River Avenue Blues

Are ya ready for the draft? 2pm EST on ESPN2; Karl Ravech hosts, Peter Gammons and Steve Phillips (erg) will be in the house, RAB fav Keith Law will be on from Bristol via satelitte, as will BA’s Jim Callis from Chicago.

Just like every year, I feel like a kid on Christmas morning, except today the rich kid’s presents may fall due to signability.

• The Yanks first pick comes at #30, the last pick of the first round. They didn’t pick up any sandwich picks as compensation for losing a free agent, so they don’t pick again until number #94, the last pick of the second round. The new CBA changed compensation for FA losses, so the sandwich round is a record 34 picks long this year. The Yanks are basically losing out on 2 rounds of action between their first and second selection.

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You need an Insider subscription to read the latest from Law, but I’m going to pick a few bits to discuss as they relate to the Yankees.

Law says that the Tigers, holding the 27th pick, aren’t hot an Matt LaPorta. Teams are stuck on where to take the righty/righty University of Florida first baseman because of injury concerns. I’m guessing he won’t even make it to Detroit’s pick. He’s a senior, so he has no leverage to demand more than slot value. A smaller market team could definitely swipe him. If for some reason he falls to 30, it’d be tough for the Yanks to pass on him.

The White Sox look to be jumping in on Brackman’s impending fall from the top. Mike and I have made no mistake about our adoration for Brackman’s superb potential. Can’t blame the White Sox if they want to assume that risk.

In the same paragraph, he mentions Rick Porcello slipping to the Yanks. With the new rules in place for this year’s draft*, it seems unlikely he’d free-fall through the first round. Still, the possibility is quite exciting.

For some additional (Insider only, unfortunately) reading, check out Law’s article on the 2002 draft, aka the Moneyball draft. Specifically, look at the best high school players taken and the best college players.

* If a team fails to sign a player by August 15, he re-enters the draft next year and the team receives the pick directly after their pick in the current year. For example, if Kansas City drafted Porcello at No. 2 and failed to sign him, they’d get the No. 3 pick in the 2008 draft. This means there is much more incentive to take the top talent rather than take someone on signability.