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Jiggs McGee · 12-10-2019, 09:05 PM

A VERY EARLY 1929 MOCK DRAFT

The dust has barely settled on the 1928 draft and I will have some analysis of that in the days ahead but old Jiggs is always looking to the future.

You may still be celebrating all the great young talent your favorite FABL team acquired in this weekend's draft but for Scouting Director's of the 16 teams it simply means work has just started once again. In this installment I will share with you some names that are on the tip of your club's scouting director's tongue. You may not know them yet but you soon will as these are some of the players the scouts are drooling over when thinking about the next years draft.

Most feel it is a foregone conclusion that, after skipping the draft this season to complete his degree at Georgia Baptist, Tom Barrell will be the first pitcher to hear his name called next December at the draft. Young Tommy may have some company in the form of Mobile High School righthander Ben Bernard. The 17 year old is 11-3 in 2 seasons with a 1.09 era and a 0.83 WHIP. High school arms are always risky but Bernard seems to show poise beyond his years.

Here is my way to early mock draft for the first round next December.

1- TOM BARRELL RHP - Georgia Baptist: So much is already known about Barrell who has been under a microscope because of his famous last name throughout his career. He will end up being a rare 4-season college player which positions him well to set many AIAA career records. He is already 28-6 for his career with a 2.69 era and 340 strikeouts in 318 innings of work. A second team All-American last year, Barrell has been touted as a first round pick ever since he joined his older brother Fred with the Gators. The problem with that is some general managers have the tendency to over analyze Barrell because they know him so well. They start to look at his flaws, which every draft pick has, rather than focus on all of the things he does so well. My expectation is Barrell has a great season and reaffirms he is the best amateur pitcher in the nation.

2-BEN BERNARD RHP - Mobile HS: If there is a pitcher that can replace Barrell at the top of the draft it is the 17 year old from Warren, Pennsylvania. In 132 college innings he is 11-3 with a 1.09 era and an almost unbelievable 480 ERA+. His career WHIP is 0.83. The upside appears limitless for Bernard. However, he is a high school arm and certainly much less refined then Barrell. Bernard is nicknamed the Warden because he always seems to be in control of the situation but if there is a knock on him it's that he knows how good is and sometimes becomes complacent. Mobile was a sub .500 team last season and will be starting 3 or 4 rookies on a team that already lacked offense. If Bernard can lift them into contention it will certainly help prove his dominance.

3-JOHN COLLINS OF - Liberty College: After Tommy Wilcox went first overall this year, his former teammate John Collins may follow in his footsteps. The 20 year old already has 37 career home runs and a slash line of .386/.481/.757 in 100 AIAA games. While the college record of 68 set by Calvin Dybas of Grafton (1912-15) is likely out of his reach, Collins needs just 10 more homers to have the second most in AIAA history. Collins hits for average as well as distance, and has struck out just 44 times in 468 plate appearances. He was a first team All-America selection last season.

4-VIC CRAWFORD OF - Commonwealth Catholic: The 20 year old has been compared to Collins for two years now and is one behind his Northeast Collegiate Division rival with 36 homers. Crawford is sporting a career .369/.467/.747 slash line which makes him almost a carbon copy of Collins. Both were first team All-Americans as juniors. Crawford is a right-handed bat, unlike the lefty Collins and is comfortable in all 3 outfield positions. Crawford is also one of the few baseball players to hail from Hawaii.

5-TOM BLALOCK RHP - Chicago Poly: After a decent rookie season, Blalock broke out as a junior, posting a 9-0 record with a 1.37 era for the Panthers - numbers that allowed him to tie Barrell for a spot on the All-American second team. Blalock is 17-4 with an 8.1 WAR in just under 200 innings of work and seems destined to go early in the draft.

6-SAM ORR 2B - Henry Hudson University: After finishing second in the Northeast in batting as a rookie, Orr's production dropped slightly last season but he still hit .358 with 12 homers. In two seasons with the Explorers, Orr is slashing .393/.452/.704 with 31 homeruns and 17 stolen bases while also playing decent defense. He is the best middle infield prospect available.

7- STEVE STUDER OF - Frankford State: Studer looks like a terrific centerfielder with just 3 errors in 101 games to go along with a very good zone rating and 13 outfield assists. However, his offensive skills may be even better. 45 stolen bases in two seasons and a .353/.457/.688 slash line for his career. In those 101 games he had 63 extra base hits including 32 homeruns.

