MLB draft winners and losers from perfectgame.org

:nowthisicanfapto:

This class is amazing! Hard to believe we got so many to stay.

Similar analysis from BA LINK

quote:

---

Biggest Winner From Signing Deadline Day: LSU

Assuming UCLA can’t reel in Aiken and Nix, Louisiana State looks like a strong bet to top Baseball America’s annual recruiting class rankings this fall. LSU landed a whopping eight recruits who ranked in the BA 500, more than any other school; UCLA would also have eight if both Aiken and Nix show up, but LSU has the deeper class.

“I think this class is a difference-making class, particularly because of the arms, but even the position players—we’ve got frontline guys across the board,” LSU coach Paul Mainieri said.

The Tigers landed one of the nation’s top recruits in lefthander Mac Marshall (No. 57 on the BA 500), the third-highest ranked player who did not sign with a pro team, behind only Aiken and North Carolina recruit Jacob Bukauskas (No. 33). If Aiken and Nix don’t go to UCLA, LSU will also have the highest-drafted freshman to attend a D-I school in 11th-rounder Jake Latz (No. 208).

The Tigers did very well in the Midwest with this class, landing Latz, his Lemont High catcher Mike Papierski (411) and righthander Jake Godfrey (130) from the state of Illinois, plus power righty Alex Lange (333) from Missouri. Latz, like Marshall, can reach 92 (or even a tick better) from the left side, while Godfrey and Lange have each bumped 94 from the right side, as has Louisiana’s Austin Bain (452). Some of those arms are more polished than others, but Marshall had some of the most advanced feel for pitching in the high school class, and Mainieri is excited about righthander Doug Norman, a sleeper who knows how to pitch and can bump 90-91.

Marshall and Norman both decommitted from Georgia after the Bulldogs made a coaching change, and LSU pounced. They were similarly opportunistic this spring when Godfrey failed to meet the academic standards at Notre Dame and was released from his letter of intent. It came down to LSU and Vanderbilt for Godfrey, who struggled through much of the spring but turned the corner late in the spring, flashing the kind of power stuff that had made him one of the top prep prospects in the Midwest last summer. The Tigers scored a late coup by snagging him.
Mac Marshall

But LSU’s biggest prize was Marshall, who wanted $1.65 million to turn down the Tigers. He turned down a bonus offer of about $1 million on draft day, causing him to slip to the 21st round, where he was drafted by the Astros. When Aiken’s physical caused Houston to reduce its offer to the No. 1 overall pick, the club hoped to use its extra savings to make a run at Marshall, leading to some anxious days last week for Mainieri. Marshall had “pretty much resolved himself” to go to LSU after he slipped in the draft, according to Mainieri, and he enrolled in summer school, where he and a number of his fellow incoming freshmen started the bonding process.

“So Marshall’s here, and all of a sudden this controversy happens with Brady Aiken and the alleged elbow issue, and all of a sudden the Astros circle around and start talking to him again,” Mainieri said. “So it was a tough thing for the kid, he was all set to go to LSU, then all of a sudden there’s a chance they might give him what he was asking for. Then on Friday, everybody’s sitting on pins and needles, not just me but Mac. I’m sure Mac had a myriad of emotions. Part of him I’m sure was hoping they’d call and offer him what he wanted, and part of him was hoping to go to LSU.

“People call me and say, ‘Congratulations, you got Mac.’ It’s hard to celebrate; I don’t want to celebrate at the disappointment of the kid. But at the end of the day I think this will be the best thing for Mac. I think he’ll develop under (pitching coach) Alan Dunn’s tutelage. And in three years, we think he’s going to be a special guy.”

The switch-hitting Papierski is one of several exciting position players in this class, along with powerful infielder Greg Deichmann (404), athletic infielder Grayson Byrd (479), and gritty identical twins Beau and Bryce Jordan. This class has it all; power, athleticism, up-the-middle talent, polished arms ready to compete immediately for rotation spots and projectable arms with serious upside. The LSU recruiting coordinator who built this class, Javi Sanchez, left the coaching profession this summer to pursue other opportunities back home in Miami, but Mainieri said this class will be his lasting legacy at LSU. He said it compares well with LSU’s watershed classes in 2007 and 2010, which both ranked No. 2 in the nation and made huge impacts on the program.

“I give so much of the credit to Javi,” Mainieri said. “He’s leaving to get out of coaching and get into the business world, and this is kind of his parting gift to LSU baseball, to orchestrate this recruiting class. So many of them thought so much of Javi, it was a big part of the reason they wanted to come here.”

---

We'll be top 8, no way number 1. Vanderbilt has pretty much its entire team coming back

we are so stacked :jimp:

Because I'm number obsessed this is what our incoming freshmen were ranked by Baseball America according to the article above:

57. Mac Marshall
130. Jake Godfrey
208. Jake Latz
333. Alex Lange
404. Greg Deichmann
411. Mike Papierski
452. Austin Bain
479. Grayson Byrd

Pretty sick. The Jordan twins and Doug Norman are the only ones who didn't make the Top 500...and the Jordan twins are both pretty damn good.

quote:

---

I would venture to guess we will be preseason #1 next year. Up there with Vandy Fullerton and UCLA if I had to guess.

---

Doubt that. But considering how much BA takes this stuff into account with their preseason rankings, we should be top 5.

Adam

So will Mac be our sat starter from the jump? And any of the other pitchers vying for a starting role? Also who else do U see starting in this class from the get go? And I've seen the twins play. They Re studs. Wonder why they aren't rated highly?

quote:

---

So will Mac be our sat starter from the jump?

---

Personally I would have him as a Sunday starter to start the season given he has a solid fall and spring practice. Mac can work his way up depending on how well he develops with little pressure tied into that role. Remember that the only reason Gausman was thrust into the Saturday spot was due to an absolute depletion in pitching depth after the 2010 year. Marshall is one of the more polished arms to enter into LSU in recent time so the learning curve should be easy for him to adjust.

quote:

---

And any of the other pitchers vying for a starting role?

---

Jake Latz is a very polished pitcher from the left side who continues to touch 90-92 mph with command of two off speed pitches. I would start him mid week early on and see how he fares in developing into a 3rd or 4th starter.

Alex Lange and Jake Godfrey are two power arms from the right side who will see innings this next year.

You have a group of Poche, Marshall, Newman, Reyonlds, Bouman, and Latz/Lange/Godfrey who will all be evaluated for the three weekend spots.

quote:

---

Also who else do U see starting in this class from the get go?

---

From a lineup standpoint LSU returns a very strong nucleus from the 2014 year, that's going to limit starting opportunities in a few spots.

Deichmann should end up on the infield somewhere, his power will be needed. Papierski has been impressing in the month and a half alone that he's been here and he will by definition push for a catching spot or DH.

quote:

---

And I've seen the twins play. They Re studs. Wonder why they aren't rated highly?

---

Both are going to do great things for LSU. At their respective height they don't offer an above average projection for future fill and thus their stats will have to do the talking from here on out. Luckily draft projection has nothing to do with how well college athletes fare on the level they currently reside.