Ok, so we picked some guys yesterday. Let’s pick some more today.
It was actually a very interesting day for the Angels. First a local high school kid was picked, going very much against recent trends. Then there were high contact college kids surrounded by a college power bat who had cut his K rate in half from last year. All in all it showed a very new direction for the Angels.
Read those links as you wait for Angels picks. Hopefully you enjoy them.
I was able to join the Zoom chats with both Mcllvaine and Jared yesterday. Here are some takeaways:
You can tell Mcllvaine felt far more valued and was given far more input into this draft. He said Perry would come into scouting meetings with notes for the scouts. Mo just listened to the scouts.
Best player available regardless of development time was the directive from Mo, which was also a big change.
Contact rate is a big thing with Mcllvaine. When talking about power and speed he said “none of that other stuff matters if you can’t hit the ball.”
Jared was so excited to be drafted by the Angels he could barely hold it in. But he did a good job. Better than I could have done at 17, I think.
I did open a bit of a can of worms when I asked him about his college scholarship to play for Tennessee (where his brother plays) which then led to follow up questions about signability and whether the camps had spoken about that prior to the draft from other media folks. They have and he intends to be an Angel.
Enough for the behind the scenes stuff, but hope it adds to your morning.
All draft coverage is on MLB.TV and MLB Network today.
Really interesting talk with Mcllvaine after the draft today. Mostly confirmed what we’ve speculated.
I’ll go into more detail tomorrow.
Overall I like the process and hope the players pan out.
Here’s a prospect analyst who writes for Prospects Live that I follow and often agree with – he gave the Angels a B+ on their draft, and I’d probably say similarly – B+/B – especially compared to past cycles.
https://twitter.com/JoshCatlett3/status/2076438888978006269
He thinks the Giants and Cardinals had the best drafts, followed A’s, Astros and White Sox. That he has the Angels with the Pirates and Guardians in the next tier is bullish for Anaheim. Those are smart drafting teams.
I’m disappointed that the org doesn’t seem interested in developing Grindlinger as a 2-way player at all, but overall I like this class.
I’d take a B+ after some really head-scratching drafts the past few years.
Next year going for A or A- with a top 3 pick.
That Astros draft is weird, people either really like it or it gets like a D.
I think their first three picks – Hughes, Radel and Mendes – are all very underrated. Two of them were top two rounds guys on my own boards.
And they nabbed three upside high schoolers in Peterson, Johnson and Tronstein. It’s a sold class, imo.
I don’t know what the chicks are thinking. I find a guy that hits .434 fuggin sexy.
I have a dream. That dream is that Jaxon Willits shifts to 3B and becomes our Sal Bando.
Sal Bando is very underrated and appreciated. He was much better than most people realize. Just outside of the HOF.
I’m hoping he matches his little brother is AVE, HRs and RBIs once they hit the Show.. I’ll give Eli the SBs. Jaxon comes in weighing 20-lbs heavier even though they are the same height. Doesn’t have Eli’s burst.
Bando was way underrated. And in his later years, that head first slide he used reminded me of a blimp landing.
One thing worth mentioning – the Angels’ 8th round selection, Garrett Wright, was highly estimated by Baseball America. This wasn’t a consensus view, but he was #75 – basically a 2nd/3rd round talent – in BA’s rankings.
It’s an intriguing, and unusual, profile. Here’s their take:
75. Garrett Wright
C / OF
Wright spent two seasons as an athletic, everyday catcher for Bowling Green, then transferred to Tennessee for the 2026 season. He missed the first few weeks while recovering from left hamate surgery, then hit .348/.439/.594 with nine home runs and 17 doubles in 48 games after returning. When he did get back on the field, he played center field, which makes him an unusual—and highly athletic—catching prospect with real defensive versatility. At 6-foot, 190 pounds, Wright has a hyper-aggressive approach. He swings about half the time, is happy to expand the strike zone and has a modest 7.6% career walk rate. The approach has worked for him in college because of his impressive hand-eye coordination and natural contact skills. He’s also a proud dart board for pitchers. Wright’s 68 hit-by-pitches over the last three seasons is a top-10 mark among qualified college hitters. He does have some power questions, with lighter exit velocities and little physical projection to dream on. There is a lot to dream on from a defensive perspective. Teams entered the spring excited to see how Wright looked behind the plate, but instead had their views about his plus athleticism affirmed. He’s an above-average runner with a plus arm in the outfield with a real chance to stick in center field. He only caught a handful of games this spring, but has the physical tools and mobility to stick behind the plate and become a good defender.
Scouting Grades: Hit: 50 | Power: 40 | Speed: 55 | Field: 50 | Arm: 60
I really liked this guy for a late round pick and getting him where we got him was perfect. “I catch, play some CF and make a lot of contact but don’t hit a lot of HR so the chicks don’t dig me.” Perfect, sign me up.