8- DAN FOWLER OF - Commonwealth Catholic: It should be quite a power hitting display on the Knights campus in Boston this year with both Crawford and Fowler. Fowler has 33 homers in 2 seasons and has slashed .325/.420/.618 in his college career. To go with that power he also has speed as Fowler stole 25 bases last year and has 53 in 102 career games. The Knights are loaded on offense - although pitching is a concern - and a long run in the College World Championship Series will only aid the draft stock of both of the star outfielders.

9- CLAY JACKSON RHP - Detroit City College: Jackson had a very good rookie AIAA season but just exploded last year with a 10-2, 1.40 era campaign that saw him post a 4.7 WAR, second only to Tommy Wilcox. Homeruns were a bit of a concern as a rookie but he cut those down a bit and improved his strikeout to walk ratio as well. If he shows more improvement on already great numbers this season, he might challenge for first overall.

10- HERMAN SMITH RHP - Frankford State: Only 35 times in the history of the AIAA has a pitcher won 10 games in a season. Tom Barrell did it last year and so did Clay Jackson. Another guy who turned the trick was Smith, who went 10-2 with a 1.84 era for the Owls. The one thing that might scare teams away from using a first round pick on the diminutive righthander is his propensity for giving up the longball but his WHIP, strikeout to walk ratio and WAR numbers make him a solid contender for a team short on quality starting pitching - and that is just about every team except the Philadelphia Sailors in the FABL.

11- STAN MERENDINO LHP - Rainier College: Good lefthanders are harder to find than a homerun hitter on the Toronto Wolves and the 20 year old Merendino had himself a whale of a season a year ago. He went 6-1 for the Majestics with a AIAA leading 0.81 era and a WHIP of 0.64. Those numbers were quite an improvement over his rookie season so his stock could fluctuate very wildly over the course of next season but if he comes close to duplicating his junior year he will garner a lot of attention.

12- JAKE JOHNSON 1B - Lubbock State: A native of Lubbock he helped lead his hometown school to the college national championship last July. In 23 playoff games he hit .355 with 6 homers numbers that compare very nicely with his career totals. Johnson has 23 homers, although he slumped from 19 to just 4 last season but maintained an average very close to his career .381 total. At 6'2", 215 pounds he should have the frame to hit a lot more homeruns than he did a year ago. If he does that he will be a high pick. If not, well, good hitting but limited power first baseman are not really in style any more.

13- BILLY SMITH OF - Greensboro HS: Smith led the high school ranks in batting with a .417 average last season and is a .377 career hitter. He is a solid left fielder defensively and has a little bit of power with 13 homers in two seasons. With a career on base percentage of .466 he would make an ideal lead-off man but needs to be smarter on the base paths as he was caught on 7 of his 15 stolen base attempts last season playing against high school catchers.

14- JIM BRIGHT OF - Syracuse HS: A lot hinges on his 1929 season matching or besting his 1928 numbers but if you are looking for a power hitting outfielder the 17 year old Syracuse Star might be the answer. He hit .335 with limited power (.513 slugging 5 hr) as a rookie but began to fill out and hit 14 homers with a .746 slugging percentage while batting .402 this past season. He has a decent size at 6'0" tall but needs to add some more muscle to his frame. I am looking at him as a breakout star in the high school ranks in 1929.

15- OTIS ADAMS OF - Cleveland HS: As a 16 year old rookie the Kansas City native was dominant, batting .447 with 18 homers, 52 rbi's and a .447 slugging percentage in 40 games. However, hamstring problems limited Adams to just 17 games a year ago. He hit .304 with 4 homers in 17 games so a big year is a must for him to show his 1927 season was no fluke.

16-DON HALLAM 3B - Somerville HS: You will be hard pressed to find a better pure hitter than the soon to be 18 year old from Los Angeles. Hallam burst on to the high school scene by hitting .446 with 19 homers as a 16 year old rookie. He finished second behind recently drafted Monte Jordan in the nation that year. Hallman also enjoyed a 28 game hitting streak while appearing in all 40 games. Last season his numbers tailed off, especially power which dropped to just 6 homeruns, but he still hit .365 as batting averages were down substantially across the league. His chances of going in the first round likely hinge on posting close to twenty homers like he did as a rookie.

SUMMARY - The draft class looks very strong at the top with plenty of pitching and power hitting outfielders available. Of course we are talking about college and high school players so a lot can change over the course of a year but the players listed above should all hear their names called relatively early on draft day.

