[ayaghmour2]

CF Sal Pestilli (Narragansett): I don't know if he's going to be the #1 pick of the draft, but I know if I owned the pick, that's who I would select. He had a down sophomore season, but the middle Pestilli brother reclaimed his elite freshman status with another outstanding year. The 20-year-old slashed .378/.454/.732 with 13 homers, 31 steals, and 54 RBI's. He doubled 13 times, tripled 11 times, walked 28 times, and struck out just 3 times in 240 trips to the plate. Pestilli is overflowing with talent and could contend for triple crowns. You could even add a fourth if you count his stolen base potential. He's arguably a five tool player and really doesn't show any weakness. His competition was just average, but his performance was not, finishing his college career with a .380/.437/.643 line with 38 doubles, 23 triples, 32 homers, 69 walks, 97 steals, and just 9 strikeouts. 1936 is the first class of three year juniors, and they equate to approximately a full FABL season. For Pestilli, he appeared in 152 games with a 9.3 WAR.

SP Bunny Edwards (Red River State): Another three year starter, the head of the Red River rotation was 7-1 with a 2.10 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 22 walks, and 95 strikeouts in 81.1 innings pitched. He's one of only two junior pitchers with 90 or more strikeouts and a sub 3.00 ERA, and he did it while being in the bottom 10 pitchers for innings pitched. Edwards may not have great stamina, 12 relief appearances and 38 starts, but most guys can go nine innings regardless. Edwards is a tiny pitcher, and he succeeds by keeping the ball on the ground and fooling hitters with his excellent stuff. Once he's fully developed he'll have a dominant sweeping curveball with a strong change and decent fastball. He's one of the top starting pitchers out there and should be the first college arm to go.

SP Jim Morrison (Indiana A&M): Looks like I was right! Jim Morrison is rated the #2 college pitcher available. The southpaw went 8-4 with a 3.41 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 47 walks, and 80 strikeouts in 118.2 innings pitched against the toughest AAIA competition. He's throwing 87-89 and my scout views him as a back-end starter, still pretty good. He's got average stuff, but his pitches are good enough to fool major hitters and he'll likely be a quick riser. Morrison finished his college career 21-12 with a 3.43 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 126 walks, and 210 strikeouts in 325 innings pitched. It's tough, there are a lot of pitchers I really want to take, and now that Morrison rose up draft boards, he'll probably end up in another organization. Still, I will definitely keep my eye on him and he may potentially end up a Cougar after all.

CF Al Jennings (Gates University): Pestilli is easily the best center fielder, but Jennings is not a bad consolation prize. He doesn't have the same power, but he hit .336/.391/.520 with 5 homers, 37 steals, and 46 RBI's in 248 trips to the plate. He does play against tougher competition and Jennings matched Sal's career strikeout mark. Jennings is extremely fast and arguably a better defender, but the bat is not nearly as well developed. He should hit for a high average and will always have excellent discipline. In his three seasons he hit .325/.382/.493 with 14 homers, 19 triples, 37 doubles, 138 RBI's, 62 walks, and 113 steals. There are a lot of really good center fielders in this draft so he could be taken anywhere from second to sixth.

3B Denny Andrews (Maryland State): A switch hitting third basemen, Denny Andrews slashed .291/.421/.502 with 10 homers and 42 RBI's in his second season starting for the Bengals. Andrews finished with a .298/.429/.504 batting line as well as 20 doubles, 18 homers, 75 RBI's, and 81 walks. He does work the count well, but is susceptible to striking out. He's a strong hitter, but at just 5'7'' 165 he may not hit that many home runs in the big leagues. He's spent time at three corners, first, third, and right, but he probably won't be all that good at any of them.

SP Cal Roe (Valley State): Roe practically pitched every game for his team, 20 starts and 136.1 innings where he was 12-3 with a 2.90 ERA and 1.25 WHIP. He walked 41 and struck out 105. He's a four pitch pitcher who averages 86 with his fastball. He's got to work on his curveball, but his changeup and slider should be quality big league pitches. He has to polish up his command, but Roe has all the tools to start in the big leagues. Roe made an impressive 51 starts with a 2.99 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 113 walks, and 271 strikeouts.

SS Jake Creel (Ferguson): Another two year starter, Creel slashed .271/.370/.404 with 5 homers, 73 RBI's, and 72 steals in 100 games at Ferguson. He's an athletic shortstop with good defensive ability and 20+ stolen base potential in the big leagues. He's got a good eye, 57 walks to 20 strikeouts, and played against great competition in college. He's young and underdeveloped, but he's a smart kid who has the baseball ability to get better. Not many other good shortstops, other then his teammate:

SS Joe Zell (Ferguson): If you wanted to know why Creel didn't start as a freshman, that would be because of Joe Zell. But then somewhere along the line, Ferguson decided Creel was the better defender, and started playing Zell at second, third, and right as well. He's a switch hitter who hit .290/.379/.380 with 3 homers, 40 steals, and 47 RBI's in his senior season. He finished with a .277/.367/.348 line, not quite as good as Creel's. He swiped 111 bags, drove in 125 runs, and hit 5 homers. He's a solid defender with good speed and a nice hit tool, but he won't really rack up many extra base hits. He did play a ton of games, however, 181 with 914 plate appearances in his three seasons. He had the most games, PA's, and at bats for all the draft eligible players. I wish I could remember if Zell had position ratings at second, third, and right before Creel was created, but it would be cool if they were added after since they play at the same school.

SP Johnnie Jones (St. Paul): This last one is not a college player, but I'm including him because I thought he was a college player. I should have checked, but Johnnie Jones is a 17-year-old senior from Minnesota and the highest ranked pitcher in the draft. "The Patron Saint of Groundablls" was 28-5 with a 1.44 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 78 walks, and 400 strikeouts in 349.2 innings pitched. Those are really impressive numbers for Jones, a giant 6'4'' lefty who throws a really nice high 80s sinker. It's his go to pitch for double play balls and he sure gets a lot of them. He's got good command and his pitches have a lot of bite, but he's really raw. He's got top of the rotation potential, but he's going to take a long time to get there. I expect him to be the first pitcher selected this season and I think whoever gets him will be extremely pleased with what he becomes.