colbyjack

Arnett did look awesome yesterday, and actually will be the subject of my PGX blog today. I agree 100% with X that after what I saw yesterday there is no way he falls to the Brewers pick.

I mentioned that LHP Chad James may be on of the targets of the Brewers in a different thread, who impressed scouts at the Perfect Game pre-draft showcase in Cedar Rapids on Monday, throwing 91-93 with a good CB. He is starting to throw his fastball consistent harder this spring, which was somewhat expected given his size and arm strength. The name that impressed the most was a local talent, LHP Kevin James from Whitefish Bay, who is going to soar up draft charts after his performance at the same showcase on Monday. Read about both of them here, courtesy of my PG associate David Rawnsley: http://www.pgcrosschecker.com/articles/DisplayArticle.aspx?article=1322 Kevin James is also the teammate of Charlie Markson, who also attended the event. Markson is known for his 5-tool talents, highlighted by his speed. Whitefish Bay plays their baseball season in the summer, so don't be surprised to see both drafted and followed the next few months to see how they perform.

Louis, I'm not sure if you're relying on my rankings here (it hasn't been updated since the winter if you are), but Scheppers could go as early as the 2nd overall pick. It's unlikely he falls out of the top 3-5 overall picks the way he's pitching this spring.

How many people recognized Bruce Seid sitting next to Doug Melvin this evening at the Brewers game in St. Louis? Without a doubt the pair were in town earlier today to check out prep RHP Jacob Turner who pitched today in an area district game for Westminster Christian Academy. At this time of year, just a few weeks away from draft day, there is no off day for Seid. And while it is a Monday, with college conference championships set to begin tomorrow I believe, he could have been a couple of hundred miles north in Cedar Rapids to check out players such as Chad James and Ian Krol at the Perfect Game Pre-Draft Showcase. Turner continues to get better and better, repertedly bumping his 92-94 FB to the 94-96 range this spring, touching 98. He also has great polish, similar to Tim Melville a year ago (a player I once compared to Yovani Gallardo). Keeping Turner away from North Carolina will be tough, as he's a Boras advisee and is going to demand top dollar no matter where he goes. For that alone I'm impressed that both Seid and Melvin (likely) were there.

Comparing Jeffress to Gallardo isn't very fair to Jeffress. Gallardo clearly is a special pitcher who breezed through the minors with incredible polish. Being at AA at 21 years of age during his fourth year as a pro (his third full year) for a power arm, even with a setback or two, is actually pretty good.

He never had major control problems in the minors so you have to assume he figures it out eventually. This is the part about Manny that stands out to me. I know there were quite a few of us several years ago that got to see Parra pitch quite often in Beloit, where he made us all believers with not only how hard he threw but how well he commanded the strike zone. In the minors he walked 2.43 batters every 9 innings of work. At the MLB level, that mark is 4.32, nearly a walk every other inning. I do think bringing up the fact that he still has somewhat of a new, fresh arm given his injury troubles in the minors is a good point, as he may very well be working out the kinks still as a 26-year old pitcher. Splitter's point overall is a good one, in that Parra is not going to enjoy long-term success until he does cut down on the BBs. I do think we have been spoiled by Gallardo, who had almost no troubles adjusting himself to the big-leagues.

Jeffress has always had questions about his mental makeup since his suspension and it will never be any different. I don't recall Jeffress ever being questioned for his mental makeup. He got busted but testing positive for smoking pot, more than once, a problem that seems to be behind him. That doesn't constitute a mental issue to me. All other reports we've heard indicate that he's actually a pretty solid, competitive individual. It's one thing to try and dissect the problem, and unless I'm completely wrong here, please try not to make up reasons as to why this young man may be having troubles commanding the strike zone. As far as trading Jeffress goes, if he can't command the strike zone, what kind of value is he going to bring in a trade? It's not like other teams are unaware of his control problems.

