Wow; what a truly shitty top ten projection we managed to pinch off. Although, to be fair, accuracy was not our principle intent. And, even in retrospect, I quite like the way we picked it. Just for kicks, here was our talent rankings for the draft (one through twenty), how we would have picked 'em if economics was removed from the picture (we being Seamus, Bombykol, Athos and Wally; actual draft position in parenthesis):
2. Tanner Scheppers, rhp (44)
3. Dustin Ackley, cf/1b (2)
4. Zach Wheeler, rhp (6)
5. Aaron Crow, rhp (12)
6. Tyler Matzek, lhp (11)
7. Donavan Tate, of (3)
8. Alex White, rhp (15)
9. Jacob Turner, rhp (9)
10. Matt Purke, lhp (14)
11. Grant Green, ss (13)
12. Bobby Borchering, 3b/1b (16)
13. Kyle Gibson, rhp (22)
14. Mike Leake, rhp (8)
15. Matt Hobgood, rhp (5)
16. "Jorge" Sanchez, c (4)
17. Mike Minor, lhp (7)
18. Shelby Miller, rhp (19)
19. Jared Mitchell, of (23)
20. A.J. Pollack, of (17)
Based on this list, several teams made out very well, namely, the Texas Rangers, who selected prep lefty Matt Purke with the fourteenth overall selection and Tanner Scheppers (in the supplemental first round) with the 44th pick. Kudos to the Giants for their selection of Wheeler over Matzek, though this may have been primarily economical, to the Rockies for scooping up Matzek with the eleventh pick, and to KC for (presumably) whipping out the checkbook and nabbing Crow at the number twelve spot. The cynic in me worries about a team like Kansas City selecting Crow, or Colorado selecting Matzek, since the 2010 draft class is shaping up to be extremely deep; I don't want to insinuate that these teams won't make a run at signing their picks, but I can't imagine either would be terribly disappointed if forced to stand pat ( thus recieving compensatory selections next season). Let's hope it doesn't turn out that way, especially in regards to Crow and Scheppers, who have already spent time in the independent league and who will be looking to sign bigger contracts than the slotting system will recommend. Other teams that made out well in round one: Detroit (Turner), Cleveland (Purke), Arizona (Borchering and Pollack w/successive picks), Oakland (Green), Minnesota (Gibson), Chicago (Mitchell), and Anaheim (Randal Grichuk and Mike Trout w/successive picks).
As for the teams that didn't make out so well, count Pittsburgh (Sanchez), Baltimore (Hobgood) and Atlanta (Minor) among them. Particularly puzzling is Baltimore, who seemed to go the right direction, picking a prep righty, but nonetheless chose a flabbergasting player, the rotund Hobgood, while Wheeler, Matzek, Turner, Purke, Gibson, Miller and Chad James remained on the board (as well as Scheppers, Crow, Leake and White). Of the aforementioned hurlers, I would have taken Wheeler, Matzek, Turner, Scheppers, Crow and White definitively over Hobgood who, despite his overly generous physical "endowments," possesses a plus fastball and a positively nasty bender. Additionally, I would have at least thought about selecting Purke, Gibson and Leake as well, all of who possess less arm-talent but better bodies, command and makeup than the Norco HS product.
Why the Pirates thought they needed a catcher while a plethora of good arms were still available is equally puzzling. Ryan Doumit, the Pirates current backstop has shown prolonged stretches of adequacy in his ML career, and looks to have secured the job for the foreseeable future. Why then, would a team pass up on so many talented arms to select a backstop whose most positive attribute is (near) big league readiness? Sure he is a good defender (Gammons described him as a "Molina receiver"), but again the Pirates have chosen a lesser talent in favor of greater signability (see: Moskos, Daniel). No wonder they have languished under the .500 mark for over a decade and a half.
In other news: Holy hell, Scheppers fell a long way. I'm guessing he felt a bit like Eminem during the "Way I Am" video. Still, the Rangers have to be thrilled with the talent haul of Purke and Schepps, especially considering the shoulder impingement that nagged Tanner last year is gone (he was throwing upwards of 97 mph in his last Northern League start). Seriously, who worries this much about a shoulder impingement? The number two overall pick had Tommy John surgery for Christ sakes! (Although Ackley is an outfielder...) Keith Law, whose second incarnation of his mock draft had Scheppers going #5 overall, dropped him out of his first round entirely for his forth edition. If this reflects an industry consensus that arose over the course of a month (when Scheppers was starting regularly and sitting in the high ninties), we'll look back on this draft as one where lots of teams overreacted to relatively minor, freakish arm ailments, and consequently passed up on some pretty damn good players (most notably Scheppers and Gibson, who currently has a stress fracture in his throwing arm that will not require surgery).
A few other quick thoughts:
* The White Sox and Red Sox made out pretty well with a pair of athletic outfielders, Jered Mitchell and Reymond Fuentes, respectively. Heard them compared to the next Crawford and Reyes-lite, though Dexter Fowler may be a more appropriate comparison for Fuentes, Andrew McCutheon if Reymond is able to fill out his frame a bit, Michael Bourn if he fails to grasp the strike zone.
* Hardest kid to sign in the draft? Perhaps it won't be Crow, Matzek or Scheppers after all...consider Tate, a two sport star who has been hesitant to give up football and has verbally committed to play for the baseball and football programs at the University of North Caroline. Slot money won't do it, even at the number three overall spot, and it could take substantially more to lure this fabulous athlete to Southern Cal.
* Good job by Oakland, nabbing a shortstop who is as big league ready as any position player in the draft not named Dustin Ackley. Bobby Crosby didn't work out, and though Green is a similar player (who has also garnered Longoria (w/o the power) and Tulo (w/o the arm) comparisons), he is talented and polished enough to make a quick impact in the bigs, ala Gordon Beckham this year, assuming he sticks. Oakland needs an infusion of young productivity in their lineup, as they will lose Holliday, Giambi, Cabrera, Garciaparra and likely Crosby by next season. Green may well represent an upgrade at the SS position, possibly in the immediate future and almost certainly a few years down the line.
* Great decision by the MLB Network--with legendary draft guru Jim Callis at their disposal--to give the insufferable Harold Reynolds a seat at the main desk, along with host Greg Amsinger, John Hart and Frank Markos. Still, I did enjoy the "I'm going to kill you if you ask another stupid question" look Hart began shooting our boy Harold after the telecast's 25th minute or so. (In case you're curious, or if your only experience with Mr. Reynolds has involved him sexually harassing you or someone you know, Harold was undeterred by Hart's Medusa eyes, and continued to pepper him with stupid goddamn questions for the next two-and-a-half hours.)
* If I ever have to sit through "Transformers 2," for any reason, I'm going to pop a testicle. (Fuck Shia LaBeouf, by the way; Steven Spielberg's man-crush on him is only further evidence that the once great filmmaker has lost his goddamn mind.) The same goes for "G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra," an ostentatious inane movie about an elite fighting force, starring Dennis Quaid. Because when I think elite fighting forces, I think Dennis Quaid (and gay little cookie-cutter dolls). Remember the movie "Small Soldiers?" No? Good. Well G.I. Joe might have fit into the cast of that cinematic masterpiece, as the pussy little bitch toy all the bad-ass toy soldiers, especially the one with the flat top, beat the shit out of for combing his hair and fastening every button on his uniform. That's it, Joe doesn't fit into ANY OTHER MOVIE; not even "Toy Story"--those characters were far too nuanced. And certainly, by no stretch of the imagination, into a flick where the part of G.I. Joe is played by an actual human actor. Attention: unintentional comedy alert, Code Segal...
