Yeah, I read about that Moskos pick. Reliever turned starter or something. Eek. Really has to make fans cringe when they hear of him.
Matt Wieters is a studly young catcher. Hasn't flashed the power (about .200 iso) or shown the discipline (12-15% walk rate) he had in the minors, but I think it'll eventually come.
Yeah...Moskos was just about the most disasterous pick potentially in baseball history. Even at that #4 slot. Its one of those positions where its somewhat understandable when a team decides to go cheap...but when they pay the guy an exhorbinent sum above slot and the guy behind him, the obvious pick, goes on to not be completely incompetent...yeah. The Pirates have made a ton of completely horrific first round selections in my life, but Moskos will always top them (Bullington may be a close second, but going in the 2002 MLB draft was the equivalent to the 1996 NHL Draft...there was no one highly though of going in). Despite the fact that Littlefield made just about as bad of mid-season decisions as a GM can (spending years of accumulated budge on paying Matt Morris not to pitch and Cesar Izturis to stay on the bench) it was that pick that got him fired. As soon as he made that pick it was obvious that would be his last **** up as GM...until he went and tried to save his job by bringing in Morris and Izturis...oh dear God I want to harm David Littlefield right now.
Once Huntington took the team over he moved Moskos to starter to try to get some value from the pick...but Moskos didn't respond well at all and has rightfully been placed back into the reliever role. He has closer potential, but his control is still mediocre and he doesn't have the strike-out potential to make up for it (as much as I kinda hate Octavio Dotel, he has a knack for walking and allowing as many hits as he can to make a save interesting before striking out the last two batters to end the game...rather fitting considering Dotel leads all relievers in Ks in the past decade...Moskos doesn't have that sort of stuff to make up for his blunders). He could still be a damn good set-up man in the Majors but...yeah...I doubt it will be for the Pirates for too long. Fair or not, the man is the personified failure of 18 years of Pirates shortcomings. At least Brian Bradley, Bryan Bullington, and Sean Burnett before him had injuries to blame. Its unfair for the kid, but considering he got handed about $3.3 million more than he should have received its hard to feel too bad for him.
I don't see d'Arnaud as much more upside than a so-so starting shortstop, but that's not a bad asset to have at your disposal. He won't hit for any power, but he has a glove and can put his bat on the ball. It's not like there's anyone in the organization blocking him right now, but I wouldn't mind taking Manny Machado in the draft, which would basically end d'Arnaud's bid to ever start for the Pirates at short.
At times it looked like he was destined for 3B but it looks pretty promising that he'll stick at SS. Dont get me wrong he looks above average defensively at SS, his arm is rated at 70 (80 being max) but some think me may eventually outgrow the position, he's already something like 6'2 (not sure how true that is though). No player has risen as much in last few weeks as Machado.
IMO there's no way Nats pass on Harper. Pirates dont really like to take highschool arms (correct me if I'm wrong) so that takes Jameson Taillon out of the equation. Ranaudo is 1 of the most MLB-ready prospects in the draft but he's a Boras client and apparently they are looking for a big bonus (dont have a proof of this but I recall reading about it) so Pirates most likely pass on him. I can see Ranaudo sliding outside of top-10, there's also health concerns. Machado definitely makes sense at #2. Something tells me that they end up going with Drew Pomeranz. His upside is nowhere near of Taillon's but he's not far from majors. Control is an issue with this guy. Think of Pomeranz as last year's Brian Matusz ... #2 upside but should be fasttracked to majors whereas Taillon will take at least 2-3 years to develop.
Here's what John Sickels said about him couple weeks ago:
Quote:
Pomeranz is a 6-5, 235 pound lefty with a terrific arm. His performance this year has been excellent, with a 1.38 ERA and a 90/24 K/BB in 59 innings, with just 34 hits allowed. His K/IP and H/IP marks are outstanding, and are statistical confirmation of the stuff that scouts see: a 90-94 MPH fastball with movement and an unusually good breaking ball. His command can wobble on occasion, but his stuff is so good that even patient college hitters have trouble against him. The bad news…um, well, there really isn’t any, other than the aforementioned occasional command issue. He could use a better changeup, but again that’s a relatively minor concern considering his overall package.
On another note, I can't wait to see how Alex Anthopoulos does in the draft for the Jays. I remember hearing they had quite a number of picks in the top 100. Hoping to see their farm replenished.
#11, #34 (compensation for Marco Scutaro), #38 (compensation for failing to sign Paxson), #41 (compensation for Barajas), #61, #69 (compensation for not signing Jake Elipolos), #80 (compensation for Marco Scutaro), #93, #113 (compensation for not signing Jake Barrett)
8 picks in top-100 and 9 all up in first 3 rounds.
AA has impressed the **** out of me with what he's done so far.
