High School Baseball Resource Thread 2007

[natedogge7]

if moustakas is advised by boras theres goes my chance of seeing the dodgers draft him in the supp.

 

from what ive read, he sound like a logan white type position player.

[GagneCY03]

At #20 I'm thinking Josh Smoker is the most likely pick. He's very polished, has very good secondary stuff and sits in the low 90s with his fastball.

 

Jack McGeary seems like the type of pitcher White loves, but his commitment to Stanford would be hard to buy-out.

 

Looks like I never finished my draft preview. I'll get it posted today.

[jerrytek]

Hey Patrick,

 

Love you site. I visit pretty much daily, but this is my first post.

 

I was looking at your draft prospect rankings, and was sorta suprised by the lack of new names in the top 100.

 

Are there any players who have come out of nowhere this year? I had heard that SS/3B Kevin Ahrens has dramatically helped his draft stock early on. Are there any guys who have gone from afterthought to perhaps going in the top half of the first round?

 

Also, who do you see as the top 10 or so hitters? I am a Mariners fan, and am hoping the M's can get a big bat with the 11th pick.

[colbyjack]

Bumgarner is a good call for the Braves at #14. Since Smoker was brought up, he took would make a ton of sense for the Braves, a team that always looks to its own backyard. They just seem to focus so heavily in the Atlantic area down to Florida, and cover their backyard better than any other team.

 

Are there any players who have come out of nowhere this year? I had heard that SS/3B Kevin Ahrens has dramatically helped his draft stock early on. Are there any guys who have gone from afterthought to perhaps going in the top half of the first round?

 

I actually had quite a few players move up into the top 30. They replaced a few players that were extremely tough to remove from the top 30 from now (Arencibia, Ramirez), players that I think will recover from slow starts (Ramirez is already throwing much better recently).

 

I don't know if Ahrens has really helped himself, just because I know there are a lot of people that already considered him a potential first-round pick for his lightning-quick impact bat.

 

PGCC has reported on several prep players that have dramatically helped their stocks this spring. Will Middlebrooks, Chris Turner, Chris Withrow, Nevin Griffith and Angel Morales have become bigger names on scouts and crosscheckers follow lists. Withrow in particular has some serious helium working for him, as he's extremely athletic and has been throwing in the 91-93 range with ease this spring.

 

Justin Grimm as reported at the PG Indoor Showcase a month or so ago really helped himself with his showing. So did Illinois LHP Casey Crosby, who touched 94 and showed a deep, although inconsistent, arsenal.

 

Also, who do you see as the top 10 or so hitters? I am a Mariners fan, and am hoping the M's can get a big bat with the 11th pick.

 

There's a quartet of really impressive prep bats, Josh Vitters, Jason Heyward, Michael Burgess and Kentrail Davis. All are extremely polished hitters, although Burgess does have some holes in his mighty swing. Heyward is a physical specimen and a great all-around player, Davis plays far above his physical stature, and Vitters is arguably the best pure prep hitter to enter the draft since Delmon Young.

 

On the college side I really like Beau Mills of Lewis-Clark State College. He has a big-time and proven power bat, and is off to another big season this year.

 

Matt Mangini is probably the best pure hitter from college, but I'm skeptical of his skills. While he's hit really well during his two summer stints, leading the Cape in hitting a year ago, he strikes out way too much for such a good hitter. It kind of baffles me, and makes it hard to get a read on him. And for as much power potential he has, he really hasn't hit for much power so far.

 

Those are your best bests for a big bat at #11. Justin Jackson, a well-rounded, slick fielding SS, and Julio Borbon, a prototypical leadoff hitting CF from Tennessee, would also be in the #11 range, but don't fit the big bat profile you seemed to be interested in.

 

I personally feel Vitters, Heyward and Burgess all go in the top 10, and all three are actually pretty good targets for the Brewers at #7. If I were you, I'd be pining for Beau Mills, although I'm not sure if anyone else has him rated as high as I do.

