Jerome

r.j. harrison does not follow a drafting for need philosophy, and drafts solely based on who he and his scouts think is the best player available. alvarez appears to be that player by consensus, although i personally feel tim beckham is the best player available in this draft. alvarez is a smooth hitter with a polished approach at the plate. he has good power, primarily to the gaps and should rack up a fair number of doubles at the big league level, a great stroke, and pretty good plate discipline, though not nearly on the same level as yonder alonso. while alonso is a pure hitter who can slug with the best of them, alvarez brings a fair skill set defensively, and plays the hot corner, certainly a position in demand right now at the big league level. he's also a fairly sure fire bet to move quickly through the system to help the big club, though with longoria manning the hot corner in the future, this isn't necessarily a huge draw for the rays. the rays could also look toward an arm, though reports the rays would even consider matusz with this selection is laughable considering he's little more than a number three in the rotation. should they go for an arm, aaron crow will be the selection here at this point in the season.

as far as tyson ross goes, he has great size and very projectable frame, though his stuff is far from electric and doesn't wow me in the least. he really only as two pitches at this point in his fastball and developing curve, as his change-up due to his arm action would only be so-so at the big league level. he's the type of pitcher who should get looks at the middle of the first round, though i don't see him falling far from that. ross is a college arm that still needs a great deal of work, and is a bit of a hit and miss type prospect at this point. he should sign for slot, though i see him working out as little more than a five in a big league rotation, possibly finding a home as a long reliever in the big leagues. a lot of how he develops is going to fall on the hands of the organization that picks him up, as he could develop into a serviceable starter in the big leagues, but it's going to take a lot of work to get him there. this is not a deep draft class at all (besides at first base, possible middle relievers and middle of the rotation starters,), so a selection like this at 20 shouldn't get you down too much. compared to last years draft class, this one certainly leaves much to be desired.