Dixon Anderson - 6th round - RHP (Cal)

[Stotle]

Big frame is nice but his secondaries aren't good enough for him to stick in the rotation IMO. Let him pound the zone with the fastball out of the pen.

Based on the couple outings I saw this year...

Some pluses for relief:

• Hitchy delivery that comes with some deception
• 1.19-1.22 to home
• dials-up to 91/92 but sits 87-90 (reasonable to assume could sit low-90s with bore in short stints, maybe a little more as I've seen reports of him touching "mid-90s")
• big breaking ball (inconsistent -- usually 11/5) raw but could be good second out pitch

Some pluses for rotation:

• durable build
• even with some hitches, does a decent job of repeating mechanics (could be smoothed out if body control is as solid as it appears)
• doesn't command splitter but pitch would fit well with curve and fastball
• solid mound presence, shows some idea of how to think around ABs (just needs stuff to do what he wants it to)

#189 on my draft board (actual selection at #178)

[PBR Street Gang]

Anderson's Pac 10 stats FWIW....

Player                        ERA   W-L   APP  GS  CG SHO/CBO SV    IP   H   R  ER  BB  SO  2B  3B  HR   AB B/Avg   WP HBP  BK  Anderson, Dixon, CAL.......  5.17   5-4    17  13   0   0/2    1  76.2  85  51  44  32  45  14   0   6  296  .287    9  13   1  

[Duke2010]

Anderson's Pac 10 stats FWIW....

Player                        ERA   W-L   APP  GS  CG SHO/CBO SV    IP   H   R  ER  BB  SO  2B  3B  HR   AB B/Avg   WP HBP  BK  Anderson, Dixon, CAL.......  5.17   5-4    17  13   0   0/2    1  76.2  85  51  44  32  45  14   0   6  296  .287    9  13   1  

Nothing too inspiring here, but a lot of people had him as a top 3-5 round guy, so the consensus is that there is something to work with here. If he's permanently moved to the pen, I hope his stuff improves in shorter stints because he could be very successful with his deceptive delivery.

[RVAbird]

Based on the couple outings I saw this year...

Some pluses for relief:

• Hitchy delivery that comes with some deception
• 1.19-1.22 to home
• dials-up to 91/92 but sits 87-90 (reasonable to assume could sit low-90s with bore in short stints, maybe a little more as I've seen reports of him touching "mid-90s")
• big breaking ball (inconsistent -- usually 11/5) raw but could be good second out pitch

Some pluses for rotation:

• durable build
• even with some hitches, does a decent job of repeating mechanics (could be smoothed out if body control is as solid as it appears)
• doesn't command splitter but pitch would fit well with curve and fastball
• solid mound presence, shows some idea of how to think around ABs (just needs stuff to do what he wants it to)

#189 on my draft board (actual selection at #178)

Thanks, good info.

So...how do you develop him?

[Stotle]

Thanks, good info.

So...how do you develop him?

Disclaimer is that I have no special knowledge of developmental strategies for pro players. This is just spitballing.

Starter for at least the low minors. No reason to limit him to the pen right away. Would start him in Aberdeen or Delmarva this year with a focus on smoothing out the delivery. Hopefully that makes his release a little more uniform and his command gets a bump (also, better release on breaking ball). I'd tackle the splitter in Delmarva and see is that or maybe a vulcan change can be turned into a workable off-speed. I'd expect four years development as a starter.

Of course, he may move much more quickly -- depends some on how well he can instruction and implement.

[Tony-OH]

Anderson returned to California for his junior year.

[QBsILLEST1]

Anderson returned to California for his junior year.

Not incredibly upset with this one. He woulda been a bit of a project. The hope would have been that when given professional instruction, he would find the ability to grasp his stuff.

[brotherlo38]

California is folding it's baseball program.

[PaulBako]

wow shocking for a pac 10 school and a team in California.

[Frobby]

The change takes effect after the 2011 season, at which time Anderson can reenter the draft, so it doesn't affect him too much. But think of all the freshmen and sophmores who chose Cal over some other school and will now be left in the lurch (not to mention the juniors who aren't pro prospects).

[brotherlo38]

wow shocking for a pac 10 school and a team in California.

The athletic department has reportedly run up a debt of $10M-$13M in recent years.

Jerry Crasnick is saying they'll play the 2011 season.

[brotherlo38]

The change takes effect after the 2011 season, at which time Anderson can reenter the draft, so it doesn't affect him too much. But think of all the freshmen and sophmores who chose Cal over some other school and will now be left in the lurch (not to mention the juniors who aren't pro prospects).

I'd imagine the school will honor the scholarships of those who may wish to stay enrolled at the school until their eligibility would expire. Not sure if players would have to sit out a year to transfer. I would expect some defections between now and the start of the season.

[jcarm]

I'd imagine the school will honor the scholarships of those who may wish to stay enrolled at the school until their eligibility would expire. Not sure if players would have to sit out a year to transfer. I would expect some defections between now and the start of the season.

In the past, the NCAA has allowed such players to transfer without sitting out a year. I would think this would be what is done here. NCAA scholarships are always year to year, so the school would not be required to keep them under scholarship, but the school may honor them just the same.