can see I'm in the minority so far but I like the retro uniforms. I don't think it hurts anything if they wear them twice a month at home. I don't see the big deal in changing the uniform from "Brewers" to "Milwaukee". Are there people out there that would be less of a fan because they live in a different part of the state and the uniform said Milwaukee? Get over it, they are the Milwaukee Brewers. I don't get it. They can wear a T-Shirt and jeans for all I care. I didn't notice anyone getting bent out of shape in this conversation. Also, if putting "Milwaukee" on the away jersey isn't a big deal, what's the big deal leaving "Brewers" on the away jersey? Actually, wouldn't they be more likely to put the "Milwaukee" on the gray jerseys only, since the dark blue ones are used at both home and road games? I'm pretty sure some teams (Minnesota comes to mind) do have an alternate home and away jersey, and I wouldn't be surprised to see the Brewers do this as well if they do indeed move forward with this idea. I don't have any issue with the retro logo (though I'd like to see more use of the even more retro one ), it is the wearing of specifically the 1982 jerseys on the field. The reason is not the uniform, it is that it is expressive of the attitude of looking back to the 1982 team. If some fans want to contemplate that WS team it is fine, but constantly putting the team on the field saying "look, this is the uniform that the team that went to the WS wore in 1982" has just gotten overdone. This is my biggest point as well. I too don't have a problem at all with the retro logo, but again I ask, why is it so important that the players on the field wear them? There is so much retro merchandise available (as noted by BillHall02 mentioning that more fans wear the retro logo gear than the new stuff) that any fan can adorn himself with the old stuff if the new stuff doesn't appeal to you. To me, it has also somewhat taken the novelty out of the retro look. Have a turn back the clock promotion once a month honoring all of the different team looks (including the Milwaukee teams prior to the current Brewers) from over the years (including the 90s look, and that goofy future uniform they came up with a few years ago).

I remember when the Brewers briefly considered becoming the Wisconsin Brewers in hopes of receiving more state-wide support (financially that is). That's probably why they stick with that butt-ugly patch they wear with the state of Wisconsin behind the script M. I'm glad the team seems to be phasing out the retro-uniforms. The first Friday of the month is more than enough, and hopefully they will scale that back to never next year. I agree with jeffryscott that the occasional turn back the clock night would be a fine way to continue to honor the tradition of the Brewers, whether it be the American Association Brewers, the Pilots, Milwaukee Bears, Cerveceros, or whatever era/group they choose to honor. Fans can still buy as much retro merchandise as they want. Anyway, I seem to be one of the few that likes to see "Brewers" across the the team's jerseys on both their home and road uni's. It makes them a little different from most teams out there. Even the Orioles went back to having the city name on their away jersey, as the Dodgers were another team that up until a few years ago had their team name on both.

If the team truly felt he had more value at 2b, they would have already moved him there. I thinks it's clear the team was concerned about his early struggles, both offensively and defensively. I'm happy to see the move made, and you have to wonder if Dyketa's return to Wisconsin will coincide with Lawrie's bump to BC (and Farris' to Huntsville). Second base is looking pretty good right now, especially if you still think Green could play there.

I'm curious, I read the Thrawn trilogy over 10 years ago, which had a lot of background on the clone wars. How does that trilogy and the info it provided stand today given the "new" movies? I thought that trilogy was just ok when I read it, as there were quite a few details that I felt really missed the essence from the original movies. I also read a hardcover book around that time in which Luke became the commander of a star destroyer against some lizard race of creatures that was pretty awful.

You shouldn't rush a kid just because the big-league team doesn't have Glavine and Maddux. That is when critical mistakes (remember Nick Neugebauer?) can be made. Braddock hasn't exactly shown that he can stay healthy, even if you believe the team has mishandled him. I have no doubt he will get bumped up soon if the success continues (as the Brewers have done in the past), and TheCrew07 does bring up a good point about his annual innings moving forward. He's still only 21 years old, so there's plenty of reason to be patient with his development. Man, is it good to see Green back again. He may not have the highest upside, but I can't think of many players outside of Gamel (before his promotion) I feel more comfortable about contributing at the big-league level when thinking long-term. Go see him at Wisconsin while you can!

I think Seid will be similar to Jack Z. by trusting his scouts and using the best player available theory. That will lead to higher potential guys with the early picks, meaning high school arms (and bats) will not be avoided just because they are high schoolers.

