Review: 2011 Draft

With the signing of John Grondin to a huge contract this past week, I thought it might be fun to look back at the first round of the 2011 draft.  Why the 2011 draft?  Because Grondin was the first pick in that draft.

1st pick:  3B John Grondin (signing bonus $1.2m), Covington, just signed with Shackamaxon (LA)
925 games, .314 average, .921 OPS, 180 HR, 337.2 career VORP.

2nd pick:  LF Robert Estill ($2.8m), Hickory, currently with Maui
776 games, .244 average, .780 OPS, 99 HR, 66.0 career VORP

3rd pick:  3B Telmo Dalmau ($811k), Danville, free agent
567 games, .267 average, .760 OPS, 44 HR, 52.8 career VORP

4th pick: 2B Timothy Mendiola ($422k), Houston, currently with Saskatoon
1072 games, .282 average, .754 OPS, 191 SB, 114.3 career VORP

5th pick:  SP Jose Lamela ($262k), Denver, currently with Maui (AAA)
10 games, 3-1, 9.90 ERA, 2.50 WHIP, -10.2 career VORP

6th pick:  RF Santiago Salazar ($864k), Walla Walla (now Ohio), currently with Saskatoon
898 games, .245 average, .774 OPS, 130 HR, 37.3 career VORP

7th pick:  SP Nelson Coghlan, Brooklyn ($418k), currently with Brooklyn
86 games, 25-38, 4.67 ERA, 1.47 WHIP, 33.2 career VORP

8th pick: 2B Danny Lorenzen ($803k), New York, currently with Houston
831 games, .257 average, .671 OPS, 25 HR, -8.8 career VORP

9th pick:  SP Cesar Almendarez ($196k), Los Angeles (now Shackamaxon), currently with Cleveland
127 games, 25-37, 4.77 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, 34.1 career VORP

10th pick: 1B Santiago Delrosario ($234k), Saskatoon, currently with Shackamaxon (AAA)
Made it to AA in 2013, AAA in 2018.  Never played in the majors.

11th pick: SP Frank Wooster ($181k), River Cities.  Suffered career-ending injury in 2015
73 games, 45-12, 3.85 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 3 SHO, 83.8 career VORP

12th pick:  CF Bill Elder ($172k), Seattle, currently with Hickory
365 games, .215 average, .659 OPS, 16 HR, -15.1 career VORP

Obviously, Covington was right on the money with Grondin as the first pick.  However, who knows if that would still be true if Wooster hadn't gone down with his injury.  Just looking at the numbers he put up in 2 1/4 seasons is a bit frightening.