The 2007 Mock Draft over at John Sickels Minor League Ball takes place today at 3 EST.
If you’re interested in giving some final thoughts on players to consider, draft strategy, etc, go to the latest diary thread. The previous thread is here.
I’ll provide a recap of our picks later today.
Just to keep everyone updated, I started a new diary thread for the Mock Draft over at Minor League Ball. Here’s the link to the old thread for your info.
The draft is this Sunday, kicking off at 2pm Central (3 pm EST, noon PST). Any and all input is welcome.
I have to admit, I’m extremely exciting about our latest draft coverage pinch hitter: Keith Law, Senior Baseball Writer for ESPN’s Scouts Inc. One of the best talent evaluators around, Law and his army of freelance scouts travel this great land to bring you firsthand information on the nation’s top amateur players, unlike many other scouting publications which provide hand-me-down info.
Prior to his gig at the Worldwide Leader, Law spent 4+ years in the Jays’ front office, serving as a Special Assistant to the General Manager. He’s also written at Baseball Prospectus. So yeah, not only are we honored to have him, I think it’s safe to say that he’s most qualified person to ever talk baseball here at RAB.
You can check out Keith’s baseball thoughts in a variety of ways at ESPN, including his blog, chats, and frequent television spots. You can also head over to his personal site to find his non-baseball musings.
I…ahem…sat down with Keith and asked him some questions about the upcoming First Year Player Draft, which is now barely a week away.
Who has been the most impressive draft-eligible player you’ve seen this spring? Why?
Jarrod Parker was the guy who really made me say “wow.” I had heard he was throwing hard, but what I hadn’t heard was how good his delivery was, or how advanced his slider is. If he can keep the ball down – or if he’s drafted by a team in a big park – he should be excellent.
With less than 2 weeks until the big event, it’s time to get serious with our draft coverage here at RAB. With mock drafts popping up left and right (subscription required for the first link), I figured it was time we got in on the action. To help me out, I brought in blogging hall of famer DA Humber, who runs the fantastic and recently re-launched Baseball Central blog. If you aren’t checkin’ out his site everyday, you should be, cause you’re missing out on some cool shit.
The rules are simple: who do we think will go where in the first round? Enough talking, let’s get down to business.
1. Tampa Bay Devil Rays
DA: David Price, LHP, Vandy – Simply, the medicine the Devil Rays need. A legit frontline starter that should fly to the big league squad quickly. Dominated college and has a perfect frame and arsenal to have the Rays challenge the Twins as having the best 1-2 punch of southpaws.
Mike: Price – The D-Rays say they have 3 players in mind for the first overall pick, but you know they’re just sayin’ that to make the other teams sweat. In a familiar spot (Tampa has had the first pick twice before, and hasn’t picked lower than 10th  in the last 9 years), they go with the consensus top talent in the draft. Pretty soon they’ll have Price alongside Kazmir, Jamie Shields and Jeff Niemann, which means they’re going to be a juggernaut with that talented lineup. Watch out in 2010.
Just wanted to make a quick little announcement and say that Joe and I (and maybe Ben if he’s interested) will be acting as co-scouting directors for the Yankees in this year’s Mock Draft over at John Sickel’s Minor League Ball.
If you don’t know what the Mock Draft is, go here to find out. We’ll periodically update you on our progress, and I’m sure we’ll do something cool for draft day.
We’re looking for some help with scouting guys/doing research, so if you’re interested in lending a hand, here’s the diary thread. Remember, this is NOT about who we think the Yanks should pick, it’s about who we’d pick if we were in charge. But most of all, this is about having fun, so come join in and help pick the next wave of great Yankee prospects!
The very first post here at River Ave. Blues was a look at some college kids to keep an eye on for the 2007 draft, which I then followed up by previewing some noteworthy high school kids. With less than 2 months until the big event goes down, it’s time to start getting serious with the draft coverage.
I brought in the big guns for the next installment of my draft preview series, enlisting the services of Brian Foley, editor of The College Baseball Blog, a blog about (duh) college baseball which is just too great for words. You’d be hard pressed to find a site that’s more informative, comprehensive and entertaining than Brian’s. If you have any interest in college ball whatsoever, make sure you head on over and bookmark it, if you haven’t already.
Anyways, I asked Brian some questions, and he answered. I slacked off a bit putting this together, so any stats mentioned DO NOT include action from this past weekend. Enjoy.Â
Q: Teams love to draft college righthanders, they’re generally safe, cheap and plentiful. But outside of Andrew Brackman and Josh Fields, there doesn’t seem to be any truly elite RHP prospects, whereas last year there was Tim Lincecum, Brandon Morrow, Max Scherzer, Daniel Bard, Joba Chamberlain, Jeff Samardzija…I could go on and on. Are there any RHPs who could sneak up, have a great spring and really vault themselves into that elite prospect category? [Read more…]
BA’s Jim Callis took a swarm of draft related questions today at his weekly ESPN chat:
Eric (Sierra Vista, AZ): Hey, Jim, sorry to pester you, but with Max Scherzer heading to Fort Worth, do you see him cashing in with the Nats like you saw last week? Was the departure of Mike Rizzo a big reason why the negotiations have deterorated?
 Jim Callis: (2:05 PM ET ) I think the biggest problem is just that the Diamondbacks and Boras valued him differently. Arizona saw him as a guy who wasn’t going to go higher than No. 11 (and might have slid through the first round otherwise), and Boras saw him as one of the top two pitchers in the draft. I don’t think he was that good, but if he pitches well at Fort Worth and shows he’s fully healthy, you could argue that he’s the No. 2 prospect in a 2007 draft bereft of college righthanded pitching.