[BirdWatcher]

Having had their worst season since 1967, the Denver Brewers had the 9th pick in the 1986 WPK draft.

With that pick they drafted 19-year old JuCo first baseman Jonathan Murphy. This, to be honest, isn't how the Brewers front office saw this playing out. Murphy is slow, the only defensive position he can even possibly play is first base, and he will mostly be a liability there, and his baseball IQ is questionable. So why did they pick him, then, you ask? Well, simply this- other than the first overall pick, Henry Machado, Murphy was probably the best hitter in the draft. If the WPK hadn't instituted a designated hitter rule starting this season, there is no way the Brewers would have picked this guy this early. But as a DH, he looks like a future middle-of-the-order force. He combines plus plus contact skills with potentially elite power and a well above-average eye. He is also a hard worker, loyal, and has low greed. There were members of the Brewers front office who weren't in favor of this pick, but ultimately he was simply the best player still available and in the end that was the winning argument.



The Brewers second round pick was another non-Brewers kind of pick. Bill Arvayo, a 19-year old left fielder out of New York College, is another bat-first position player who might end up without a position (other than DH.) Arvayo, like Murphy, is a flyball hitter with excellent power and a good eye. He doesn't have the contact skills that Murphy does, but he should be at least above league average in that regard. He's not much faster than the extremely slow Murphy, and while he has a pretty fine outfield arm, he is a corner outfielder at most and one with limited range. He certainly could play first base eventually, if that is in the cards. Arvayo is another guy with a great work ethic and low greed, at least.



With their third round pick the Brewers went for the best left-handed reliever left in the draft pool, in 20-year old Sharaf Sanchez out of Austin College. It might seem early to pick a reliever (and, yeah, it probably was), particularly given that the Brewers are very strong in this area, both at the big league level and in the high levels of the minor leagues, but left-handers are a weakness in the organization. And Sanchez, who should have elite stuff with his wicked splitter and great 4-seam fastball, is nearly big-league ready right now. He is a groundball pitcher whose movement and control still need some development but are nearly average already and profile as becoming solidly above average soon. He will start his professional career at single A Bainbridge and if all goes well could be in the Brewer bullpen as early as late next season. (And, although he is a U.S. citizen born in Morristown, New Jersey, he is also one of the few players in the WPK baseball universe whose second nationality is Israeli.)



Ty Pruit, who the Brewers took in the fourth round, is a guy the Brewers think will surprise some people. Pruit is a prep starting pitcher out of Fort Worth High School, but for a high school pitcher, he seems to have a pretty high floor. He is durable, a very hard worker, has three already pretty advanced pitches with his curveball and slider both projected to reach plus plus status, and his potential control is his greatest strength, which he should combine with above average stuff and movement. His stamina isn't great, but it is above average, and with his excellent control he should be an efficient pitcher. Pruit might not look like a true ace in the making, but the Brewers front office thinks he is a solid investment and should become a reliable middle-of-the-rotation arm once he develops a bit more.



Then, with the fifth pick, another odd pick for a team that has historically sought out high tools, speedy, defensively gifted prospects. Hayden Bradford, and 18-year old first baseman out of Milwaukee High School, is sort of a poor man's (team's?) Jonathan Murphy. He's another flyball hitter with good power (though his gap power is expected to exceed his homerun power) and a plus eye, with perhaps only average contact skills (although his ability to avoid striking out looks pretty solid, so he might exceed expectations a bit in terms of his bat-to-ball tool). On the plus side, and not an insignificant factor in his being picked here, Bradford looks like a natural leader. And, given the rest of his profile, he does have average speed and base stealing savvy though he doesn't run the bases very well. He might be insurance in case Murphy busts, or trade bait, or, well, time will tell.



After this, the Brewers took another left-handed reliever in Jonathan Waterman (great stamina, excellent curveball), Bryce Bakker, a 19-year old JuCo player who was listed in the draft as a first baseman but who the Brewers believe should become a very fine defensive third baseman, with his strong arm and above-average range (decent speed, good power and eye), another reliever, Joey Ledet (another curveball specialist with good control and high stamina), yet another left-handed reliever (see a trend?) in Jesse Blevins (yup, great curveball, high stamina, good control), and with their 10th round pick yet another corner outfielder with a good bat and questionable defense in Kyle Volz. Volz is more contact than power oriented though he should have above-average power, has great makeup (though low leadership skills) and the most fascinating part of his game is that for a guy who is painfully slow afoot, he is an excellent base stealer and even better baserunner. He won't steal many bases, but when he goes he will likely be successful and he should surprise opponents with some savvy base advancement.

In the remainder of the draft the Brewers continued to focus on stockpiling useful relief arms, largely because this has been an area where the team has often had to scramble to sign free agents just to have enough lower level of the minors arms. (No such problem at the higher levels, where they are flush with pitching of all kinds, except maybe quality southpaws.) They drafted just one catcher, who has good defense, great power and eye, and who will rarely actually make contact with any pitches while at the plate. (It was a very weak catching class.) They did also get a few better fielding middle of the field position players, just none who have any big league starter potential. Center fielder Jose Ximenez, taken in the 13th round, could be an interesting dark horse for a bench role someday, with his elite speed, excellent defensive range, wonderful eye, and average power. Now if only he had even the least bit of contact hitting potential, he might amount to something.

So, in a year where the draft class was considered one of the best in years, did the Brewers have a good draft?
If you catch them in a thoughtful and candid moment, members of the Brewers front office would probably say, eh, could have done better, but there is some potential there.

In Jonathan Murphy they got a guy with very real potential to become a middle-of-the-lineup force without a position other than DH. They got a high floor, high ceiling left-handed reliever in Sharaf Sanchez, the draft pick from this crop of future Brewers most likely to have a big league impact soonest. Bill Arvayo and Hayden Bradford should both have big league bats but will have to hit enough to counteract poor defense. And Ty Pruit has a chance to be a valuable #3 or #4 starting pitcher. After that, the guy that the front office thinks might be most likely to over-achieve is 7th round pick Bryce Bakker, who has strong all-around skills.