12-10-2019, 09:05 PM	#2
Jiggs McGee All Star Reserve Join Date: Dec 2019 Posts: 677	December 10, 1928 : A very early 1929 mock draft A VERY EARLY 1929 MOCK DRAFT The dust has barely settled on the 1928 draft and I will have some analysis of that in the days ahead but old Jiggs is always looking to the future. You may still be celebrating all the great young talent your favorite FABL team acquired in this weekend's draft but for Scouting Director's of the 16 teams it simply means work has just started once again. In this installment I will share with you some names that are on the tip of your club's scouting director's tongue. You may not know them yet but you soon will as these are some of the players the scouts are drooling over when thinking about the next years draft. Most feel it is a foregone conclusion that, after skipping the draft this season to complete his degree at Georgia Baptist, Tom Barrell will be the first pitcher to hear his name called next December at the draft. Young Tommy may have some company in the form of Mobile High School righthander Ben Bernard. The 17 year old is 11-3 in 2 seasons with a 1.09 era and a 0.83 WHIP. High school arms are always risky but Bernard seems to show poise beyond his years. Here is my way to early mock draft for the first round next December. 1- TOM BARRELL RHP - Georgia Baptist: So much is already known about Barrell who has been under a microscope because of his famous last name throughout his career. He will end up being a rare 4-season college player which positions him well to set many AIAA career records. He is already 28-6 for his career with a 2.69 era and 340 strikeouts in 318 innings of work. A second team All-American last year, Barrell has been touted as a first round pick ever since he joined his older brother Fred with the Gators. The problem with that is some general managers have the tendency to over analyze Barrell because they know him so well. They start to look at his flaws, which every draft pick has, rather than focus on all of the things he does so well. My expectation is Barrell has a great season and reaffirms he is the best amateur pitcher in the nation. 2-BEN BERNARD RHP - Mobile HS: If there is a pitcher that can replace Barrell at the top of the draft it is the 17 year old from Warren, Pennsylvania. In 132 college innings he is 11-3 with a 1.09 era and an almost unbelievable 480 ERA+. His career WHIP is 0.83. The upside appears limitless for Bernard. However, he is a high school arm and certainly much less refined then Barrell. Bernard is nicknamed the Warden because he always seems to be in control of the situation but if there is a knock on him it's that he knows how good is and sometimes becomes complacent. Mobile was a sub .500 team last season and will be starting 3 or 4 rookies on a team that already lacked offense. If Bernard can lift them into contention it will certainly help prove his dominance. 3-JOHN COLLINS OF - Liberty College: After Tommy Wilcox went first overall this year, his former teammate John Collins may follow in his footsteps. The 20 year old already has 37 career home runs and a slash line of .386/.481/.757 in 100 AIAA games. While the college record of 68 set by Calvin Dybas of Grafton (1912-15) is likely out of his reach, Collins needs just 10 more homers to have the second most in AIAA history. Collins hits for average as well as distance, and has struck out just 44 times in 468 plate appearances. He was a first team All-America selection last season. 4-VIC CRAWFORD OF - Commonwealth Catholic: The 20 year old has been compared to Collins for two years now and is one behind his Northeast Collegiate Division rival with 36 homers. Crawford is sporting a career .369/.467/.747 slash line which makes him almost a carbon copy of Collins. Both were first team All-Americans as juniors. Crawford is a right-handed bat, unlike the lefty Collins and is comfortable in all 3 outfield positions. Crawford is also one of the few baseball players to hail from Hawaii. 5-TOM BLALOCK RHP - Chicago Poly: After a decent rookie season, Blalock broke out as a junior, posting a 9-0 record with a 1.37 era for the Panthers - numbers that allowed him to tie Barrell for a spot on the All-American second team. Blalock is 17-4 with an 8.1 WAR in just under 200 innings of work and seems destined to go early in the draft. 6-SAM ORR 2B - Henry Hudson University: After finishing second in the Northeast in batting as a rookie, Orr's production dropped slightly last season but he still hit .358 with 12 homers. In two seasons with the Explorers, Orr is slashing .393/.452/.704 with 31 homeruns and 17 stolen bases while also playing decent defense. He is the best middle infield prospect available. 7- STEVE STUDER OF - Frankford State: Studer looks like a terrific centerfielder with just 3 errors in 101 games to go along with a very good zone rating and 13 outfield assists. However, his offensive skills may be even better. 45 stolen bases in two seasons and a .353/.457/.688 slash line for his career. In those 101 games he had 63 extra base hits including 32 homeruns. 