Braun already is a superstar, with one 1.000 OPS season under his belt while he's working on another. He's the face of the franchise, and a nationally recognized player as well. He may not play the most glamorous position in left field, but he has the most dynamic bat. That isn't meant to take anything away from the other players, Braun just has the best bat, and he hit the ground running as soon as he was called up. You could argue that Gordon has been somewhat of a disappointment for such a polished college hitter when the Royals took him 2nd overall. Zimmerman is rock solid of course, and Bruce looks like he's going to be pain to deal with on the Reds for possibly a similar career that Braun is poised to have in Milwaukee. Maybin is still a work in progress.

While the Slam! sports network is no longer around (or at least no longer has the detailed draft prospect information), Bob Elliot started his own venture, the Canadian Baseball Network. You can check out who he feels are the top Canadian players here: http://canadianbaseballnetwork.com/draftlist/2009 Outside of people such as Doug Melvin and Allan Simpson, Bob is probably the biggest true fan of Canadian Baseball that I know (he also has a book that I've been meaning to read, the Northern Game, or something like that). Anyway, outfielder Jon Symyk is 25th on his list, with LHP Mark Hardy at 28 (with a note that he's just a few wins shy of breaking Jeff Francis' UBC record for wins). I honestly don't know too much about the Canadian players unless they have spent some time in the states at various showcase and/or tournament events. Hardy pitched at the '05 WWBA World Championship where he pitched in the upper-70s with a mid-60s CB, so I'm sure his stuff has improved since then if he's drawing interest from scouts.

Good post AJAY. I too have played softball with Nick, and thought he was a really nice guy (and a pretty good outfielder...he's had some practice). I think lcbj68c made some good points as well above, and always believe that there is more than one side to a story. The best point made is that Happy clearly really values these balls. It doesn't seem as though he's out to make a buck on this, but wants something valuable in return for a ball he gets since he devotes a lot of time to acquiring them. If you read even a small snippet of his blog you'll quickly learn this, so to me it's not as though he's out to screw millionaires out of a few bucks, a bat, or anything else, he just is looking to make a fair trade when a ball of value happens to become part of his vast collection. I don't understand questioning his fanship. I too don't care for the fact that he wears other team's merchandise, but he goes to a ton of games (probably more than most here), and makes the trek to spring training. I remember seeing him in the stands at almost every game I went to during one of the greatest summers of my life when I went to 42 home games (all in the left-field bleachers) during the 1998 season at County Stadium. I'm guessing he was 16 then, right around when he got his "Happy Youngster" name from Vasgersian and Schroeder, and he probably did me a favor more than once snagging home run balls that otherwise would have landed in my $5 beers. I don't get the obsession with collecting SO many balls, now relying on tricks and pranks, not to mention wearing opposing team gear, to get more and more balls. Like AJAY, even if such a ball fell in my lap I would probably exchange it for a smile and a handshake (and a a picture with my kids if possible), but it clearly is his passion. A strange, foreign passion, but a passion that originated from the game of baseball, which makes it difficult for me to be overly critical. One thing this does make me realize is that MLB should try to figure out a way to get baseballs back, or at least limit the ones thrown into the crowd. Baseballs aren't cheap, and while quite a few are used during the game, even the scuffed ones could be used for batting practice or even donated to amateur/high school leagues. I've been to quite a few minor league, college and semi-pro games in which balls are returned to the press box by kids in return for a sucker, sticker, or just a nice mention by the guy on the mike.

