Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects

Randal Grichuk: 2009 Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects

BDPP81, Randal Grichuk of the Anaheim Angels, Bowman Chrome Autograph

Buy or Sell: Wait and See (Probably Buying)

Projected Value: High+

Grichuk has something that people that buy cards love: “Power!”

Considering that Grichuk went into the Arizona Fall League as a seventeen year old, the youngest player in the league, he did quite well.

Unfortunately, his power numbers at 17 have begun driving his prices up.

Grichuk should sell well right out of the box, considering his power.

Grichuk’s flaws are noticeable and plentiful, but the groundwork’s definitely been laid for yearly improvement.  In the AFL, Grichuk struck out a tonne and will continue to do so, regardless of the minor changes.  The Angels are simply hoping he’ll curtail his 27% K-Rate and 0.14 BB:K Rate.

Lots of potential here, but the prices will largely determine whether or not Grichuk’s a Buy or Sell. It’s difficult to project exactly how much hype Grichuk will carry with him into the new Bowman DPP, but he’ll almost certainly find himself shooting up Baseball America’s board with refinement.

His frame is currently sporting some speed, but I’d like to see that replaced with opposite field power.  Right now, it seems as though his swing almost necessitates power to the pull field.

There’s definitely bust potential here, so try not to *over* pay.

Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects

Tim Wheeler: 2009 Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects

BDPP78, Tim Wheeler of the Colorado Rockies, Bowman Chrome Autograph

Buy or Sell: Probably Buying

Projected Value: Medium +

Wheeler and Brett Jackson seem to be linked at the hip: a shared hip that’s pretty athletically gifted.  Selected one spot after Jackson, Wheeler saw his draft stock slowly rise as he played out his final season.  It didn’t hurt that Tim Wheeler was willing to sign for 900K, either.

In the Northwest League, Wheeler played well enough for Baseball America to place him a couple slots below Jackson on their yearly round-up of the Short Season Leagues.

If Wheeler had slipped into the second round, beyond the prying eyes of the common-prospector, his cards might be a very solid investment piece.

As it stands, Wheeler is just an athletically gifted kid that’s worth keeping an eye on.  Everything’s there for Wheeler to develop into an above-average, everyday, outfielder for the Rockies.

There’s quite a bit of untapped power in his frame and the kid can run well.   Wheeler’s final season at Sacramento State really opened some eyes, but you’ve got to take it with a grain of salt.  Ignorant eyes will view his 1.200 OPS in the WAC as something to bust a nut over — Don’t get *too* excited.

Wheeler’s got potential though.  Better yet, Wheeler has the tools and the make-up to get a strong following.  He’s definitely capable of putting up the jaw-dropping power & speed numbers required to make it into hot-lists, and thus raise his value considerably.

As long as his prices don’t go crazy out of the gate, I’d recommend purchasing a few medium numbered refractors.

Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects

Tony Sanchez: 2009 Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects

BDPP76, Tony Sanchez of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Bowman Chrome Autograph

Buy or Sell: Sell

Projected Value: Medium

Sanchez is an interesting prospect, but there are a couple of things working against the value of his cards in the long-term.

First off, Sanchez looks to be staying put in Pittsburgh for the foreseeable future.  New Pirates General Manager, Neal Huntington, seems to be on the right track to building a mid-market franchise with budget constraints.  Huntington probably won’t be around to see the majority of his maneuvers come to fruition, but the groundwork has been laid.

The move to draft Sanchez with the fourth overall pick in the 2009 MLB Draft was a bit questionable, but you have to admire a GM that puts his faith into the hands of the Scouting Director and takes a leap of faith.

Unfortunately, Sanchez’s early draft slot and high signing bonus will lead to an early overvaluation of his cards.

Sanchez has all of the tools to be an above average catcher in the big leagues, but his name shouldn’t be amongst the highlights of any checklist.  He had a terrific seasons in Low-A, where he showcased his potential.

Sanchez could make a claim for a promotion to Double-A early in the season.  He’s not afraid to take a walk, a skill that’s translated well from BC, and the power’s starting to come around.

You’re going to have issues making money of Sanchez, though.  People like to overpay for early first rounders and even if Sanchez hits the show before 2012, his cards will have a hard time standing up to fourth-overall selection prices.

Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects

2009 Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects, Ranked and Rated.

This is going to be a headache, but with the economy down and the checklist looking a weak, I’m going to do the unthinkable:  I’m going to share not only detailed reports, but also project the market values and steals for this year’s Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects baseball cards.

