General Draft Discussion Thread

[LouisEly]

Hey, the Giants DIDN'T make a wacky pick!

 

First time for everything.

 

Lincecum, Aardsma, Cain, Lowery, Hennessey, Bonser... I'd say they've done OK, especially considering that all but Lincecum were drafted in the latter part of the first round.

 

Stop clicking on Kendall!

 

Priceless.

 

I've got 2 options for Lawrie A) Lawrie's salt

 

I'm hoping that he earns the nickname "Prime Rib" more than "The Salt".

[clancyphile]

Any word on Petey Paramore? I liked the OBP skills and the switch-hitting.

[colbyjack]

I really like the players the team targeted on the first day of the draft. There probably weren't as many high profile names that many would have hoped and/or expected, but they definitely loaded up on pitching, and the pitchers they took are very similar to one another. They're all in the 6'1"-6'3" range and 170-190 pounds with good fastballs, good fastball movement, good breaking pitches and most of them profile as pretty good hitters as well, an added bonus for an NL club. Of course Fredrickson doesn't fit that same profile, as he has a lot more to work on, but if the team (and fans) are patient with him he could be one heck of a pitcher. It just isn't easy finding lefties that throw as hard as consistently as he does, and his slurve is also a pretty nasty pitch.

 

The Power 50 team has their work cut out for them to try and figure out how these players fit.

[LouisEly]

http://www.baseballamerica.com/draftdb/2008xrnd.php?rnd=3

 

A's at #90. With the Crew drafting Lawrie the odds of them draftind Paramore were not that good.

 

Overall I like it - heavy on pitching with the other positions picked being CF, SS, and C. As much as I like the concept of BPA, they are so stocked at corner OF and 1B that they can pass on that this year and load up on other positions. 4 of first 6 and 6 of first 10 are pitchers - love that. Odorizzi was my favorite HS arm so I'm cool with that. Fredrickson... hopefully they can do with him what they did with McClung and Turnbow. Romanski's my sleeper so far. I like that the top 3 pitchers are all good with the bat too.

 

With Lawrie being only 18 they have a while to develop him, so I'm not so worried about Salome and Lucroy. I'll want to see Lucroy in AA next year before I fully anoint him with top-5 prospect status. The Nashville catching rotation next year will likely be Salome and Palmisano - who would've thunk that five years ago? Then Lucroy at AA and Lawrie probably at West Virginia. It's a good problem to have when you are worried about too many prospects hitting the bigs at the same time.

[TheCrew07]

I'm the opposite Louis, I was underwhelmed by Romanski, but I liked all the rest. And another excellent name to add to the organization, Maverick Lasker... that's a name I have to root for.

 

edit. Either my typing is getting worse by the day or my new wireless keyboard is missing a whole lot of keystrokes. Sorry for all the weird sentences, I'll proof read better.

[heresrobin]

I really like their first 2 picks. I also really like what I see from the video of Seth Lintz. None of the other guys excite me all that much yet. That could change though. I'll take a wait-n-see approach.

 

Some guys they had a chance for who I was hoping they would take:

Mike Montgomery, Brett DeVall, or Tanner Scheppers instead of Frederickson

Tyler Ladendorf instead of Dykstra

Aaron Weatherford instead of Schafer

 

Definitely can't complain about the first 2 picks though considering I would have been OK with either one being the 16th overall.

[Hate those Rodents]

Eh, I don't know if anyone can really complain.

 

1) People that complain about NBA and NFL drafts of their team likely have a 1% clue. People complaining about their team with the MLB draft have less than a 0% chance clue (if that were possible). If these mocks and player top 300 lists weren't out there by some website that knows less than the worst scouting team in the majors, nobody would be complaining.

 

2) People on this board really think they know better than Jack Z? About a MLB draft? Ludicrous to me.

 

I am happy that Jack is ecstatic with the day he had.

[Menace II Sobriety]

If you don't like the feedback on this board for what is a stellar draft in my opinion check out jsonline.com where people can't figure out why everybody is undersized even though Jack Z. was quoted as saying that Lawrie is built like Kapler.

[heresrobin]

Eh, I don't know if anyone can really complain.

 

1) People that complain about NBA and NFL drafts of their team likely have a 1% clue. People complaining about their team with the MLB draft have less than a 0% chance clue (if that were possible). If these mocks and player top 300 lists weren't out there by some website that knows less than the worst scouting team in the majors, nobody would be complaining.

