Five America East players were drafted in last year’s MLB Draft. Thirty players from the America East have been selected over the past five years. Draft trends aren’t typically my preferred entry point when discussing a conference’s present talent levels, but, lacking a hook otherwise, let’s focus in on the five or six top names that could wind up repping the conference this June.

Right off the top, I’m fairly comfortable declaring that Stephen Woods is the most talented 2016 MLB Draft prospect in the America East. That may or may not be enough to make him the best prospect, but it certainly puts him in the mix. Woods has a big-time arm (95-96 peak) with an intriguing curve and an unusually firm yet effective changeup. All of that was enough to make him a sixth round pick out of high school. His biggest issue has always been control: he walked 9.9 batters per nine his freshman year, 7.0 batters per nine last year, and sits at 6.1 in the early going this season. Any team drafting Woods with a single-digit round pick will have to weigh his raw stuff against his wild ways. Look at his early 2016 line: 13.1 IP 16 H 11 ER 9 BB 25 K. What in the world do we make of that? Really good stuff + elite ability to miss bats + well below-average control + inconsistent (at best) track record of run prevention = I have no idea and I’m glad I’m not paid to make a definitive statement about his draft future. A selection anywhere from as high as round five to as low as the twenties wouldn’t surprise me at this point. When it doubt it never hurts to gamble on arm strength guys with pedigree like Woods, but know that his eventual pro future will be dictated far more on development than an accurate scouting report.

In addition to Woods, I count no less than a dozen 2016 draft prospects that throw 90 MPH or better. That benchmark alone isn’t enough to get a player drafted these days, but it certainly doesn’t hurt. Cameron Stone (plus CU), Mike Bunal (athleticism), David Drouin (above-average CB), Tyler Honahan (lefty pitchability), and Kyle Gauthier (plus command) are just some of the young arms that throw hard and bring something else impressive to the table. An argument could be made that Jeff Gelinas, the projectable righty out of Maine, has the most upside out of any draft-eligible arm in the conference. I bring it up because, as luck would have it, a baseball friend of mine based out of the Boston area actually made that argument to me when I was asking around about this list. Gelinas has a big arm (up to 94) and plenty of untapped upside, but many of the same issues as Woods (control, obviously) without the same offspeed refinement.

Still lacking an obvious angle to discuss the America East hitting prospects, let’s go with a quick breakdown of the three outfielders at the top. Here’s where I have Toby Handley, Ian Strom, and Jack Parenty…

Hit: Handley, Parenty, Strom
Power: Parenty, Strom, Handley
Speed: Strom, Handley, Parenty
Glove: Strom, Handley, Parenty
Arm: Strom, Handley, Parenty

If you’ve come to this site knowing nothing about these three players, which guy do you like best? Handley is the hitter, Parenty has the most pop, and Strom brings the most appealing all-around athletic profile. A case could be made for any of the three as the conference’s top hitting prospect in 2016. I went with the hitter for now, but reserve the right to make the swap for the athlete with the funky swing who glides around in center with the best that college ball has to offer.

Hitters

1. Stony Brook JR OF Toby Handley
2. UMass-Lowell JR OF/LHP Ian Strom
3. Stony Brook SR OF Jack Parenty
4. Hartford JR 1B/3B David MacKinnon
5. Stony Brook JR 1B/OF Casey Baker
6. Maine JR OF Tyler Schwanz
7. UMBC JR C Hunter Dolshun
8. Maine SR C Kevin Stypulkowski
9. Albany rJR C/1B Evan Harasta
10. Binghamton JR OF/1B Brendan Skidmore
11. UMBC SR SS Kevin Lachance
12. UMBC JR OF Andrew Casali
13. Binghamton rSO INF Justin Yurchak
14. UMBC rSR 1B Anthony Gatto
15. Maine SR 3B/SS Brett Chappell
16. Binghamton SR 2B Reed Gamache
17. Hartford SR OF Chris DelDebbio
18. Albany SR OF Will Miller
19. Hartford SR 2B/SS Aaron Wilson
20. Albany SR SS Trevor DeMerritt
21. Albany JR OF Eric Mueller
22. UMBC rJR OF/RHP Tim Kelly
23. Stony Brook rJR C David Real
24. Albany rJR 3B Matt Hinchy
25. UMass-Lowell SR OF Joe Consolmagno
26. Stony Brook SR 3B Johnny Caputo
27. Binghamton JR C Edward Posavec
28. Maine SR 1B Brenden Geary
29. UMBC rSR OF Nick Naumann
30. UMBC rSO 3B Mitchell Carroll
31. Binghamton JR OF Darian Herncane
32. UMass-Lowell JR 1B/3B Zack Tower

