The Oakland A’s have chosen Sonny Gray in the first round of the 2011 MLB Draft, a dominant right hander that was a great pick eighteenth overall. Now the question will be how will he fit in the farm system? Quite well most likely.
Gray was previously drafted by the Cubs in 2008 but decided to go to college, and developed well at Vanderbilt instead of jumping into the bigs out of high school. He’s a mature guy with a great attitude that likely will do him well on his way to the Show. Gray likely will go to the Arizona League Athletics for rookies before moving up to either the Burlington Bees or Vermont Lake Monsters in the A club.
About two-thirds of all first round picks make it into the big leagues, and I think Gray will be definitely part of the majority. The question will be how long will he be in the minors before getting his chance in Oakland. If Gray can tighten up his control a little bit he could shoot up through the farm system quickly with the kind of stuff he has.
Take a look for yourself, Here’s a link to Sonny’s scouting report video from MLB.com.