If you have been reading long enough, you will know that I still think Casey Kotchman should have been the team's first-round pick in 2001. Sure, we all still like reading Mike Jones' name in the link report and dream about how he could once become an actual contributor at the MLB level, but let's face it, I was right. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif Kotchman of course hasn't been all he was cracked up to be either, and neither was Scott Moore, the player I campaigned for in '02 (although I did come around to Prince Fielder once I saw him put on an absolutely crazy power display as part of the pre-draft workout at Miller Park). Since we're less than a month away from draft day, I thought I'd share the players I was rooting for on draft day since the year 2000, which was the first year I went on record (on the ESPN forums) with my personal preference. 2000: Rocco Baldelli's late spring surge had me hooked (and reports years later confirmed that the Brewers were too), but the Rays took him in the top 10 (7th overall I think without looking). Aaron Heilman was my backup favorite, who actually was drafted but didn't sign with the Twins, and went a year later to the Mets. Xavier Nady I think was everyone's favorite player in this draft, and I admit I was a little bummed to see him available (I think twice) to the Brewers but not taken. 2001: The year of Kotchman. I also was a big fan of Jeremy Sowers coming out of high school, but recognized that it was unlikely that anyone would be able to sign him since he made it clear he was going to Vanderbilt (I was happy the Reds didn't listen). This was also the year that I had conversations with my now co-worker at Perfect Game, Anup Sinha, when he was still was Team One Baseball about J.J. Hardy and the possibility that he could be the Brewers' first-round pick. That was one of the most rewarding picks the team has taken from day one for me. 2002: The year of Scott Moore. I was very anti-Fielder when reports surfaced that the Brewers were very interested in him, but I changed my tune pretty quickly when I saw him launch tape-measure shots, including one off of a Khalid Ballouli fastball (sorry Brian) during the team's pre-draft camp. Jeff Francoeur was also a fave of mine in this draft, but at the time I recognized the team would not take him given his two-sport (and therefore $$$) aspirations. 2003: With the second overall pick, I think 99% of the people that followed the draft realized the team couldn't go wrong with either Delmon Young or Rickie Weeks. Neither has lived up to their billing, but both have been productive big-leaguers. 2004: Similar to '02 with Fielder, I wasn't too happy about the team's interest in Mark Rogers. Homer Bailey was high on my list, as were Jeremy Sowers and Chris Nelson (Thomas Diamond was another favorite among Brewers fans). Sowers seemed to have plateaued as a 4A player, and Nelson has scuffled in the mid-levels of the minors. Bailey would have been a nice option right about now. 2004 was a very satisfying year for me in that Yovani Gallardo, one of my personal faves that year and a player I had pegged as the 10th player to go overall to the Rangers in my pre-draft mock draft, lasted until the team's 2nd round pick. Had Gallardo not been there the choice likely would have been Sturgeon Bay native Erik Cordier, who of course has had some arm problems since being drafted. 2005: I was completely comfortable with the Brewers taking any of the three players they were most often linked to: Cameron Maybin, Ryan Braun and Jay Bruce. Braun was the right choice. Alex Gordon entered the year as the one player everyone hoped would fall to the team, and Ryan Zimmerman ended the year as the player a lot of people hoped would somehow fall one more spot. Even then, Braun was the right choice. 2006: I was happy to hear that the Brewers were all over Travis Snider, but he was unlikely to fall to the team's pick (and didn't). David Huff was my second favorite prospect for the team's first-round pick (the 16th overall selection), but he went after the first round to the Indians, and is now one of the better LHP prospects in the game. Jeffress has been an interesting ride, and I had the chance to see both he and Brewer the summer before at the 2005 Aflac game where they wowed with tools, but showed the need for a lot more polish. 2007: Sources had me convinced Phillippe Aumont would be the pick. Matt LaPorta floored everyone, and thank you Matt for bringing us CC Sabathia. Prior to the draft my faves were Jason Heyward (probably the favorite for 75% of Brewers draft fans) and Beau Mills. This year was fun in that I got to see three of the top eight overall picks first-hand during the spring leading up to the draft: David Price, Ross Detwiler and Casey Weathers. 2008: I think all Brewers fans were keeping their fingers crossed that Lawrie would indeed fall. Last year was satisfying in that I predicted both of the team's top two picks, Lawire and Odorizzi, in an online mock draft I participated in that included Keith Law and other notable online draftniks. So, who are my guys for this year...? Drafting so late in the first round is really, really difficult to guess. I have a list of 20-30 guys that could all be in the mix, and trying to figure out who the Brewers may take, especially since they have a new scouting director, not that the old one was easy to figure out, is pretty much a waste of time (which hasn't stopped me before). Here is my short list: Chad James, LHP: Oklahoma St. signee that has similar size, but better repertoire and command, than Andrew Oliver. Mostly 88-91 with good CB/CH. Alex Wilson, RHP: Texas A&M fireballer has been pitching out of the bullpen in recent weeks to help baby his arm (TJ surgery less than 2 years ago). Keyvious Sampson, RHP: Florida prep RHP is a great all-around athlete that also stars as a hitter. Follows Mike Jones/Mark Rogers mold, but has great natural movement on fastball and has been impressing scouts this spring with improved command. Everett Williams, OF: Great all-around prep athlete with legitimate 5 tools. Left-handed bat with some pop and speed could make him the best leadoff/CF prospect the Brewers have had since Krynzel...or Brantley. Kyle Heckathorn, RHP: Another college righty (Kennesaw State) with a big body and big stuff, but needs to hone command. Prep pitchers don't bother me as much the later you make your pick. James is the guy I really like, Wilson is the guy I think the Brewers might really like. I'm also a big fan of Brian Goodwin, a prep CF from NC that has signed to play for UNC. UNC has a knack for getting these guys on campus though. One more note: My PG associate David Rawnsley posted his own first-round mock draft earlier today, with the Brewers taking A.J. Pollock, a player I have shared interest in before. While I would be happy with such a pick, it would also surprise me a little since his upside is good, but not great, and I don't think things will change too much with Seid making the picks as opposed to Jack Z.

