I know I’m preempting Mike’s wall-to-wall draft day coverage right now. But before we fall into the trap of unbridled optimism over the future of MLB prospects, draw your attention to a recent Steve Goldman in the New York Sun. The man behind YES’ Pinstripe Bible rehashes the recent drafting history of the Yanks and Mets, and it ain’t pretty. He wonders, for example, if “Eric Duncan [failed] the Yankees, or did the Yankees fail him?” The piece serves as an excellent counterpoint to the stock that we all tend to put in prospects now that the Internet allows us unfettered access to stuff that, ten or fifteen years ago, only Baseball America subscribers and scouts knew.
IDK, my BFF DotF?
Another bullet pointer tonight, resting up during the calm before the draft storm tomorrow. Make sure you keep checking in tomorrow afternoon, I’m going to be live blogging the Yanks’ picks, with analysis and links to all sorts of good stuff. Here’s the box scores for AAA, AA and A-. High-A Tampa’s game was postponed because of wet grounds.
- Jason Lane hit a homer, Eric Duncan took an 0-fer. Ben Broussard hit another double.
- Danny McCutchen was hit around again, allowing 11 baserunners (2 homers) and 4 runs in 6 IP.
- Jose Tabata was MIA after leaving yesterday’s game in the 1st following a HBP.
- Austin Jackson had a one base hit.
- George Kontos killed it for 7 IP, allowing 3 hits against 7 K.
- Mark Melancon picked up the win in extras, Check the TJ Rehab Watch for his stat line.
- Bradley Suttle, Jesus Montero, Austin Romine and Carmen Angleini all singled. Abe Almonte picked up a pair.
- Jason Stephens had his worst outing of the year, giving up 5 runs in 5 IP.
- Craig Heyer and Ryan Zink put up 4 innings of 1 hit, scoreless relief.
MLB’s Draft Tracker
MLB.com’s Draft Tracker is finally up and running for the 2008 Draft. Maybe I’m wrong, but it seems like the Tracker is usually up in mid-May. Anywho, as usual it has the full complement of scouting videos, which are a great way to kill a slow and hot (the a/c is still on the fritz here) afternoon at work. You can find Gerrit Cole’s video here, Nick Maronde’s here, Tanner Scheppers’ here, and Ike Davis’ here. Those are just some names that have been bandied about in Yankee land recently.
2008 Pre-Draft Top 30 Prospects List
The third point of the season isn’t the best time to take stock and assess how the prospects in the minors are doing, but that’s not going to stop me. There’s been a decent amount of movement at the top, which is the result of just about everything: graduation, injuries, ineffectiveness, hissy fits and domination.
Here’s my updated look at the Yanks’ top 30 prospects, as they stand the day before some fresh blood is infused into the system. You can check out my preseason list for comparisons sake.
- Joba Chamberlain, RHP – right at 50 IP for his career, so he hasn’t passed the rookie limit yet … i think we’re all looking forward to seeing him in the rotation for the rest of the year (or at the least the smart ones are)
- Jesus Montero, C – surpassed all expectations for this year, there’s no one in the draft class that can knock him from this spot
- Austin Jackson, CF – improved his plate discipline, hitting for power, playing good D … there’s a lot to like here
- JB Cox, RHP – came back from TJ like a champ, much better than I expected
- Mark Melancon, RHP – see above
- Zach McAllister, RHP – went from sleeper to stud thanks to his lights out first half
- Dellin Betances, RHP – the walks are high, and the tired shoulder is a minor concern, but he’s doing about all you could ask him to do in his first attempt at full-season ball
- Ross Ohlendorf, RHP – yep, he’s technically still a prospect, and he’s better than his numbers suggest
- Alan Horne, RHP – if it wasn’t for the biceps injury, he would probably be in the bigs
- Andrew Brackman, RHP – too much talent to ignore, TJ or not
- Jose Tabata, RF – if you want to act like a baby I’ll rank you like one … lucky for him he’s just 19
- Brett Gardner, CF – hitting for enough power to keep pitchers honest, and that’s all he needs
- Jeff Marquez, RHP – finding out that Triple-A hitters make you pay when you don’t get the ball down
- Carmen Angelini, SS – not the best start to the year, but he’s young for his league and has loads of ability
- David Robertson, RHP – just keeps mowing guys down
- Dan McCutchen, RHP – is he the guy that dominated Double-A, or the guy that’s scuffling in Triple-A?
