The Angels will be watching from the bench Monday when the 2012 amateur draft begins with first-round selections and the first round of compensation picks.
The Angels won’t swing into draft action until Tuesday because they lost their first- and second-round picks as compensation for signing free agents Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson, and they did not receive any compensation picks for the free agents they lost.
As a result, the Angels’ first pick will be the 114th overall selection of the draft, in the third round, a slide that forced the Angels to shift their scouting strategy away from prospects who are considered cream-of-the-crop.
“Once our opportunity comes up, the 113 best players will be off the board, so we focused our efforts on scouting smart,” General Manager Jerry Dipoto said. “We watched some of those guys early in the season and some late in case they slide in the draft.
“But we didn’t waste valuable time hammering away on guys who we know are going to be off the board. In my estimation, we’ve done a good job of making sure, by the time we pick, that we know the players we’re picking better than anyone else.”
--Mike DiGiovanna
