Baseball America’s Early Rule 5 Draft Preview
ByThe Rule 5 Draft is just eight days away, yet Baseball America posted what they’re calling their Early Rule 5 Draft Preview today (sorry, subscriber only). I’m guessing that means we’ll get another, more comprehensive preview sometime within the next week. Anyway, they listed ten players that could end up being selected, two of whom are Colin Curtis and Kevin Whelan.
Curtis was said to have “improved his stock greatly in the Arizona Fall League … by adjusting his stance and finally driving the ball,” while Whelan could get picked because of his “92-94 mph fastball and plus-plus split-finger pitch.” Grant Duff was mentioned as another interesting name to watch in a sidebar, and I’ll add that Zach Kroenke is almost a lock to get picked because he’s a living, breathing lefthander that has had success in Triple-A.
Getting picked is one thing, sticking on the 25-man big league roster all season long is another. None of the above players would be a significant loss to the Yankees, especially the relievers since they have so much bullpen depth, but I’m not convinced any of them can stick on the ML roster all season. You might see a trade worked out though, something similar to last year’s Chase Wright-Eric Fryer swap.
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With the split finger being such an effective pitch, it would be great if Whelan could not get picked/get returned and develop into a second half option for the 6th-7th inning.
If only he had control.
Interesting that Curtis actually made adjustments.
That was probably the story with EDunc too. We all know how that ended.
Yeah, I’m not expecting him to do great things.
Yeah, Curtis’s main adjustment was probably just swinging hard in a notorious hitter-friendly league.
Grip it and rip it, John Daly style. It’s probably smoke and mirrors.
Maybe we lose Kroenke, but other than that, I doubt any of those guys could possibly stick on a 25 all year. Maybe on the Natinals.
Did they actually play a game with those jerseys?
Oh yea.
http://www.doobybrain.com/wp-c.....ington.jpg
Yes.
They should’ve been instantly contracted as soon as they took the field with those jerseys.
The Pirates should have been contracted on the field for this:
http://raisethejollyroger.com/.....ed-uni.jpg (safe-ish)
[...] accustomed to multiple innings. Mike Axisa of River Avenue Blues astutely points out that Kroenke “is almost a lock to get picked because he’s a living, breathing lefthander that has had suc… FYI, Kroenke was a Rule 5 pick of the Marlins last year, but returned to the Yankees halfway [...]