Jun
08
2009 Draft: BA’s Fantasy Draft
ByBaseball America hot shots Jim Callis and John Manuel posted a their fantasy mock draft today, acting as team scouting directors and alternating first round picks. Callis took Texas prep outfielder Slade Heathcott with the Yanks’ first round pick, most certainly not the first time we’ve seen his name connected to the Bombers. It’s a rare non-subscriber piece, so make sure you head on over and check it out.
This is the first time in three years that I don’t have the slightest clue about which way the Yanks are leaning. Gerrit Cole was the odds on favorite last year, and the year before that Andrew Brackman was all but a given. This year though … no idea at all. It’s exciting, who doesn’t like surprises?
It’s probably going to be Heathcott, although I’m surprised at how few other teams are linked to him.
“who doesn’t like surprises?”
The Nats’ fans when it comes down to the #1 pick?
Otis Spode loves surprises.
I want Purke regardless of his price demands.
i’d rather have gibson to be honest. he’s got more experience and a better frame than purke. purke is a tiny guy but the stuff is definitely there.
when it comes down to it, either one of those guys will immediately catapult up the list of top organizational prospects. both of them could EASILY break into the top 10.
i would like to see the yanks draft a position player this year. i know conventional wisdom would dictate drafting the best player available, but the yanks already have a wealth of pitching in their system and need more position prospects.
Renfroe is an above average hitter and shortstop, and he could replace jeter.
While it’s true that Renfroe is a good prospect, I have yet to see anyone say that he’s a better prospect than either Purke or Gibson. If we took Renfroe over them, I wouldn’t care for the pick much. I’d rather take the elite pitcher and see if Renfroe or some other position player is there at #76.
true but there are concerns with gibsons health and purke’s build and durability. the yanks havent really been successful drafting pitchers with questionable health
Joba?
besides joba. garcia, bittle, bleich and countless others
Please name those “countless others.” Also, I’m not sure why you’re including Bleich into your argument.
Bleich doesn’t have injury concerns. Bittle had a clean bill of health until AFTER we picked him and found out his shoulder was screwed up, which is why we didn’t meet his big bonus demands and took the compensation pick instead. And Garcia was a third rounder, that’s a spot where you take potential over injury risk every time. Garcia has yet to become a washout, btw, he’s still only 23 and pitching well at the moment.
The only real injury risk that’s backfired so far is J.B. Cox, who hasn’t been the same pitcher post TJS. All the others, including Melancon, are good, solid picks that are working out thus far.
Garcia was drafted in 2004, that’s a long time ago and I don’t remember if there were injury concerns.
Bittle was a risk they took, he was indeed injured and we get another pick.
Bleich is doing just fine.
The “countless others” I can think of: Betances (good so far), Brackman (jury still out), Melancon (worked out fine), Cox (were there concerns with him?)
didnt bleich have some sort of shoulder injury?
and bleich has been ok not good. he just lowered his era under 4
I think you are right with the shoulder injury, but he has been injury-free so far. I also disagree about him not doing good. It’s his first pro season and he is in High-A and not doing good. I won’t argue with you if that is “good” or just “ok”, I consider this pick a success so far.
Bleich had Elbow Transplant surgery.
the yanks havent really been successful drafting pitchers with questionable health
To whom are you referring? We’ve drafted only three pitchers in the first two rounds recently with injury concerns coming in: Joba, Brackman, and J.B. Cox,. One is a major league ace in the making, another is a top 50 prospect in the entire game, the third is a washout. I’d say we’ve been pretty good drafting pitchers with questionable health.
i didnt necessarily mean in the first round only, but joba and brackman were very good picks, joba a great pick
Without the injury concerns the Yankees would have had ZERO chance to get Brackman and probably don’t get Joba either.
thats true. but i would like brackman to show a little more consistency before we all start singing his praises. i understand hes young and big, but there have been younger pitchers in our system who have been more consistent this year
I’d love to see more consistency from Brackman, too, but he is just coming back from major surgery. And if he doesn’t get to the majors because of those injuries, it was still the right pick because you have to take somebody with such upside at the bottom of the first round.
I want Strassburg regardless of his price demands and 28 teams picking in front of us.
as far as names connected to the yankees are concerned, the only guy i’m not a fan of is brett jackson. maybe it’s because i know about him the least, but from the reports on him it doesn’t sound like he’d be any different than what he sounds like — a combination of brett gardner and austin jackson.
not saying that he’d be a terrible baseball player – i just believe that the other players we’ve heard in relation to the team (gibson/purke/heathcott) would be a better value given the position the team is in.
i agree. i would be tight if the yanks picked him
I would go apeshit batty if they wasted a pick on him
DAVID RENFROE
if renfroe is available that would be my pick
Hey mike,do the yanks have a better chance of drafting jesus christ and God combined than strasburg?
IETC
+1
They’ve already drafted them.
They’ve already
draftedsigned them.Fixed.
Thanks, my bad.
Slade is a gritty name, gotta go with grit
no name can ever be as gritty as varitek though. just the mere mention of it brings tears to my eyes
Does Slade Heathcott fight with a catcher’s mask on? I think not.
Varitek >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Heathcott
lol
CUM ON FEEL THE NOIZE!!!!
