By Clyde Elkins
SAN DIEGO—There's no such thing as a pitching prospect.
That aphorism credited to Gary Huckabay, founder of Baseball Prospectus, is one taken to heart by the Elysian Fields Flying Dutchmen when making the first four selections of the club's introductory MMDA draft.
Bryce Harper |
With the first two picks of the draft, acquired in exchange for Kershaw, the Dutchmen selected 19-year-old outfielder Bryce Harper and 20-year-old third baseman Manny Machado. After Yoenis Cespedes and Yu Darvish went off the board third and fourth, Elkins bypassed quality arms in Matt Moore and Jarrod Parker, opting to fill a void at shortstop with 22-year-old defensive wizard Andrelton Simmons.
While Harper and Machado are the consensus top selections in drafts excluding non-carded players, the presence of Pablo Sandoval at third base could have shifted Elysian Fields' attention from Machado to Darvish, a potential top-ten pitcher entering his prime. And while the young Oriole qualifies only at third, many believe that he’ll eventually return to his natural position of shortstop, which could make the selection of Simmons redundant.