The June draft (now rounds 40 and 41) is the most important draft of the supplemental rounds. I’d rate
an R.40.5 on a par with with about an R18. An R.40.2 is as valuable as an R.15 or late round R.14. Depending on the year,
there might be a half dozen excellent blue chip prospects worth grabbing in your league from the real life June draft. Some
years, though, there are none. 2009 had a particularly bad crop after the Nationals took Stephen Strasburg. The top 7 A.L.
picks in order were: Dustin Ackley, Matt Hobgood, Jacob Turner, Aaron Crow, Grant Green, Matt Purke, and Alex White. 2011
looks much more promising: Danny Hultzen, Dylan Bundy, Bubba Starling, Francisco Lindor, George Springer, C.J. Cron (woops),
and Sonny Gray. 2004 was mostly a case of extreme hit or miss: Justin Verlander, Jeff Niemann, Jeremy Sowers, Wade Townsend,
Jered Weaver, Billy Butler, and David Purcey.
Can you out-guess the Major League teams regarding these players?
It is worth reading why certain players were drafted. The best prospects are not generally drafted in exact order of their
ceiling and risk quotients. Often signability is a factor - although, less so since new Rule IV Amateur June Draft rules specified
in the November 2011 Collective Bargaining Agreement were instituted. Some teams vary widely from the consensus list of top
prospects for other reasons. It may be wise to consider each team’s recent track record with developing their top picks.
However, even if it is not a good year for June Rule IV draftees,
it is important to build you cache of prospects, because they make the best trade bait come the September trade deadline when
you want to strengthen your team for the final run. If you are not in contention, then you are left with a couple prospects
- that’s generally a good thing. Even if you are not happy with those prospects, perhaps, you can trade them for ones
you would be happier with. It is generally way too soon to write-off a first round pick in just a month or two. Someone ought
to like who you drafted.
I am not suggesting to take a recent June draftee if you
have a hole to fill or there is a better prospect signed earlier who has just blossomed into something worth drafting. The
best Scoresheet managers are always ready to adapt to changing conditions.
