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#Post#: 12573--------------------------------------------------
Re: 2011 Draft
By: Reb Date: June 2, 2011, 2:14 pm
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From the ESPN scouting guy on Wilken:
Scouting Director: Tim Wilken
Wilken is likely to stay the course and go college-heavy, but
that may start in the second round if Bubba Starling is
available at No. 9 overall. The Cubs tabbed college players with
four of their first five selections last year, four of their top
six in 2009 and nine of 10 in 2007. In 2008, Wilken called on 20
college talents and just one prep player in the top 20 rounds.
Connecticut center fielder George Springer could be the perfect
fit for the Cubs.
#Post#: 12575--------------------------------------------------
Re: 2011 Draft
By: Ron Date: June 2, 2011, 2:25 pm
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Here's an article with interview with George Springer, via
MLBTradeRumors.
HTML http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/03/draft-prospect-qa-george-springer.html
HTML http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2011/03/draft-prospect-qa-george-springer.html
#Post#: 12577--------------------------------------------------
Re: 2011 Draft
By: Jes Beard Date: June 2, 2011, 2:39 pm
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HTML http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AgzoQHU1bihtFL5ALQXBnOcRvLYF?slug=jp-passan_10_degrees_draft_scott_boras_053011
Draft rich in intrigue and talent
By Jeff Passan, Yahoo! Sports
May 30, 8:24 am EDT
The rebirth of the draft within the last decade altered
baseball, and so much for the better. After salaries exploded
and payroll disparities spread during the 1990s, the chasm
threatened to ruin lower-revenue markets.
How could they possibly compete with free-agency behemoths?
Easy, we now know: The Rule 4 draft, held every June, this year
a week from today. It is why five of the eight teams with the
lowest payrolls this season sit above .500 right now, and why
the other three – Kansas City, Pittsburgh and San Diego – could
join them by next season. The smartest teams realized there is
no greater (or cheaper) place to find talent than in the draft
and Latin America. And those who treat amateurs as a priority
will rebuild faster and with a foundation far more stable.
Agent Scott Boras advises the top three players on one team’s
draft board.
This year’s draft is as rich in intrigue as it is in talent. Not
since 2005, and 1985 before that, has baseball seen such a
surplus of impact players clustered in one draft. More pitching
heavy than either of the previous standouts, which are widely
considered the two greatest since the draft’s inception in 1965,
the Class of 2011 lacks a definitive No. 1 overall pick.
And so unlike last year, when Washington went no-brainer with
Bryce Harper(notes), and the year before, when the Nationals
took the no-brainer of no-brainers with Stephen
Strasburg(notes), the Pittsburgh Pirates need to figure out upon
whom they’re going to lavish millions of dollars.
The franchise doesn’t exactly have a draft history chockablock
with success. Its previous picks in the first slot: Bryan
Bullington(notes) (2002), Kris Benson(notes) (1996) and Jeff
King (1986). Complicating matters: The likelihood they may have
to draft someone represented by …
1. Scott Boras, the agent who more or less runs the draft. Think
it’s an exaggeration? The top three players on at least one
team’s draft board are Boras advisees. And even beyond the first
handful of picks, Boras wields massive influence with his
machinations.
Dallas Jesuit outfielder Josh Bell(notes) this week sent a
letter to the Major League Baseball Scouting Bureau urging it to
tell teams not to draft him, according to Baseball America,
because he was firm on his commitment to the University of
Texas. It might be a tactic to drop Bell to a team with whom he
really wants to sign. It surely will raise his price for
whichever team drafts him and attempts to wrangle him. And it’s
undoubtedly a tactic of Boras, Bell’s adviser, to take a system
with team-heavy leverage and weigh it back to the player, in
this case a switch hitter with immense raw power.
