Season 1 Draft Grades -- AL South

KC Royals
Legit make up concerns dropped Nipsey Baez all the way down to KC at pick 26. A LH bat who can hit lefties better than a lot of lefty batters and projected as an elite defender but the makeup concerns put legit questions as to what kind of ML career he’ll have, though he should make the Majors at some point. It’s hard to find talent where KC was picking, but they were able to add some decent depth to their system.
Overall Grade: C
Best Pick: Max Desoto - 3rd Round

New Orleans Jazz
Picking at #6, you would hope to get a franchise defining player. I’m not sure Rich Coco will turn out to be that kind of player, but he should be a very solid every day ML player who could put together an All-Star appearance here and there. It can be hard to get legit ML talent in rounds 3 and 4, but New Orleans was able to do so, and their draft grade benefited from it. Ownership did a nice job in this draft.
Overall Grade: B
Best Pick: Tim Lieber – 4th round

Tampa Bay Rays
They were able to pick up some organizational depth, but overall not enough real ML potential was found in this draft for TB. It can be hard to find good to great players when your first pick doesn’t come until #43, but with 4 picks in the first two rounds you hope to get some players who can offer meaningful contributions at the ML level. TB added depth to their system, but overall this draft has to be considered a bit of an opportunity missed for them.
Overall Grade: C-
Best Pick: Anthony Griffiths – Supp round

Texas Rangers
Not a good draft at all. It is possible that Harry Tatis makes it to the Majors one day as a situational reliever, but given his severe limitations on the number of innings he can pitch each season, even he is a question mark. Not picking until #84 is hard, but still, there was talent left on the board when TEX made its selections. I would think ownership would not be thrilled with the results from this season’s draft.
Overall Grade: D
Best Pick: Harry Tatis – 2nd round