Draftee signings update

June 19, 2008 by Mike Axisa 25 Comments

P-Abe notes that the Yanks signed a bunch of draft picks in the last few days, including 5th rounder Chris Smith and 8th rounder (and super sleeper) Dan Brewer. Smith is the kid that hit .708 with a .2100+ OPS as a senior in high school last year, and he’s already getting overhyped. They’re high school stats, throw them right out the window, they’re useless. Pete also notes that 7th rounder Kyle Higashioka was in the clubhouse yesterday and took BP with a team, while NoMaas shows that 6th rounder Brett Marshall was kickin’ it with the team during their recent trip to Houston. Signings for the top 3 guys will probably go down to the wire, but you can see all of the picks & signings here.

B

Who thinks Yu Darvish will get posted this offseason? And should the Yankees go after him?
- http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike A.
  
  If he gets posted, I say don’t bother. When’s the last time a Japanese pitcher lived up to the hype? Exactly.
  - B
    
    He is only 21 though? If he does live up to the hype and is posted, just think of having a rotation with:
    
    Chamberlain
    Hughes
    Wang
    Darvish
  - chris
    
    dice k is looking pretty damn good to me
    - http://riveraveblues.com Mike A.
      
      As good as advertised?
      - Count Zero
        
        Overall — no. But you would have to say his 2008 ERA+ of 172 fits the bill pretty well. If it wasn’t for that ugly BB total his numbers would be pretty sick.
Joltin’ Joe

If we can somehow sign Chris Dwyer, which could happen if we throw a few mil at him, this will be one hell of a draft.
- http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike A.
  
  A few mil? There’s probably 35-40 players in the entire draft that will get $1M+, and Chris Dwyer ain’t one of ‘em.
Baseballnation

Hey mike, don’t you think the yankees would move faster with Bittle over Cole and Bleich because of the common consensus that he’s near mlb ready or viewed as such and is also looked at as someone who can possibly slip into a bullpen spot as early as this season?
- http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike A.
  
  Yeah, but Bittle already threw a ton of innings this year, he needs to relax a bit. Don’t get caught up in the “draft a college reliever and rush him to the bigs” fad, it almost never works out. Let him get rested and healthy so he can kick of 2009 with a bang.
- B
  
  Has Cole decided to sign with the Yanks yet over going to UCLA?
B

Should we take a shot at cuban defector Dayan Viciendo?
- http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=594331910 Jamal G.
  
  http://www.nypost.com/seven/06.....114930.htm
  
  Nobody has any real info on him as of yet.
- http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=594331910 Jamal G.
  
  Here’s a good write-up from John Manuel at BA:
  
  http://www.baseballamerica.com.....ts/?p=1141
Brandon

Jesus Mike A. , I mean Chris Smith hit .708 in H.S. his own coach who coached Eric Davis & Darryl Strawberry said he may be better than them. Lets give him some credit I mean he didn’t exactly have resources like the other schools, also in the area code games had a strong showing according to people in LA. He has the bat speed and the eye, look not saying he’s going to be a superstar but reading that post you made him sound like all hype. His own coach believes he may be the best player coming out of LA in some time.
- http://riveraveblues.com Mike A.
  
  His own coach believes he may be the best player coming out of LA in some time.
  
  That and a dollar will buy him a cup of coffee somewhere. He signed for slot, he wasn’t some big signability guy. If he was legit, he would have been drafted much higher.
  - devin
    
    any chance he slipped to the cracks? i def understand u sayin that if he was for real he wouldve went earlier..but im hopin hes a guy that slipped through the cracks…
    - Chip
      
      That’s the chance you take when you sign a kid that dominated with almost no competition. He might translate to the bigs or he might just be able to hit 80 mph fastballs really well
Nefarious jackson

Great, the Smith kid is not even signed yet(he’s doing it officially on friday) and MIKE A already has a HUge bug up his ass about him. He’s not getting over-hyped, we just are glad that he’s signed-fucking chill
- Chip
  
