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Ibanez a bit testy over steroid allegation

What can Raul Ibanez do to prove he’s clean of steroids? Whatever it is, he’ll do it.

Responding to a posting on midwestsportsfans.com and the comments that ensued that implicated him of using PEDs, Ibanez is willing to go above and beyond to prove he’s innocent.

"You can have my urine, my hair, my blood, my stool — anything you can test," Ibanez said, according to the report. "I’ll give you back every dime I’ve ever made" if the test is positive, he added.

But he also wants to hold people accountable for their statements:

"I’ll put that up against the jobs of anyone who writes this stuff," he said, according to the Inquirer. "Make them accountable. There should be more credibility than some 42-year-old blogger typing in his mother’s basement. It demeans everything you’ve done with one stroke of the pen.

“Mother’s basement”… ouch!

For what it’s worth, the article on midwestsportsfans.com makes a bold assertion but is well thought out, not leaning toward the sensationalistic and backed up by stats. Plus it looks at all sides of the issues. The comments, of course are not. But that is the nature of discourse.

But I’m not taking sides here… I don’t want Raul showing at on my door with a vial of urine or anything.

MLB Draft: Illini get the call

Altobelli: Ready for the Rocks

It was a good day for the Illini in today’s MLB draft. Three were drafted. Brandon Wikoff (5th round, Houston), Seth Schwindenhammer (5th round, Red Sox) and Dom Altobelli (16th round, Colorado) will soon be playing baseball and getting paid to do it.

Altobelli was a senior. Wikoff was a junior but any Illini fan paying attention knew he was on his way up. Schwindenhammer was a 2008 recruit and never played for Coach Hartleb’s team.

I did a write up on Altobelli and of Wikoff over at Illinois Baseball Report including some of my favorite photos of each.

Congrats to all three!!

Followup: I read on the Trib that if Schwindenhammer ever makes it to the bigs, his 15-letter last name will be the longest in major league history. I wonder who he would beat. I thought of the pitcher VanLandingham but that’s only 13 letters.

Update: On the final day of the draft, Matt Milroy, another University of Illinois recruit, this one a pitcher, got drafted. Milroy was picked in the 35th round by the Boston Red Sox.

But don’t let me forget Joe Bonadonna. My daughter’s favorite Illini player (maybe it was the way he hustled on the field or maybe it was awesome name), Bonadonna was chosen in the 43rd round by the Texas Rangers. I did a similar write up on him on Illinois Baseball Report with some cool photos (Joe was a great photo subject!).

Congrats again!

MLB Draft: Lotsa pitching and Indiana does pretty well

photo via MLBDraft on Twitter

Pitching was on the minds of MLB teams in the MLB draft tonight as the first three rounds transpired. Yes, Stephen Strasburg was picked #1 by the Washington Nationals. As the time got nearer, that was pretty evident. Even Nats’ 3B Ryan Zimmerman weighed in on the subject after he was drafted:

"You have to do it. From what everyone is saying, if you are an organization like we are that is young and moving forward, you have to take the best guy available.

I think he is head and shoulders above the rest. You are talking about a guy that could be an impact player from the moment you draft him. If you can add that arm to our good young starting staff, we are pretty much set — knock on wood — for a long time."

After Strasburg, three position players were picked. Dustin Ackley (a NC product and one of the best hitters in the draft), Donovan Tate and Tony Sanchez went 2-3-4. But after that there was a run of 8 pitchers. Fourteen of the first 20 players taken were pitchers.


Eric Arnett	Josh Phegley	Matt Bashore

Looking at the first day of the draft from a Big Ten perspective, Indiana’s baseball program has to feel pretty proud. Three of their player were chosen in the top 50 picks. Eric Arnett went 26th overall and now reports to the Brewers. Poor Josh Phegley. He was picked by the White Sox (38th overall). Just kidding, Josh. To round out the Hoosier trifecta, Matt Bashore was chosen 46th overall by the Twins.

Tomorrow morning, the Draft continues. For those on Twitter, there’s a wealth of information you won’t get from boring ol’ websites. #mlbdraft is a good place to start.

Top pick dough

Deadspin looks at the question: Are #1 picks worth the money the teams spend on them?

