By Jack Etkin, Baseball America

 TOMMY GUN ENTICING

 Denver, CO-Seeking to add a power arm to their bullpen, the  Rockies selected righthander  Tommy Kahnle from the Yankees  in the Rule 5 draft during the Winter Meetings.

Kahnle, 24, went 1-3, 2.85 with 15 saves last season in 46  games for Double-A Trenton.  Rockies  pro scouting director  Jon Weil said Kahnle was enticing because he touched 98 mph  and  averaged 96 with his fastball.

“To get a guy with an impactful fastball is exciting,” Weil said.  ”You’re not taking a shot at a guy  you hope he’s going to be a  fringy big leaguer.  We’ve got reports on him that say he’s got a chance  to be a good big leaguer.”

One of those reports came from scout Will George.  ”He looked  the part of a late-inning guy,”  George said.  ”There was no fear.  There was a real aggressiveness about the way he attached  hitters.”

Weil said Kahnle throws a short, hard slider that should get better  in time and a workable change-up with late action at times.

In 60 innings, Kahnle yielded jsut 38 hits, holding opponents to a .182 average.  He averaged 11.1  strikeouts per nine innings but 6.8 walks.

Kahnle pitching for South Troy Dodgers during the 2007 Connie Mack Qualifier at Geer Park

That was a regression from 2012 when Kahnle, the Yankees’ fifth-round pick in 2010 from Lynn  (FL)  University, averaged 3.8 walks and 11.7 strikeouts while  spending almost the entire season  with high Class A Tampa.

Kahnle has effort to his delivery, not surprising given how hard  he throws. “I don’t have any issues  with the arm action or the  effort to the delivery,” Weil said.  ”It’s just a matter of harnessing  his  command and control right now. But if it clicks, he’s got a  chance to be a back-end guy or better.”

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA — Former South Troy Dodger teammates Jeff Hoffman and Brandon Cogswell have been named Pre-Season All-Americans by Perfect Game.  Perfect Game, the largest baseball scouting organization in the world, announced its All-American selections on Monday.

Former South Troy Dodger Jeff Hoffman is expected to be the #2 overall pick in this year’s MLB Draft

Hoffman, a highly touted right-handed pitcher at East Carolina, garnered First-Team All-America honors.  Hoffman is widely regarded by baseball experts to be the #2 overall prospect in this year’s MLB Draft behind only Carlos Rodon of North Carolina State.  According to Perfect Game, Hoffman is one pitcher who could unseat Rodon as the top overall pick in this summer’s MLB draft. Hoffman, a 6-foot-4, 192-pounder, has elite stuff, and East Carolina coach Billy Godwin feels like he has a chance to put all the puzzle pieces together once and for all this spring. Hoffman has a fastball anywhere from 94-97, with the ability to touch 98, while he possesses a good low-80s curveball and developing low-80s changeup. Perhaps no pitcher includes as much intrigue entering the spring as Hoffman.

For Hoffman, it’s his second selection to an All-America squad this spring following his third-team designation by Collegiate Baseball back on Dec. 26.

As a sophomore in 2013, Hoffman went 6-7 with a 3.20 ERA earning Second-Team All C-USA honors. The Latham, N.Y. native led the Pirates in quality starts (11), innings pitched (109 2/3), strikeouts (84) and quality starts (11), while ranking second in walk-to-strikeout ratio (0.46).

The right-hander earned C-USA Pitcher-of-the-Week accolades for the second time in his career after tossing a complete game, one-hit shutout against North Carolina Central (Mar. 29). Hoffman ranked among the league leaders (all games) in innings pitched (fifth) and strikeouts (84/9th), while standing 98th nationally in strikeouts.

This past summer Hoffman spent his second-straight season playing for the Hyannis Harbor Hawks of Cape Cod League, where he was named the 2013 Robert A. McNeece Award winner for Outstanding Pro Prospect. He posted a 2-0 record with a 3.69 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP. In four starts he fanned 33 batters, held his opponents to a .217 composite average and posted a 0.15 walk-to-strikeout ration.

His finest start of the summer came July 17 against Orleans, in which he threw 7 2/3 innings of shutout ball, scattering three hits, walking one and striking out 11 batters. The performance was enough to earn him Coca-Cola Pitcher-of-the-Week honors.