If there’s no Gibson at 29, and we think that Purke’s serious in his $7 million demand, then we should go Heathcott at #29, and then hope that Renfroe’s $3 million demand scares off every squad till we pick again in the 70s. Getting 1st round talents at both slots will be a great first day haul.
im probably in the minority here but i would pick rex brothers over purke matzek or gibson. but the chances of him being available at 29 are slim
rex brothers sounds like a private eye from the 50s
i’ve said it before but i don’t there’s much to like about brothers. he’s from a small school. he’s got a live arm, but bad control/command. he’d be a disappointment in my eyes.
those are things that can be worked out. he has better stuff than matzek or purke and has projectability. if he has trouble maintaing his velocity or being durable in the minors we can make him a dominant lefty reliever that throws 100mph plus. he already throws 97mph plus. my dream draft would be taking brothers in the 1st and renfroe in the 2nd
I highly doubt Gibson actually makes it to the Yanks. If he gets past the Rockies I would be shocked.
My big board of remotely possible picks for the Yanks:
1) Tanner Scheppers
David Renfroe
2) Kyle Gibson
3) Rex Brothers
4) Matt Purke
5) Grant Green
6) Slade Heathcott (I’m starting to like him more)
7) James Paxton
i doubt scheppers would drop that far
he has “shoulder issues”, so he may slide.
Um, are you sure? I thought it was a fractured forearm. With my limited medical knowledge, it doesn’t sound like a shoulder issue but maybe forearm is same as shoulder…
http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/draft/?p=959, stress fracture in forearm…
Man, I am an idiot, you meant Scheppers of course, my bad =( reading failure, sorry.
I’d quibble with Gibson and Green being called “remotely possible”. Unless Alaska is your definition of “remote”. I don’t think either of them possibly slide to #29 (although, yes, technically anything is possible).
Other than that, I’m on board.
Just wondering where you would put some of the players talked about on this blog like Mier, Bailey, Jackson, and Tate?
1) Tanner Scheppers
David Renfroe
2) Kyle Gibson
3) Rex Brothers
4) Matt Purke
Donovan Tate
5) Grant Green
6) Slade Heathcott (I’m starting to like him more)
Jiovanni Mier (I don’t like him as much as others do)
Luke Bailey
7) James Paxton
tate would be a shaky pick. its weird how some mock drafts have him out of the first and others as high as #3
It all depends on one’s take on the upside v. stability debate. I tend to lean towards upside, and I like Tate, but even Tate is a bit raw for me to put him towards the top.
KLaw just came out with his 3rd mock and still has us taking Heathcott.
btw, he still has Scheppers and now Crow falling out of the 1st round:
“Teams in the top 10 are telling me that neither is a top choice for them, with a few teams pointing to medical concerns on Scheppers, and everyone pointing to their belief that neither player will sign for less than what he turned down last year.”
If Crow is available at #29, the Yankees have to take him.
agreed
Did you mean to write Kyle Gibson falling out the 1st; not Aaron Crow?
86 my above comment. Wow. That’s breaking news on Crow.
I can’t wait for the Yankees to take Heathcott in the 1st, Scheppers in the 2nd, Crow in the 4th, Renfroe in the 5th, Purke in the 6th, and Kentrail Davis in the 7th; we sign them all, and rather than Cashman being a Theo-level genius for aggressively restocking the farm by going overslot repeatedly and not shying away from big bonuses to get premier young talent, we’re “buying championships” with out big wallet and we’re all that’s wrong with baseball.
You forgot Donovan Tate in the 8th, but I agree on everything else.
You forgot
Donovan TateJoba in the 8th, but I agree on everything else.From these mocks it seems like its not a matter if Slade is there, but if the Yanks take him
Succinct. Yeah. Looks that way. It doesn’t look like Heathcott will be in play the next time the Yanks pick though. His stock has risen nicely in the past 2 weeks. Renfroe’s asking for beaucoup bucks so there’s a better shot at him with our 2nd pick.
Luckily by the 29th pick they’ll have an idea of how many guys have fallen, So if a bunch of these guys are falling the Yanks know that they can probably take Slade (or someone else who isn’t going to make it to the end of the 2nd round), and know there should at least be 1 signability guy around for their 2nd round pick.
are any big market teams picking ahead of us in the 2nd round? if there is, one of them might take him. i would rather take a chance taking heathcott or someone else n the second roud and taking renfroe in the first
i don’t know why you’re so keen on taking renfroe in the 1st round. he doesn’t scream first round material to me – sure, the guy’s an athlete and has above average power and defense but the MLB draft is nothing like the NBA/NFL drafts. ‘Need’ is not something you should keep in mind when it comes to first round picks. it’s allllllllllllll about the upside and projectability. and if scouts are saying renfroe will eventually have to move off of shortstop to 3rd or a COF spot, i don’t think he’s worth it.
on mlb.com they said he projects to be a .300 hitter that can hit 20 homers and play good shortstop. thats pretty good for late in the first.
what player that might be available to us has that much upside. the reason i like renfroe so much is that his upside is really high AND he could fill a need
You should read this: http://www.nomaas.org/draft/?p=173
im not being snark, but what does this have to do with the debate about renfroe?
Brackman wasn’t even close to a given. In your draft preview, you said this:
“The Yankees have a better chance of drafting Jesus Christ than Andrew Brackman”
I’m paraphrasing cuz i don’t feel like looking it up.
Wrong and wrong. He said it in a comment to a draft preview written in February. At this point in 2007, it was a given that the Yanks were going to take Brackman unless Porcello dropped to them.
THAT IS HOW YOU DEBATE!!!!
What happened? I blacked out.