The Amato Report: Post Draft Comments

Per request from Sam, and since I'm off today, I figured I'll do the 12-hour post writeup since we're all feeling "how did I mess THAT up??". Just the worst. 

Round 1

Went as expected. The only 'surprising' thing to me here was Miller at #5, but I didn't mind it at all since Josh had a ton of early picks. Emmet Sheehan dropping to 12 is a fucking crime...and to the DODGERS. Good job people. Pirates also got a steal taking McLean at #11.

Round 2

Again, went as expected, though Ed would disagree with you that Daylen Lile would be gone by the 2nd round. And he got him with Rd 2, pick 9! Kind of surprised Jhoan Duran was there at Rd 2, pick 4, even though he's just okay vs righties. Jordan better use his intro when he comes out for a save. 

Round 3

Now we got most teams in on the fun. Logan Henderson at #25 was not what I expected, but in our mock draft he was going to go in the mid-4th anyway (it's a good card and he has a rotation spot; just hardly any innings). Zack Littell is an interesting pick because I know the diamonds scare people, but I'm not sure if he makes it to the 4th round since he has innings and low OB units. Nick Allen in the 3rd round - 10th pick - was a choice (Pirates), but he would have gone sometime in the next couple rounds (late 3rd is still too high especially when you have a 2e8 at SS already). I thought the Dbacks finally got some well needed power in Gavin Sheets with the last pick...solid move.

Round 4

I knew the Cubs would take this guy, but I thought it would be in the 3rd (Ballasteros; 1st pick). Who doesn't love fat, DH guys that can hit? Our yearly Nationals crime then happens and everyone allows it where Jeff moves up to grab Mickey Moniak. Thinking about it more, it was me who could have used him! Oh well, live and learn. Dbacks got another value pick (#12) in Chad Patrick, which I think everyone had on their list with the groaning happening lol. Cardinals had back to back picks and got value in Brady Singer and a questionable move in Randy Vasquez (#8 and #9). I would have taken Patrick over Vasquez easily; I think Vasquez would have made it to the 7th or 8th rd tbh.

Round 5

The talent starts to drop a tier here, but the Cubs started strong with Mike Burrows, a usable card and has a job with the Astros. Brewers with Eli White (#4) was not a great move and Jordan knows it, but he would have been drafted either way and has nice power and solid defense. Dodgers netting Dalton Rushing to the insane depth they had already isn't fair (#9). And the Dbacks got another good value pick in Andrew Vaughn (#10).

Round 6 is clearly when Mr Medonia needed to head home, because drafting Robert Hassell was a choice...the wife must have been sending him some texts...jk. In the same round he drafted Reese McGuire and Justin Verlander, and in our mock draft they both went in this round. Spencer Horwitz dropping to the 6th round was a gaff on all of us and the Rocks took advantage of our slow brains. 

Some value/high upside poached 7-15

Caleb Thielbar - Rd 7 - Rockies

Daniel Palencia - Rd 7 - Brewers 

Andrew Monastario - Rd 7 - Giants

Liam Hicks - Rd 7 - Marlins

Jake Bauers - Rd 8 - Giants

Danny Jansen - Rd 8 - Dbacks

Hyesong Kim - Rd 9 - Dbacks

Tommy Pham - Rd 11 - Padres 

Jake McCarthy - Rd 11 - Nationals

Ryan Helsley - Rd 11 - Cardinals

Chase Dollander - Rd 13 - Dodgers

Jose Alvarado - Rd 14 - Phillies

Robert Gasser - Rd 14 - Nationals

Michael Conforto - Rd 15 - Cubs

Winners and Losers

I don't like doing winners and losers since we all added to our teams. I will say the teams that did very well - at least to me - are the Santora teams. Yeah Josh did have a ton of early picks, but none of the picks he used were wasted. Did he need Dalton Rushing? No, but he needed a 3rd catcher and had the depth to do it. And he got a great pick in Sheehan at #12 along with netting a few draft picks by moving back a few spots in the same round. Brutal for us, good for Josh. Josh also did well knowing the depth issues he needed (defense at C, etc) and addressed them early. Ugh.

Dbacks got good value mostly everywhere. Marsee was a solid #14 overall pick, and Isaac Collins slipping to the 3rd round was a slight dip back from where our mock draft had him going. Sheets at the end of the 3rd, Patrick at the end of the 4th, and Andrew Vaughn in the 5th were added bonuses. I'd even consider Hyesong Kim a value pick! Dbacks really improved this offseason.

Kudos to the Cubs as I felt it was a very solid first draft. There were a few rounds I felt they could have gone for best available instead of youth, but for the most part they achieved their goal of getting good, controllable players that hopefully pan out. Rob only needs 2-3 of these guys to work out and he'll be set up well going into 2027. It'll be a rough 2026, but at least some of the guys he got have good cards for this year along with being a prospect.

Trade analysis

We had 2 major trades:

1. deGrom back to the Phillies for what else is new...top picks in 2027

Steve should have charged interest to Sam for holding on to deGrom, but alas, he goes back to the Phillies after a month. It makes the Phillies better, but how much better? If I'm Steve I'm 100% doing that deal since I already have picks to work with this year to address losing deGrom, and the Phillies - based on the offseason report - were a fringe playoff team. And that was WITH deGrom as part of the report.

2. Schwarber (FINALLY) gets moved, but to the surprise of everyone to the Padres for rounds 1-4 that cross parts of 2026 and 2027

I am not going to hate on the Padres for this; they had a gaping hole at DH and decided to go for it. Thinking about it more, while I was perplexed at the time, even if the Padres are projected for 9th-10th place and eventually sell...it's not like Schwarber is going to be bad anytime soon. So they could easily rebuild for a year and still make out well with this trade. It's a bold move for a team that really needed some power and Rob's hold out (longer than my ex gf's have held out for) finally got rewarded for their premium price tag on a DH.

To close, I will say, I did miss Mr Borenstein drafting AJ Ellis...much simpler times (jk, love you Jordy). But he was there with us in spirit at the Tampa Bay Airport.

Anyway, see everyone in a few weeks. Fun times.