 

2) People on this board really think they know better than Jack Z? About a MLB draft? Ludicrous to me.

 

I am happy that Jack is ecstatic with the day he had.

Is anybody really claiming that they know better than Jack Z? I don't believe one person on this site believes they do. I'm a big Jack fan and have been extremely happy with his drafts and scouting department. These scouts know so much more about baseball and are privy to so much more information that I realize it's probably a futile effort to even think about who the Brewers should pick and why. I simply do a little bit of research and try to form an opinion knowing full well that my opinions will likely be wrong and amount to jack squat. I think it's more fun though to have an opinion about the draft than it is to not have one. I actually enjoy reading up on these players before and after the draft.

[yoshii8]

After seeing the picks, and their video and scouting reports I have to say I'm impressed w/ most of the picks. My favorite pick is Odorizzi, and not far behind was Lintz. Both seem to have very clean deliveries, and absolutely dominated at their high schools. I also like what I saw of Maverick Lasker.

 

Lawrie seems like a very confident guy, and from what I hear has the ability to back it up. I hope he can stick at catcher. I'm very excited about this young man.

 

I couldn't find any video of Jose Duran, but he has some very nice stats, and was the Big 12 player of the year last year. That can't be a bad thing. Does anybody know anything more about him?

 

I wasn't overly impressed by any of the other guys video, but how much can you really see in 2 minutes of footage.

[battlekow]

Looks like Melville might actually sign:

"We like Kansas City. … I felt the most comfortable with them."

 

"We're feeling awesome," said Tim's mother, Valerie Melville. "The Royals were a team he got to know and was comfortable with. … We are thrilled."

 

"We'll see what they put on the table and we'll negotiate with it," Melville said. "If it feels like a good amount, we'll take it. If not, I'm excited to go to UNC."

 

"They are in the ballpark," Valerie Melville said. "It will all come out later."

[TheCrew07]

2) People on this board really think they know better than Jack Z? About a MLB draft? Ludicrous to me.

 

I am happy that Jack is ecstatic with the day he had.

Not at all, I was hoping for a raw toolsy position player, a steal of sorts, that's all I meant by underwhelmed. It's hard to be underwhelmed by a player before he even makes his first pitch.

 

Even if Z thought he had a crappy day, he woud still be ecstatic about the picks on draft day.

 

After reading Lawrie's comments I must say his attitude reminds me of one Will Inman, he's going to be quotable if nothing else.

[ILuvDaBush]

I'm more than a little impressed with our early haul, if we can sign them. Lawrie is definitely the crown if he can at least play catcher part-time. But with all of Jack's picks, it's all about the kid's bat. He's been a wooden bat guy his entire life, and he has played professionals many times. I was also very high on Jake O. and was glad we were able to draft him away from the Cards and Cubs. Honestly, when I heard we got both those guys, I was in disbelief. The rest of the first day looks very promising. Overall, he drafted two BIG wild cards in Lawrie and Frederickson, while also taking some intriguing young arms and a very intriguing young centerfielder who will undoubtedly be compared to Jr. Gwynny, when they have very few similarities. Can we steal Lawrie's comp to Eric Byrnes and dress up Cutter in it?

[LouisEly]

As far as debuts in the Power 50, given that the 4 of the top 5 picks are HS players and the fifth is a high risk/reward, I wouldn't debut any of them very high. More polished college players like LaPorta and Braun can debut higher because they will cruise through the system, but the high school picks lately have been very hit and miss. I wouldn't put any in the top 20, maybe Lawrie and Odorizzi in the 20's somewhere at best, and Frederickson in the mid-to-low 30's. In fact, I would only put Lawrie, Odorizzi, and Fredrickson on the list at all for now. Not so much anything against them as it is the talent already in the system. When Welch and Ryan are in the 40s, I find it hard to boot those guys in favor of a couple of high schoolers.

[battlekow]

If Josh Butler is a top 20 prospect, Brett Lawrie certainly is.

[ILuvDaBush]

I know this is projection for next year but Kevin Goldstein, during his Draft Roundtable at Baseball Prospectus, was asked about his early opinion of their draft.

Kevin Goldstein (5:53:03 PM PT): Hyatt (Arlington): Have the Brewers done enough to bring their system back to it's former prominence with their 5 picks in the top 62? And do any of their guys have STAR!!! potential?

