colbyjack

Given the threads we've lost, that link was probably lost as well, so thanks for pointing it out again http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif .

I believe that McCalvy story was already brought up, mainly because of this error: Picked No. 2 overall, and the real decision was up to the Devil Rays at No. 1. When Tampa Bay picked B.J. Upton, The D-Rays took Upton 2nd overall in 2002, they took Delmon Young first overall in 2003.

It seems as though the previous Canadian thread is lost for now, so I thought I'd start another one since it would be a good idea to keep your eye on players north of the border. Slam! Sports has a few player profiles on the best Canadian draft-eligible players: Illinois C Chris Robinson Robinson is a strong-armed catcher that has tremendous makeup and leadership skills. He threw out 40% of opposing baserunners this past season, and he hit pretty well too. He has pretty decent plate discipline, and the article above draws a comparison to Joe Girardi. Since Robinson attends the University of Illinois, he's not a true Canadian prospect, but he's Canadian nonetheless. Top prep Canadian Nick Weglarz Weglarz likely will draw comparisons to fellow Canadian slugger Justin Morneau and Scott Thorman. While Morneau started his career as a catcher, Weglarz is a 1B today and he will be a 1B in the future. That's not to say that he's not good defensively around first, it's just that he's not very fast, and probably doesn't project well anywhere else on the field. He has a good bat, exciting power potential and a keen eye. He likely will be the first Canadian drafted, and he has committed to play for OK St. A few other Canadians include RHP Ivan Rusova, who is of a slighter build similar to Alexandre Periard from a year ago. He has good arm that easily pumps out low-90s fastballs. He doesn't have the polish of Periard, who was projected as a 3rd to 5th round pick a year ago (he only fell because of the visa issues). Rusova is more of a top 10-round guy. Marcel Champagnie turned a few heads at a Perfect Game event this spring. He's a very athletic SS with very good actions, speed and arm strength. Not the greatest Canadian class given the lack of depth, although there are more, and you know Team Canada will be out mining the Great White North.

Being the night owl I am tonight, I thought I would give some props for Texas prep outfielder Jay Bruce. As much as Team One Baseball's coverage has dwindled mightily the past couple of years, they did identify Bruce after he played at their National showcase last year, noting his overall talent and polished bat (and T1 did have B.J. Upton as the #1 overall prospect pretty much the entire spring of 2002 when most had Scott Kazmir and Bobby Brownlie #1 on the early draft board). PG added a draft profile for Bruce here: www.perfectgame.org/2005/..._bruce.cfm http://www.perfectgame.org/2005/stories/draft_prospect_watch/images/jay_bruce.jpg He's drawing unfair comparisons to Larry Walker, but one thing that I go back to several conversations here from last year that keeps drawing me back to Bruce is my interest in prep players that are relatively polished. As much as I like Cameron Maybin, and as much as I believe that pure, athletic talent can overcome so many skill deficiencies, it may be hard to take Maybin's talent over Bruce's bat. I haven't seen Bruce play before MLB.com's video. He doesn't have the greatest speed, and he projects better in RF than CF, but again, the bat may be too good to pass up. Just thought I'd throw his name out for discussion. While he's been mentioned by a few people on this forum, and has been identified as a player the Brewers may be interested in, he hasn't been considered seriously by most as a legitimate possibility for the #5 overall pick.

I've mentioned this before, but I'm split on Braun, because I love what I've seen from him, and I think he has a great baseball body and great tools, particularly for a college player, and he has produced since stepping on Miami's campus. But watching him hit, I do have concerns about him hitting as a pro. I can't really put a finger on it, because he does have a really quick bat that can compensate for just about any mechanical flaw. Defensively, the guy had so many errors to start the season I think it gets lost that his 14 errors (last time I checked) really tapered off as the season progresses. I want to say 10-12 of those errors came over the first month or two. Really, I would move him back to SS as a pro, at least to start, as he has the pure athleticism to handle it, and he really reminds me of Nomar Garciaparra. I don't think the Brewers handle him this way, but I would. And being able to move quickly definitely is a huge plus. As much as I like Maybin, and as much as he makes sense for our pick, he is going to take time to develop. There's nothing wrong with that of course, but there does seem to be more of a sense of urgency with our pick.

No surprise, the D-Backs wisely continue to target Justin Upton with the #1 overall pick. From BA's draft blog: June 3: Sources Say D'backs Want Upton by Jim Callis and Kevin Goldstein Two baseball sources say the Diamondbacks have told them they will use the No. 1 overall pick Tuesday on Great Bridge High (Chesapeake, Va.) shortstop Justin Upton. That would make Upton and his brother B.J., who went second overall to the Devil Rays in 2002, the highest-drafted siblings in draft history. The other players known to be under consideration by Arizona are college righthanders Craig Hansen (St. John's), Luke Hochevar (Tennessee) and Mike Pelfrey (Wichita State). The Diamondbacks signed former Florida State shortstop Stephen Drew to a $5.5 million major league contract four days ago, so Upton, who has had some defensive struggles at that position, could be their center fielder of the future. We'll have an updated mock first round at baseballamerica.com on Monday.