Former South Troy Dodger and current University of Virginia stand-out Brandon Cogswell is rated as the #2 college shortstop in this year’s MLB Draft

Cogswell as a South Troy Dodger during the 2010 Connie Mack Qualifier at Geer Park

University of Virginia shortstop, Brandon Cogswell, received 2nd Team Perfect Game All-American honors.  Cogswell was a second-team All-ACC honoree in 2013 when he hit .346 in 47 games out of the leadoff position. He had a team-high 63 hits on the year when he was sidelined in early May with a broken finger that kept him out the rest of the season. At the time of his injury, he ranked fifth nationally in runs per game (1.17) and 20th in walks per game (0.81), and he finished the year 10th in the ACC in batting.  Cogswell was also recently touted by Baseball America as the #2 rated collegiate shortstop in this year’s MLB Draft.  Cogswell is projected as a third to fifth round selection.

Hoffman and Cogswell headline what is anticipated to be a record class of former South Troy Dodgers expected to be selected in the 2014 Major League Baseball Draft.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, FL — Each year, with the end of Major League Baseball’s Winter Meetings, the Rule 5 Draft takes place.  During the Rule 5 Draft, Major League teams with room on their 40-man rosters are allowed to make selections in the Major League phase for $50,000. Players taken in Rule 5 have to stick on the 25-man Big League roster for the entire following season or be offered back to their original teams for $25,000.

TOM KAHNLE

Continuing the trend of the Rule 5 Draft being heavy on pitching, seven of the nine players taken in the Major League Phase of this year’s Rule 5 Draft were pitchers, Among the seven pitchers taken, was former South Troy Dodger Tom Kahnle who was stolen away from the Yankee organization when the Colorado Rockies took the right-handed reliever with the 4^th overall pick.

Drafted in the fifth round of the 2010 MLB Draft, Kahnle is considered by scouting experts to have over-powering strikeout potential with a career 12.0 K/9. In 2013, his strikeout rate remained steady, and it was highly likely that that he would have been moved to Triple-A within the Yankee organization to start 2014 and been in line for a Big League promotion if he continued to progress. The Rockies obviously recognized that potential in grabbing Kahnle as a potential fixture in their bullpen.

John Sickels from Minor League Ball weighs in on Kahnle:

Rockies: Thomas Kahnle, RHP, Yankees: Drafted in the fifth round in 2010 from Lynn University in Florida, Kahnle had a successful ’13 season with a 2.85 ERA and a 74/45 K/BB in 60 innings for Double-A Trenton, picking up 15 saves and allowing just 38 hits. The 24 year old can hit the upper-90s with his fastball and is often overpowering, as you’d imagine from his K/IP ratio and low hit rate. He could be a useful relief arm if he can reduce the walks

In another interesting twist, when Rockies Spring Training camp opens, Kahnle will be reunited with his former South Troy Dodger

TOM MURPHY

battery-mate, Tom Murphy.  Murphy and Kahnle were both members of the South Troy Elite Team in 2008.  Murphy is a top catching prospect in the Colorado Rockie organization.  Selected by Colorado in the third round (105th overall) of the 2012 Amateur Draft, Murphy has been tearing through Rockies A-system ever since. As a rookie, he batted 288 and hit six home runs for the Tri-City Dust Devils. The lack of homers was only a temporary issue as Murphy quickly adjusted to pro ball.  This season after a move from low A ball in Tri-City to high A ball for the Asheville Tourists, Murphy hit 19 home runs and posted 74 RBIs to lead the Tourists.  Those who have seen Murphy up close don’t think that his success will stop there.  According to Asheville Manager Fred Ocasio, “I see him hitting with power to all fields. For me, he’s the top catching prospect I’ve seen in my time in the organization.”

NEW! NOVEMBER 18, 2013-On Monday, November 18th, South Troy shortstop, Kevin Smith, officially signed his National Letter of

South Troy Dodger shortstop, Kevin Smith, signs his National Letter of Intent with the University of Maryland. Smith is pictured at his signing with South Troy Dodger Chief, George Rogers.

Intent securing his commitment to attend the University of Maryland in the Fall of 2014.  Smith, who is widely considered to be one of the best defensive shortstops in the nation, verbally committed to the Terapins  in the Fall of 2012 but was not able to make that commitment official until the NCAA’s 2013 signing period.  Following his sophomore year and before ever taking the field for a single high school varsity baseball game, Smith toured with the Dodgers in the Fall of 2012.  During that campaign with South Troy, Smith consistently wowed college coaches with his defensive abilities.  Smith fielded several scholarship offers before ultimately choosing Maryland over suitors from the ACC, MAAC, Big East, and Patriot League.  Smith is pictured at right with South Troy Dodger chief George Rogers as he signs his National Letter of Intent .