- Abe Almonte, CF – flashing all 5 tools and putting up the numbers … stud
- Austin Romine, C – having an impressive year at the dish and behind it, which is more than you can ask from a teenage catcher in full season ball
- Chris Garcia, RHP – getting back into game action was step 1, step 2 is putting in the work needed to be great, because he’s got all the talent he’d ever need
- Colin Curtis, LF – not flashy, but he does everything just good enough
- Jairo Heredia, RHP – too bad I don’t know what the “upper body injury” was
- Humberto Sanchez, RHP – still MIA
- Bradley Suttle, 3B – mashed his way into the top 20 between injuries this year after a brutal debut last year
- Juan Miranda, 1B – shoulder issues have sapped his power, but it was already clear that he’s a classic platoon first baseman/DH
- Kevin Whelan, RHP – almost a forgotten man in the system
- Ryan Pope, RHP – enigmatic isn’t the right word, but he’s … unique
- Frankie Cervelli, C – holding down a spot based on reputation after the injury
- Mike Dunn, LHP – hopefully he won’t be the top ranked lefty when I do the post-draft list, no offense to Mike
- Edwar Ramirez, RHP – still prospect eligible, and still striking out almost 2 batters an inning
- Justin Snyder, 2B – all he does is get on base and score runs
Draft Chats
Just wanted to quickly pass along that Keith Law and BA’s Jim Callis will be chatting over at ESPN at 1 and 2pm today, respectively. It’s safe to assume the draft will be the main focus. You follow the chats free while they’re live, but once they end they hide behind the Insider wall. John Manuel has some of the latest buzz. Just about 24 hours away…
Update: Looks like they pushed KLaw’s chat back to 2. Apparently Steve Phillips is having a groundbreaking chat.
Bullet point DotF
Incredibly slow and boring night in the minors (plus I’m prepping the draft bunker for the end of the week), so I’m not going to drag this out. Here are the box scores for AAA, AA, A+ and A-. The highlights:
- Eric Duncan took an 0-fer and Phil Coke struggled in his first start at the AAA level.
- David Robertson and JB Cox combined for 2.1 perfect innings.
- Jose Tabata left after getting hit by a pitch in his first at-bat. He later complained.
- Austin Jackson picked up a single and Eric Hacker was eh.
- Mitch Hilligoss racked up only his seventh multi-hit game of the year.
- Kevin Whelan walked 5 in an inning and a third.
- Rob Semerano made his organizational debut by giving up 4 hits and 2 runs in an inning of work for Tampa. Yanks picked him up as a MiL free agent, and he’s no spring chicken. Just filler.
- Bradley Suttle hit a solo job.
- Jon Ortiz picked up another save, his 17th.
Draft Roundup
Less than two days away … are ya ready? Here’s some stuff to hold you over:
- KLaw takes a step back and looks at how the 2003 Draft unfolded. The line about Matt Antonelli & Mark Melancon? Totally stole that from me. Law also explains why teams should be allowed to trade picks. Sorry, but both of those pieces are behind the iron curtain of ESPN Insider.
- Both the NY Times and ESPN take a gander into the life of Pedro Alvarez. Interesting stuff.
- Amy Nelson explains how the Brewers can clean-up this year with all those extra picks.
- Bob Klapisch talks about how the Mets will screw up those three early picks.
- The UBBMD is still going on. I don’t have the time to follow along, so I just submitted a list of players I’d like to take in the second round. Tops on that list was Purdue RHP Josh Lindblom.
- Paul DePodesta talks about life in Padres’ war room.
- Saber Scouting ranks their Top 100 Draft Prospects.
- Jonathan Mayo has a new Mock First Round up. Brett Hunter? Bah! Give me upside or give me death!
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 556
- 557
- 558
- 559
- 560
- …
- 621
- Next Page »