Round Two (Pick 79) Zach Cozart - SS - Mississippi

[TOBTTReds]

Junior out of Ole Miss...more coming.

Biographical Data
Player Name: Zack Warren Cozart
Position: Shortstop
School: University of Mississippi
School Type: Four-Year College
Academic Class: Junior
Birthdate: 08/12/85
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 190 lbs.
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Report Date(s): 03/30-04/01/07
Game(s): Auburn

Focus Area Comments

Hitting Ability: Cozart is a front-foot hitter who inside-outs the ball.

Power: Cozart does not project to hit for power at the next level.

Running Speed: He is a below-average runner for a middle infielder.

Arm Strength: Cozart has plus arm strength, though he does throw from a slightly unorthodox lower arm angle.

Fielding: Cozart's best tools are his hands. He may have among the best hands in the draft class and catches everything hit his way.

Range: Cozart has average range now, but with below-average speed, it might decrease at the next level.

Baseball Instinct: Cozart has good instincts and that should help him defensively in anticipating to make up for lack of range in the future..

Physical Description: Cozart is a decent-sized middle infielder who should be able to stay there.

Medical Update: Healthy.

Strengths: His hands will play at the next level.

Weaknesses: His hitting ability makes him profile as a No. 9-type hitter down the road. He doesn't have enough speed to be a plus, plus defensive shortstop

Summary: Cozart has perhaps the best set of hands in this year's draft class and shortstops who can catch the ball are often hard to find. His lack of speed may hurt his range as the game speeds up and there is a question as to how much he'll hit at the next level. Some see him as a shortstop who can hit in the two-hole, but he also may just be a utilityman who hits ninth.

Kind of strange to pick another SS. Though I have no idea what their plans are, we have a ton of middle IF'ers.

[HumnHilghtFreel]

Hitting Ability: Cozart is a front-foot hitter who inside-outs the ball.
Power: Cozart does not project to hit for power at the next level.
Running Speed: He is a below-average runner for a middle infielder.
Arm Strength: Cozart has plus arm strength, though he does throw from a slightly unorthodox lower arm angle.
Fielding: Cozart's best tools are his hands. He may have among the best hands in the draft class and catches everything hit his way.
Range: Cozart has average range now, but with below-average speed, it might decrease at the next level.
Baseball Instinct: Cozart has good instincts and that should help him defensively in anticipating to make up for lack of range in the future..
Physical Description: Cozart is a decent-sized middle infielder who should be able to stay there.
Medical Update: Healthy.
Strengths: His hands will play at the next level.
Weaknesses: His hitting ability makes him profile as a No. 9-type hitter down the road. He doesn't have enough speed to be a plus, plus defensive shortstop
Summary: Cozart has perhaps the best set of hands in this year's draft class and shortstops who can catch the ball are often hard to find. His lack of speed may hurt his range as the game speeds up and there is a question as to how much he'll hit at the next level. Some see him as a shortstop who can hit in the two-hole, but he also may just be a utilityman who hits ninth.

[HumnHilghtFreel]

Overall, I don't like this pick

[TOBTTReds]

Sounds like Paul Janish all over again.

[Blue]

Dislike.

[TOBTTReds]

We just picked another SS Neftali Soto with pick 109. YIKES.

Biographical Data
Player Name: Neftali Soto
Position: Outfielder
School: Colegio Maristas HS, PR
School Type: High School
Academic Class: Senior
Birthdate: 02/28/89
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 180 lbs.
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Report Date(s): 05/8/07
Game(s): Puerto Rico pre-draft workout
Scouting Video:

Focus Area Comments
Hitting Ability: Soto has a good set of hitting tools and grades out as an average hitter right now.
Power: Soto has plus raw power projection.
Running Speed: Soto's speed grades out as slightly above-average.
Fielding: He has long actions in the field and might need to move to shortstop.
Arm Strength: Soto has an average arm.
Range: Despite having good speed, he doesn't have the first-step quickness to have the range needed to stay at shortstop.
Physical Description: Soto is an athletic infielder with a body type similar to Mike Lowell.
Medical Update: Healthy.
Strengths: He's got a good overall package of tools, with power projection being the best one.
Weaknesses: He doesn't have the defensive game to stay at shortstop.
Summary: Soto has an intriguing package of tools that includes raw power and above-average speed. Currently a shortstop, he doesn't profile as a guy who'll be able to stay there, particularly range-wise. That's OK, because his offensive skill set fits better at third. He should hit enough for the position and could develop into a No. 5 or 6 hitter in a big-league lineup.

