battlekow

White goes to the Indians. Arnett to the Brewers remains a possibility.

Don't be naive. There's no way on Earth or any other planet that Tony Sanchez was the top guy on the Pirates' draft board.

Yeah. Minor will be cheap. That's the only reason he got drafted before at least ten other pitchers better than him.

Minor wasn't an overdraft relative to the mock drafts because everyone anticipated him being overdrafted in the first place.

Tigers take Jacob Turner. Finally.

They're praising the Minor pick. Ridiculous.

"He's a kid who's not going to ask for the moon, he wants to get out there and play." Hello, euphemism!

I asked Chris Mehring about Adams, but he wasn't interesting in talking about it.

Between 6:30 and 7, I guess. Right around game time, annoyingly.

Storen is set to go to the Nats at 10.

The Brewers worked out Max Walla.

Heathcott apparently wants $2M to sign, so I would think that if he falls out of the first round, he'll last until the second round, because if a team pops him with a supplemental pick and can't sign him, they won't get that pick back next year.

Apparently the Pirates are going to take Tony Sanchez 4th overall. On the heels of the McLouth trade, that's not going to make them many friends. Lots of prep players with higher-than-expected price tags. Matzek, who was supposed to be the cheap one of him and Purke, wants a "precedent-setting" deal. Shelby Miller wants $4M.

New mocks from the big names: BA says Davidson, BP says Storen, and Mayo says Trout. I'm not an Insider, so I don't know what Keith Law says.

Just through the first three (well, technically the supplemental third round, but it's only one pick long); 111 picks in total.

Shopping List Tom Haudricourt Some players who still might be on the Brewers' draft board when they make the 26th pick of the first round: PITCHERS RHP Eric Arnett, Indiana LHP Garrett Gould, Maize (Kan.) HS LHP Chad James, Yukon (Okla.) HS RHP Kyle Heckathorn, Kennesaw (Ga.) State LHP Andy Oliver, Oklahoma State LHP James Paxton, Kentucky RHP Drew Storen, Stanford POSITION PLAYERS 3B Matt Davidson, Yucaipa (Calif.) HS OF Brett Jackson, California OF A.J. Pollock, Notre Dame OF Jared Mitchell, Louisiana State C Max Stassi, Yuba City (Calif.) HS OF Mike Trout, Millville (N.J.) HS OF LeVon Washington, Buccholz (Fla.) HS I have a feeling a Brett Jackson pick would not go over too well.

For perspective, $1.5M would more than double the previous record signing bonus from the Brewers, the $710K given to Rolando Pascual.

Not really sure where to put this, but the draft forum seemed most appropriate. BP's Kiley McDaniel is reporting that the Brewers are, along with the Giants and Indians, favorites to sign the 6'4"/195 Pena. He's being compared to Jermaine Dye and Juan Gonzalez and wowed the scouts last month in a showcase against the Canadian Junior National Team when he homered off Jake Eliopoulos (a top-three rounds draft talent). McDaniel has Pena as the sixth-best international prospect this signing year and says that Pena's expected bonus has increased from $500K to $1M-$1.5M in the last couple weeks. Happily, McDaniel has video of Pena hitting. McDaniel also has the Brewers, along with the Rangers and Pirates, as favorites to sign 6'5"/210 1B Jacob Beltre, the 16th-rated prospect, who is expected to command a $400K-$600K bonus.

His BABIP is .347 this year, down from .380 last year. His line drive rate is down a bit, from 19.3 to 17.4, but mostly, it's his infield popups that have come back to earth. His IF/F last year was a miniscule 7.6, while this year it's 13.5, which is in line with his performance outside of 2008. All told, he's not getting that lucky; Minor League Splits' luck adjustment only knocks his BABIP down to .335.

Rottino and Green went back-to-back in the 10th for Huntsville. Green has homers in each game of the doubleheader.

Maybe there was something to the Dennis-presses-in-the-cleanup-spot thing. Best development of the day: Salome and Lucroy DHing in the second halves of their doubleheaders.

Paxton doesn't interest you, X?

Heh.

Two walks for Schafer. Wow.

