2007 Draft Resource Thread

[DAS1410]

Any info on OF Brian Rike out of Louisiana Tech?

 

The article mentioned a Grady Sizemore comp. Is this legit ... specifically his defense. He plays RF in college, but if he could be an above average defender in CF, he would be very intriguing. They have his projection at the 3rd round, which is very good considering he was ranked the 225th college prospect by PG (pre-season)

[shnarfer]

Colby you said you think they will go with a prep bat. But if they where to take a pitcher who do you think they would take out of Moskos, Detwiler, Bumgarner, or Aumont. Or is there another pitcher you would think they would take.

[colbyjack]

No word on who the Dodgers are focusing on, but I wouldn't be surprised if they have Jarrod Parker in their sights. McGeary makes sense, and I just don't see Smoker making it past the Braves pick, unless Heyward and/or Bumgarner makes it that far.

 

I've seen the Grady Sizemore comp thrown out before, and I think it started from one report in Baseball America in which one manager in last summer's Jayhawk league tossed the name out there. A huge reason why player comparisons can be so dangerous and unfair.

 

He's been rising up draft boards all spring, but I think scouts are still somewhat skeptical of what he's capable of. I've been talking about the super-sized sandwich round all spring, and he's a prime candidate to be taken in that round, particularly given the perceived lack of impact bats at the college level this spring. Take a peek at some of the teams with multiple picks in the sandwich round that prefer college players (Boston, Toronto, San Diego).

[GagneCY03]

I'd be very pleased with Parker or McGeary (Who reminds me of a less physically mature Kershaw). While Parker's only listed at 6'1, I've heard his delivery is smooth and "no-effort."

 

I doubt the other three would be there. And I do think Atlanta will take either Heyward or Smoker.

[colbyjack]

Colby you said you think they will go with a prep bat. But if they where to take a pitcher who do you think they would take out of Moskos, Detwiler, Bumgarner, or Aumont. Or is there another pitcher you would think they would take.

 

The more live the arm the better for the Brewers, so I'm guessing Aumont could be very high on their list. Porcello and Harvey would be too if it weren't for the Boras factor. Michael Main I'm sure they like, along with Jarrod Parker, who may be similar to Jeremy Jeffress from a year ago given his powerful fastball, athletic frame and smaller stature.

 

Bumgarner still bothers me (despite being left-handed) since he still has not developed a solid secondary pitch. He has great size, great athleticism and a very good fastball for a lefty, but his delivery, mechanics and breaking pitches are in question. That's not an appealing combination for me.

 

However, I would hope that if given that group to choose from they would take Moskos, although I have stated before I don't think he'll make it to #7.

[highheatnaz]

Anybody know who is advising Blake Beavan in this years draft? I figured he would be a Boras guy but didnt see him on the previous post of Boras advisees.

[DAS1410]

Jim Callis' Top 10 (as of 5/03/07)

 

1. Tampa Bay - LHP David Price - Vanderbilt

2. Kansas City - LHP Ross Detwiler - Missouri State

3. Chicago (NL) - C Matt Wieters - Georgia Tech

4. Pittsburgh - 3B Josh Vitters - Cypress HS, CA

5. Baltimore - LHP Daniel Moskos - Clemson

6. Washington - RHP Rick Porcello - Seton Hall Prep, NJ

7. Milwaukee - LHP Madison Bumgarner - South Caldwell HS, NC

8. Colorado - OF Jayson Heyward - Henry County HS, GA

9. Arizona - RHP Blake Beavan - Irving HS, TX

10. San Francisco - 3B Brad Mills - Lewis & Clark State

[brewswinga2]

Is there any source where you can get up to date stats on High School baseball players? I haven't been able to find updated stats on players like Heyward or Burgess anywhere.

[colbyjack]

As far as I know, Beaven is not going to be advised by Boras. I'm not sure who will advise Beaven, as after Boras it doesn't seem as though anyone cares (basically, as long as it's not him).

