Brewerfan.net 2007 Draft Coverage

[colbyjack]

While Brewerfan.net's 2007 draft coverage has been available since last October with an early look at the top 30 prospects available for next June's draft, that coverage has now been expanded to the top 100 prospects. I've profiled 100 prospects + in the past, but never this early, and the detailed scouting reports are full with pictures (the ones I could find) and links to newspaper and online features.

 

To access Brewerfan.net's default 2007 draft page, simply click on the word "Draft" located within the maroon sub-navigation bar towards the top of each page, the "Draft Coverage" button located on the left-hand side of all non-fan forum pages, or just click the below link:

 

Brewerfan.net 2007 Draft Coverage

 

To view the top 100 draft prospects, select "All" from the drop-down menu entitled "Player profiles." More players will be added to the database as the spring progresses. You can also view players by position.

 

On this page you will also find a link for the raw draft order, pertinent draft-related links, and links to past year's coverage here at Brewerfan.net.

 

And I am currently working on the DFE story, covering the players still under the Milwaukee Brewers control in the final year of the process. I hope to have that story on the homepage, as well as the DFE resource thread pinned at the top of this forum, in a couple of weeks.

[GagneCY03]

Awesome. Always appreciate your contributions, CJ.

[foamboy1]

Wieters is 6'6"?

 

Wow....I had no idea. That's a long way to crouch down for a catcher.

 

How tall is Joe Mauer?

[GagneCY03]

Mauer is 6'4. I've seen Wieters listed at both 6'4 and 6'6. Either way, he's a big backstop.

[colbyjack]

Sorry I missed this before, but we had this conversation before about Wieters' size in comparison to Mauer (I don't remember where). Katuluu mentioned that Mauer has grown to 6'5" these days, and of course is considered the best young catcher in all of baseball (along with Brian McCann). Certainly there aren't too many catchers that big in baseball. Sandy Alomar is another one I can think of, and he has enjoyed a long career despite his large stature.

 

Wieters, like Mauer, is an extremely athletic player (he also doubles as GT's closer), and if anyone can pull it off over the long haul, it's him.

[jsinger121]

New here but I just want to say that I enjoy reading the draft coverage on this site. I am a moderator over at soxprospects.com and I am going to try to frequent this site a bit more.

[DAS1410]

Do you have any info on .....

 

RHP Chris Withrow - 6'3" 195 - R/R - Midland Christian HS (Midland, TX)

 

C Jameson Smith - 6'0" 200 - L/R - Fresno City College

[colbyjack]

I'm guessing you're reading PGCC, which is a very good thing, as both players have been mentioned in recent weeks.

 

I can't add anything more on either of them of what has already been shared. Smith in particular is drawing a lot of interest for his overall athleticism, and could sneak into the top 2-3 rounds of the draft. Winthrow is throwing hard and is soaring up follow lists.

[DAS1410]

Colby,

 

Jameson Smith I did hear about on PGCC on the free JUCO update.

 

Chris Withrow I found on MiLB.com. He was one of Jonathan Mayo's features.

 

DAS1410

[colbyjack]

Here is some more info on Winthrow from PG's site:

 

www.perfectgame.org/stori...Fnational/

 

Quote:

---

Chris Withrow

Chris Withrow, 6?3/185 RHP from Midland Christian HS in Odessa, TX., looked very good at the Perfect Game National Showcase last June. One of the PG scouts had him ranked the 9th best prospect there. The majority of the staff had him a bit lower than that. Now this spring it?s starting to look like Withrow has a possibility of being one of the prized gems of the upcoming June draft. It?s not only Withrow?s mid 90s fastball, but his athleticism and projection are above many other of the top ranked pitchers in this years draft. He has signed with Baylor.

 

Here is his report that we filed from the PG National Showcase last year.