[DAS1410]

FewGoodCards,

 

It will be interesting to see what the Braves do at # 14. I can see them going a lot of ways, especially with the amount of top talent coming out of Georgia this year.

 

C Matt Wieters - Georgia Tech

OF Jayson Heyward - Henry County HS, McDonough, Georgia

LHP Josh Smoker - Calhoun HS, Sugar Valley, Georgia

LHP Zach Brewster - North Hall HS, Murryville, Georgia

RHP Josh Fields - Georgia

LHP Nathan Vineyard - Woodland HS, Acworth, Georgia

[natedogge7]

a blurb in the LAtimes...

â?¢ Mike Moustakas, Chatsworth, Sr.: There's no hotter hitter in the Southland than the USC-bound Moustakas, a shortstop who's threatening state records for single-season and career home runs.

 

Moustakas has hit 14 home runs, giving him 42 in his career. The state records are 21 for a season and 47 for a career.

 

Even more stunning is that he was clocked throwing 97 mph during a relief pitching stint. He has three saves and 12 strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings. He could be a first-round draft pick.

 

seems like he should be moving up draft boards rapidly.

[DAS1410]

Nate,

 

What have you heard as far as his future position? He is playing SS right now with Matt Dominguez at 3B for Chatsworth, but a lot of directories have him as a C or 3B? If he does go to USC, he will probably end up playing 3B with Robert Stock behind the plate.

 

He is pretty intriguing and he is local. If he isn't outrageous with his contract demands, i.e. Hochevar, Drew (Stephen), Upton (BJ & Justin) and takes slot money, then I would do it even with Boras as his agent.

[colbyjack]

Moustakas is having a big spring, but he's another guy that was considered a supplemental guy or a 2nd rounder to enter the spring, so I don't know how far he can move up. It really proves that true sleepers are very, very rare.

 

BA is reporting that Denny Almonte is making a big name for himself this spring. In my post just above, I forgot to mention Eric Eiland, who was rated BA's 30th best prospect to open the spring, but didn't get much pub before that.

[natedogge7]

I like moustakas as a corner player although he does have the altheticism to handle C. The only reason why i might shy away from putting him at C is that i dont want to stall his bat. I would probably start him off at 3b and see what happens from there depending on how the other 3b in the system do.

[colbyjack]

As always, most of BA's coverage is subscirber-based, but I did want to share this great picture of Jason Heyward wearing a classic East Cobb Astros uniform. Check out BA's draft blog for some updated news on various prospects, including a few on the rise.

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/images/jheyward07428309ds.jpg

[colbyjack]

I had a nice, candid interview discussion with Josh Smoker, one of the top LHP prospects for this year's draft. The story is now up on PG Crosschecker:

 

Josh Smoker Interview

[GagneCY03]

Wow, great interview. Sounds like a tremendously mature and forthcoming kid. Whoever drafts him will have no regrets.

[colbyjack]

Another interview up this week, this time speaking with Hunter Morris, another Aflac All-American and one of the top power hitters available for this year's draft. He should have broken Jeremy Brown's (which was 54) Alabama single-season walk record by now, and physically he's 10x the prospect Brown was coming out of high school.

 

Hunter Morris Interview

[pogokat]

Patrick---

 

Where do you project heyward? He's still my favorite of the eligible guys this year...any way the brewers get achance at him>?

[colbyjack]

I think Heyward could very well be the Brewers pick. I think he goes somewhere between the Brewers pick and the 15th pick. He hasn't been getting much to hit this year, but when he does the ball usually doesn't come down.

[pogokat]

slick....

[colbyjack]

Here's a link to ImpactBaseball.com's player and pitcher of the year watch list. ImpactBaseball.com covers high school baseball prospects in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina:

 

impactbaseball.com/news_d...NewsID=214

 

The two most notable names are Justin Jackson and Madison Bumgarner. Bumgarner has received quite a bit of coverage this spring for his big, athletic frame, power repertoire and for the fact that he has received some glowing reports this spring about him pitching more than just throwing.

