toonsterwu

Random thoughts: a - The only thing that bothers me about the Hanneman pick is that ... well, CF isn't that big an issue. That said, you should never draft on need, so if they really felt he was the best, okay. b - Hanneman sorts of fits into a mold in my head on a McLeod/Hoyer/Epstein pick ... the Bruno/Pedroia/Spangenberg/Gyorko types ... "scrappy" looking guys who can hit, for lack of a better way to quickly say it right now. Actually, Hanneman really reminds me of Spangenberg offensively, which might not be a good thing since I didn't like Spangenberg. c - Perhaps they really are just going slot. It isn't "fun", but in a mediocre draft, building up depth isn't the worst idea. Of course, that begs the question, where is the pitching coming from. It's not a bad draft, but I think a lot of us were hoping for flashy. d - Perhaps we aren't judging costs correctly. It's possible that Bryant is going to need full-slot. Zastryzny could be a close to full slot guy as well, and it sounds like Hanneman won't leave unless it's close to slot. Or ... perhaps the Cubs are worried that Bryant is going to take a long time to get done, so they won't have a real good idea on costs. I mean ... it's possible we aren't really saving much so far. e - I do expect them, as Raisin notes, to pop an over-slot attempt after the 10th. If they don't get it, oh well. f - You know, it's never really been cool to say it, because there was so much hype with McLeod coming, but I said it last year ... his drafts in San Diego weren't that impressive. Of course, every scouting director will have a bad/down drafts. g - I do like Skulina in the 4th a fair amount, and for a 5th round pick, Masek looks fine.

While I want Denney, I still sort of wonder if this is the draft where there isn't necessarily a need to go over-slot. That is, the mediocre class at the top has sort of left a lot of semi-intriguing guys available. Perhaps this is the class to build some depth, rather than punting on some picks. I wonder if this becomes a consideration for them. As for college guys, I don't know that much about Wahl, but I still like Tyler Skulina here. Big, multiple pitches, good fastball. A nice SP package, with the chance to be more.

Because a couple of pundits didn't put a low enough number in front of his name, and people think that getting a guy with a pundit's ranking superficially lower than the spot you are picking in the middle rounds means you win the draft. I wasn't that high on the move less because of the talent and more because it seemed like an under-slot move, which was mildly surprising since there was some intriguing talent on the board that seemed to have higher ceilings. Certainly, though, there's an argument to be made that whatever you lose in ceiling with Rob Zastryzny is made up by the fact that he's markedly closer to being ready in comparison to some of the high ceiling prep players. For all the love for Jon Denney (doesn't mean I don't want Denney), Kyle Skipworth was fairly well-regarded as well out of HS.

That's what I'm sort of hoping for. If we save 1 mil on the first two picks (not unreasonable) and punt a few more picks, we should be able to put up a 2+ mil package with our 3rd round pick. There's enough intriguing college seniors that we can go under-slot for a couple picks. Of course, Houston's a big stumbling block, if they know they can get Appel for less than slot. Still, 2+ mil should put us in the game for enough of the top tough sign guys that are out there. I'd have a good laugh if we took Cavan Biggio, though.

I anticipate we probably saved a little off slot off both guys ... but then again, Boras is going to push hard on Bryant and probably wait until the last day (so we might not have clarity on how much savings we have until late ... granted, I'm hoping they got a good feel for how much he would cost, but it's entirely possible they simply decided to pick based on talent), and the comments Zastryzny makes doesn't make it seem like he's going to give us a ton of savings. The mediocre class sort of sets up well in that, there's actually a fair amount of solid college talent that is still around that probably won't cost too much.

Wasn't really serious with it last night, but Tyler Skulina would work for me at the start of the 3rd. At this stage, I'd be a tad surprised if Connor Jones signed (who really has the money to meet the demand ... haven't really pondered it, but doesn't feel like the top spending teams have that much to be able to afford a Jones, unless they really punt some picks). Is Bobby Wahl still around? That might be a target. Chris Okey and Jon Denney both could be considerations.

Damn I hate the Cardinals. Mercado is a nice get there.

Loads of talent, but iirc, stanford screwed with his swing, which messed him up.

well you're mad about everything Well what happened to drafting impact guys? This guy has 5th starter written all over him. That's a bit overdoing it. I'm not huge on the pick, but he's got more of a ceiling than the Brooks Raley/Chris Rusin's of the world. He looks like he has mid-rotation ceiling, so there's some hope there. And lefties with some power stuff but an understanding of mixing speeds are nice.

I think people say it every year, but on paper, it looks like Jack Zduriencik and Co. are having another solid draft again. DJ Peterson and Wilson? Gives them some sorely needed offensive talent. Also like what the Padres have done with Renfroe and little Peterson.

Rangers have a very intriguing draft with AGonzalez, Demeritte, and Eades.

Guessing they needed to save some money ... ?

Thurman? Guessing that saves them some money ... I really wouldn't mind a bunch of folks here, like Wilson or Denney.

I'll be mildly disappointed if Barney is still our starting 2nd baseman by 2015. What were the reports on what Serrano wanted?

Going to be interesting to see who makes it there. It seems almost likely that Houston will grab an intriguing name ahead of us, maybe Wilson. Just realized Jon Denney is still on the book, and that'd be an interesting get if possible.

It would make the Dozier pick a bit more understandable ...

I believe Keith Law or someone had indicated he was hearing a team was interested in Arroyo, but it's still shocking. I actually think going from 40 to top 10 is a bigger reach than 100 to 25 in this draft, so I still think the Dozier move was a bigger reach, but in the grand scheme of things, everyone was talking about a weak MI class, and we've got what, 4 guys off the board.

Loss of Kyle Lohse, IIRC. Supposedly, the baseball staff didn't want it, but Attanasio ordered it (I think).

Man, for a weak middle infield draft, it's weird to see teams going for these middle infielders this high.

I wonder what happens if an intriguing college bat falls. Unless I'm mistaken, Ervin/Wilson/Judge are all on the board. Guessing they'd still go pitching, but there seems like an outside chance one of them might slip to our area.

He struggled early in the year. I kind of quit following him once it was apparent he had fallen off our radar. That said, I think he rebounded pretty well late. Weren't there some mechanical questions with Stanek? I might be thinking of someone else, but I thought some publication/draft guy said that they didn't love Stanek's delivery. I'd love it if he could get to our pick, but it seems unlikely. Guessing St. Louis or the Yankees take him if he falls that far.

I really hope Clarkin falls to us. Doubt it. I really am not big on Jon Crawford. Stuff's nice, but he reminds me too much of a guy like Jake Arrieta. Still, I can understand a team there deciding to take the gamble.

Well, with a 2nd 1st rounder, they may be playing a game of cat and mouse here. Wonder if St. Louis could pop Manaea late first. That said, Gonzalez is a very solid arm. Off the top, they don't have a lot of left handed pitching.

Mildly surprised with the Chris Anderson pick. He's got a very good ceiling, but this seemed just a smidge high.

You've got it backwards, BA. I'm mildly surprised that they seem to imply they would put Almora ahead of Bryant fairly safely (since they didn't say potentially with Almora ... could be reading too much into quick reaction typing). I'd put Soler/Baez ahead of Bryant. Almora seemed a bit more debatable.