Chris Withrow is a 2007 right hand pitcher from Midland Christian HS, residing in Odessa, TX. He has a strong, powerful build on his 6'3" 185 lb. frame, that still has some room to grow. He has a very good athletic pitcher's build. With raw stuff and a repertoire that was pretty complete, Withrow was ranked #34 among the PG National Top 85 pitchers. Withrow has an easy 88-92 mph fastball that came out of his high 3/4 slot. With an easy and fairly short arm action, his fastball can be classified as sneaky due to the excellent extension he gets with his arm on the front side of his delivery. Withrow did a nice job of repeating that delivery, demonstrating his athleticism on the mound. His arm stroke and arm speed are both very good, suggesting a bit more velocity in the coming years, perhaps 3-4 more mph. Even if he doesn't gain much more, he showed the ability to pitch to all parts of the strike zone with the fastball and on the arm side showed late life and good sink. His secondary pitches were a 73-75 mph breaking ball that he used well, changing its shape from traditional curveball to a slurvy two plane breaker. That pitch had good spin on it and can be an out pitch as he showed the ability to throw quality strikes with it. Withrow also showed good feel of his 81 mph change-up. He was aggressive to the zone with everything and at times may have thrown too many strikes. In time he will learn to go out of the zone when he wants or needs to. Withrow is a top end D1 caliber pitcher and should also get strong draft consideration next spring.

---

[homer]

Colby,

How often do you update the top 30 prospects? And when was the last time you did so?

[colbyjack]

I updated the top 30 just after the New Year. I probably will update the list again in early April and probably again between early April and the June draft, possibly twice in that span. It really depends on the players more so than any kind of pre-determined schedule.

[colbyjack]

The top 30 and the notes that correspond with my rankings have been updated as of this morning. David Price has officially taken over as my new #1 (I was reluctant to bump my fave prospect, Matt Wieters, but it was time).

 

Enjoy:

 

www.brewerfan.net/ViewDra...?draftId=5

[DHonks]

Colby, just was looking at old drafts...How's Bowman doing in college? I remember I really wanted us to sign him

[colbyjack]

Bowman is now at Nebraska, and is having a good year bouncing between the rotation and the bullpen. He hasn't thrived as much as everyone thought he would in college, and for a relatively polished pitcher coming out of high school, he really hasn't had too many opportunities, or at least he hasn't made the most of those opportunities, until last summer starring in the Jayhawk League. He's a draft-eligible sophomore, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him return to Nebraska next year.

 

Sean Morgan, another pitcher taken in the same draft as Bowman a couple of rounds later, is having a very nice year for Tulane.

[colbyjack]

I have updated the draft rankings (and the corresponding notes) again given the meteoric rises of Mike Moustakas, Jarrod Parker and Kyle Russell. I will probably update the list one more time between now and draft day, which is a month away. Enjoy.

[GagneCY03]

Great stuff as always. How far do you see Neil Ramirez potentially falling? I'd love to think the Dodgers have a chance at him at #39.

[colbyjack]

To be honest, I was a little surprised to hear that Ramirez was falling. I know he has been hit around a little bit this spring, and started off slow, but there are other reports that he was up to 97 in one start. He is such a good pitcher, throwing three pitches for strikes, changing speeds, commanding the strike zone, etc., he could succeed immediately upon going pro. He's one of those guys like Jeremy Sowers that could have been in the big leagues before he was drafted out of college, that is if Ramirez were to go the college route.

 

But yes, it does sound as though he could be in that range, which would be an absolute steal for the Dodgers (or anyone).

[heresrobin]

Colby, before you updated your top 30 today, I had sort of pegged Michael Burgess as "my guy" for the Brewers to go after.

 

Any particular reason why Burgess has fallen a bit in your latest top 30?

[fewgoodcards]

not colby, but i have heard he is having a terrible senior season. that will usually drop you pretty quickly.

[DAS1410]

From David Rawnsley's "Draft Notebook" on 5/4, he wrote about Burgess from a scout's (annonymous) perspective.

 

The jist was that on the advice of his "handler's" (I don't know if this is coaches/family/etc ..) he changed his hitting mechanics from last year.

 

"He?s all spread out now, with no stride at all and no weight shift and no front foot movement at all,? he said. ?He centers balls now and they don?t go anywhere."