8- DAN FOWLER OF - Commonwealth Catholic: It should be quite a power hitting display on the Knights campus in Boston this year with both Crawford and Fowler. Fowler has 33 homers in 2 seasons and has slashed .325/.420/.618 in his college career. To go with that power he also has speed as Fowler stole 25 bases last year and has 53 in 102 career games. The Knights are loaded on offense - although pitching is a concern - and a long run in the College World Championship Series will only aid the draft stock of both of the star outfielders. 9- CLAY JACKSON RHP - Detroit City College: Jackson had a very good rookie AIAA season but just exploded last year with a 10-2, 1.40 era campaign that saw him post a 4.7 WAR, second only to Tommy Wilcox. Homeruns were a bit of a concern as a rookie but he cut those down a bit and improved his strikeout to walk ratio as well. If he shows more improvement on already great numbers this season, he might challenge for first overall. 10- HERMAN SMITH RHP - Frankford State: Only 35 times in the history of the AIAA has a pitcher won 10 games in a season. Tom Barrell did it last year and so did Clay Jackson. Another guy who turned the trick was Smith, who went 10-2 with a 1.84 era for the Owls. The one thing that might scare teams away from using a first round pick on the diminutive righthander is his propensity for giving up the longball but his WHIP, strikeout to walk ratio and WAR numbers make him a solid contender for a team short on quality starting pitching - and that is just about every team except the Philadelphia Sailors in the FABL. 11- STAN MERENDINO LHP - Rainier College: Good lefthanders are harder to find than a homerun hitter on the Toronto Wolves and the 20 year old Merendino had himself a whale of a season a year ago. He went 6-1 for the Majestics with a AIAA leading 0.81 era and a WHIP of 0.64. Those numbers were quite an improvement over his rookie season so his stock could fluctuate very wildly over the course of next season but if he comes close to duplicating his junior year he will garner a lot of attention. 12- JAKE JOHNSON 1B - Lubbock State: A native of Lubbock he helped lead his hometown school to the college national championship last July. In 23 playoff games he hit .355 with 6 homers numbers that compare very nicely with his career totals. Johnson has 23 homers, although he slumped from 19 to just 4 last season but maintained an average very close to his career .381 total. At 6'2", 215 pounds he should have the frame to hit a lot more homeruns than he did a year ago. If he does that he will be a high pick. If not, well, good hitting but limited power first baseman are not really in style any more. 13- BILLY SMITH OF - Greensboro HS: Smith led the high school ranks in batting with a .417 average last season and is a .377 career hitter. He is a solid left fielder defensively and has a little bit of power with 13 homers in two seasons. With a career on base percentage of .466 he would make an ideal lead-off man but needs to be smarter on the base paths as he was caught on 7 of his 15 stolen base attempts last season playing against high school catchers. 14- JIM BRIGHT OF - Syracuse HS: A lot hinges on his 1929 season matching or besting his 1928 numbers but if you are looking for a power hitting outfielder the 17 year old Syracuse Star might be the answer. He hit .335 with limited power (.513 slugging 5 hr) as a rookie but began to fill out and hit 14 homers with a .746 slugging percentage while batting .402 this past season. He has a decent size at 6'0" tall but needs to add some more muscle to his frame. I am looking at him as a breakout star in the high school ranks in 1929. 15- OTIS ADAMS OF - Cleveland HS: As a 16 year old rookie the Kansas City native was dominant, batting .447 with 18 homers, 52 rbi's and a .447 slugging percentage in 40 games. However, hamstring problems limited Adams to just 17 games a year ago. He hit .304 with 4 homers in 17 games so a big year is a must for him to show his 1927 season was no fluke. 16-DON HALLAM 3B - Somerville HS: You will be hard pressed to find a better pure hitter than the soon to be 18 year old from Los Angeles. Hallam burst on to the high school scene by hitting .446 with 19 homers as a 16 year old rookie. He finished second behind recently drafted Monte Jordan in the nation that year. Hallman also enjoyed a 28 game hitting streak while appearing in all 40 games. Last season his numbers tailed off, especially power which dropped to just 6 homeruns, but he still hit .365 as batting averages were down substantially across the league. His chances of going in the first round likely hinge on posting close to twenty homers like he did as a rookie. SUMMARY - The draft class looks very strong at the top with plenty of pitching and power hitting outfielders available. Of course we are talking about college and high school players so a lot can change over the course of a year but the players listed above should all hear their names called relatively early on draft day. __________________ Lead Columnist of The Figment Sporting Journal The Scripture of Sports Last edited by Jiggs McGee; 12-10-2019 at 09:06 PM.