T2E

Hey, everyone! I've been gone awhile; hope everyone's been doing well around here. Anyway, here are my some thoughts about the first few picks. Starting with Vitters. Vitters I think it's tough to fault the Cubs brass here. Vitters is a consensus top-5 pick and the best pure hitter in the draft. All his skills lend themselves to hitting for a high average. He's got a textbook swing and bat speed to hit the ball hard; and outstanding hand-eye coordination to make consistent contact. It's easy to imagine him hitting .280+ in the big leagues. Of course the major question is about power, with the worry that he'll turn into Sean Burroughs 2. However, I don't think the Cubs would have drafted him if they thought he wasn't going to develop some power. He's 6'3" and seems to have the tools necessary to add power, so we might be selling him a little bit short. Still, the concern is that if he doesn't add power, he'll be a high average, low power, mediocre defender and be nothing more than average at third. While it would have been nice to grab someone with 40 HR pop or someone with a big fastball like Porcello, it's tough to argue with Vitters. Donaldson Donaldson seems like another safe pick with a good chance of making it to the majors. He's got a track record of success (hit above .300 on the Cape) and tore up the competition with Auburn in 2007. He hit .349/.444/.591 and even more impressive was his 38/27 BB/K. The two big questions seem to be his defense and the loop in his swing. Defensively he seems to be improving. Between 2006 and 2007 his past balls dropped from 16 to 6, and he cut down about 40% of basestealers during that time. The loop in his swing could be a problem as he progresses; his strikeout numbers will be something to follow. Still, he's shown that he can hit, and if he can stay at catcher, he'll be valuable. If he's forced off catcher, his stock drops dramatically. Thomas Thomas' stats were outstanding in 2007. .430 AVG, 50 XBH, 31 SB, 43 BB. But it's worth noting that his stats in 2006 aren't nearly the same. .289 AVG, 17 XBH, 66 SO. We will have to see which Thomas is the real one. The next two picks are college picks as well. Barney is a shortstop with a plus glove and mediocre bat who projects as a utility infielder. Guyer is another collegiate with solid numbers. He hit .370 but as a corner outfielder he'll have to do better than 19 HR in three years or risk tweener status. I think the best way to characterize the Cubs draft is safe. After taking about as polished a high school bat as one can find in Vitters, they went after four college position players with solid numbers. None of the college players project to be much more than backups except for possibly Donaldson. Still, value of the draft will likely revolve around Vitters.

Hmm... Dark Side of the Moon vs. We Will Rock You Wish You Were Here vs. Fat Bottom Girls One of the most original groups ever vs. well...Queen. I'll take Pink Floyd.

How about throwing in Pierre with Aramis? The Angels could use some extra outfield help.

Here's the Echoes/2001 synch, pretty cool if you ask me, although I seriously doubt they did it on purpose. Part I Part II Part III How is this so close? GNR was pretty good, but they simply can't compare to the creativity and genious of Pink Floyd.

I feel the same way. Floyd>The Field

Who is Pantera and how are they beating Grateful Dead?

I like the song U2 sings, unfortunately they sing that song over and over again with slightly different variations. I voted for the underrated Yes.

Good point about Clevenger, we'll have to wait and see but if he can handle second, his chances are much better. The only thing I would wonder about is if his apparant lack of speed would keep him from having the necessary range at second. With regards to average, it'd be interesting to see how that type of hitter (high average, few other tools) has faired at the pro level, without that, it's mostly guesswork. However, I feel like without others tools to fall back on (defense, speed, power, patience) it makes it harder for given prospects to advance, especially given how much average can vary. Lansford, for example, hit .276 the year before. Colvin's previous averages were .283 and .289. The hope is that they've turned it around, but it'd be nice to see a better track record of sucess. For me, the most discouraging part of Lansford's stat line is his high K rates. 40 strikeouts in 236 at-bats is high espcially for a pro prospect who depends on a high average. That said, I don't think he's a terrible pick especially given that it was, as you point out, chosen in the sixth round.

I hope you enjoy.

Keep in mind though, that the minor league coverage is now done by Kevin Goldstein, formerly of Baseball America.

Yep, I've been extremely busy recently, but summer is here and I should have a lot more time for NSBB. Talk to me Tink...any Upstate NY kids drafted? Here's a list of all the NY players drafted: 4 121 WAS Glenn Gibson lhp Center Moriches (N.Y.) HS 6 188 OAK Andrew Bailey rhp Wagner (N.Y.) College 7 219 HOU David Qualben lhp Pace 8 232 DET Chris Cody lhp Manhattan 8 253 BOS Rafael Cabreja of Monroe HS, New York 8 254 NYY Dellin Betances rhp Grand Street HS, New York 12 369 HOU Bryan Hallberg rhp Pace (N.Y.) 13 399 HOU Christopher Salamida lhp Oneonta State (N.Y.) 14 410 PIT Gregory Smith 1b Fordham 15 444 CIN Rafael Sanchez 3b Queensborough (N.Y.) CC 17 518 OAK Michael Affronti ss Le Moyne 24 721 WAS Richard Caputo 3b Hofstra 24 728 OAK Earl Oakes rhp Pace (N.Y.) 27 822 LAA Matt Reilly rhp Pace (N.Y.) 28 831 SEA Rocky Collis RHP Cornell 29 886 STL Will Groff 2b SUNY Cortland 33 1002 LAA Wilberto Ortiz Dowling (N.Y.) College 35 1050 TOR John Zinnicker lhp St. Bonaventure 38 1147 PHI Bobby Haney ss Kings Park (N.Y.) HS 40 1189 TB Brando Casalicchio rhp Cold Spring Harbor HS, Long Island, N.Y. 40 1215 CWS Andy Mead of SUNY Cortland 42 1261 WAS Javier Martinez rhp Fordham 43 1301 BOS Jeff Vincent of Niagara 44 1331 NYY James Lasala c Iona (N.Y.) 47 1415 BOS Nick Hill lhp Army 48 1424 DET Matthew McDonald rhp Ulster County (N.Y.) CC

Looks like he has good power, weak BB/K ratios, and possible questions about defense (19 errors). I think you might be looking at last year's stats. Here are this year's stats. Only 3HRs and also 23 errors. BB/K improved though to 33/44. Positve report from BA Blog:

Looks like he has good power, weak BB/K ratios, and possible questions about defense (19 errors). I think you might be looking at last year's stats. Here are this year's stats. Only 3HRs and also 23 errors. BB/K improved though to 33/44. Whoops. Well the new stat line doesn't help things.

Looks like he has good power, weak BB/K ratios, and possible questions about defense (19 errors).

Both signability and makeup concerns.