 

Right now, based on that info, he looks like a decent pick in the 1st Supplemental or 2nd round for a team with a good hitting instructor. Someone who could break down his swing to where it was previously. It would probably cause him to move more slowly than his piers, but he might take to the change quickly to.

[DAS1410]

RHP Max Scherzer - Update

 

(Free Content on Baseball America.com)

 

More Details On Scherzer?s Start

Posted May. 7, 2007 2:49 pm by J.J. Cooper

Filed under: Draft Dope

 

If Max Scherzer?s biggest test was proving that his fastball is back, he passed his first test on Friday.

 

Scherzer sat at 93-94 mph, and one scout had him touching 98 mph in his abbreviated 3 1/3 inning outing during Friday?s nigh exhibition against Shreveport. He struck out the side in the second inning and struck out six overall while allowing one hit.

 

Scherzer relied almost exclusively on his fastball during his 54-pitch outing. He occasionally slipped in a slider as well, but his fastball was enough to overmatch most of the Sports hitters.

 

?He overmatched the hitters he?s facing,? Fort Worth manager Stan Hough said. ?His fastball was overpowering and he had decent command of it.?According to Cats pitching coach Stan Hilton, Scherzer threw a little more than 50 percent strikes. His command got better as the game went along.

 

?My first concern was this is guy who hadn?t faced a hitter in a ball game in so long,? Hilton said. My concern was his command wouldn?t be too good. First inning he was around the plate, but he was fine. Some of the pitches he threw were electric. As the game progressed, in the second and third inning his command got better.

 

I think he showed exactly what everyone was hoping for,? Hilton said. ?(The scouts) saw what I think they needed to see. It has to be pressure on him, but he handled it well.?

 

Hilton said that Scherzer?s slider during the game was better than the one he?s show in side sessions, partly because he did a better job of staying on top of the pitch. He?s also featured an impressive changeup in his bullpen work, but he didn?t use it on Friday.

 

Scherzer will throw a side session again on Wednesday before making his first official appearance for the Cats on Saturday.

[colbyjack]

David Rawnsley's column as provided by DAS1410 is dead-on. He just isn't himself right now, and he's struggling. The power is there, as he was locked in last summer and into the fall, but something happened this spring. Call it draftitis, or something, but the talent is still there, and if a scouting dep't. puts a higher value on what he has done over what he is currently doing, he could still get drafted higher in the first round.

 

However, teams typically don't draft based on what a player has done, but what they are doing, because they are investing quite a lot of money in an already relatively unproven commodity.

 

Lots of reports out there about just how good Scherzer was in his first outing. I think a lot of people have forgotten just how good Scherzer was entering his junior season last spring. A couple of minor injuries caused him to miss a few games, and his secondary stuff wasn't as sharp and he was throwing more in the 90-94 range than he was the 92-97 range. If he re-enters the draft, which I am starting to think he will, I would easily rank him the second-best player available. Keep in mind that the D-Backs have a new scouting director (former Brewers crosschecker Tom Allison replaced Mike Rizzo, who is now with the Nationals) who may not be as willing to give Scherzer the kind of money Rizzo knew it would take to sign the guy.

 

I would be surprised to see the Royals dish out the same kind of money they did to Hochevar a year ago, but the history is now there, and it would be a great fit/boon for the Royals, particularly since Scherzer is from Missouri.

 

Scherzer to Rizzo and the Nationals at #6 signing for money similar to what Andrew Miller got a year ago from the Tigers at #6 also wouldn't be surprising.

[ccbrew]

MLB has named each of the team representatives for the televised portion of the draft on ESPN2. Not sure if this has been posted somewhere or if this is even the right place, but I thought it would be of interest.

 

Milwaukee: Gord Ash, Tony Diggs, Wil Inman

 

I'm not as familiar with the inner workings of the organization as some of you guys so I had to dig a little, but Tony Diggs is the assistant director at the player development/training center.

 

MLB Press Release

 

Edit: Added full list

[ajgodson]

The Draft coverage here is fantastic. It's been listed as one of the "most viewed" and "most discussed" on Ballhype.com the last few days. I've never seen Brewerfan on there, but it seems the whole blogosphere knows that this is the place for draft info.