Randy and Alan Hendricks did it brilliantly last year with Zach
Lee, a sure-thing LSU signee whom the Dodgers locked up for
$5.25 million. And if Bell, whose mother is a professor, is
serious about heading to Austin, he can only hope to mimic the
success of …
2. Gerrit Cole and his million-dollar ****. Cole grew up a New
York Yankees fan. They chose him with the 28th overall pick in
the 2008 draft in hopes of convincing him not to attend UCLA.
They failed. While a firm offer never materialized, the Yankees
were willing to pay upwards of $4 million to sign Cole.
He’s going to get more this year as the player with the draft’s
best stuff. Cole is Strasburg Lite, which is to say he’s an
excellent version of the highest-touted prospect in the draft’s
history. Like Strasburg, Cole regularly hits 100 mph on scouts’
radar guns. Like Strasburg, he’s got a ruthless breaking ball.
Unlike Strasburg, the stats don’t match the scouting reports.
Four UCLA pitchers have started eight or more games this season.
Cole’s 3.28 ERA ranks last among them. While his walk rate is
down significantly, so is his strikeout rate – 108 in 107
innings, a good number, yes, but for someone who throws 101 mph
not so much.
Early in the season, Cole had, at very least, drawn even with …
Anthony Rendon
3. Anthony Rendon as the top candidate to go No. 1 overall,
though his struggles this season have damaged the perception
that he’s a no-doubt star. The skills remain, particularly a
.523 on-base percentage . A shoulder injury sapped his power,
however, and limited him to DH duties nearly all season. Rendon
dropped from 26 home runs last year to six this year. Even more,
the injury threw into question his ultimate position.
A third baseman during his first two years at Rice, Rendon
played second base last week. Whether it was to compensate for
his shoulder issues – the extent of which remain unclear – or
simply showcase versatility, it nevertheless interested one
scouting director, who opined: “Is he trying to tell us
something is wrong?”
He doesn’t have to say it. Scouts smell it, like when …
4. Matt Purke started throwing in the high 80s this spring. The
TCU left-hander joined Rendon and Cole in the first-pick
discussion before the college season after going 16-0 last year,
and he just as quickly dropped – and dropped and dropped and
dropped – almost certainly out of the first round.
Like Rendon, Purke is suffering from an uncertain shoulder
ailment. The difference: shoulder injuries devastate pitchers’
careers, and any questions about a pitcher’s health raises flags
red and white – stay away from the kid, who ought to surrender
any idea of a big bonus coming his way.
Already Purke has seen one come and go. The Texas Rangers
drafted him 14th overall two years ago and offered him $6
million. He agreed. MLB vetoed the bonus, saying it was too
much. The Rangers lowered the deal to $4 million. Purke rejected
it, a move that looked smart before this year.
Purke does have options, even if clubs are balking at his 1.51
ERA and 55 strikeouts in 47 2/3 innings. A draft-eligible
sophomore, he can pitch in a summer league to build his value
before the mid-August signing date. Or he can just return to TCU
and hope the new collective-bargaining agreement doesn’t include
mandatory slots that would drive down bonuses.
Wherever he goes, it’s not going to be where he thought, leaving
a left-handed-starting vacuum that …
Danny Hultzen
5. Danny Hultzen was happy to fill. Hultzen, in fact, was a lot
like Purke his sophomore season. His stock dropped alongside his
velocity, and while his numbers at Virginia remained strong, his
hype disappeared.
The mph returned to his fastball this spring, and Pittsburgh is
now considering Hultzen with the top pick. His stats certainly
play the part: 10-3, 1.59 ERA, 136 strikeouts and 16 walks in 96
1/3 innings. His handedness (left), his intelligence (high), his
polish (like a freshly shined shoe) and his path to the major
leagues (short) only increase the attractiveness.
Hultzen is not as much low-ceilinged as he is a finished
product, and he comes with leather seats and the Bose stereo. He
doesn’t include the V8 engine that …
6. Trevor Bauer brings to every start. Bauer draws the greatest
differences of opinion in the draft. At least one team doesn’t
have him on its board, fearful of the injury risk. Another has
him No. 1. The rest are trying to figure out whether he’s really
Tim Lincecum(notes) 2.0 or Dr. Thunder to Lincecum’s Dr. Pepper.