At this point in time instead of guessing where he should be moved, I say it's time to place your bets on the over/under of him being called up by Memorial Day. I should have taken my own advice http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif. Like X said, congrats to Mat and his entire family. I hope you continue to follow Mat here at Brewerfan as he begins his big-league career.

I really like Matthew Purke. I talked about this on XM Radio Sunday morning, but he has stuff plus the intangibles. He has deception to his low-3/4 delivery and he has a competitive demeanor on the mound. His fastball runs in the low-90s, and his slider is a nasty pitch. Miller is a live-armed RHP that kind of reminds me of Homer Bailey. He has been up to 98 this spring, and also throws a hammer curve. And that isn't meant to take too much away from Matzek, who many consider the best prep pitching prospect in the nation. He does command 4 pitches, but I wouldn't call any of them nasty, or special. His fastball sits in the low-90s, but it's straight, making it a more hittable pitch. I like both Purke and Miller moving forward in that they have a lot more room for improvement.

Final: Nashville 5, Omaha 6 Nashville Site Game Summary Sounds Blow 9th-Inning Lead, Fall 6-5 In Omaha Date Posted: 5/9/2009 OMAHA, Neb. - Former Sound J.R. House delivered a game-winning RBI single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to lead the Omaha Royals to a 6-5, last at-bat win over Nashville on Saturday evening at Rosenblatt Stadium. The Sounds (15-14) led 5-4 entering the bottom of the ninth, only to see their bullpen suffer just its second blown save of the year. Omaha jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning against Sounds starter Nick Green. House put the home team on the board with an RBI single before Mat Tupman added a two-run single later in the frame. Nashville pulled within a score at 3-2 with single runs in the second and third frame on RBI singles by Erick Almonte and Joe Koshansky before pulling ahead, 4-3, in the fifth on consecutive run-scoring extra-base hits off the bats of Mat Gamel (triple) and Brendan Katin (double) off Royals starter Heath Phillips. The Sounds increased the lead to 5-3 in the top of the sixth when Almonte scored on Tony Gwynn's two-out RBI single, which chased Phillips. Omaha pulled back within a run in the seventh when a leadoff walk came back to haunt Sounds reliever R.J. Swindle. Cory Aldridge drew the free pass and came home to score on Brayan Pena's two-out triple to right, making it a 5-4 contest. Ryan Houston worked a scoreless eighth for Nashville before running into trouble to start the ninth. After walking Aldridge to open the inning, the right-hander mishandled Irving Falu's sacrifice bunt attempt, throwing the ball away to put runners on second and third with no outs. Chris Smith was summoned from the Nashville bullpen and walked Tug Hulett to load the bases before Pena tied the game with a fielder's choice grounder that plated Ed Lucas, who had pinch-run for Aldridge. After Pena was caught stealing and Smith issued an intentional walk to Kila Ka'aihue, House delivered his game-winning knock on a 2-0 offering. Royals reliever Tim Hamulack (2-0) was the beneficiary of the late Omaha rally, picking up the winning following one scoreless inning of work. Houston (0-1) was charged with the loss for Nashville. The teams continue the series with a 12:05 p.m. doubleheader on Sunday afternoon, a pair of seven-inning contests which will make up last Sunday's rainout in Nashville. The Sounds will send right-hander Tim Dillard (5-0, 2.48) to the hill in the opener to face Omaha right-hander Brandon Duckworth (1-1, 5.40). Neither team has announced its starter for the nightcap. Nashville Box Score Gamel records a double and a triple against a left-handed pitcher, as he continues to his LHPs better than RHPs this year. Alcides Escobar, a quiet name in prospect conversations so far this spring, records his first multi-hit game in May, as he's a mini hot streak away to getting his numbers back to respectability. Nashville Game Log It's hard to think of a worse start for Ryan Houston in the ninth inning. I knew the Brewers should have signed J.R. House a few years ago.