Old Tiger Stadium ruled to be demolished

A judge lifted the stay of execution for the old Tiger Stadium and ruled that demolition of the ballpark can continue.

Wayne County Circuit Judge Prentis Edwards rejected a request by the Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy to issue a preliminary injunction preventing further demolition of the stadium. He also lifted a temporary restraining order issued Friday afternoon that halted work begun just hours earlier.

Edwards agreed with attorneys for the city that the nonprofit group likely can’t raise the funds for a proposed $33.4 million redevelopment project, noting there is little financing in hand after years of work.

Nats plans in the first round of MLB draft

A quick link to an article on mlb.com detailing what the Nationals are rumoring to do in the first round of the 2009 First-Year Player Draft.

Yes, they are expected to draft San Diego State RHP Stephen Strasburg with the #1 pick but they also have the #10 pick as well. It looks like they’re planning on choosing a pitcher with that pick as well but acting GM Mike Rizzo is tight lipped on who it will be only saying that he has trust in his scouting staff:

"I haven’t seen the amount of players that I have in the past," Rizzo said. "I’m listening and hearing what the people around me are saying — kind of gathering information and then putting it all together and making a decision. I’ve seen the top 20 or so players in the Draft, but once you get beyond that, you trust your people. We have a great staff over here."

The first comment, however, may be telling about how the Nats fan base feels, though. In part it says (caps and all):

WITH THE 10TH PICK WE SHOULD DRAFT A NEW MANAGER!!!!!!!!!!

Ouch.

Some thoughts on the MLB First-Year Player Draft

MLB.com’s draft expert Jonathan Mayo takes a stab at projecting the first round of the First-Year Player Draft. Here is his latest guess at what might go down next week. Draft projections are always a crap shoot but it seems we as baseball fans love something to argue over so they serve a purpose.

In Mayo’s projected draft, it is definitely pitcher oriented. North Carolina’s Dustin Ackley is the only non-pitcher listed in the top fifteen. Ackley plays first and outfield.

Arizona State hurler Mike Leake would have been an interesting top pick if only because there have been three other ASU #1 picks in the history of the MLB draft. There are no other schools who have more than one top picks in the draft. Leake is upping his stock with his performance in the NCAA Regionals but…

… it seems the consensus so far that righty Stephen Strasburg from San Diego State is the favorite for Washington Nationals’ pick.

Eric Arnett pitching in the Big Ten Tournament

Big Ten fans should note that Indiana University pitcher Eric Arnett places #15 on Mayo’s projection. As someone who saw Arnett more than a couple times this year and witnessed him mow down the opposition during the Big Ten Tournament, Mayo’s confidence in him is not misplaced. A little off topic but Arnett, by the way, is twittering now.

Some breaking news… Kyle Gibson a right-handed pitcher from Missouri who is/was a potential #1 pick, has suffered a setback. He’ll be sidelined for a couple of weeks with a stress fracture in his right forearm following his last outing. Gibson pitched shutout ball in his last two starts spanning 14 innings.

Time will tell if this will affect his position in the draft.

Good places to find info on the upcoming MLB First-Year Player Draft

It won’t be long before the 2009 First-Year Player Draft will be upon us. The Washington Nationals will be on the clock for their first pick in the first round on the evening of June 9th, broadcasted on The MLB Network. Draft time is 5pm Central time. The draft is scheduled to last till June 11th.

If anyone wants to brush up on the exact rules of the First-Year Player Draft, here are the official public rules from MLB. The gist of it is.. the eligible players are:

High school players, if they have graduated from high school and have not yet attended college or junior college;
College players, from four-year colleges who have either completed their junior or senior years or are at least 21 years old; and
Junior college players, regardless of how many years of school they have completed

While I’m on the topic of MLB.com, they are providing their usually good coverage of the draft. Which is good since it is their baby. Their Draft Central is a go-to site for anyone interested in the rookie draft. Read their Draft FAQ which probably answers any question you might have regarding the Draft. Draft Central has plenty of reports from different team’s perspectives Also, check out their Draft Tracker for a partial list of potential draftees and of course, the team order of the draft.