Bauer looks the part. He stands a lithe 6-foot-1. He patterns
his delivery after Lincecum’s, and it’s a mighty good imitation,
long stride, limbs flying all over the place, everything. His
fastball tickles mid-90s regularly, his curveball is slow and
angry, and he’s also got a slider and changeup he throws for
strikes.
He’s one of the three starters at UCLA whose numbers dwarf
Cole’s. Actually, they’re better than anyone else’s in the
country. In 127 2/3 innings, Bauer has struck out 189 and
allowed 107 baserunners. Opponents are hitting a silly .152 off
him. His ERA is 1.27.
Bauer is Mr. Upside, a title regularly reserved for the best
high school pitcher in each draft and one that mistakenly gets
assigned to …
7. Dylan Bundy and his high-level repertoire. Bundy, out of
Owasso, Okla., is the best high school pitcher in the draft, and
not just because he has hit 100 mph this spring. He also
resembles older players in stuff, body and work ethic.
Trained by his diligent father, Denver, since he expressed an
interest in working out at 13, Dylan grew into a 6-foot-1,
200-pound machine who looks more running back than pitcher. He
comes with a ready-made cut fastball – a pitch almost always
learned on the cusp of the major leagues or once in them – and
an arm that through years of long toss, his advisers believe, is
conditioned to handle heavy workloads.
Bundy has been described as a college pitcher in a high
schooler’s body, while his friend …
8. Archie Bradley is a high school pitcher in a college
quarterback’s body. Yes, Bradley is one of the annual two-sport
stars who must choose between millions of baseball dollars and
the hundreds of thousands college football teams offer.
(Kidding. But not really.)
Bradley committed to Oklahoma, where Bob Stoops recruited him as
perhaps Landry Jones’ successor. For an Oklahoma kid, there is
no better job, and it’s why Bradley’s name comes with a $20
million price tag. Absurd? Sure, especially considering
Strasburg received $15.1 million. An indication that they expect
well over the recommended slot? No doubt.
Even if Bradley gets one-third of what Strasburg did, it’s going
to be nothing compared to what …
Bubba Starling
9. Bubba Starling can ask. Starling – the third of the Great
Plains’ Great Trio, out of suburban Kansas City – is a Nebraska
commitment as a dual-threat quarterback. He’s also a 6-foot-5,
200-pound center fielder who Brian McRae, a coach of Starling’s
this summer, called “the best high school player I’ve ever
seen.”
Just how high Starling goes depends on a team’s willingness to
play chicken. One plus: Clubs can spread out dual-sport
athletes’ bonuses over five years. Another: Once players enter
the realm of multiple millions of dollars – Starling would
demand upwards of $7 million, a record for a high school player
– it’s almost impossible to turn down, especially if the NFL
institutes a rookie salary cap and neuters the salaries of young
players.
The minus …
10. Scott Boras represents Starling, and he’s not afraid to send
his advisees to college. Cole went. Bell could go. Plenty more
top players from this draft who aren’t Boras clients –
Connecticut outfielder George Springer and right-hander Matt
Barnes, Kentucky starter Alex Meyer, Vanderbilt ace Sonny Gray
and Texas righty Taylor Jungmann – went, too.
Boras loves college baseball and believes the only thing
standing between it and more success and exposure are
scholarship limits. The NCAA allows baseball teams to hand out
11.7 scholarships. Lacrosse and cross-country/track and field
get 12.6 each.
And yet Boras is a brass-tacks sort, and he sees what college
did for Cole, for Rendon, for so many others. What Boras can do
for them will be one of the fun subplots to watch over the next
few months.
Pittsburgh hasn’t been keen on taking Boras clients in the past.
Neither, for a long time, was Kansas City. Then it took Mike
Moustakas(notes) and Eric Hosmer(notes) in back-to-back years,
starting the farm-system renaissance that today infuses its
future with excitement.