[corkedbat]

Sounds like someone I would be quite alright with in the 10th or 11th round (the Cozart pick).

[New Fever]

BA Top 200:

59. Zack Cozart, ss
School: Mississippi. Class: Jr.
B-T: R-R. Ht.: 6-1. Wt.: 190. Birthdate: 8/12/85.
Scouting Report: In this year's draft class, Cozart is a commodity as a college position player with passable skills in the field and at the plate. One scout described him as a "manager's dream" for his hustle and steadiness. He swung the bat best down the stretch this year and may have played his way into the supplemental round. A player in the mold of Adam Everett, his glove is ahead of his bat and he's an above-average defender with solid-average range, supple hands and enough arm to make the play in the hole. He is a solid-average runner. Cozart is a dead-pull hitter with solid-average bat speed and gap power. He cheats on fastballs on the inner half and can be susceptible to balls on the outer half of the plate. How well he handles the wood bat will determine his ultimate value, but he's a backup big league shortstop at worst.

[Sea Ray]

Sounds like Paul Janish all over again.

Nothing wrong with Paul. He's progressed through the minors very nicely

[reds44]

We just picked another SS Neftali Soto with pick 109. YIKES.

I like Soto.

If the Janish comparisons are true, nothing wrong with Cozart.

[Superdude]

Couldn't we have saved the hassle just by signing Juan Castro long term? Not a big fan of this at all. Bad Wayne!

[Rojo]

I don't like this either. Is Wayne in love with good hands?

[D-Man]

I don't like this either. Is Wayne in love with good hands?

I think *somebody* in the Reds scouting department must believe this kid can hit. And frankly, Cozart has shown some aptitude for hitting. He hit pretty well in 2006 and was a preseason 1st Team All American coming into 2007. He fell apart at the beginning of 2007 and only hit .250 to begin the year. However, he certainly improved as the weather warmed and hit .345 in the second half.

http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pb...706010353/1287

http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pb...10352/0/SPORTS

Below are Cozart's college numbers.

2005: .281/.341/.475
2006: .338/.370/.515
2007: .304/.382/.428

http://www.olemisssports.com/ViewArt...48&SPSID=13065

If he can hit--and he has shown he can hit against the rather tough SEC competition--then the Reds have an Adam Everett glove and a Luis Castillo offensive game, sans the steals. That would help quite a bit, IMO.

On the other hand, he could be a Rey Olmedo-like flameout in AA. I suppose that seems likely at this point.

One final thought. . . This guy was a hot commodity coming into the year, and his stock slipped. Same thing happened to Xavier Nady in his junior year in college, and he turned into a decent ballplayer. So the Reds might be buying low here. Here is what Bryan Smith at Baseball Analysts said about Cozart in 2006:

"Cozart is the best shortstop in the group, a well-skilled player defensively that won't have to think about changing positions. At the plate there are some questions, and they start with Cozart's inability to draw a walk. [editorial note: his BB rate went up since this article was written.] However, his contact rates are the best in the group, and he hit for more power than Horton did on the year. Add enough quickness to steal a base, and he seems a top 15 pick."

http://baseballanalysts.com/archives...ng_through.php

[Smith like Frazier, too, BTW]

[RedLegsToday]

From Bryan Smith's article today at baseballprospectus:

Best Value Picks:

Will Middlebrooks (Boston, Round 5)
Matt Harvey (Angels, Round 3)
Brad Suttle (Yankees, Round 4)
Matt Spencer (Phillies, Round 3)
Jess Todd (Cardinals, Round 2)
Kyle Russell (Cardinals, Round 4)
Marc Rzepczynski (Blue Jays, Round 5)
Brandon Hicks (Braves, Round 3)
Zach Cozart (Reds, Round 2)
Collin Delome (Astros, Round 5)
Kyle Blair (Dodgers, Round 5)

[RedLegsToday]

also
Best Use of Multiple Picks
Honorable Mention: Cincinnati Reds

Chris Buckley finally took a prep player in the first round when he picked Devin Mesoraco, and did so again twice more in the first five rounds. However, I think the combination of Todd Frazier and Zach Cozart is a really good mix, probably because if you combined the two players, they would make one hell of a prospect.