Pitchers

1. Albany JR RHP Stephen Woods
2. Stony Brook JR RHP Cameron Stone
3. Binghamton SR RHP/OF Mike Bunal
4. Hartford rSO RHP David Drouin
5. Stony Brook SR LHP Tyler Honahan
6. Hartford SR RHP Kyle Gauthier
7. Maine JR RHP Jeff Gelinas
8. Hartford JR RHP John LaRossa
9. Hartford SR RHP Jacob Mellin
10. Hartford JR RHP Brian Stepniak
11. UMBC SR RHP Conrad Wozniak
12. Maine SR RHP Charlie Butler
13. Albany JR RHP JT Genovese
14. UMBC rSO RHP Patrick Phillips
15. UMBC SR RHP Denis Mikush
16. Albany JR RHP Joe Romero
17. Binghamton rSO RHP Jacob Wloczewski
18. Hartford SR RHP Brian Murphy
19. Binghamton rJR RHP Jake Cryts
20. Maine SR RHP Logan Fullmer
21. UMass-Lowell JR RHP Steve Xirinachs
22. UMBC JR RHP Cory Callahan
23. Maine SR RHP Jake Marks
24. Hartford SR RHP Sam McKay

Albany

JR RHP Stephen Woods (2016)
rJR RHP Ryan Stinar (2016)
JR LHP Marcus Failing (2016)
JR RHP Joe Romero (2016)
JR RHP JT Genovese (2016)
SR SS Trevor DeMerritt (2016)
SR 2B Karson Canaday (2016)
rJR 3B Matt Hinchy (2016)
SR OF Will Miller (2016)
rJR C/1B Evan Harasta (2016)
JR OF Eric Mueller (2016)
FR 2B Pat Lagravinese (2018)
FR SS Kevin Donati (2018)
FR C Matt Codispoti (2018)

High Priority Follows: Stephen Woods, Joe Romero, JT Genovese, Trevor DeMerritt, Karson Canaday, Matt Hinchy, Will Miller, Evan Harasta, Eric Mueller

Binghamton

rJR RHP Jake Cryts (2016)
rSO RHP Jacob Wloczewski (2016)
SR RHP/OF Mike Bunal (2016)
JR OF/1B Brendan Skidmore (2016)
rSO INF Justin Yurchak (2016)
SR 2B Reed Gamache (2016)
SR 3B David Schanz (2016)
JR C Edward Posavec (2016)
JR OF Darian Herncane (2016)
SO RHP Jake Erhard (2017)
SO LHP/1B Nick Wegmann (2017)
SO C/1B Jason Agresti (2017)
SO OF Chris McGee (2017)
SO OF/2B CJ Krowiak (2017)
SO 3B/1B Luke Tevlin (2017)
FR RHP Nick Gallagher (2018)

High Priority Follows: Jake Cryts, Jacob Wloczewski, Mike Bunal, Brendan Skidmore, Justin Yurchak, Reed Gamache, Edward Posavec, Darian Herncane

Hartford

SR RHP Sam McKay (2016)
SR RHP Brian Murphy (2016)
SR RHP Kyle Gauthier (2016)
SR RHP Jacob Mellin (2016)
JR RHP John LaRossa (2016)
rSO RHP David Drouin (2016)
JR RHP Brian Stepniak (2016)
JR 1B/3B David MacKinnon (2016)
SR 2B/SS Aaron Wilson (2016)
SR OF Chris DelDebbio (2016)
SR C/1B Billy Walker (2016)
JR 2B/3B Dalton Ruch (2016)
SO RHP Kevin Tise (2017)
SO C Erik Ostberg (2017)
SO 3B/SS TJ Ward (2017)
SO SS/3B Ben Bengtson (2017)
SO OF Nick Campana (2017)
FR RHP Justin Cashman (2018)
FR RHP Billy Devito (2018)
FR RHP Seth Pinkerton (2018)
FR OF Ashton Bardzell (2018)
FR 3B Chris Sullivan (2018)