 

High school stats are hard to come by. You almost have to contact the teams themselves. Some (and by some I mean few) have stats posted on their high school page or an ezteam page, but you have to do some digging to find those.

 

The Hot List over at PG Crosschecker has some stats you can look at.

[colbyjack]

PG Crosschecker has posted their top 100 draft eligible prospects the past two days, all of which include a short blurb describing their talents. The links are for subscribers only, but the information is well worth becoming a subscriber:

 

PGCC: Top Prospects 1-50

 

PGCC: Top Prospects 51-100

 

While it's a ranking and not a mock draft, Madison Bumgarner is their seventh best draft-eligible prospect.

[colbyjack]

Allan Simpson's weekly draft notebook has been posted on PG Crosschecker's homepage, and is free for everyone to enjoy:

 

www.pgcrosschecker.com/dr...51007.aspx

 

He breaks down the top 15 teams and the names most commonly associated with them. Here is his comment on the Brewers:

 

Quote:

---

The Brewers always play it close to the vest, but Aumont, California high school shortstop Mike Moustakas and Indiana high school righthander Jarrod Parker are the primary names that are circulating.

---

 

Two prep pitchers amongh the three players mentioned. That will sitr up a storm (again) if the draft actually plays out that way. I will say that prep pitching actually stacks up favorably at the 7th overall spot.

[shnarfer]

Colby if the brewers where to go with a prep pitcher which one out of those two would you prefer.

[Never Outhustled]

2 hardthrowing HS pitcherswith little pitchability? They just haven't had any luck with that. Its bad enough 2 of them are injured, and just as disappointing that last years #1 isn't even playing in real games. If they want to pick a HS pitcher, they should stick with where there success is, true pitchers like Gollardo and Inman.

 

Hopefully the Brewers will conclude Moustakas is signable. I think it gives the Brewers more leverage that if they don't sign there pick, they pick 8th next year. Moustakas is really an outstanding prospect, with awesome power. His rate of rise is outstanding, I'd rather pick a player who is showing big improvement than a guy who has kind of plateaued like Weiters. Moustakas is kind of a HS version of Ryan Braun, who used a big power performance to become my favorite for 2005.

[foamboy1]

X....you have me Xcited about this guy.

[colbyjack]

Colby if the brewers where to go with a prep pitcher which one out of those two would you prefer.

 

I'll take Parker, as I'm not big (no pun intended) on super-sized pitchers like Aumont. They just have a lot more moving parts for something to go wrong.

 

Parker is a talented overall athlete, who swings the bat pretty well too, and not only has his fastball been consistently in the 95-98 range this spring, but his slider has been absolutely filthy. The arm action is pretty effortless as well, and is a similar prospect to Jeffress (although Parker reportedly commands the strike zone pretty well and could move faster than someone like Jeffress).

 

And I'm with X. It's really a no-brainer for me to take Moustakas, or almost any hitter over any prep pitcher, but reports are growing of Moustakas' bat, who is now being ranked just behind Josh Vitters, with some scouts reportedly preferring Moustakas because he bats left-handed.

[brewswinga2]

Jonathan Mayo's top 10 projection out today

 

mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070516&content_id=1967914&vkey=draft2007&fext=.jsp

 

I know this has been discussed at length, but this is the first time I've seen it in a mock draft. If Weiters is still on the board how can the Brewers possibly pass on him, especially without having a second round pick?

[DAS1410]

Patrick,

 

The following was posted on Scout.com as part of their draft coverage on 5/15. Does this scouts claim hold water?

 

 

- The word has not circulated much as of yet, but according to sources, Jason Heyward will not be picked in the first 15 picks of the first round. Not only that but there are now many doubts surfacing about his swing. "Heyward will be the bust of this draft," one crosschecker explained. "He will not go in the top 15. He is the miss of this draft. He is an arm and upper body swinger and he doesn't work with his lower half."