Diamond Jaxx and Stars postponed on Saturday - Game to be made up on Sunday, June 7th as part of double-header

Final: Brevard County 3, Lakeland 2 Brevard County Box Score The 'Tees scored all three of their runs in the fourth inning, with the big hit being a two-run single by Sergio Miranda. Of the seven hits, only one was an extra base hit (Farris' double), as the hits were spread evenly throughout the lineup. As noted above, Mike Jones is the real story on this day, with an impressive effort that is not only one of his best, but one of the best among Brewers' farmhands so far this year. Brevard County Game Log The Manatees didn't even start hitting in the fourth inning until they had two outs. Overall a fairly clean game.

Final: Wisconsin 2, South Bend Wisconsin Site Game Summary Triple decker for Silver Hawks By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers SOUTH BEND, IN - The South Bend Silver Hawks used three run-scoring triples to rally from an early deficit to defeat the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 11-2 Saturday afternoon at Coveleski Regional Stadium. Ramon Ramirez tripled twice and knocked in four runs for South Bend. The Rattlers are now 0-9 on the road in 2009. Edgar Trejo gave the Timber Rattlers (10-18) an early 2-0 lead. His two-run single in the second inning put Wisconsin up early. But, that was it for the Rattlers on the day. Wisconsin would manage just four more hits and total seven in the game. South Bend (16-13) tied the game in the bottom of the fourth inning. The first two-run triple by Ramirez evened the score at 2-2. The Silver Hawks took the lead in the bottom of the fifth. Brendan Duffy dropped a bunt single to start the frame. An error on a grounder off the bat of Alfredo Marte put runners on first and third with no outs. Rattler starting pitcher Cody Adams got Alberto Diaz to ground into a 6-3 double play, but Duffy scored and the Hawks were up 3-2. They were just getting started. In the bottom of the seventh, South Bend rocked Rattler reliever Wily Peralta. The righty, who had struck out the side in order in the sixth, gave up five straight hits after issuing a one out walk. Diaz started the scoring with an RBI single. Justin Parker was next and he tripled in a pair of runs. Rossmel Perez followed with an RBI single to make the score 7-2. Another single put two runners on and Ramirez chased both of them home with another triple for a 9-2 lead and to chase Peralta from the game. Rattler closer Jim Henderson came on to get out of the inning, but not before he gave up an RBI double to Chris Davis to account for the final run of the frame. South Bend added a run in the eighth on an RBI grounder by Jake Elmore. The Rattlers and Silver Hawks wrap up their three-game series on Sunday afternoon. Wisconsin scheduled starting pitcher was Michael Bowman, but he has been scratched from the start. Sunday's starter for the Rattlers is TBA. South Bend will send lefty Wade Miley (1-1, 3.18) to the hill. Game time is 1:00pm CDT. Wisconsin Box Score There isn't a whole lot to pull out of this box score. battlekow already mentioned that Edgar Trejo had a nice day at the plate, driving in both of the T-Rats runs with a two run single in the second and finishing the day with a pair of base knocks. I'll give a little love to Cody Adams for a decent day on the mound since there isn't much love to share after this one. Wisconsin Game Log TheCrew07 already pointed out Peralta's ugly 7th inning.

