our 2008 draftees.

I have only skimply followed our draftees, so I might be well off on the rankings, but here I go:

1) LJ Hoes, (2B), 18 yr old, GCL, .303 avg, .422 OB, .394 SLG,
2) Xavier Avery, (OF), 18 yr old, GCL, .266 avg, .314 OB, .329 SLG, 13 SB
3) Ronnie Welty, (OF), 20 yr old, Bluefield, .319 avg, .362 OB% .445 SLG%
4) Richard Zagone, (SP), 22 yr old, Aberdeen, 41.1 IP, 52 K, 10 BB, 1.19 WHIP, 3.70 ERA
5) Nathan Moreau, (SP/RP), 22 yrs old, Aberdeen, 22.2 IP, 34 K, 7 BB, 1.19 WHIP, 5.96 ERA
6) Oliver Drake, (RP), 21 yr old, Bluefield, 10 IP, 10 K, 0 BB, 0.68 WHIP, 0.87 ERA
7) Buck Britton, (2B), 22 yr old, Bluefield, .298 avg, .395 OB .323 SLG
8) Jose Barajas, (RP), 20 yr old, Bluefield, 16.2 IP, 21 K, 2 BB, 1.02 WHIP, 3.24 ERA
9) Jedediah Stevens, (SS), 24 yr old, Aberdeen, .255 avg, .309 OB, .467 SLG
10) Caleb Joseph, (C), 22 yr old, Aberdeen, .278 avg, .320 OB, .449 SLG, 17 2B

[Crazysilver03]

Wow. I knew Joseph has had a tremendous amount of power but I didnt realize he had that many doubles already.

Also impressed with Drake. I wondered if he was going to be worth the $100K signing bonus and he seems to be.

[cwebb24]

Stephen was a part of the 2006. He stayed in extended which is why he has only played with Aberdeen.

[PapaRick]

9) Jedediah Stevens, (SS), 24 yr old, Aberdeen, .255 avg, .309 OB, .467 SLG
17 2B [/B]

cwebb24 is correct, the draft choice this year is Robert Stephens, 21 yr old SS from Northern Illinois University (16th Round), whose stats at Bluefield are .211 avg, .354 OBP, .289 SLG according to MiLB.com. Although I can't see how his OBP can be .354 with only 7 BB's, I calculate an OBP of .252.

In any case, I don't think he makes the top ten at this point.

[cwebb24]

I believe Stevens is the guy who has a ton of HBP. Someone I think posted about this earlier.

[cwebb24]

http://forum.orioleshangout.com/forums/showthread.php?t=68078

[BoysofArbutus]

From this list, I hope to see Hoes and Avery both at Aberdeen next year like Kolodny went from GCL to Aberdeen this season. Welty should be in Delmarva.

Drake, Moreau, Zagone and Joseph I could all realistically see in Frederick. At their ages, we should so what they can handle right away. All three pitchers are likely bullpen candidates long term and Joseph is a back-up catcher in the bigs. I'd like to put them on pace to start at Camden Yards opening day 2011 if they succeed, putting them all in their mid 20's.

[DennisTheOsFan]

So Zagone, Moreau, and Drake project to be bullpen arms down the line? Early on, they are getting a lot of K's, and a K/BB rate better than 5:1. Off to a good start.