[colbyjack]

I know this has been discussed at length, but this is the first time I've seen it in a mock draft. If Weiters is still on the board how can the Brewers possibly pass on him, especially without having a second round pick?

 

There is a thread dedicated to this, but just because the Brewers don't have a second round pick doesn't mean they will pony up the dough to sign someone that falls like Wieters. Keep in mind that they have used that "extra" money other ways in the past, such as signing DFEs or international players such as Rolando Pascual, Wily Peralta and Yohannis Perez. Since the Brewers DFE class has some big names this year, they could very well be spending an additional $1-2 million, if not more, to get those players signed.

 

And, the Brewers have stuck to the pre-determined slot values since Jack Z. has been the team's scouting director. I don't expect that to change anytime soon, as much as I would like to see Wieters in the system.

 

As for Heyward, I think that scout caught Heyward on a bad day. I got to see plenty of clips on the guy at the Aflac game and last year's PG National, and he's about as sound of a hitter as you kind find. Plus, he's a great overall athlete, one I have compared to a left-handed hitting version of Derrek Lee given his overall athleticism (he often draws Fred McGriff comparisons).

 

I do know that there were some reports earlier this spring that he wasn't as impressive taking BP this year, which was the only way scouts could get a feel for him since he wasn't getting anything to hit. However, I have also heard that he has looked much better in private workouts.

 

Could he fall? Sure, anyone can fall, including Wieters as detailed above. If he does whoever lands Heyward is getting one heck of a player.

[DAS1410]

Thanks CJ

[Hidekifan55]

So everyone knows, I wrote the article with the Heyward quote. I was more shocked than anyone I think. I asked in hope that I'd hear him say Washington had interest at #6. But, supposedly, the crosschecker I spoke to has seen him several times and there's many who agree with him apparently. I made some calls yesterday to look into it.

 

Even though I really like him still, the quote worries me.

[colbyjack]

Thanks a lot for chiming in Hidekifan.

[Hidekifan55]

No problem. Now, like someone said, I don't know if this hold water or not, BUT I don't know if I want my team taking a guy that at least some scouts think have serious, serious holes as a top 15 pick. I think I'd want to be safer than that.

[colbyjack]

Every player has scouts that love them and scouts that hate them. I remember a few people telling me that Prince Fielder had some serious holes in his swing, yet the Brewers scouting department felt he was the best pure hitter available in the 2002 draft. That move seemed to pay off for them in a major way. Of course Fielder had other things working against him (his body type/conditioning), but it does show you that every scout and every scouting department has completely different opinions on players.

 

I guess we'll find out. As I said before, even if Heyward does fall, whoever ends up getting him (even if it is UCLA) is getting one heck of a player.

 

Another point that I meant to bring up before is that players can easily get out of whack from one season to the next. If Heyward truly is disappointing this year, I'm guessing he's not swinging the same way he was last summer and fall. The same thing happened to Michael Burgess, who apparently has tinkered with his stance, is getting way too far out in front of balls, and isn't showing the same power, or overall hitting ability, that he did nine months ago. The timing is bad of course, because it has caused his stock to drop, but if the right team takes him and can figure out to put him back on the right track, people will wonder why and how he fell as far as he did.

 

And that is a huge part of a scout's job. If the crosschecker/scout in question didn't see Heyward last summer/fall (and I don't see how they couldn't have), he may not have a good point of reference. If that scout saw the same thing from Heyward last summer/fall that he's seeing now, I will have to agree to disagree with the assessment.

[Hidekifan55]

From what I understand, this is something he's seen for a long time.

 

And, I can't argue either way because I've only seen Heyward play once in person plus some limited video.

 

But, you are 100% right...essentially "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" for each team.

[SoCalBrewfan]

Given the way my preferences have played out in Brewers drafts, I think it's time for reverse psychology.

 

So I really hope they draft an athletic but unpolished prep RHP, preferably with a smooth delivery and a big need to develop command and his secondary pitches.