Draft Takes Shape Organically For Crows After Pederson

By Steve Frediani

Joc Pederson had no chance to get past the Crows at No. 2

While not quite as prepared as I would have liked to be, it was a pretty good draft and a lot of fun.

Going into the draft the Crows had only ONE usable relief pitcher (Luke Gregerson) on the roster, but felt that the abundance of relief cards would allow us to put together a workable bullpen at the end of the draft.

#2. Joc Pederson. We traded up to get this pick, and there was never any doubt that Pederson would be our guy

#18. While I did entertain thoughts of Dellin Betances or Rusney Castillo, I had engaged in previous discussions with Matt regarding this pick for Yasmani Grandal. Since J.D. Martinez had not gone lower than 12 in all the drafts I was aware of, I felt he was our best chance of making this deal work.

#52 Jesse Hahn. Liked what I saw last year, and Billy Beane wanted him. Good enough for me.

#72 Tony Sipp. After I penciled in Hahn, I realized I needed a closer. Not wanting to repeat last year's mistake (which led to the trade for Gregerson), I took Sipp as the only decent closer left on the board.

92. Garin Cecchini. The Crows are particularly happy with this pick, as we believe he may turn out to be the steal of the draft.

The next six picks were used to patch together a bullpen and find a third-base platoon partner for Juan Uribe. Last pick had to be used on a utility infielder, and we were happy to find Ramon Santiago still on the board.

The 2015 Crows should be much like last year with good pitching, but we won't score much.