Whoever the Pirates do pick, he should help. And that, after
all, was the point of the draft in the first place: lift up the
afflicted. For decades, only the smartest teams understood that
principle. In a year like this, it’s evident to everyone.
#Post#: 12727--------------------------------------------------
Re: 2011 Draft
By: Cactus Date: June 3, 2011, 10:01 am
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MLB.com article
The Milwaukee Brewers built from within, getting top picks and
gems late in the draft to have the best farm system in baseball
only a few years ago.
The approach netted them top first-round talents such as Prince
Fielder (2002), Ryan Braun (2005) and Rickie Weeks (2003) as
well as Yovani Gallardo (second round), Jonathan Lucroy (third)
and Corey Hart (11th).
And that is followed by
The past nine first-round picks for Milwaukee since Braun are
either gone by trade, deep in the minors or never signed. Six of
the top seven prospects as recently as 2009 are no longer with
the team.
I'm not sure if what they've done can be related to the Cubs but
it's worth reading
HTML http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=mlb&id=6621777
#Post#: 12732--------------------------------------------------
Re: 2011 Draft
By: JR Date: June 3, 2011, 10:10 am
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The Brewers farm system is now in pretty sad shape. They pretty
much went all-in for this season with the Greinke trade.
#Post#: 12792--------------------------------------------------
Re: 2011 Draft
By: Reb Date: June 3, 2011, 2:40 pm
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Keith Law's latest Mock has Bubba Starling off the board before
Cubs come up at #9 and Law sees Cubs taking:
9. Chicago Cubs Mikie Mahtook, OF, LSU
If Starling isn't here, they're now leaning Mahtook over Javier
Baez after George Springer didn't fare well in front of their
crew last weekend. They really like Sonny Gray but are locked in
on bats, figuring the first eight picks will plow through the
top pitchers in the draft.
#Post#: 12793--------------------------------------------------
Re: 2011 Draft
By: CurtOne Date: June 3, 2011, 2:47 pm
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We're taking some kid from North Dakota who might develop into
something if he could pitch more than 3 times a summer.
Wilken's high on him and heard that the St. Paul Saints might
grab him if he wasn't drafted early.
#Post#: 12794--------------------------------------------------
Re: 2011 Draft
By: JR Date: June 3, 2011, 2:48 pm
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Baseball America's scouting report on Mahtook . . .
21. Mikie Mahtook, of
Louisiana State
Mahtook burst onto the scene as a freshman, earning a starting
spot midway through the 2009 season and helping to spark
Louisiana State to the College World Series championship. He was
good enough in center field to push premium athletes Leon Landry
and Jared Mitchell to the outfield corners, yet at 6-foot-1, 192
pounds, some scouts are still skeptical whether he can play the
middle garden in the big leagues. He played right field as a
sophomore and moved back to center as a junior. He has an
average arm, but if he gets any bigger and loses his slightly
above-average speed, he may have to go to left. Mahtook's swing
isn't technically proficient, but he's strong, repeats his
stroke and has a feel for the barrel. He made consistent hard
contact all season, and his OPS (1.205) was higher than it was
last season. Scouts expect clubs that value performance to keep
Mahtook from sliding beyond the supplemental round.
#Post#: 12799--------------------------------------------------
Re: 2011 Draft
By: Cactus Date: June 3, 2011, 2:58 pm
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Gretzky to the Cubs?
HTML http://muskat.mlblogs.com/2011/06/03/63-gretzky-to-cubs/
#Post#: 12800--------------------------------------------------
Re: 2011 Draft
By: CurtOne Date: June 3, 2011, 3:02 pm
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The catcher for the Springfield Sliders last year was from UCLA
and played with Gretzke at that high school. I talked with him
a bit because that school is in a conference with a sister
Lutheran High School. He mentioned Gretzke as the real deal.
Sorry to hear he's hurt.
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