Bill Hall is playing well, and there's no point in calling up Gamel to have him mostly ride the bench. Hall is still hitting LHPs much better than RHPs. Fortunately Counsell is hitting the ball pretty well right now as well, and the Brewers are fourth in the NL in runs scored. I've softened on my stance of calling Gamel up because as others have noted they don't "need" him right now. However, if Hall or Counsell (and the two really need to be connected since Hall really struggles against RHPs) starts to slump, and Gamel is still swinging a hot stick, the call needs to be made.

I was a big fan of Kentrail Davis coming out of HS. I really liked the way he swung the bat, and considered him one of the best, most polished bats available for the 2007 draft. A car accident messed up his junior year, and an affiliation with Scott Boras didn't help either, although I heard (and still hear) that he is signable. However, when I saw him both last year and a few times this year, I really don't like how much he goes fishing for breaking balls in the dirt. That's more than just a hole in one's swing, that's a fault in one's approach (how many times do you yell at the TV when Corey Hart swings at those pitches even beyond his reach?). He can be successful as a dead-red, fastball hitter, and he has shown the patience to lay off pitches he can't handle, but he needs to really train himself to become a much more selective hitter. He has some power, a 10-20 HR hitter at the pro level, and he's not really a 5-tool guy. More of a 3-tool guy considering that he can play CF, but won't on an everyday basis at a big-leaguer should he make it that far, as his overall D', and his arm, are made for LF. I have compared him to a LH hitting version of Shannon Stewart for quite some time now once I got past the Kirby Puckett comparisons (which aren't accurate). I don't see the Brewers taking him that late, and I think if he falls that far he will go back to Tennessee for his junior year, which he may be better off doing so. Givens has been 91-95 from what I've heard. Good, not great breaking ball, as he still looked his best in shorter stints last summer when he was 96-98 was a killer breaking ball. I haven't heard much about his swing or his D' this spring, which may indicate that more and more consider him as a RHP. I think two small school guys and teammates fit the Brewers profile perfectly, and may factor into the team's sandwich picks: Kennesaw State RHPs Kyle Heckathorn and Chad Jenkins. Heckathorn entered the spring as the better prospect, but Jenkins may have passed him with improving stuff and much better control/command. They're both big (6'6", 240, 6'5", 205 respectively) and can throw in the mid-90s. Heckathorn as the better raw stuff, but is more of a FB/CH guy that can throw a SL (that needs work), while Jenkins is a FB/CB guy. Kent State teammates Brad Stillings and Kyle Smith entered the year with many believing they would be the ones pushing themselves into sandwich round consideration, but both have struggled, and neither has shaken skepticism that they may be future short relievers given the lack of consistent secondary offerings. Donovan Hand's former Jacksonville State teammate Ben Tootle was huge on the Cape last summer as a closer, but has been his team's Friday starter this spring with mixed results. His stuff is too good to be handled the way it has this spring, a concern that lingered over Evan Frederickson. UC Santa Barbara's Joe Gardner and Oral Roberts' Jerry Sullivan are both good, well-rounded RHPs enjoying good years, while LHP James Jones is having a pretty awful year (on the mound, not at the plate) for Long Island University. UConn's Dan Mahoney is a draft-eligible sophomore that I don't think will even be drafted this year, but is a smaller school, big bodied and live-armed RHP that could push himself into first-round consideration a year from now. As for the hitters, Florida Southern's Robbie Shields is having an ok spring after a very impressive, although short, stint on the Cape last summer. Ohio's Marc Krauss is a hitting machine that has drastically improved his power production this spring (20 HR on the year). He's a LF/1B type that physically is limited similar to Brad Nelson, meaning I don't see the Brewers drafting him early enough to land him.