2007 Draft Class

[Ding Dong Johnson]

So, how do I break it to you Cub fans that David Price is a D-Rays fan who would prolly love to pitch for his favorite team. :twisted:

 

Liar! There are no Devil Rays fans!

 

Jenn Sterger.

 

http://images.draysbay.com/images/admin/n5001050_32647148_6542_2_.jpg

 

She's the one on the far right.

 

Those fans have nice eyes. 8-[

 

I didn't see any eyes...approximately where are they in the picture?

 

It's a joke. Chicks don't have eyes.

[Mephistopheles]

NC State               IP  H  R ER BB SO AB BF  NP
--------------------------------------------------
Andrew Brackman.....  4.0  9  6  5  3  2 20 25  96

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Where's my Burgess update?

[texascub]

Where's my Burgess update?

 

The MaxPreps link that was posted earlier hasn't been updated in awhile.

[texascub]

There is only 1 recent news article about him, and it says that he hit a homer in the first inning on Thursday. It also mentioned that he'll be playing in the All-American game this summer.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Odds are 3:1 the Cubs take Burgess.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Odds are 3:1 the Cubs take Burgess.

 

Wilken isn't Stockstill - I find it tough to believe he'll pass on one of the college trio if they're rated as high on draft day as they are now.

[Mephistopheles]

It would be a Wilken move to go against the grain and take someone else though.

[texascub]

I wouldn't mind taking Justin Jackson. SS is probably one of the weaker positions in our system and he is the best one in maybe a few years. He'll probably be with Boras but that shouldn't scare us off.

[Outshined_One]

I wouldn't mind taking Justin Jackson. SS is probably one of the weaker positions in our system and he is the best one in maybe a few years. He'll probably be with Boras but that shouldn't scare us off.

 

Last I heard, he indeed is a Boras client.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

I found an ESPNInsider article where Keith Law talks about Brackman.

 

Link.

 

Andrew Brackman is one of the top two college pitchers in the country, a 6-foot-10 former basketball player who was at the top of our draft rankings in February. When I saw him in the Cape Cod League last summer, he was throwing an easy 91-97 with fairly clean mechanics and a curveball with good depth.

 

Brackman pitched Saturday at Boston College, and wasn't quite the same guy. He was throwing across his body, almost as if someone told him he had to work on getting the ball to his glove side (or as if he decided it himself), resulting in erratic command in addition to the long-term injury concerns that come with those mechanics. His breaking ball was also worse than it was last summer, with a softer, early break. His command of both pitches was way off.

 

He's still a superb athlete with a plus fastball (88-95 this week), and it's too easy to let the one look this weekend erase what he showed he could do last summer. Still, when comparing Brackman -- who has the added wrinkle of having Scott Boras as his "advisor," making signability an issue -- to David Price, whose mechanics are consistent and who is left-handed, Brackman's inconsistency pushes him down a touch on the board.

[texascub]

Inconsistent mechanics that could possibly lead to serious injury, but with excellent pitches...I've heard that song before and didn't like it too much the first 1000 times.

[Mephistopheles]

under no circumstances should we draft Justin Jackson or any player in the first round because we have an organizational need.

[texascub]

under no circumstances should we draft Justin Jackson or any player in the first round because we have an organizational need.

 

It's not like he's be a huge reach, Brewerfan.net has him ranked as the 9th overall prospect for the draft.

[Mephistopheles]

He would be a pretty huge reach. It's stupid. There are CLEARLY better players, prospects and signs ahead of him, so why should we go get him? It's dumb. He's the #10 HS prospect by BA. He's a very good prospect, but he's a middle of the first round guy. There's little chance of him going in the top ten. Why even bother looking at him for the third pick? Is he better than the college trio? No. Is he better than the elite HS RHP trio? No. Is he better than a trio? No.

 

Drafting an inferior player in the first round because you have no good middle infielders is a quick way to run your system into the ground. Considering the odds that these guys pan out are not very high, drafting an inferior player now only lowers the chances. It's pretty dumb. Now, if Boras and a strong committment to Arizona State has him fall to the middle of the supplemental round, of course it's worth taking him and throwing a large sum of cash to buy him out of ASU. (Granted hooking up with Boras pretty much says "I don't like skool."

 

Finally, given our organizations incompetence of developing high school position prospects, we'd be much better off taking the better ones who are more advanced. Right now Jackson is all tools. Josh Vitters, Michael Burgess and Jason Heywards tools translate into skills better. Jackson is pretty raw. If I would liken him to a prospect, he's awfully similar to CJ Henry a few years back.

[texascub]

He would be a pretty huge reach. It's stupid. There are CLEARLY better players, prospects and signs ahead of him, so why should we go get him? It's dumb. He's the #10 HS prospect by BA. He's a very good prospect, but he's a middle of the first round guy. There's little chance of him going in the top ten. Why even bother looking at him for the third pick? Is he better than the college trio? No. Is he better than the elite HS RHP trio? No. Is he better than a trio? No.

 

Drafting an inferior player in the first round because you have no good middle infielders is a quick way to run your system into the ground. Considering the odds that these guys pan out are not very high, drafting an inferior player now only lowers the chances. It's pretty dumb. Now, if Boras and a strong committment to Arizona State has him fall to the middle of the supplemental round, of course it's worth taking him and throwing a large sum of cash to buy him out of ASU. (Granted hooking up with Boras pretty much says "I don't like skool."