Metal bats can mask so many problems for any hitter. As DHonks noted, you don't have to hit a ball squarely with a metal bat to hit it hard. Watching more and more college games in the past couple of years, and even going back to watching the CWS in the 90s, I've seen so many players seemingly make a weak swing only to have the ball land over the fence. It also helps players who lack bat speed, quick hands and proper hitting mechanics. That's why when I watch college players, I try to look for those hitters that hit line drives more often than not when they make contact. That's why Ryan Zimmerman stuck out so much in my mind when I saw him, and in my mind that's why he had no problem making the conversion to wood last summer for Team USA on his way to hitting .468. While he has critics that question his power, I don't think he'll have much of a problem hitting with wood. I also don't think Jeff Clement will have much of a problem hitting with wood, who actually uses a wood bat during BP. One thing that bugs me about someone like Jed Lowrie of Stanford for instance is that he doesn't strike you as a pure hitter, and I personally think he's going to have a tough time adjusting to hitting as a pro.

Jim Powell was kind enough to answer my email this evening during the 7th inning about the draft, and after going through the teams that draft 1-4 and who they are likely to take (along with another nice plug for Brewerfan.net), he made an early prediction that the Brewers would take Ryan Braun. Powell wisely noted that toolsy prep outfielders have a high rate of not panning out, which is an astute point, but such percentages have not affected how Jack Zduriencik drafts before (look no further than Rogers & Jones, or high school players in general). I think I like everyone that is projected to go at our pick, which is odd for me to say. We don't have to worry too much about the teams ahead of us. If the draft goes as expected, the Brewers should still end up with a pretty good player. If not, we may have the opportunity to take a great player that has fallen.

Man, I love following that young double play tandem at West Virginia. Now that Hernan has turned it on, those two guys seem to be feeding off one another. Taubenheim gets the win today, but he has seemed to have come back down to earth the past few starts. Actually, both he and Sarfate have, whom many of us wanted to see promoted after their initial, early success this year.

Nothing new, but BA adds their complete DFE coverage: www.baseballamerica.com/t...02dfe.html Juco players who get significant signing bonuses frequently have one significant tool, such as Chipola (Fla.) Junior College outfielder Darren Ford, who signed for $200,000. The Brewers' 18th-round pick in 2004 completed a .306-1-32 season with 45 stolen bases for the Indians. Ford's speed is no secret, as the Major League Scouting Bureau rates him as an 80 runner on the 20-80 scouting scale.

Brewerfan.net Jemile Weeks profile He could go in the top 10 rounds. Being the little brother of Rickie definitely helped him, just for the simple fact that he can go to U. of Miami if the draft doesn't work out for him. Similar prospect to Rickie at the same time, and if Jemile has half of the work ethic of his big brother, he too could be special. Right now, there are still doubters about his size.

I've added my own mock draft for those interested as part of my weekly column at Perfect Game: Crack of the Bat: Mock Draft

The latest names we've heard are Upton, Gordon, Zimmerman, Braun. If this is true, they're wisely preparing themselves for one of Upton or Gordon if they fall, and if not, they really want that 3B of the future. If for some reason Maybin, Gordon, and ZImmerman are all gone by 5, why would you take Braun over Romero or Townsend? From what I've read, Braun's alright, but why would you go for "alright" with the 5th pick in the draft? Braun could have an impact bat, although there are some concerns about his swing and how it will translate with wood. He's hit ever since stepping on Miami's campus, and he has driven in a lot of runs while also scoring a lot of runs. I guess it comes down to how much a team likes him (obviously) and how much they think his bat is legit. If you think his bat is legit, he's probably a better prospect than Zimmerman and Tulowitzki.

I haven't seen too many different top 11 mock drafts. BA's is the same as MLB's as is the same of the MLB reporters. Of course, you just don't see many MLB mock drafts, as these are really the only three that are reputable. Seriously, I don't think I've seen one that was any different from 1 to 11. That is either really odd, or not as much news is leaking out this year. I think a lot of it hinges (obviously) on what the teams do at the top, as everyone expects the D-Backs to take Upton and the same wih the Royals and Gordon. Maybe this is the calm before the storm...http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif .

Wood was a very well known commodity back in HS. He was throwing mid to high-90s back then, which is why he was drafted so high in '95. I noticed they only have videos for 56k available. I'll take it anyway I can get it though, it's a great feature, although I hope they had a lot more. It seemed like they had more video in past years, although they still may be in the process of adding more. There has been more and more talk recently about a possible move to 1B for Parramore, which obviously has hurt his draft stock considerably. Just so you know, he started for the West team last summer as part of the Aflac All American Classic. Johnathan Egan started for the East squad, if you're interested in checking out other catchers (I didn't check if there was video available for him). I've watched Teagarden play several times on TV, and I don't think he's going to hit much in the big leagues. He started off hot, but has cooled considerably since the first week or two of the season. There's no way I'm spending a first round pick on a player that projects to be a good defensive player if that player doesn't have a decent bat. That's how we ended up with Tony Gwynn Jr. in the early 2nd round (his name didn't hurt). As far as I've heard, there is no relation between Nick Hundley and the other catching Hundley's. He was a 5th round pick out of HS, and he probably will go in the 2nd to 3rd round this year. Teams always overdraft for good all around catchers, and with his big season offensively this year, that probably is exactly what will happen. And DHonks, don't forget to check out Ricky Romero http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif .

