2007 Draft Class

[Mephistopheles]

nah they moved him to 3B in the offseason the last i heard.

 

i dont think he tore ligaments in his elbow. The only catcher i can recall that has done that lately is teagarden. Brad Lincoln did. Walker had a wrist injury a while ago.

[Guest]

Walker was drafted as a catcher but has made the shift to third base this season - every game he's played this season has been at third.

 

Anze, Walker hurt his wrist a couple of seasons ago and had to have surgery on it. Not sure about his elbow. :?

[imb]

All this talk about Weiters not having as good a season as expected sounds pretty ridiculous right now, his numbers are better across the board. No idea if scouts are seeing something they don't exactly love, though.

[TruffleShuffle]

yuck, only a .500 OBP from Wieters? Stay away.

[NCCubFan]

A few years ago House was the Pirates' catcher of the future but had a major injury (I don't recall if it was elbow or something else). Maybe that's who he was thinking of.

[RammyFanny]

I obviously don't know much about Vitters' D other than it isn't too hot, but does anyone think he can move to 2b? I think I read his arm strength was a little questionable from third (could be off though). He's a litte tall at 6'4 though, but his bat could eventually be of even more value to us at second if he pans out.

[Guest]

Ask BA[/url]"]It looks like Matt Wieters and Josh Vitters are establishing themselves as the top college and high school position players in the 2007 draft class, and it looks like the Cubs may have their choice between the two at No. 3. What, besides experience, separates these two and might make the difference between taking one over the other? What weaknesses do they have?

 

Justin Riddick

Nashville

More comparing and contrasting. The biggest difference between these two is their position. Wieters is a catcher at Georgia Tech, while Vitters is a third baseman at Cypress (Calif.) High. That gives Wieters more positional value than Vitters, though it's not easy to find third basemen either.

 

Vitters is the best pure hitter in this draft and projects to hit for a higher average. Wieters has more present power than Vitters, and he's a switch-hitter to boot. Not that it will play into his draft status, but Wieters also has shown a 94-98 mph fastball off the mound.

 

Vitters doesn't have a glaring weakness. He's not a stud athlete or a plus runner, but he's not a slug either. He'll need to add some strength to his 6-foot-3, 195-pound frame, but he's not even 18 yet and there's no reason he shouldn't. As you can tell, I'm nitpicking here.

 

As for Wieters, his detractors think his size (6-foot-4, 225 pounds) hampers his agility and receiving. One scouting director, who also isn't enamored of his hitting ability, compared him to Ben Davis, who was a bust as the No. 2 overall pick in 1995. But that's not the consensus.

 

One other consideration to keep in mind is that Wieters' advisor is Scott Boras. He'll likely seek a major league contract for Wieters, while Vitters is more likely to sign for slot money.

 

Cost won't be the consideration for the Cubs, but I keep hearing that they love Vitters. Right now, he'd be my projection for the No. 3 overall pick.

[RichHillIsABeast]

Well, the scouting director who bagged on Wieters probably isn't Wilken otherwise it would be worded differently and the Cubs were interested in Wieters a short while ago according to Jim Callis.

 

I don't get the Ben Davis comp as they aren't remotely similar statistically. Davis was a HS pick and Wieters is in college. I guess they were similar in body type. At least Davis stuck behind the plate, even if he did suck offensively.

[YearofDaCubs]

Ask BA[/url]"]It looks like Matt Wieters and Josh Vitters are establishing themselves as the top college and high school position players in the 2007 draft class, and it looks like the Cubs may have their choice between the two at No. 3. What, besides experience, separates these two and might make the difference between taking one over the other? What weaknesses do they have?

 

Justin Riddick

Nashville

More comparing and contrasting. The biggest difference between these two is their position. Wieters is a catcher at Georgia Tech, while Vitters is a third baseman at Cypress (Calif.) High. That gives Wieters more positional value than Vitters, though it's not easy to find third basemen either.

 

Vitters is the best pure hitter in this draft and projects to hit for a higher average. Wieters has more present power than Vitters, and he's a switch-hitter to boot. Not that it will play into his draft status, but Wieters also has shown a 94-98 mph fastball off the mound.

 

Vitters doesn't have a glaring weakness. He's not a stud athlete or a plus runner, but he's not a slug either. He'll need to add some strength to his 6-foot-3, 195-pound frame, but he's not even 18 yet and there's no reason he shouldn't. As you can tell, I'm nitpicking here.

 

As for Wieters, his detractors think his size (6-foot-4, 225 pounds) hampers his agility and receiving. One scouting director, who also isn't enamored of his hitting ability, compared him to Ben Davis, who was a bust as the No. 2 overall pick in 1995. But that's not the consensus.

 

One other consideration to keep in mind is that Wieters' advisor is Scott Boras. He'll likely seek a major league contract for Wieters, while Vitters is more likely to sign for slot money.

 

Cost won't be the consideration for the Cubs, but I keep hearing that they love Vitters. Right now, he'd be my projection for the No. 3 overall pick.

We're definitely in a good position if we end up with any of Price, Wieters, or Vitters. I just hope Wilken doesn't surprise us with a Colvin-like draft. Not that COlvin has been nad for us but I would like to see us get a consensus top 3 pick.

