The Denver Brewers had the 18th pick in the first round of the 1974 draft and with that pick they chose third baseman Andy Oleson. Oleson, a 21-year old out of El Paso College, profiles as a very good contact hitter with a decent amount of power and good eye at the plate, more in terms of avoiding the strikeout though than drawing bases on balls. He is a slow runner and almost sure never to win any Gold Gloves at third, but he does have a cannon arm so he should be capable at the position. He doesn't standout as having the kind of intangibles the Brewers often seem to value highly, but he has a reputation of being a good teammate.
The Brewers had a pick in the supplemental first round as well due to the signing of free agent reliever Jose de los Santos in the offseason. The Brewers believe they may have pulled off the steal of the draft with their selection of two-way player Adrian Darby with this pick. While Darby came into the draft as a third baseman, and was a solid prospect at that position, the Brewers see in him the potential to be a reliever of the caliber de los Santos was in his prime. Which is to say a dominant stopper. He has a cutter that is already fairly developed and profiles as dominant and a curve ball that is less polished but has the same devastating potential. At his peak the Brewers see Darby as having plus stuff, plus movement, and at least average, if not a bit above average, control. He is a hard-throwing ground ball pitcher who pitches with confidence and poise. And like current Brewer Jordan Stephens, Darby can also play third base and gives the team another power bat off the bench. Darby could end up being the real bright spot of this draft.
With their 2nd round pick the Brewers drafted 18-year old outfielder Darian Burdzy out of Coastal Carolina University. Burdzy is the cousin of Phoenix Speed Devils center fielder Kenny White and is believed to have good baseball smarts. Burdzy is a fast runner with very good defensive range. He profiles with decent contact skills (thought be already pretty advanced) and a patient approach at the plate, but very little power.
(A note about this pick: I usually shy away from drafting players who were created through my relative player creation process. Just because I feel like I know a bit too much about them and it might not be fair. But in this case, I don't feel like Burdzy is that fantastic a prospect and it just made sense that the team would choose him at this juncture. So there it is.)
In the 3rd round the Brewers drafted 21-year old outfielder Jon Williams out of St. Louis College. Williams had a great season for the Blue Hens in 1973 but struggled a bit this Spring and this might have led him to drop a bit in the draft. He is a tremendous fielder with a spectacular arm and possesses top of the line speed and good base running skills. He may never hit for a high average but could become a plus power hitter. And all reports are that he is a likable teammate.
At the urging of head scout Nick Meskill, the Brewers chose their first pitcher with their 4th round pick. They took 18-year old right hander Josh Roberts out of Burley High School (Burley, Idaho). Josh has the reputation of having a very strong work ethic and good makeup, has good stamina (he is a finesse pitcher), but likely will never develop his third pitch (change up) and his fastball and slider both profile as just a bit above average. He should develop decent control but will likely underwhelm in terms of stuff and movement and likely projects as a mediocre relief pitcher at best. Still, he is young and hard working and with his funky sidearm delivery he may still develop into at least a good middle inning option to fool a dangerous right handed hitter or two.