 

However, Jackson is having an equally fine, somewhat overlooked spring. His defense has always been sound, and he is drawing a heavy crowd every time he takes the field, meaning there are quite a few teams at the top considering him for their first-round pick. Right now he would seem to be the favorite for the player of the year award, as he bats leadoff for a team that currently is 20-2.

[colbyjack]

Here's a nice story on Phillippe Aumont from Bob Elliott and Slam Sports North of the border. It seems as though this young man's outings keep getting better:

 

slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Baseba...72-ca.html

 

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Baseball/Canada/2007/04/23/aumont_phillippe250.jpg

 

Nice to get the radar gun reports in this story, as Aumont was consistently in the 94-96 range. Having 42 scouts in total and 14 scouting directors in attendance makes it pretty clear that this guy is going to be taken among the top 10-15 picks.

[GagneCY03]

14 scouting directors? Wow. I've heard rumblings of him going as high as #5 to Baltimore, with their history of taking Canadians (Erik Bedard and Adam Loewen). After that last outing, it doesnt seem so far-fetched.

 

As for the other article, I would have liked to see how Sam Runion was doing. He's a guy I'd like the Dodgers to look at in the supp first / second.

[fewgoodcards]

Colby, what can you tell me about DJ Jones? is it just me or does he sound a lot like Colby Rasmus? he is a little more physical than colby was as he weighs 190 lbs, compared to rasmus who was about 175 his senior year. they are both 6'1" lefty swingers and throwers who put up monster numbers as high school seniors in alabama and committed to play for auburn. according to pgcrosschecker's hot list he is hitting .460 with 14 homers and 26 steals. they also say he holds the state record for triples. colby showed more power his senior year hitting 24 homers and had a .484 average, but 14 homers is nothing to sneeze at and he DJ still has a little time to close the gap.

[DAS1410]

Sounds like a good comp, FGC. DJ is someone that I have been keeping my eye on for LA. Our OF prospects are pretty thin.

[colbyjack]

That's funny you bring up Jones, as I'm currently working with him to be one of my next interview features (his stats on the updated Who's Hot list at PGCC actually come from me).

 

It seems as though we're on the same wavelength fewgoodcards, as I also thought of Colby Rasmus as a similar player, especially given the vicinity. And like Rasmus, Jones also pitches (or at least he has in the past).

 

A PG staff member actually compared Jones to Jay Bruce at last year's PG National, which is pretty high praise. Jones struggled somewhat last year and through the summer showcase circuit, but has rebounded extremely well this spring. He is drawing quite a crowd to his games, including scouting directors and national crosscheckers, which always means early round (1-3) interest.

 

He's especially interesting because while the prep class offers plenty of promising hitters, there aren't too many true five-tool centerfield types. Kentrail Davis is probably the only other one the immediately comes to mind (another Alabamian, or however you call people from Alabama http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif ). Eric Eiland is another.

 

Don't be surprised to see Jones off the board by the end of the super-sized sandwich round.

[colbyjack]

We get a nice look at Mike Moustakas courtesy of BA's homepage today and the most recent Draft Tracker:

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/images/mmoustakas06428309mb.jpg

 

A name that has been vaulting up draft charts this spring is Pennsylvania catcher Devin Mesoraco from Punxsutawney. I was waiting to bring his name up because he was my sleeper to watch at the catcher position for my upcoming draft preview story, but he clearly isn't a sleeper anymore with his name being tossed around now as a legitimate first-round possibility.

 

Mesoraco is extremely athletic, with exciting tools and an impact bat. He's Craig Biggio-like in that he may be able to play a more dynamic position such as second base. Another comparison tossed around has been Eli Marrero given his overall versatility given his natural athleticism.

 

I have heard that his commitment to Virginia is pretty strong, and solid hitting catchers the past few years (Charlie Cutler, Ed Easley) have seemed to slip past the pro ranks. However, Cutler and Easley were never considered for the first round, as that kind of money is incredibly hard to pass up for anyone.