[Mephistopheles]

Wieters doesnt appear to be a consensus top three guy anymore

[Guest]

Wieters doesnt appear to be a consensus top three guy anymore

 

Sure doesn't seem like it, does it? Seems like it's Price-Porcelo-Vitters.

[Guest]

Hrm, I just found out a friend of mine went to HS with Scott Moore and Josh Vitters' brother and knows Josh Vitters.

[Guest]

Scherzer went 3 2/3 innings, 1 hit, 6 Ks.

 

It's a bit old, but:

 

If Max Scherzer’s biggest test was proving that his fastball is back, he passed his first test on Friday.

 

Scherzer sat at 93-94 mph, and one scout had him touching 98 mph in his abbreviated 3 1/3 inning outing during Friday’s nigh exhibition against Shreveport. He struck out the side in the second inning and struck out six overall while allowing one hit.

 

Scherzer relied almost exclusively on his fastball during his 54-pitch outing. He occasionally slipped in a slider as well, but his fastball was enough to overmatch most of the Sports’ hitters.

 

“He overmatched the hitters he’s facing,” Fort Worth manager Stan Hough said. “His fastball was overpowering and he had decent command of it.”

 

Scherzer first official appearance with Ft. Worth is this coming Saturday.

[Mephistopheles]

Vanderbilt             IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF  NP
--------------------------------------------------
David Price.........  8.0  7  5  4  2  6 30 33 103

[RammyFanny]

Porcello threw a perfect game hitting 97 in the first and 95 in the 7th.

[Guest]

Baseball America[/url]"]Max Scherzer’s first official start of the season was everything he and the Fort Worth Cats had hoped it would be.

 

Pitching for the Cats of the independent American Association, the righthander allowed only one hit while striking out eight in five innings. Scherzer was selected by the Diamondbacks with the 11th pick in last year’s draft, but he has not signed, and he will be eligible to re-enter next month’s draft if they do not sign him by May 31.

Since it was his first official start of the season, the Cats kept Scherzer on a conservative pitch count, but he made the most of it by throwing 49 strikes in 69 pitches. Scherzer didn’t have to trick the Shreveport batters, he simply blew them away with a 94-95 mph fastball that touched 98 and an improved slider that was better than it was in his first outing.

 

“Other than the one clean base hit they were having trouble fouling the pitches off,” Fort Worth manager Stan Hough said. “His slider was better last night, way better. It had pretty good tilt with late break. It had some late bite with a little depth to it.”

 

Scherzer was throwing the slider for strikes, but his out pitch was still his fastball.

 

“I could tell from the timing of the hitters that he overmatched him,” Hough said.

 

Scherzer also threw a couple of changeups, although his third pitch appeared to be much more of a work in progress. He’ll get a couple more chances to refine it in Fort Worth–his next start is scheduled for May 18.

[Guest]

For the pro-Wieters folk:

 

MLB.com[/url]"]"I know that the Chicago Cubs like him a lot," Georgia Tech coach Danny Hall said.

 

...

 

Asked where Wieters ranks with Georgia Tech's all-time greats, Hall said: "He's right there with anyone. There are guys and there are special guys. He's a special guy."

 

So special, the he might not even be around when the Cubs select third in the first round.

[mg420]

For the pro-Wieters folk:

 

MLB.com[/url]"]"I know that the Chicago Cubs like him a lot," Georgia Tech coach Danny Hall said.

 

...

 

Asked where Wieters ranks with Georgia Tech's all-time greats, Hall said: "He's right there with anyone. There are guys and there are special guys. He's a special guy."

 

So special, the he might not even be around when the Cubs select third in the first round.[/

 

if he does get taken before the cubs pick, i would assume that the other team would go with price leaving porcelo & vitters. in that case do the cubs go with the pitcher or hitter? if price is still available do the cubs select him?

[Guest]

I'd go with Price if he somehow dropped to 3 and never look back. I'd take Porcello over Vitters but that's a personal preference.

[imb]

If Price is there, we'll take him.

 

The odds of him being there at the third pick are somewhere south of zero, but you have to take him if he's there.

[Guest]

http://www.pgcrosschecker.com/draft/2007/notebooks/allansimpson/notebook_51007.aspx

 

Allan Simpson mock top 15.

 

3. CHICAGO-NL. The Cubs are sitting on California prep third baseman Josh Vitters.

[RammyFanny]

No offense to pggrosschecker and some of the sites, but I wouldn't be surprised if all of them say we are in love with Vitters just because of the one BA article that said so. It seems like they don't explain anything but just say that we will take him like a fact.

[Guest]

No offense to pggrosschecker and some of the sites, but I wouldn't be surprised if all of them say we are in love with Vitters just because of the one BA article that said so. It seems like they don't explain anything but just say that we will take him like a fact.

 

There are some longer blurbs for the other picks but Tampa and the Cubs got a short sentence since Price and Vitters are slam dunks according to them.

[C.C.]

http://www.pgcrosschecker.com/draft/2007/notebooks/allansimpson/notebook_51007.aspx

 

Allan Simpson mock top 15.

 

3. CHICAGO-NL. The Cubs are sitting on California prep third baseman Josh Vitters.

 

Why draft a third baseman?

[Mephistopheles]

because 3rd baseman with less power and less defensive ability than catchers are better.