What do you look for in the draft?

[adaman77]

When you're drafting with scouting on, what do you look for? In my experience, the general potential rating is a decent jumping-off point, but it's very far from the be-all and end-all. I usually find that any pitcher that jumps out as "wow, this guy could be really good" is usually gone about halfway through the first round, and I have a lot of trouble getting good pitching prospects. There also seem to be far fewer guys with high pitching potentials (on the star rating, at least) than hitters, which I guess does make sense.

What kinds of things do you look for? If a high school guy has (according to your scout) crazy-good power potential, but your scout also says his eye potential is 6 out of 20 and his contact potential is 7 out of 20, and he looks like a mediocre defensive corner outfielder or first baseman, how much do you value that? How much do you gamble that a guy will improve the weak areas of his game (that they'll be greater than his potential ratings), and hold onto the strong areas?

And especially, how do you look at a young pitcher and say "He could be good"? As I said before, the potential star ratings for pitchers are usually very conservative, so you really have to dig into the specific potential ratings. The trouble is, I don't have a great idea of how to pick out a guy with the makings of a big-league starting pitcher unless his potential ratings are all pretty high and it's obvious.

[Déjà Bru]

This is why it's good to have feeder leagues and "real" stats to go by, for one thing.

For another, I distrust scout ratings of high school players. Talk about bust potential. I usually keep my eye strictly on college level prospects.

Well, as to the rest, there are a few things you can look at besides ratings. For example, instead of just looking at a pitcher's Stuff, Movement, and Control potential, how about such things as how many pitches does he have in his arsenal (even if he's currently lowly rated in them)? What's his velocity and ground ball ratio? What about his stamina and hold runners ratings?

For batters, clues are a bit less abundant. I can think of only speed (which will help with batting average) and looking at the usual Contact, Eye, etc. from lefty-righty viewpoints. After all, the player is going to be facing lefties and righties throughout his career and you don't want to be picking a one-sided player if you can help it.

Defensive ratings are always a biggie with me. I play with the DH but I certainly don't want to plan on having a career DH; I reserve that position for veterans who still swing a good bat but whose gloves need to be put into mothballs. Don't overlook how poor defense from position players can cost you many games.

Final thing that I look at, very important: High marks in personality traits for Leadership, Intelligence, and Work Ethic. I cannot stress strongly enough how important the last two are for player development. If you want proof, watch the AI pass up highly rated prospects in the amateur draft who are stupid and/or lazy.

[le receveur]

by the 7th-10th round I also take a flyer on a HS pitcher with high $ demand, high intelligence high work ethics. so far 2 have turned into reasonable prospects in 10 years

[tayloraj]

When drafting high school position players I generally look for them having at least one already-developed skill, something that they can definitely already do (this is especially good if it's batting eye) rather than purely going off my scout's potential projections.
For high school pitchers there are two basically contradictory routes I take: I'll either look for guys who can throw really hard (once again, having that one already-established skill) or for guys who have decent stuff projections despite relatively low velocities (in other words, a lot of decent secondary pitches), knowing that high school pitchers will generally gain a few mph as they develop in their early 20s, which can play major dividends with respect to their overall stuff.

[endgame]

Everyone will have their own philosophies, and I think even those will change as the season's ensue and your personal needs and tastes change. There's no hard and fast rule, IMHO.

As for me, however, I almost exclusively have started my leagues with inaugural drafts that leave me with active rosters composed of 28-yr-old and unders, including a lot of 20-21 yr-olds, so the need for immediate help from the 1st year draft diminishes in its priority considerably. Unless, of course, someone drops off production considerably in a season. As a result, I invest in two things across the board, almost without fail: pitchers and high work ethic. Better if I can find high work ethic pitchers with high potential. Then I review the coaching staffs and ensure they have Excellent or better Teach Pitching skills, followed by how the relate to Rookies. That combination offer the best possibilities for a future starter, setup man, or backup utility player, for me at least.

[hfield007]

Once it gets to the lower rounds i look for 3 pitch pitchers with the highest control and velocities

[YanksFan]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

For another, I distrust scout ratings of high school players. Talk about bust potential. I usually keep my eye strictly on college level prospects.

I've actually had more success with high schoolers than college guys. Every college guy i pick flames out. ESPECIALLY if i pick them in the first round. Meanwhile my starting RF, LF, SS and 2B were all high-schoolers and all have blossomed into very productive hitters and defenders. That's what makes this game great because there is more than one way to build a team.