If he can catch, throw out runners, and get on base, he will be far better than O’Hoppe. I don’t need him to hit home runs, just get on base and run to the next base when the next contact hitter singles.
That 60 grade arm looks tantalizing. O’Hoppe has been a disappointment so far so I’m glad the org recognizes that and fills a need
O’Hoppe would sure make a team put more weight on the arm. If they go to ABS – which I believe they will within 5 years – the position will be far more weighted on hitting. It’s quite painful watching him catch. As of late – the biggest driver in moving WAR is presentation skills – which to me is ridiculous. ABS can’t come soon enough as far as I’m concerned.
First thoughts after Day Two:
Only three prep selections in the whole draft – this is definitely a draft team that spends most of their time scouting college ball, much of it SEC/ACC. Grindlinger was local, and the two other prep picks were Georgia kids – something we’ve seen constantly since McIlvaine was hired.
Much more balanced draft – 12 position players, 8 pitchers, half plausible starters, half relief look. The first five selections were position players, acknowledging a clear deficit in the Angels system.
Pretty workmanlike draft overall – focus on contact hitters, guys that throw strikes, and high probability MLB contributors. Not a lot of ceiling here, but a few potential quick movers that fit into the torso of the system (High-A, AA), which is pretty bereft of bats at the moment.
After Willits in round 5, I only recognized four of the names – both catchers, and Cameron Jackson, who I saw prep reporting on. The last, Trevor Hansen, only because I watched some Anteater games this season.
Most of the prep bats I was keen on appear to be going to college. Boston grabbed Martin Shelar in round 9, and I bet they sign him, but late round grabs for Blake Bowen and Anthony Murphy are likely going to school.
NIL money makes these kids harder and harder to sign outside the top 2-4 rounds.
St Louis finally selected Kollin Ritchie in Round 20. Not sure what’s going on there. He has all sorts of contact concerns, but also massive power, and he was a consensus top Day One talent. Now he doesn’t appear to be available as a UDFA – I was hoping he might be.
Ritchie and Gavin Gallaher falling are surprises to me.
That means they can sign him for $100,000 without it counting against their bonus pool correct? I was also gonna ask you because I don’t know: when does the 80% bonus slot rule expire? Because obviously you don’t need to pay an eighth rounder 80% of their protected slot. Is it after the first round?
In rounds 11-20, every slot has a value of $150k. You can pay a player up to that, and any overage comes out of your general bonus pool.
A team can spend only 10% more than the bonus pool established by their top 10 slot values before they lose draft picks in future drafts. The majority of teams spend that extra 10%, but no one goes over and loses future draft picks.
There’s generally no limit to discounts below slot value, except for the top three rounds. If a prospect attends the MLB combine and submits to a physical, their bonus can only be discounted by up to 25%. (Like Bremner last year.)
So, by drafting him at #20, St Louis gets exclusive rights to offer him whatever he’ll take above $150k, but anything above that comes out of their bonus pool.
So maybe they called him up after calculating what they expected to have, and they came to a verbal deal?
Some college seniors will go undrafted because they think they can negotiate a slightly better deal with a team in free agency.
I think you nailed it. They probably had enough left to entice him. When I saw them pick him – I had no idea he was still on the board. Cards look like they crushed this draft.
They did. A good example is that they got Matt Thomas in the 13th round. Household name? Nope. But a guy I had actually heard of as a good pick to consider around round 8. They got at 13.
Yeah. I was checking on my phone and he never came up and I was like “Did Ritchie kill someone on campus and the news is about to break or something?”
I’m surprised about Gallaher. I was impressed by him all the way through his regional and the CWS. The word is he’s going back for another season at North Carolina.
Turks – What’s your take on the picks yesterday. I liked round 1 and 4 but not 2 and 3. I thought we did better today than usual. I’m waiting for the day you are as excited about our picks as Oaklands.
I was kind of the opposite – thought the selections at 2 and 3 were very good value – I had both as comp round selections, guys who I expected to go late first round or early second. Advincula is the best contact hitter in the draft. Grahovac is both a local OC guy, and has massive power at the corners – an alternative to Ace Reese, if you will. He used to be a whiff machine, but really made progress his junior year, cutting his K rate in half. Both guys are top 50 talents.
I think Grindlinger is a long-horizon upside play, but I’m skeptical the Angels have the system, staff and infrastructure to maximize his talents. He was in no way a reach, but he’s most valuable if he’s actually developed as a two-way player. That’s a really long play, and the Angels didn’t telegraph immediately that they want to do that – they announced him as an OF.
I like Lujo, but had other names ahead of him. He was more a 6-8 round guy to me – a 4th OF reserve type.
Thank you for the input, that makes me feel a little better but I do hope for the day you are excited about their draft. 🙂 . Thanks for all your input and the work you put in.
