Gammons on Draft

[maisel4me]

I didn't see anyone else post this yet, but here is what Gammons had to say on the upcoming draft:

 

"As it stands today, Tampa Bay has narrowed its choice for the No. 1 overall pick in next month's draft to either Southern University shortstop/second baseman Rickie Weeks or California high school outfielder Delmon Young.

 

Milwaukee is expected to take left-hander Adam Loewen -- presuming the Orioles don't sign him before the draft -- and the Tigers are expected to choose between Weeks, Richmond right-hander Tim Stauffer and Young.

 

San Diego wants Young, but will be happy with Loewen, Stauffer or Weeks. The Royals are interested in Dunedin (Fla.) first baseman Ryan Harvey. Wake Forest RHP Kyle Sleeth may have slipped, but won't go much past the Cubs at six, if they pass. After that, it's anyone's guess."

 

The whole article is at: espn.go.com/gammons/s/200...56366.html

 

Perhaps Mr. Melvin was doing a bit of cover-up himself when he mentioned that taking pitchers early was risky? But perhaps Gammons' info. isn't too good? Who knows. Well I do, but I won't share http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/tongue.gif , just kidding.

[xisxisxis]

Perhaps Mr. Melvin was doing a bit of cover-up himself when he mentioned that taking pitchers early was risky?

 

It is possible that Dougie is trying to be evasive and not give away his intentions. As far as Loewen goes, Melvin CAN NOT say anything specifically about him since he is Orioles property and any statements regarding Loewen would be considered tampering.

[cressj]

find out if we can trust Melvin right away regarding draft rumors? Or it may not matter if Loewen signs with the O's. About a week to find out question #2.

[RyDogg66]

I am secretly hoping Loewen signs with the O's. I would like a bat like Youngs or Weeks' to add to those others in A, A+ and AA. Pitching IS a crapshoot in the first round. And Loewen seems to be a notch or two below the Zito's and Mark Priors of previous drafts. I think both Weeks and Young, if their bats are as advanced as scouts say, could be in Milwaukee by 2005, with Hardy, Hart, Krynzel and hopefuly a few others.

[Never Outhustled]

I agree, theres just too much risk of injury with pitchers, the bat is the way to go. I'm pulling for Weeks, because a dominant hitting 2B is such a rare commodity.

[igor67]

Rydogg advanced or not I think 2005 is quick even for a september call-up. Weeks being a college guy is a little more believeable, but I wouldn't bet on any high school player to blow through the minors in a year and a half.

[xisxisxis]

I'm becoming firmly of the belief that you pick the best player. In fact if Melvin decides to go with the closest to the majors prospect over the best player available then he should be fired. Immediately. The problem with this organization has been an inability to do the right thing from the top to the bottom. This team needs talent up and down the organizational ladder, sacrificing talent for speed to the majors is just the kind of decision that Wendy would make. I hope they go into this draft and pick the best player available at each position (regardless of signability - read $). We're in the 11th straight year of losing because this organization doesn't know how to plan long-term. Anything short of "the Best" is another slap in the face to the fans.

[950opsLHcatcher]

I think Melvin's thinking is that if it comes down to two players, who are more or less equally talented, and one of them happens to project to get the majors in 2 years, and the other one 4-5 years, you take the guy who takes less time. I'm not a huge fan of Weeks, and if they pass on Loewen, I might go on a Colby-esque Kotchman rant, but none of the three guys (Weeks, Loewen, Young) that we are 90% likely to draft really stand out from each other talent-wise. Heck, Ryan Harvey isn't even a huge stretch at #2. Unless we take Stauffer or Sleeth or Sullivan or that one guy who was good for about a week, I'll be happy with the pick in the end, even if I do go through some Loewen-based angst.

[xisxisxis]

I think Melvin's thinking is that if it comes down to two players, who are more or less equally talented, and one of them happens to project to get the majors in 2 years, and the other one 4-5 years, you take the guy who takes less time.

 

I agree that using projected time to get to the majors as a tiebreaker is a good idea. Unfortunately, if it is used as a criteria for making the initial evaluations then you are biasing your ranking process with a criteria that should be used only for tie-breaking. The state of the Rangers farm system with regards to pitching and Melvin's statements just make me nervous that he may not be a very good final arbiter especially if he ignores some data (position prospects fail often also) that doesn't fit his bias.

[colbyjack]

It is possible that Dougie is trying to be evasive and not give away his intentions. As far as Loewen goes, Melvin CAN NOT say anything specifically about him since he is Orioles property and any statements regarding Loewen would be considered tampering.

 

Good call David. His comments could have been directed towards guy like Sleeth & Stauffer, neither of whom seem worthy of the #2 pick, since he can't comment on Loewen in any capacity.

[Never Outhustled]

Maybe Melvin isn't supposed to name Loewen, but he did anyway. On mondays Brewers Ticket, he mentions Weeks , Young, Loewen, and Tim Staufer.