For the majority of fantasy baseball players outside of the insanely deep leagues, this’ll probably be worthless evaluation.  For the card collectors that like to purchase a card for ten dollars and re-sell it for 50, this might be useful.

Here’s the Checklist (courtesy of CardboardConnection.com.)  It’s a preliminary checklist, but I’ll update it as new information becomes available.

Card Number	Player	Additional Notes
BDPP1	Tanner Bushue
BDPP2	Billy Hamilton
BDPP3	Enrique Hernandez
BDPP4	Virgil Hill
BDPP5	Josh Hodges
BDPP6	Michael Taylor
BDPP7	Nick Lockwood
BDPP8	Jobduan Morales
BDPP9	Anthony Morris
BDPP10	Telvin Nash
BDPP11	Brooks Pounders
BDPP12	Kyle Rose
BDPP13	Seth Schwindenhammer
BDPP14	Patrick Lehman
BDPP15	Mathew Weaver
BDPP16	Brian Dozier
BDPP17	Sequoyah Stonecipher
BDPP18	Shannon Wilkerson
BDPP19	Justin Bloxom
BDPP20	Jamie Johnson
BDPP21	Christopher Lovett
BDPP22	Bryson Namba
BDPP23	Aaron Northcraft
BDPP24	Benjamin Carlson
BDPP25	Brock Holt
BDPP26	Ben Orloff
BDPP27	Christopher Sedon
BDPP28	Erik Castro
BDPP29	Ryan Sasaki
BDPP30	Cory Burns
BDPP31	Chris Wade
BDPP32	David Washington
BDPP33	Naoya Washiya
BDPP34	Brandt Walker
BDPP35	Jordan Henry
BDPP36	Austin Adams
BDPP37	Andrew Bellatti
BDPP38	Paul Applebee
BDPP39	Robert Stock
BDPP40	Michael Flacco
BDPP41	Johnathan Meyer
BDPP42	Cody Rogers
BDPP43	Matt Heidenreich
BDPP44	David Holmberg
BDPP45	Mycal Jones
BDPP46	David Hale
BDPP47	Dusty Odenbach
BDPP48	Robert Hefflinger
BDPP49	Buddy Baumann
BDPP50	Thomas Berryhill
BDPP51	Darrell Ceciliani
BDPP52	Derek McCallum
BDPP53	Taylor Freeman
BDPP54	Tyler Townsend
BDPP55	Tobias Streich
BDPP56	Ryan Jackson
BDPP57	Chris Herrmann
BDPP58	Robert Shields
BDPP59	Devin Fuller
BDPP60	Brad Stillings
BDPP61	Ryan Goins
BDPP62	Chase Austin
BDPP63	Brett Nommensen
BDPP64	Egan Smith
BDPP65	Daniel Mahoney
BDPP66	Darin Gorski
BDPP67	Dustin Dickerson
BDPP68	Victor Black
BDPP69	Dallas Keuchel
BDPP70	Nate Baker
BDPP71	Jeremy Barnes
BDPP72	Brian Moran
BDPP73	Nicholas Hernandez
BDPP74	Lance Durham
BDPP75	Adam Buschini
BDPP76	Tony Sanchez	Bowman Chrome Autograph
BDPP77	Eric Arnett	Bowman Chrome Autograph
BDPP78	Tim Wheeler	Bowman Chrome Autograph
BDPP79	Matt Hobgood	Bowman Chrome Autograph
BDPP80	Matt Bashore	Bowman Chrome Autograph
BDPP81	Randal Grichuk	Bowman Chrome Autograph
BDPP82	A.J. Pollock	Bowman Chrome Autograph
BDPP83	Reymond Fuentes	Bowman Chrome Autograph
BDPP84	Jiovanni Mier	Bowman Chrome Autograph
BDPP85	Chad Jenkins	Bowman Chrome Autograph
BDPP86	Zack Wheeler	Bowman Chrome Autograph
BDPP87	Mike Minor	Bowman Chrome Autograph
BDPP88	Jared Mitchell	Bowman Chrome Autograph
BDPP89	Mike Trout	Bowman Chrome Autograph
BDPP90	Alex White	Bowman Chrome Autograph
BDPP91	Bobby Borchering	Bowman Chrome Autograph
BDPP92	Chad James	Bowman Chrome Autograph
BDPP93	Tyler Matzek	Bowman Chrome Autograph
BDPP94	Max Stassi	Bowman Chrome Autograph
BDPP95	Drew Storen	Bowman Chrome Autograph
BDPP96	Brad Boxberger	Bowman Chrome Autograph
BDPP97	Mike Leake	Bowman Chrome Autograph