No problem – I’m a draft / amateur baseball obsessive, so it’s one of my favorite times of the year.
This was a more rational draft for the Angels. It really feels like one conducted by scouts, but also by a rather small scouting team, because the regional emphases are very clear. Lots of focus on Tennessee and Georgia, but also a few more kids with local roots.
Rational. Exactly. Avincula and Willets were two guys I liked just cause I think they will make nice players and likely be useful on an MLB roster. Grahovac, in my mind before the draft, was exactly “if you can’t get Ace, then why not? Just not in the first round.” That’s exactly what they did. He’s a beast. If they can get him to make even OK contact he’s a poor man’s Alec Burleson. If he can stick at 3B (with some work) then that’s gravy.
My hope is that the pick of Grindlinger, along with the presence of some good very young prospects, means that the team intends to invest in development.
If you’re gonna take random pitchers the SCC is the place to do it….
Drafts are a crap shoot, but there are ways this one can work out well for us.
I would have went Condon over Grindlinger but not unhappy.
Grahovac is a worker. He would be at A2D almost every night, after baseball practice working on his hitting and hand speed through the ball. The fact that he cut down his SO rate from freshman year on doesn’t surprise me.
He is a physical beast. That comes with hard work. Ironically I see a lot of mental game stuff with my son playing and this just hit my feed –
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXmi8OzEuVd/
Not that you asked me but… last year’s back 10 was awesome for a back 10. TJ Ford, Haley, Mitchell… not often you get that much talent out of rounds 10-20.
Thank you. Good to hear.
And very much designed that way. The Angels had the second largest bonus pool last year, and Perry clearly had a plan to spend it late on overslot youth pitching.
I do think that the destiny of a lot of those kids is still very TBD. Slawinski was a hit – but he was also a top 100 talent taken in the top 100 picks, so very on target. All of the others are extremely wild right now – big strikeout stuff from Gray, Mitchell, Cascino, Haley to an extent, but it’s also a lot of raw throwers with relief risk galore.
I think it’s fun to dream on them, but it’s also entirely possible that Slawinski becomes a #4, most of the rest of the lot bust, and one or two bullpen pieces emerge half a decade on. It was a risky strategy then. I still think it is a year later.
I believe the pricier prep bats of last year will move more quickly than the arms, tbh.
Had to do a few hours of driving – just taking stock.
I see a change to a new regime hasn’t stopped the classic end-of-draft legacy picks. Nephew of Tim Salmon just selected.
I’d like it entered into the CTPG record that I was the first to note that 19th round pick Jack Salmon is the son of Angels legend Tim Salmon.
Pretty sure it’s his nephew.
Would not be the first time AI is full of shit.
I just went to the UNLV site:
“Father, Mike, played in the NFL for the San Francisco 49ers and the Buffalo Bills … Uncle is 14-year MLB veteran Tim Salmon who played for the Angels”
That appears more authoritative. But I’m still holding the claim.
You go, man! AI will demand its truth of us soon enough.
I remember Mike more for being a USC Trojan FB than an NFL player.
RD 16, PK 469 – Robert Orloski, P
MLB Prospect Ranking – Unranked
RD 15, PK 439 – Cameron Jackson, SS
MLB Prospect Ranking – Unranked
Another high school senior.
RD 14, PK 409 – Tate McGuire, P
MLB Prospect Ranking – Unranked
His name alone gives him a fighting chance to make it.
RD 13, PK 379 – Jake Long, OF
MLB Prospect Ranking – Unranked
Another piece to read while the selections trickle in.
I’ll chime in from time to time. Also running an open house right now.
Nice read.
RD 12, PK 349 – Jacob Sammis, P
MLB Prospect Ranking – Unranked
Angels take a HS Senior after a run on college players.
I know the former coach from Glynn Academy. Word is he hit 95 on the gun this year – should be more in the tank.
Another in the tradition of plucking under the radar prep kids from Georgia private academies.
Western Carolina U. commit, hoping it won’t be that difficult. He’s already posted on Instagram his draft status.
RD 11, PK 319 – Adam Agresti, C
MLB Prospect Ranking – Unranked
Bremner closes out the Futures Game and seals the AL victory
Time to promote the fellow.
Though his numbers since after coming off the shelf are not all that great.
Only two college seniors drafted so far. That suggests we’re unlikely to see any big swings in the latter rounds with high school players. Maybe a Talon Haley 3rd/4th rounder type if they can make the numbers work.
Really ecstatic about Willits. Makes up for missing Nu’u.
I love guys who are key pieces of an Omaha winner (winning pedigree) .
This is the third year in a row we’ve grabbed a key piece of an NCAA CHAMPION!
Moore, Shores, Willits.
Snead falls into that bucket too.