Getting reality checkBrewers' top pick having ups, downs By Anthony Witrado Appleton - Just one year ago, Brett Lawrie had all the enthusiasm, exuberance and confidence that comes with being a first-round draft pick of a major-league baseball team. When the Milwaukee Brewers took the then-catcher out of Canada with the 16th overall pick in last year's first-year player draft, Lawrie spoke like a teenager who knew he was destined to be behind the plate at the big-league level. Now, exactly a year later, the catcher isn't a catcher anymore and that confidence has been replaced by humility. Lawrie's self-assurance has been sapped somewhat by the grind that is professional baseball. "It's tiring," Lawrie admitted before a game with Class A Wisconsin last week. "But it's those days that you don't feel like playing and feel tired that you say you're here so you might as well play. "You have those days that aren't that good. You have to know there's always the next day, and the day after that and the day after that. I just keep telling myself I have to keep battling." If Lawrie sounds like a young man beaten down, that's not entirely true. Not even a minor slump or a broken nose that hasn't been surgically repaired yet could do that. His confidence is not gone, not even close. And he continues to impress his manager, Jeff Isom, with his talent, athleticism, sponge-like attitude and maturity. Lawrie has just hit that first-year wall that newbies inevitably smack into. A long high school season is maybe 30 games, and after almost non-stop baseball for nearly a year, Lawrie is dragging a bit at the 50-plus-game mark of his first full professional season. Entering Saturday, he was hitting .261 with a .477 slugging percentage. He has eight home runs, four triples and 39 runs batted in. "He started on fire, but if you look at his numbers, his batting average has dropped a little bit," Isom said. "It's a situation where the league is catching up with him. They've seen him once and not only that, it's a situation where it's 50 games into the season and he's realizing what it takes to get through a full season. "It's not a 20-game season. We're on a long haul and you're going to go through ups and downs. This is one of his times when he's in a little bit of a down." The first major professional change for Lawrie came last fall after instructional league. He was trained as a catcher daily, but upon completion, he hated squatting behind the plate and taking a beating. So he asked for a position change to second base. "Catching just wasn't a position I could see myself playing everyday," Lawrie said. "Especially after instructional league, it just kind of turned me away from it. "Instructional league was probably the toughest month of my life. Taking balls off my hands, neck, just coming to the park sore everyday." Lawrie was gung-ho about catching when drafted, but the decision to leave it behind was easy after instructional ball. And the Brewers were all for taking more advantage of Lawrie's speed and athleticism. He had played the infield and outfield before, so it wasn't a total transformation. But it took some learning. Isom had seen Lawrie as a catcher during instructional league, but when he arrived for spring training, he was told Lawrie would likely be his second baseman. After the first couple of days watching his newly appointed middle infielder, Isom thought "this could be a rough season." But Lawrie took to the tutelage of the organization's roving infield instructor, Garth Iorg, and soon began to make the routine play actually look routine. Then he started to make the spectacular play once in a while. The only real bump in the road might have been caused by a bump in the dirt. Lawrie took a bad hop off his nose two weeks ago and broke it. Surgery likely will take place this week. Lawrie still shows some bruising around his eyes but missed only a couple games after Isom insisted. Isom credits Lawrie's natural gifts and ability to learn as the reason he's become a solid defensive player. "He's very athletic," Isom said. "And he's coachable. You tell him something and he picks it up. You tell him once and he can execute it." That is also the praise Lawrie drew after his time with Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic. Lawrie didn't get an at-bat, but his time with big-league players let him soak up knowledge, mainly about preparation and how to be a professional. He still keeps in contact with teammates - Joey Votto, the Cincinnati Reds slugger, and Los Angeles Dodgers all-star catcher Russell Martin - through text messages. Lawrie said it's nice to have a sounding board to learn how to deal with slumps or the grind. No one expects his current skid to last. Not with his offensive talent. It is a matter of adjusting to the pitching the way it has adjusted to him, Isom said. What might be more impressive is Lawrie's adaptability. When Brewers general manager Doug Melvin and assistant GM Gord Ash asked Isom what position he sees Lawrie playing in the majors, Isom told the brass "where is your biggest need?" When asked about that, Lawrie's confidence comes rushing back like a flash flood. "That's the kind of athlete I am," said Lawrie, whose sister Danielle was named national college softball player of the year at Washington. "It doesn't matter if it's third, short, second, first, left, center. It doesn't matter. If they need a spot, I know I can play it. "If they need me, sure, I'll go play it. It doesn't matter to me as long as I keep moving up." http://media.journalinteractive.com/images/lawrie.jpg The switch to second base hasn't been easy for Brett Lawrie, who was the Brewers' top pick in 2008. (Patrick Ferron)