Even with all the uncertainty surrounding this year’s MLB draft, Rockies scouting director Bill Schmidt says Colorado would be ready “to have a draft right now.”
That is despite there being no confirmed date for the draft — it could be as early as June 10 or as late as July 20 — and a condensed format that calls for as few as five rounds instead of the usual 40.
“We started out scouting last June right after the draft, and we did a lot of good work — visiting guys, seeing guys in the summer and fall, evaluating guys earlier on this year,” Schmidt said. “But we’re still doing work, and nobody knows exactly what’s going to happen coming out of this. When they say there’s going to be a draft, we’ll be ready to go.”
Both Schmidt and MLB Pipeline senior writer Jim Callis don’t believe the shortened draft will hurt, or help, the Rockies. As Schmidt noted, “every year I’ve been involved in the draft, we’ve had five to ten rounds.”
“I don’t think it affects one team more than other teams, because everyone is in the same boat,” Callis said.
The Rockies, like the other 29 MLB teams, will be working within unique financial restrictions placed on this year’s draft due to baseball’s indefinite postponement because of the coronavirus pandemic. Payment of signing bonuses will be delayed, but more significantly, undrafted players will only be eligible for bonuses of $20,000 or less.
That could give teams the upper hand in negotiations with prospects, especially those taken after the opening two rounds. Amateur players would risk going undrafted and signing for only the $20,000 maximum if they told teams they’d turn down an offer well below their assigned slot value.
Compare that to last year, when 100 players received six-figure bonuses between the sixth and 10th rounds, and 295 more got six-figure bonuses after the 10th round.
“That’s going to be the big question: Are those guys who normally would’ve gotten six figures going to sign for $20,000?” Callis said. “If you want to play pro ball, in a lot of cases, you’re better off taking $20,000 this year because there’s no guarantee you’re going to get that next year with the draft potentially cut to as few as 20 rounds and MLB considering minor league contraction. Prospects might just have to wear it, because $20,000 may look good come next year.”
For the Rockies, longtime national scout Jay Matthews says the shortened draft combined with the $20,000 undrafted maximum — previously those players could get up $125,000 before counting against their team’s bonus pool — is going to put a premium on connections with prospects.
“Since we’re all going to be under the same money figure for free agents, it’s going to come down to relationships that the area scouts have established with the prospects,” Matthews said. “They can say, ‘You want to be a Rockie? You trust me?’ It’s going to come down to like recruiting is in college, more or less.”
Matthews said he and his Colorado colleagues are “staying in scouting shape” amid the postponement in a department that includes about 16 area scouts and 22 staffers overall, headed by Schmidt.
“We’re staying in contact with players every day, and among ourselves (in digital meetings) we’re breaking down players that we’ve seen,” Matthews said.
While Callis noted scouting for next year’s draft could look “radically different” — especially if college leagues and high school showcases are shut down this summer and fall — he doesn’t expect widespread changes in draft strategy by the Rockies or anyone else this year. However, Schmidt is preparing his staff for the possibility of a remote draft like the NFL is doing.
“We’ll see what society is doing at the point of the draft, and whatever (social distancing) rules we are given, we’ll make the best of it,” Schmidt said.
The come at No. 9, No. 35 and No. 46 overall. Should the draft be just five rounds, as Callis believes, Colorado will have six total picks and its bonus pool . The assigned value of its first-round pick is $4,949,100.
Schmidt wouldn’t tip his hand on positions of focus for the club, but is any indication, the Rockies will be selecting college players, and specifically college pitchers, high. This draft is deep in that regard. Colorado’s drafted a college pitcher with at least one of its first three selections in each of the last four drafts, and the Rockies haven’t used their first three selections on all high schoolers since 2015.
“We just want good players, and lots of them,” Schmidt said.
Top college pitching prospects
Given recent draft history, here’s possible arms the Rockies might be targeting with their first few picks
Emerson Hancock, RHP, Georgia; Asa Lacy, LHP, Texas A&M; JT Ginn, RHP, Mississippi State; Reid Detmers, LHP, Louisville; Carmen Mlodzinski, RHP, South Carolina; Cole Wilcox, RHP, Georgia; Tanner Burns, RHP, Auburn; Garrett Crochet, LHP, Tennessee; Max Meyer, RHP, Minnesota; CJ Van Eyk, RHP, Florida State; Tommy Mace, RHP, Florida; Cole Henry, RHP, LSU; Kevin Abel, RHP, Oregon State; Cade Cavalli, RHP, Oklahoma; Jeff Criswell, RHP, Michigan; Jake Eder, LHP, Vanderbilt; Chris McMahon, RHP, Miami.