I like their draft at the top quite a bit, and I imagine that both Lawrie and Odorizzi will place highly on next year's top 11.

I just can't get over the idea that the young Canadian has done his damage on the diamond using a wooden bat...as a teenager...against older professionals at times. I seriously wonder what he could do in the Cape Cod League.

[tbbrewers]

Apparently the Brewers were looking at Tony Delmonico in the fifth or sixth round but the Dodgers drafted him. Delmonico plays shortstop for Florida State.

Delmonico had been in contact with representatives from Milwaukee and the New York Mets, but the Dodgers weren't on the radar until he heard his name called.

"I didn't even get a call from the Dodgers," Delmonico said of his waiting game on Thursday. "I was on the phone with a Brewers guy who said they were going to take me in the fifth or sixth round.

"Right when I least expect it, they say, 'Anthony Delmonico goes to the Los Angeles Dodgers.' I was shocked and excited at the same time."

http://govolsxtra.com/news/2008/jun/05/delmonico-drafted-by-dodgers/

[Never Outhustled]

Obviously, I'm stoked as can be for Lawrie. I haven't been this excited for a draft prospect since I begged for Braun. Lawrie should debut in the top 10 in the P50, in fact, he should be #6.

 

Odorizzi was slated to go to Colorado at # 25 for weeks, so I didn't put him in my 6 pick mock, but he slid down when Friedrich slid to Colorado. He's exactly what you look for in a HS arm. His velocity has been on the increase just lately.

 

I'm suprised so many are disappointed with the Fredrickson pick. Scouts say he has the same fastball, and a better breaking ball, than White Sox 2007 1st round pick Aaron Poreda. Poreda is also a huge lefty that played at the same college.With a few treaks as a pro, Poreda has took off, and presently has a 3.34 ERA in A+. Everyone should be esctatic with that kind of production from a projectable pitcher taken after the top 10 picks. Poreda had a better ERA at San Francisco, but wasn't close the Fredrickson in K totals. Fredrickson was red hot to end the season, we may have nabbed him at the perfect time.

 

Lintz is another perfectly projectable HS arm. Cutter Dykstra is a true baseball player, and also has batspeed to hit for power.

 

The only underwhelming pick to me was Logan Shafer. He just seems to be a low ceiling guy. I feel the same way about him as I did when we selected Gwynn and Eric Farris. There was some really interesting players still on the board, like Aaron Weatherford and Chris Carpenter.

[PeaveyFury]

Even if Z thought he had a crappy day, he woud still be ecstatic about the picks on draft day.

 

Yeah, no one is going to come out and say, 'boy, things just didn't work out like we hoped. We had a few guys targeted, but they were all gone when we picked and had to settle for these guys'.

 

But that said, I think we added some serious talent to the system, which is exactly what we needed to do especially on the pitching side.

[Chio151]

Frederickson, to me, looks like a left-handed Turnbow. That said, if he gets some good technique work, he could be lights out. It's a good pick when you have a few early ones to take a boom/bust guy.

[TheCrew07]

Lintz doesn't sound all that excited to be drafted by the Brewers, I would have thought that he'd be pretty happy to go #53 overall as a high school kid.

[Chio151]

Lintz doesn't sound all that excited to be drafted by the Brewers, I would have thought that he'd be pretty happy to go #53 overall as a high school kid.

I'll cut him some slack. 18 is still very young to be making lifetime decisions - even if one choice is obvious.

[rwa12]

I'd be surprised if we had too much trouble signing Linz, sounds like he is just being honest, and doesn't want to give MIL the idea that he can't wait to sign, will probably snag a few extra bucks that way.

[Bambis Bombers]

Colby -

 

The Royals draft looks good on paper with Hosmer, Montgomery, Sample and Melville, but there will be challenges signing this group of prep standouts. What are your impressions of the Royals draft so far and will they be able to sign everyone? Going into the draft, I liked Sample and Montgomery and hoped the Brewers would select one of them.

[rousieboy]

Given that a lot of JackZ's press conference includes how much work is done by the scouts and the team tracking players that they truly like even if they are the BPA at the Brewers' pick, I wonder what it means when he DOESN'T talk about a player or all the hard work that goes into a player.

 

Was the player MIL wanted at #53 gone in the #45-52 range and Jack reached for the BPA sheet and pulled Lintz' name off a sheet...?