MLB.com confirmed that the Nationals will promote 2009 first-round pick Drew Storen to the major leagues on Monday.
He will report to the team in St. Louis. Washington obviously believed that Storen had nothing else to learn in the minor leagues and his domination on the farm certainly supports that theory. Matt Capps and Tyler Clippard are doing a fantastic job at the back end of Washington's bullpen, so Storen will likely be used in low-leverage situations initially. Storen, though, is the clear closer of the future and could take over that role as soon as next season.
Going to be checking him out. Especially for my dynasty leagues
Quote:
Originally Posted by darko
#11, #34 (compensation for Marco Scutaro), #38 (compensation for failing to sign Paxson), #41 (compensation for Barajas), #61, #69 (compensation for not signing Jake Elipolos), #80 (compensation for Marco Scutaro), #93, #113 (compensation for not signing Jake Barrett)
8 picks in top-100 and 9 all up in first 3 rounds.
AA has impressed the **** out of me with what he's done so far.
I hope the get good picks that they'll be able to sign. Rogers apparently said they were willing to spend a lot in the draft. I hope they can sign Adonis Cardona as well.
Since his 2nd start on April 14, Bumgarner has compiled the following statistics:
6 Starts / 35 IP / 1.54 ERA / 0.943 WHIP / 22 hits / 6 ER / 26 K / 11 BB
On April 14 his ERA stood at somewhere around 14.00 after his first two games. Now he has whittled it down all the way to 3.64 and owns a 3-1 record. His K rate is down compared to recent years. Over his last 6 starts, he has a 6.7 K/9 but also has a 2.8 BB/9. His command is up, confidence it up, velocity is up, and has allowed 1 HR over that span compared to 3 HR allowed over his first two starts. He has now demonstrated that he has regained much of his form and is able to get advanced hitters out consistently. He won't turn 21 until August and may well be pitching in San Francisco by that time as well. Word is that he fixed a mechanical issue and I think he also needed some time to clear his head after a marriage and death in the family. There isn't much talk of his velocity anymore as his is consistently in the 91-93 MPH range and has improved and added secondary pitches.
I believe that is some good news. There was so much talk about his velocity having dropped to the 89-90 range.
Carlos Santana is mashing. Going to be in the majors very soon. Hitting .333 with 9 homers. .461 OBP, with a 28-24 walk-strikeout ratio. Had hit over .400 in his last 10 games.
Also, this center fielder Mike Trout from the Angels is having one hell of a season so far in A. Hitting .372 with 20 steals already. OPS over 1 with 4 triples and 5 homers. Had a average of .352 season last year.
And he's only 19.
I believe that is some good news. There was so much talk about his velocity having dropped to the 89-90 range.
Carlos Santana is mashing. Going to be in the majors very soon. Hitting .333 with 9 homers. .461 OBP, with a 28-24 walk-strikeout ratio. Had hit over .400 in his last 10 games.
Also, this center fielder Mike Trout from the Angels is having one hell of a season so far in A. Hitting .372 with 20 steals already. OPS over 1 with 4 triples and 5 homers. Had a average of .352 season last year.
And he's only 19.
Because he profiles as a third baseman down the line, Flores will need to focus on getting stronger and driving the ball more (12.5 LD%) in 2010. He’ll likely be pushed up to high-A this coming year.
I may be way off but I hate the idea of drafting a kid so high and sticking him as a closer.
Wouldn't he be far more valuable as a starter? If he doesn't have the make up of a starter, he shouldn't have been drafted so high imo.
Closers have become overrated lately. You can find a decent closer fairly cheap (Aardsma in Seattle.. Gregg has been decent yesterday aside in TO).
He would have to develop a 3rd pitch. Right now he has low to mid 90s fastball and that curveball, he does have a changeup but needs to work on it. His control is also somewhat of an issue. Storen worked and excelled as a closer is college so why change. He was also close to majors and Nats were desperate for bullpen help thus he was drafted so high.
I do agree with you however, I find it abit silly drafting a closer that high especially considering they could've taken someone like Mike Trout or Shelby Miller.
He would have to develop a 3rd pitch. Right now he has low to mid 90s fastball and that curveball, he does have a changeup but needs to work on it. His control is also somewhat of an issue. Storen worked and excelled as a closer is college so why change. He was also close to majors and Nats were desperate for bullpen help thus he was drafted so high.
I do agree with you however, I find it abit silly drafting a closer that high especially considering they could've taken someone like Mike Trout or Shelby Miller.
hmmm, I believe the Tigers selected a college reliever a year or two ago in the first round as well. I think it's Ryan Perry or something.
I'm not sure why teams are pitching to him at this point.
Isn't that the problem with some numbers from college players, who are feared in college and are walked like crazy and then bust in the majors, or even the minors?
, with a 28-24 walk-strikeout ratio. Had hit over .400 in his last 10 games.