High Priority Follows: Sam McKay, Brian Murphy, Kyle Gauthier, Jacob Mellin, John LaRossa, David Drouin, Brian Stepniak, David MacKinnon, Aaron Wilson, Chris DelDebbio

Maine

JR RHP Zach Winn (2016)
SR RHP Logan Fullmer (2016)
SR RHP Jake Marks (2016)
SR RHP Charlie Butler (2016)
JR RHP Jeff Gelinas (2016)
JR OF Tyler Schwanz (2016)
SR C Kevin Stypulkowski (2016)
SR 3B/SS Brett Chappell (2016)
SR 1B Brenden Geary (2016)
SR 2B Shane Bussey (2016)
SO RHP Chris Murphy (2017)
SO RHP Justin Courtney (2017)
SO RHP John Arel (2017)
SO LHP Connor Johnson (2017)
SO RHP Clay Conaway (2017)
SO 2B Alex Cabrera (2017)
FR SS Jeremy Pena (2018)
FR 2B Danny Casals (2018)

High Priority Follows: Logan Fullmer, Jake Marks, Charlie Butler, Jeff Gelinas, Tyler Schwanz, Kevin Stypulkowski, Brett Chappell, Brenden Geary

Stony Brook

SR LHP Tyler Honahan (2016)
SR RHP Tim Knesnik (2016)
SR RHP Chad Lee (2016)
JR RHP Cameron Stone (2016)
JR OF Toby Handley (2016)
SR 3B Johnny Caputo (2016)
SR OF Jack Parenty (2016)
JR 1B/OF Casey Baker (2016)
rJR C David Real (2016)
SO C Drew Bene (2017)
SO 1B Malcolm Nachmanoff (2017)
SO 1B/3B Andruw Gazzola (2017)
SO 2B/SS Bobby Honeyman (2017)
SO SS Jeremy Giles (2017)
FR RHP Bret Clarke (2018)

High Priority Follows: Tyler Honahan, Cameron Stone, Toby Handley, Johnny Caputo, Jack Parenty, Casey Baker, David Real

Massachusetts – Lowell

JR RHP Steve Xirinachs (2016)
JR OF/LHP Ian Strom (2016)
JR 1B/3B Zack Tower (2016)
SR OF Joe Consolmagno (2016)
SO RHP Andrew Ryan (2017)
SO RHP Nick Kuzia (2017)
SO RHP Tim Fallon (2017)
FR OF Michael Young (2018)
FR OF Chris Sharpe (2018)
FR 1B/OF Steve Passatempo (2018)

High Priority Follows: Steve Xirinachs, Ian Strom, Zack Tower, Joe Consolmagno

UMBC

rSR LHP Joe Vanderplas (2016)
SR LHP Kevin Little (2016)
SR RHP Conrad Wozniak (2016)
JR RHP Cory Callahan (2016)
SR RHP Denis Mikush (2016)
rSO RHP Patrick Phillips (2016)
rJR OF/RHP Tim Kelly (2016)
JR 1B/LHP Connor Hax (2016)
SR SS Kevin Lachance (2016)
rSR 1B Anthony Gatto (2016)
JR C Hunter Dolshun (2016)
JR OF Andrew Casali (2016)
rSR OF Nick Naumann (2016)
rSO 3B Mitchell Carroll (2016)
SO RHP Matt Chanin (2017)
SO C Zack Bright (2017)
SO 1B Jamie Switalski (2017)
FR 3B AJ Wright (2018)

High Priority Follows: Joe Vanderplas, Conrad Wozniak, Cory Callahan, Denis Mikush, Patrick Phillips, Tim Kelly, Kevin Lachance, Anthony Gatto, Hunter Dolshun, Andrew Casali, Nick Naumann, Mitchell Carroll