Remember my friend Holloway? If you don’t, he is my friend that I have labeled the angriest baseball fan in the history of the game. His text tirades or casual out-for-drink rants are invaluable to me, as I often expand them and turn them into a piece on Wayniac Nation. Most often, I find myself agreeing with him, as I did when he was upset about comments on Mike Trout.
But what about those names right on the cusp? What about those guys that people murmured about in February but had huge springs and are now in the top-ten conversation?
Here are three names to keep an eye on as Thursday’s MLB Draft quickly approaches.
(Note from Wayniac Nation regular contributor Dunton: So I have created a monster. My 9-year old daughter has become an avid fan of the Green Bay Packers. I can’t be mad at her for liking the Packers, they are a classy organization. She found out that Wayne (Texans of course), myself (Bucs) and others were making predictions for how our favorite NFL teams would fare this fall. So here are her predictions, I only helped with spelling and some grammar. Wayne did some minor editing but these are her words. I am especially fond of the Week 8 prediction when she realized it was right around Halloween. So here you go, remember she loves the Packers and is nine (almost 10).)
I have said it before, but it’s worth repeating. Growing up a New York Yankees fan, I have been duped by the Baby Bombers prospect hype machine too many times. That’s not to say I don’t believe Luis Severino won’t bounce back, nor does it mean that I don’t believe that Aaron Judge will be the starting right fielder soon (even though I stand pat in what I said last month in that he is not ready for his promotion).
There is arguably no more intriguing prospect in the 2016 MLB Draft than Florida’s Buddy Reed. While it is difficult to project this year’s top-ten and even top overall pick, it is seemingly even harder to figure out where Reed will go. There hasn’t been a prospect like Reed on this year’s draft board. He is a prospect that could go as early as the top-15 or as late as the middle of the second round.
There is no hiding my affection for Arian Foster. He is the greatest running back in the history of my favorite football team. It was sad to see him go, but I also thought it was the right thing the Houston Texans had to do.
A few months back, Foster had a preliminary visit with the Miami Dolphins. Admittedly, Foster himself said that he is still a month away from being ready for football action, and thus he left Miami without a contract.
Nick Senzel may be the more polished infielder heading into June 9th MLB Draft, but the most exciting infield prospect may just be Delvin Perez. Perez, who will be just 17-years old on draft day, is the best middle infielder on the board, and will almost certainly go in the first 10 picks.
I was born in 1975. By the time I was old enough to understand the greatness of Cassius Marcellus Clay, he was more of a pop culture icon than a fighter, wrapping up his illustrious career with the Drama in the Bahamas and a loss to Trevor Berbick.
I certainly knew who Muhammad Ali was, however. Everybody did. He’s probably the biggest pop culture legend of his time. And yesterday, the 74-year old Greatest passed away.
While teams in the top-five are trying to figure out if Jason Groome or Riley Pint will be the first high school arm off the board, there’s a few high schoolers who will be content going in the next wave. One of those arms happens to be the best high school athlete that New York has to offer in this year’s MLB Draft.