  I wouldn’t say he’s got a huge bug up his ass about him it’s just that everybody is going, Holy Cow11!!!1!!!! This kid is the second coming of Cal Ripkein!!!11!!1! When nobody really knows what we have with him including the Yankees. A lot of people just don’t understand what a crapshot prospects are
  - vinny-b
    
    Cal Ripken jr. Don’t be crazy. Tony Gwynn.
vinny-b

well, the nyy scouts liked him.

at this point. We don’t know what his ceiling is.
younguns

Yu Darvish is the hottest baseball player in Japan today & he’s only 21 years old. He stands around 6’4 – 6’5 & easily throws a mid-90s mph fastball with plus offspeed stuff.

I know the general feeling among Yankees fans concerning Japanese pitchers (Irabu & Igawa) is that they’re overrated. What’s intriguing about Darvish is his bloodlines. Darvish is not pure Japanese.

While his mother is Japanese, his father is Iranian. This would probably account for his large physique. His body type resembles that of power pitchers such as Josh Beckett & while I’m not comparing him to Beckett’s stuff, Darvish does have the arrogance & cockiness that you find with power pitchers such as Beckett & Clemens. Being only 21, the guy is still growing into his body, which means you can expect a further increase to his current mid-90s fastball velocity.

I see Darvish as the exception to the rule with Japanese pitchers because of his mixed bloodlines & he will definitely be someone the Yankees should pursue if he is posted. Darvish profiles at least as a #2 in a MLB rotation with the very real potential to be the horse & the ace of a starting rotation.

His posting fee will probably be at least as much as what Dice-K’s team received & probably considerable more if he continues to mow down Japanese competition. From what I have read, he is already getting bored with Japanese Baseball, which is something Yu’s Father had stated in an interview this year.
- B
  
  From what I’ve heard so far is that Yu’s posting fee will top the 51 million that red sux dished out for dice-k. Do you think we will dish out about 75 mil (posting fee)for Yu? Wasn’t our bid for dice-k like 32 mil. Yu’s stuff is supposed to be electric as well!
younguns

The “kid” is only 21 so he’s only going to get better, especially as he fills out that 6’5 185 lb frame of his. With a fastball already around 95 mph & a curveball that’s already filthy, he also has a Mussina-like arsenal of pitches which includes a sinker, changeup, slider, & knuckle/spike curve.

Factor in inflation, the declining number of #1 starters reaching free agency in MLB, & how young he is, and you can expect a very heated competition just for the right to habla with him.

My feeling is that the Seattle Mariners will blow everyone out of the water with a huge posting fee when the time comes (no pun intended). They are very close to Japanese baseball, including the obvious, which is the physical distance to Japan, about an 8-hour flight. Given the current abysmal situation of Mariner baseball, they will be looking to dump contracts at a rapid pace. If they manage to rid themselves of crap like Washburn, Silva, Beltre, Vidro, Sexson, Bautista, Ibanez, & Jojima while getting a decent return for trading Bedard, Ichiro, & Putz, they should be in contention financially to make this badly needed move.
They will definitely need to eat an unhealthy amount of these horrible contracts but there’s no way this situation can get any worse than it already is.

A rotation a few years from now consisting of King Felix, Brandon Morrow, & Darvish plus whichever #1 overall draft picks that they net from now til then will most certainly help. The Mariners will most certainly receive the 2009 #1 draft pick & probably the #1s for 2010 & 2011 as well. If they follow the 2006 Yankee draft template & concentrate on pitching-heavy drafts with high-ceiling, signability guys, they can right this capsized ship.

The reason I bring up this issue about the Mariners in a Yankee blog is that if it were not for Brian Cashman’s success in steering the Yankees away from a free-agency mentality to an emphasis on building a team through, scouting, player development & the Draft, the Yankees would be in the same exact boat right now.