MLB.com has historical look at the draft which is worth a look but if it’s pure stats and data you want, you should go to Baseball Reference’s Draft section. Interactive, clickable and very complete, BR has all the info you want on past drafts going all the way back to Rick Monday in 1965. I’ll admit it, I got most of my info for my article about the history of the draft’s top picks from Baseball Reference.

While MLB.com does provide pretty great and complete coverage, sometimes it’s nice to get some independent analysis (y’know, something that doesn’t read like a company communiqué). The Baseball Analysts really fits the bill. Like they have for years, Rich Lederer from TBA is providing some good anticipatory coverage of the upcoming Draft. Just go there and you’ll find plenty of articles on the subject but his Q&A with Baseball America’s Jim Callis is a good place to start.

And I’ll be chiming in with my opinions here on The Baseball Zealot too so stay tuned for my witty insight. If anyone has a favorite comprehensive resource for Draft Day coverage, feel free to leave a comment.

Yahoo suit of NFL Players Association has MLB roots

Yahoo Inc is in the process of suing the NFL Players Association basically saying it doesn’t have to pay royalties for stats, photos and other NFL data related to its online fantasy game. Yahoo claims that this data is already publically available.

Why is this relevant to baseball fans (other than the obvious fantasy league angle)? It’s this. The MLB Players Association and MLB Advanced Media lost a case very similar to this in 2007 when an online fantasy baseball called CDC Distribution Marketing Inc didn’t have to pay the baseball players for data very similar in the Yahoo case (stats, photos, etc).

Yahoo is clinging to a court decision between CBS Interactive and the NFL Players Inc which claims it doesn’t need authorization. And apparently, that decision based a lot of their ruling on the 2007 MLB decision.

Copyright and freedom of information issues are always tough. How people come down on them usually depends on how it affects them (i.e the most positive outcome possible). That goes for fans, too.

What do you think? Are stats public information? How about a photo of a baseball player?

Breakdown of #1 picks in the First-Year Player Draft

Monday: Picked first in the first.

In one week, the 2009 First-Year Player Draft will take place. This year, the Washington Nationals will have the top the top pick.

How ‘bout some interesting facts/trivia about the very top picks in the 44 year history of the major league rookie draft?

Breakdown of High School/College?

Since Rick Monday was picked #1 by the A’s in 1965, 24 top picks were drafted out of high school and 20 were drafted out of college. That’s more coming out of the hallowed halls of learning than I thought, quite honestly.

Arizona State University had some good mojo going as far as the top pick goes. They are the only institution (high school or university) that has the honor of more than one #1 pick… and they have three! Monday, Floyd Bannister, who went to the Astros in 1976 and Bob Horner who got picked by Atlanta two years later all came from ASU.

Who are the only #1 picks that never made the majors?

LHP Brien Taylor picked by the Yanks in 1991 and Steve Chilcott who was chosen by the Mets in 1966 (the second year of the draft) never made it to the bigs. I’m giving Tim Beckham and Matthew Bush (2006 and 2004 picks respectively) a mulligan here. Let’s give them a chance.

Which #1 pick has played the most in the majors?

Whether you’re judging on games or at-bats, 1977 pick Harold Baines wins on both counts with 2830 games and 9908 at-bats. Ken Griffey comes in at a close second (2559 games, 9446 at-bats).

Among pitchers, Seattle’s first round pick in 1981, Mike Moore pitched in 450 major league games and won 161 games.

What position was picked the most as the top pick?

Not surprisingly, pitchers were high on the list,

C- 5
1B- 4
SS- 10
3B- 4
OF- 9
P- 13 (4 lefties, 9 righties)

Interestingly, no players were drafted as secondbasemen. Keep in mind that these figures are the positions they were drafted at not necessarily where they ended up playing. B.J. Surhoff at short? Hah!

Which teams had the most first picks since 1965?

No, it’s not the Rays (who had four). The San Diego Padres and New York Mets tied for this honor with five apiece.

How many top picks eventually became major league All-Stars?

Among the 44 first picks to date, twenty have appeared in a major league All-Star game. At this point, no first pick has gotten in the Hall of Fame but for my money, Ken Griffey Jr and Chipper Jones both have a good chance to make it. (update- Arod too, if voters forget about the PED thing).