 

Finally, given our organizations incompetence of developing high school position prospects, we'd be much better off taking the better ones who are more advanced. Right now Jackson is all tools. Josh Vitters, Michael Burgess and Jason Heywards tools translate into skills better. Jackson is pretty raw. If I would liken him to a prospect, he's awfully similar to CJ Henry a few years back.

 

I don't have access to any premium websites or anything, I was going strictly off of Brewerfan.net's ranking and write-up of him where they said he's the best SS prospect since BJ Upton, he has perennial GG ability, an advanced knowledge of the strike zone, and always makes solid contact. I didn't say that I absolutely wanted him, I simply stated that I wouldn't mind having him based off of that write-up.

[Mephistopheles]

One thing to remember, when BJ Upton came along in the draft he was said to have yearly GG potential. Look how that turned out. I'm sure if you read the reports on all of the top one-hundred or so prospects for the draft you would say "I wouldn't mind having him." Developing = Raw. I don't know what he means by saying "best all-around" SS since Upton. For one, if a player isn't the best, he can still be the best all-around? He's just more balanced but inferior so it's a worthless label. Oh well that's another argument. There was a better HS SS in 2005, Justin Upton. Outside of the Upton brothers there has been a bit of a down time with SSs from HS. We're looking at Matt Bush, CJ Henry, Chris Nelson, Trevor Plouffe, and Brandon Wood. Wood wasn't a great prospect at the time but has developed plus power, Jackson's power is probably going to develop solid power, but he won't consistently hit 30 HRs. Not even close. Outside of him, the others? They've all sucked major league ass. Trevor Plouffe is probably another good comparison. Plouffe has got an outstanding glove but hasn't hit much. He may be better than these guys are as good them. Chris Nelson and him are similar, but in general it doesn't appear to be a good idea to draft HS SSs because they play SS. The ones who can hit rarely stay at short. Brandon Wood for one...

[The Q]

Brandon Wood moved from SS so he cuold get into the Major League lineup quicker.

 

He and Sean Rodriguez are going to be the left side of that Angel infield for a very long time.

[Outshined_One]

Now, if Boras and a strong committment to Arizona State has him fall to the middle of the supplemental round, of course it's worth taking him and throwing a large sum of cash to buy him out of ASU. (Granted hooking up with Boras pretty much says "I don't like skool.")

 

Actually, to be fair, the vast majority of Boras clients end up heading to college. I think Pawelek was the first Boras client in a long time (I want to say since A-Rod, but I know that's wrong) who was drafted out of HS and signed with the team that drafted him.

[Mephistopheles]

hs clients are almost never with boras. they dont go to school they just rarely end up with him.

[RammyFanny]

Update from about a week ago on brewerfan.net:

 

Another very good start to the season for David Price means he leap-frogs my personal favorite draft-eligible prospect, Matt Wieters, who has been good so far this season, but not spectacular. Price has been as good as advertised, although he has been pitching some long outings, including a 10-inning complete game in which he tossed over 130 pitches, his third complete game in a row. Wieters has pressed a little at the plate, leading to higher strikeout totals that we're used to seeing from him, and he has also strugged as the team's closer. It may be best for him to focus as a catcher and as a hitter to re-assert himself not to mention while saving his strength. Josh Vitters and Michael Burgess continue to swing the bat extremely well, while Andrew Brackman has come back to earth somewhat after his hot start to open the college season. Beau Mills and Corey Brown are swinging big-time bats, while Blake Beaven, Madison Bumgarner and Phillippe Aumont are drawing a lot of interest for their big bodies and power repertoires. Julio Borbon hasn't missed a beat after missing the first two months of the season with a broke ankle. Daniel Moskos has soared up the charts after sitting in the mid-90s this spring and touching 97. Fellow lefty closer Brett Cecil is also a legitimate first-rounder, as is right-handed closer David Weathers, who has reached 99 mph. Nick Schmidt has been more in the 87-90 range, and may be more of a second rounder now, while Joe Savery continues to be brought along slowly. Of the names not listed in the top 30, J.P. Arencibia has dropped out for now, as he has had a strained lower back that has slowed him down, which is never a good thing for a catcher. Auburn's Josh Donaldson, Oregon State's Mitch Canham and prep catcher Yasmani Grandal could all factor in late in the first-round and in the sandwich round. SoCal is loaded with bats, and Matt Dominguez may be the second coming of Scott Rolen. Keep an eye on Texas right-fielder Kyle Russell, who leads the nation in home runs with a mighty power stroke, and is a draft-eligible sophomore. Draft-eligible sophomores are typically tough to gauge since they are deemed relatively tough signs, but Russell's season may prompt some team to take him where his talents merit.

 

Another guy who interests me in Beaven from Texas (HS). It seems like most of the prep pitchers have solid fastballs and need to work on their secondary pitches, and while i'm sure Beaven does as well, he already has a pretty devastating slider to go along with a mid 90's heater.

[Mephistopheles]

Beavan's arm action worries me, but his stuff is fantastic.

[TruffleShuffle]

please stay the hell away from high school pitchers, at least with that first pick

[Vinestal]

please stay the hell away from high school pitchers, at least with that first pick

 

Away from highschool players in general, look at our last few highschool drafted players yuck!

[TruffleShuffle]

please stay the hell away from high school pitchers, at least with that first pick

 

Away from highschool players in general, look at our last few highschool drafted players yuck!

 

we got Gallagher as a nice value pick in the later rounds.... I'm fine with doing that, but I want someone who's as safe as possible with a top 3 pick, not another Luis Montanez or Ryan Harvey