[colbyjack]

What is the Brewers Ticket? Is that the press pass thing through MLB? I'm surprised that Melvin mentioned Loewen, although I'm curious if he did so in a way that would not get him in trouble.

 

The tampering thing might be more of a common courtesy to the other team involved, in this case, the Orioles. I wonder if it's pretty much known that Loewen will not sign with the O's.

[scoop53714]

Brewer Ticket is the 30 minute pregame show on fox sports net.

[tigersfanatic1]

Looks like Stauffer might have blown it (don't know how much this will affect his draft status):

 

"Richmond righthander Tim Stauffer had his worst outing of the season last Thursday in front of two general managers and representatives of every team with a pick in Nos. 2-7 slots. Stauffer gave up seven runs in the first and eight runs (six earned) overall in six innings at North Carolina in a 10-0 loss. Stauffer was the victim of a tight strike zone, poor defense and his own inability to adjust to the tighter zone. He walked four after having walked just seven in 83 innings coming in, striking out six. He still has a 119-11 K-BB ratio.

 

"I lost my release point and they made the adjustments at the plate," he said. "I'm not sure what it was. Maybe I was just rushing it a bit, and then I walked a guy or two and gave up a hit or two. I wasn't getting the low strike, but sometimes that's not going to get called. Usually in other games, teams try to hit me early in the count because I throw so many strikes, but they were really going deep in the count."

 

Padres GM Kevin Towers, whose team picks fourth, and the Orioles' Beattie were both on hand, as were scouting directors and/or crosscheckers from the Brewers, Tigers, Padres, Royals, Cubs and Orioles"

[mothershipconnection]

Tonight Jim Powell discussed the draft and commented on the circulating rumor that the D-Rays are leaning heavily toward Young. If that's the case, I think we have to go with Weeks over Loewen simply because I think a team struggling as bad as the Brewers need to go for what seems to be more of a sure thing over a prospect with more upside, but a greater possibility of being a bust. Weeks is a college player, and though I haven't seen him play, scouts and experts seem to consider him to be a highly polished player who may be ready for major league action as soon as next september, which would mean that he would be coming up in '05 with the rest of our big prospects. This team is building itself up to be ready to contend in 2005, not 2007 or 2008, and that's why Weeks makes more sense than Loewen who's labeled as a long-term project.

[colbyjack]

I don't think Rickie Weeks is as polished as everyone thinks. Jim Powell did note some of Weeks' impressive numbers as Southern, but it's important to keep in mind his level of competition. There are some concerns about his future ability to hit with wood, as he had some troubles in the summer leagues hitting with a wood bat against better pitchers.

 

He is an incredible player, and is extremely hard working so you have to give him the benefit of the doubt to overcome those problems. But even as OhioScout has come on this board to say, he's not as polished as everyone makes him out to be. I don't think he could simply vault up to the AA level & be productive.

 

And Loewen is fairly polished for a kid barely removed from high school. While Weeks could get to the big leagues before Loewen, I don't think Loewen would be that far behind him, and likely is at least a year ahead of a typical high school pick.

 

And yes, I am biased http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif . Seriously I like Weeks, but most of these arguments can go both ways.

 

***I forgot to mention that just because Delmon Young is getting all of the attention as the D-Rays favorite for the #1 pick, don't rule out Rickie Weeks. He reportedly had his own private workout at Tropicana last night, and we'll have to wait & see if any reports start to trickle out from that event. The D-Rays have liked Weeks for a very long time, and while you always draft the best player available, I have a hard time believing they take another OF if they have Weeks rated equally or even close to equal to Young.

[mothershipconnection]

I really don't care which one of the two we draft, since it seems like both could be great players, I do, however, hope that Melvin keeps in mind that this team will have a lot of talent in two years and will try to draft a player who can hopefully add to that prospect laden 2005-2006 team. That said, I hope we don't take Young because he's a high schooler and won't be ready in time. But if Loewen is a close as you say he is, maybe drafting him would be just as good as taking Weeks, you and the scouts have seen them play and I haven't so I won't be disappointed either way.

[brewmann04]

I think we need to get the best athelete and the player closest to the majors.

 

weeks is a second baseman and not sold on him based on reading more about him.

 

Adam is there would be intresting but with the brewers bad luck of drafting Pitchers it might also be a risky Choice

[danzig6677]

Maybe drafting Loewen would come with a bit more risk if hes available to us,,but if he pans out the reward is greater than a position player.Reality is teams cant win without pitching and we certainly wont be signing any top notch free agent starting pitchers.

 

For all the hype Beane gets for his love of OBP,its their drafting of Zito/Mulder thats the key to their small market success.Of course its by no means any lock that Loewen turns out anywhere near as good as Mulder or Zito,but if he did thats a far bigger help than a great hitting secondbaseman.

 

Ive never seen any of these guys play so i cant say with any facts that we should draft one player over another,but without question a stud starter is our biggest need.