Detroit Tigers: There’s potential value to be had in late-round draft picks

Detroit Tigers fans saw the team continue to select players in Major League Baseball’s draft on Wednesday. While the early rounds have ended, there’s still a chance to find Major League performers.

Detroit Tigers general manager Al Avila has done well so far in the 2017 version of Major League Baseball’s draft.

Avila nabbed potential front-line pitcher Alex Faedo from Florida in the first round before snagging a potential power bat in second-rounder Reynaldo Rivera.

The Tigers also selected a pair of catchers in the third and fifth round in Joey Morgan and Sam McMillan.

Elsewhere, pitchers Gio Arriera (fourth round), Dane Myers (sixth round), Brad Bass (seventh round) and Max Green (eighth round) give the team more arms to develop.

Given the aforementioned players’ draft position, they may be more likely to reach the Majors sooner than some of the later-round picks. However, there’s still obvious value to be had late in the draft.

In fact, a number of current Tigers were selected in the latter portions of the draft.

Tigers taken late in the draft

Ian Kinsler was a 17^th-round pick of the Texas Rangers in the 17^th round of the 2003 draft, while J.D. Martinez was a 20^th-round pick of the Houston Astros in 2009.

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Other notable Detroit players to go in the double-digit rounds include Kyle Ryan (12^th round), Chad Bell (14^th round), Shane Greene (15^th round), Blaine Hardy (22^nd round) and Jim Adduci (42^nd round).

Kinsler (1.0 2017 WAR), Martinez (1.0 WAR), Adduci (0.7 WAR) and Greene (0.7 WAR) are among the Tigers current leaders in WAR.

They currently outrank early-round draft picks like second rounder Jordan Zimmermann (-0.4 WAR), and first rounders Nicholas Castellanos (0.1 WAR) and Mikie Mahtook (0.2 WAR).

2017 late-round picks

It’s no guarantee that any prospect makes it to the Majors, regardless of which round they were drafted in.

That being said, there is potential in some of the Detroit Tigers’ late round picks thanks to some promising traits.

Perfect Game USA’s Brian Sakowski tweeted the following on Wednesday morning about Detroit’s 14^th-round pick, outfielder Antoine Mistico:

“#Tigers take Antoine Mistico, prep CF from Arizona. Really good athlete, tools are there, plus runner. LH hitter as well.”

Sakowski also tweeted about 18^th-round pick, and fellow outfielder Dylan Rosa:

“#Tigers take Dylan Rosa from Kent State. Swing-and-miss concerns, probably a 1B, but the dude has silly bat speed and silly pop. Like that.”

Meanwhile, Scout’s Jeff Ellis offered his take on 11^th-rounder Garrett King, a California Baptist University product, in a tweet.

Ellis tweeted on Wednesday:

“Garrett King was a player I was surprised did not go on day 2. Big kid with good control looks like a backend guy. Nice get by Tigers.”

It’s still extremely early in the process, but the Detroit Tigers seem to have added some intriguing talents from the later rounds of the draft.

Next: Tigers add two catchers for the future in early rounds

Time will tell who pans out as Major League players, but the Tigers have done well to help restock the team’s farm system with this year’s draft class.