Looking at the Game of Baseball from all ends of the Spectrum
Bryce Harper, the 17-year old who is everyone’s pick to go #1 in the MLB draft, is making news. But maybe not the way he’d want. He was ejected during a called third strike in a National Junior College World Series game.
Will it affect his draft order? Probably not.
Will the media have a field day with this?
Most definitely.
[Update] I rest my case.
Within a week, the 2010 MLB Draft or as it is officially known, the MLB First-Year Player Draft, will take place. I’m certainly no expert on the MLB Draft but since I follow college baseball pretty closely, I have an interest in it and hence, have a little knowledge on where to find some good info on the draft.
MLB’s Draft Central is probably your first stop. They’ve done a pretty good job year in and year out covering the draft and each year they seem to increase their coverage.
The Draft Tracker is a must, especially on the draft days.
Jonathan Mayo covers the minor leagues for mlb.com. His blog is well worth following throughout the year but during draft time, he’ll have some good nuggets.
The Hardball Times is a source I trust for many things and prospect scouting is no exception. A couple days ago, they posted THT’s projected top 40 draftees.
Mock Drafts are the thing now. Take a look at mymlbdraft.com or draftsite.com to get a sense of what people are thinking. I’ll give you a hint… Bryce Harper looks like he’s going #1. Or heck, just go to dugoutdoctors.com and check out their whole list of mock drafts that are going on.
If lists aren’t your thing, MLB.com has Ten Names to Watch for 2010 Draft complete with a scouting report for each. This list is “Bryce-less”, assuming you’ve heard enough of him already ala 2009 Strasburg.
If history of the draft is your thing, you can try two avenues. MLB.com has a page dedicated to the “complete draft history”. For my money, I like browsing through Baseball Reference’s Draft section. Lots of fun to click around.
If anyone has any other good resources for the MLB Draft, please share them and I’ll add them to the list.
Seems early to talk about the MLB First Year Player Draft already but it’s never early to talk about prospects. mlb.com has a good preview of some of players to watch this spring that will play a big part in the draft. They list the top five high school prospects and the top five college prospects.
No surprise, pitchers dominate the list.
A comment to article caught my eye and made me smile. Seems a young
(ok, not so young… he’s 28) man wants a part of the draft action too.
He says:
How do you get drafted ? I am currently in the Army and am playing winter ball. I also plyed a regular season here in the CA high desert area by where I am stationed. I am 6’3 230 LHP, 2 seam fb, 4 seam fb, change up, slider, spike/knuckle curveball. I have never played on the college level due to the NCAA not allowing players past 30 ( i am 28 currently ).
Uh, good luck with the draft thing. Hope the Army doesn’t mind.
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!
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.
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| 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.
Deadspin looks at the question: Are #1 picks worth the money the teams spend on them?
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.
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.
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:
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
Not surprisingly, pitchers were high on the list,
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!
No, it’s not the Rays (who had four). The San Diego Padres and New York Mets tied for this honor with five apiece.
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).