2019 MLB Draft team strategy: NL West

With the MLB draft now a short three weeks away, we break through our first divisional outlook on draft needs and draft strategy for the upcoming 2019 MLB draft.

Arizona Diamondbacks

2018 Record: 82-80
Bonus Pool: $16,093,700
Day 1 selections: 7 (16, 26, 33, 34, 56, 74, 75)
Day 2 selections: 8 (93, 122, 152, 182, 212, 242, 272, 302)

Draft Strategy

The team with the most money in the draft by over $2 million over the 2nd-highest team and nearly $3 million over the 3rd-highest bonus pool, the Diamondbacks will be able to have a lot of paths to their 2019 draft. With a farm system that is on the rise, but is still among the bottom in the league, this could be an excellent way to quickly inject some talent.

The issue here is that the Diamondbacks end up with this bounty of signing bonus money in a year when the overall draft class is really not elite at the very top, but offering more 2nd-4th round type of players, and that could be great if they were to sign for the value that they typically would have in an average draft, but in this draft, those players can demand more as they are better-ranked in a more shallow talent pool.

The Diamondbacks could be an intriguing team on a few players that could be tough to place within this year’s draft class. Navy pitcher Noah Song may have the best raw stuff in the entire draft class, but he’s also going to be heading out on a Navy service commitment after graduation and commission as an officer, which means the team that drafts him will have to be patient and be willing to wait to reap the rewards of selecting him now. With this many picks, the Diamondbacks could be uniquely suited for such a selection.

Other picks that could really fit with the Diamondbacks, especially with their picks at #56, #74, and #75, would be high school players (or draft-eligible college sophomores) who could require a high bonus to sign. They could make some smart money-saving selections with 3 of their 7 first-day picks and sit back with two of those three picks mentioned and grab guys who have top-level talent but difficult price tags, knowing that not signing one of them is not going to derail their draft!

Colorado Rockies

2018 Record: 91-72 (Wild Card, lost in NLDS)
Bonus Pool: $7,092,300
Day 1 selections: 3 (23, 62, 77)
Day 2 selections: 8 (100, 129, 159, 189, 219, 249, 279, 309)

Draft Strategy

The Rockies have the smallest bonus pool in the division by roughly $1 million, and that could definitely influence their draft strategy as they do need to spread that pool over 11 selections in the first two days (and any day 3 picks they want to filter it to as well).

The Rockies are selecting late enough that they will be able to focus on what they do best and what plays well in their organization with their selection and simply letting someone that fits both of those categories well fall right into their laps. Athletic outfielders, left-handed pitching, and prep middle infielders are all depth areas in this draft that the Rockies could see working well in their first selection.

Beyond that, they only have one other selection in the top 75 and just a total of 3 before pick #100, so they will need to hit well on their picks, and there is a reason that many have ventured speculation that Colorado could have a fairly college-heavy draft in the first two days.

Los Angeles Dodgers

2018 Record: 92-71 (Lost in World Series)
Bonus Pool: $8,069,100
Day 1 selections: 3 (25, 31, 78)
Day 2 selections: 8 (102, 131, 161, 191, 221, 251, 281, 311)

Draft Strategy

After they lost out on signing first-round selection J.T. Ginn last season, the Dodgers set themselves up for a very nice bonus pool, especially for a team that’s been to the World Series the past two seasons. Now they will just need to take advantage of that pool!

To their benefit, the 2019 draft seems to lend very well to the Dodgers system strengths, with excellent raw talent up the middle, college pitchers with upside, and a host of premier athletes that could excel once focused on baseball only. It’d be quite expected to see L.A. come out of the first two picks with two prep players, especially if they can find guys with some defensive flexibility already in their profile, like Florida prep third baseman Tyler Callihan, who has worked some behind the plate as well, or even super-flexible Texas prep Trey Faltine.

Once they move beyond their first two selections, they are toward the back of each round and focusing on projectable college players as they have recently could be another route to go. They’ve also recently had success grabbing middle-round college players coming off poor years or Tommy John, so a guy like Davis Daniel could be a potential day two target.

San Diego Padres

2018 Record: 66-96
Bonus Pool: $10,758,900
Day 1 selections: 3 (6, 48, 73)
Day 2 selections: 8 (84, 113, 143, 173, 203, 233, 263, 293)

Draft Strategy

The Padres are beginning to see the fruits of their amazing stack of talent come to bear with their major league club this season, and while they could end up being more exciting to watch than successful on the scoreboard for the 2019 season, there are big things ahead for the major league club, allowing this draft to really be purely about getting the best talent available.

While drafting the absolute best player each time would be great, the team also has to consider their draft pool, which is 8th-highest in the league, but it is still nearly $5.5 million less than the Diamondbacks, so they can’t just spend wildly. This is why the Padres have been linked more with potentially excellent college players whose values have tumbled some from preseason, like Shea Langeliers. They could potentially get a player like that, who was a preseason top 10-15 player, to sign for underslot at #6, opening up their draft further down.

Beyond that particular focus, the Padres always tend to like grabbing prep arm talent, and there is plenty to be had early on this season, so it’d be almost an upset if they entered day 3 without a prep arm on their draft sheet.

San Francisco Giants

2018 Record: 73-89
Bonus Pool: $8,714,500
Day 1 selections: 2 (10, 51)
Day 2 selections: 8 (87, 116, 146, 176, 206, 236, 266, 296)

Draft Strategy

The Giants have a very “straight” draft for their new management in their first draft. They have 10 picks, picking in their draft slot each time.

That certainly doesn’t mean they’re going to go cheap by any means, as the 10th pick does allow them some freedom to explore into the prep market, and with one of the lowest-ranked farm systems in the game, hitting big in this draft would be a huge positive to the system overall. That could mean that the Giants go for more polished, college players, or it could mean that they choose to really push their scouting department to find a certain type of player this year.

The Giants are one of a number of teams early on in the draft process this year with new management that could really alter how the entire draft plays out, based on how they choose to play this year’s draft class. Keep your eyes on what Farhan Zaidi does starting June 3!

Become a Patron!