This is a new series of diaries that'll be covering the Minor League Ball Mock Draft. Below the jump is the text of the MOD posted at Minor League Ball. What I need from the BYB community is help- I've got to cover about 100-150 prospects for the draft, and I'd love help on creating the draft board. So I'm calling for volunteer assistant directors to help with preparation and execution. I'd like to make the BYB team a permanent fixture in the Sickles Mock Draft, and I'd love for this to become a new feature every year.
Cheers, and go Tigers!
Okay- so normal Tigers drafts involve acquiring players that slip in the draft and power arms. The result: a farm system that has been historically strong on pitching but weak on position players. The question is therefore whether this trend should continue or whether the Tigers should address the weaknesses in the system and draft for need.
Proposed draft philosophies
#1: Best Player Available
Straightforward, simple and probably the best strategy to take. We do what the Tigers do in most drafts- grab talented players that slip to the supplemental first for signability or cost reasons (something that never happens in the mock) and use the ample resources that will be supplied by owner Mike Illich to grab as much talent as possible.
#2: Power Pitchers
While this option is probably closest to what Scouting Director David Chadd would do, I'm not necessarily in favor of just drafting power pitchers. It's not just because of issues with depth either. Good position players often come from five tool players drafted early, and that could be the only way to get a young star or a solid shortstop.
#3: Draft for weakness
This option is the opposite of what the Tigers have historically done. But there's serious problems with position depth, especially at third base- which features Wade Gaynor as our best 3B prospect. Shortstop is a pretty weak position too, and it would be nice to find a player that could stick.
Overall, the first option is probably the best. Now comes the fun part- naming the players to target. Any suggestions?