I noticed a lot of posts are missing with today's ezboard complications, so you're not alone if you see the (This post is missing and can not be restored). Anyway, my recent feature with Perfect Game involved an interview with Alex Gordon. As I noted in a different thread, I also spoke to Cameron Maybin recently, and that feature should be posted early next week. Enjoy. PG Alex Gordon interview

Perhaps the draft goes as expected above us (Upton, Gordon, Tulowitzki, Zimmerman) and he skips Maybin for "makeup" reasons I missed this before, but Cameron Maybin has outstanding makeup. That actually makes him even more likely to be the Brewers pick, and it has been called a 6th tool for him. I spoke with him a few weeks ago in an interview I conducted for Perfect Game. Look for that interview to be up on their homepage early next week.

homer beat me to Braun, who is the most obvious one from the college ranks. Otherwise I think you have all of the prep ones. I've heard that Bristow is being thought of more and more as a pitcher now, even though I personally prefer him as a positional prospect. CJ Henry may be another possibility, and South Carolina SS Reese Havens is being talked about as a potential mid first rounder.

My annual draft preview story is up on the homepage: 2005 Draft Preview

How the Jays handled Bush is a good example. I remember hearing the same things about Bush when he was drafted, how he only had 2 pitches, but both of them (fastball/slider IIRC) were pretty good. I think too many people get stuck on the idea that you need 3 pitches to start. Some of the best pitchers out there succeed with only 2 good pitches, and some dominate with only one really good one. The Expos/Nationals drafted Bill Bray in the first round last year, and I believe they're grooming him as a starter as well. I felt Ryan Wagner could have been moved to the starting rotation, and I also feel Huston Street has the perfect combination of pitches & moxie to be a successful starter.

Not surprising. Both Drew & Weaver knew exactly what kind of money was on the table, and they wisely took it. I'm sure Boras did his homework to gauge if there was any interest to match that kind of money from other teams, and when they found there was none, they took the money being offered. While the D-Backs need a pitcher more than another hitter, if they take BPA, that's Upton. It's a good problem to have. Of course, the rumors persist about the D-Backs swinging a deal with another Boras client for next week, but I don't buy that. Boras doesn't do pre-draft deals anyway.

The DFE signings are as follows: Lorenzo Cain Darren Ford Matthew Kretzschmar Joshua Louis Derek Miller No Scram, but I have been told that the Brewers signed all of the players they wanted to, meaning, they didn't have interest in signing Scram at this point in time. It seems as though his ranking as noted just above in the eyes of scouts holds more truth about his abilities than his gaudy stats this spring. As we've seen in past years, we may see a few of these players re-drafted next week so they may continue to be followed by the Brewers through next spring. Depending on how the teams fare in the NCAA tournament/regionals this weekend, there may be one more signing before the draft. I'm guessing that would be either Timm or Prettyman, although I wouldn't count on either Nebraska or Cal State Fullerton being eliminated so quickly.

Good news. I have a feeling we'll hear about Scram at some point tomorrow. With 88 innings pitched this spring, I wouldn't be surprised if they handled Miller similar to Eveland the summer after he signed. Meaning, he could be Helena's closer this season, although I think he may move faster if he's groomed in the bullpen right off the bat anyway. EDIT: I forgot to mention that Scram is currently ranked the 17th best prospect from Kansas in a down year for the state according to BA's state-by-state pre-draft rankings. So, while he had a big season for Cowley, it doesn't seem as though the scouts are high on him.

Austin Jackson is a good target. I think it will probably take at least 7 figures to completely sway him away from a two-sport career at Georgia Tech, but as you noted, they may just have the resources to make it happen. I've brought up Charlie Cutler before as a possibility with our 3rd rounder. He's a sweet-hitting catcher with good athleticism that is a little raw behind the dish. Blazer has brought up Jeremy Hellickson (BA Hellickson feature), who could slip just a little due to his size and where he plays (Iowa). The Brewers have taken JC players the past two years in Wahpepah and Palmisano, and I think RHP Kenny Maiques could make it three years in a row. He played at Rio Hondo with Matthew Kretzschmar, who was recently signed as a DFE, and had a huge year. Like Hellickson, he's a little on the smaller size, but he can run it up to 94 and has a good repertoire. In my draft preview, which should be ready by tomorrow or Wednesday, I also pick prep LHP Travis Wood as a player to watch. He's raw, but has a great fastball, particularly for a lefty. Like Cutler he may be a little tougher of a sign given his college commitment (to Arkansas), but his arm is good enough to take a chance on.

Mid-first. I think he'll be off the board by the time the Cardinals pick.