colbyjack

That's actually Craig of the BrewCrewReview. He may have stumbled over his words at times, but you've got to give these guys a lot of credit for having the devotion and taking the time to take these road trips from Milwaukee while making the necessary arrangements to make these interviews happen to provide us with things like this, as Brian noted, something that we normally would not have to enjoy.

Well, that might just be enough incentive for me to make the trip to GB this summer http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif. I can't tell you any specifics about Dovel regarding what he throws, but I think his performance as a freshmen, pitching the third most innings of any Titan reliever, one of the best programs in all of college baseball, speaks loud enough. His ERA was higher than his peripheral numbers suggest, and I appreciate you bringing up his name, as I have a feeling he's going to find himself in the mix for the top prospect list that I compile.

No, I don't travel to games in the NWL. I usually hit a game or two a summer, going to Madison, because it's the closest, are trying to hit an Express game in Eau Claire when I'm visiting the in-laws. Most of my work with that is done over the phone, talking to the coaches and scouts that cover the league to gather information, but I do plan on going to the all-star game this year, which is in Madison. I think the Area Code Games are open to the public, but you may want to contact them first to make sure. Here's the website: http://www.areacodebaseball.com/

The Area Code Games will be August 5-10 at Blair Field (home of the Dirtbags) in Long Beach. Here is the list of tryouts the Brewers will be conducting to assemble the talent for the two teams they host: Wednesday, July 2: Delta College, Stockton, California Monday, July 7: Orange Coast College, Costa Mesa, California Tuesday, July 8: Orange Coast College, Costa Mesa, California

I honestly don't think signing Lintz will be an issue. Early picks rarely turn down the money offered them to attend college. It happens, but the Brewers for the most part historically have not let their early picks slip away, as they typically target players they know they will be able to sign relatively quickly and get them into the system. Because of that, I really don't think Kentucky's coaching situation will play too big of a part in this. I think Lintz' situation is just magnified given his comments on draft day, but I'm guessing he's in the system before the end of the month. Stosh is probably the first player they took (in round 16) that will pose somewhat of a difficulty signing.

If you think scouts have a chance to catch their breath now that the 2008 draft is done, think again. They turn around immediately and start scouting the talent eligible for next year's draft. Between the summer college wood bat leagues and the number of high profile showcase and tournament events at the high school level, the summer season is a very busy one for scouts. This weekend is the Perfect Game National Showcase, this year held at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. Perfect Game has a nice story looking back at last year's participants, and where they were drafted this year: http://www.perfectgame.org/stories/08_06_08_pg_national_and_the_draft/index.aspx As you can see, a ton of talent attended this event. Many of the very best of the best from this event are selected to participate in the Aflac All-American Classic in August (of which I still don't believe the site has been announced, which is very late). Over the course of the summer feel free to share your thoughts on some of the best prospects looking forward and how they are faring in their respective summer leagues and tourneys. I'll be covering the Northwoods League once again for PG Crosschecker.

Fredrickson's upside definitely fits the team's approach to scouting. Huge upside, big-time stuff but rough around the edges. Gillaspie is kind of the opposite type of player, as he's pretty much the type of player that you currently see: Lefty-hitter with great approach and high batting average, double-digit HR power but probably never will hit many more than 20-25 and his defense at 3B is a big question (he made a poor throw on a routine play that his first baseman was able to adjust to today, but I've seen him make similar throws in previous games this spring). If he can't stick at third base you have a light hitting outfield corner or first baseman in the mold of Dave Magadan. Nothing to scoff at, but again, the upside isn't there. Oh yeah, I wanted to remind everyone to check out the official draft pick selection/signing thread as I have entered scouting reports for all of the players the Brewers have selected if you want to get to know them a little more. Thanks again to everyone else that contributed on draft day.

Wooten's fastball isn't throw particularly hard (he's right around 90) but he throws it where he wants it, and his slider/splitter are nearly unhittable when he's throwing darts with his fastball the way he was. Buster Posey was huge today as FSU advances. Now onto Gordon Beckham and the Bulldogs taking on NC State.

Unfortunately Cal State Fullerton lost again to Stanford last night, as Stanford's heading for Omaha. Jason Castro was huge in both of their game.

I have added scouting reports for the players drafted in the top 30 rounds. I hope to round out the remaining 20 players over the weekend, as I worked a 12-hour day and my eyes are burning after adding so many scouting reports in a short amount of time. It's hard to get a read on the overall drafting effort of the scouting dep't. I really like the picks of Lawrie and Odorizzi, as they both give the system two potential impact players who could move quickly and should debut very high on the Power 50. I think it's the fact that the team took so many pitchers early and so many pitchers that profile in a very similar fashion to one another that makes it tough to get a read on the players they actuallly took. Odorizzi, Lintz, Adams, Lasker, Watten, Watten and Bowman are all very similar in size and stuff, and they all have a history of swing the bat. Any of those guys could blossom significantly by the end of the summer, and they all should form a very interesting pitching situation with some of the arms the team already has in the system. Since the draft didn't feature too many hitters, keep an eye on Eric Komatsu. He's a very similar OF prospect to Luis Gonzalez, and I'm predicting he becomes the next fan favorite for those that follow the minor leaguers by the end of the 2008 minor league season. He should have no problems hitting at Helena, and could end the summer with the Power, possibly earlier than expected. While many including myself predicted the Brewers would target pitchers early and often, I don't think anyone thought they would go as nuts as they did drafting as many arms as they did. I think they took more risks in rounds 20-50, as there might not be enough rosters spots in the lower levels to sign as many players as they did a year ago, which led me to believe that they might stop drafting players around the 40th round. They went the full 50, so don't be surprised if they don't sign a lot of their draftees, especially since they had so many extra, early picks, all of whom should be in the fold rather quickly. Lawrie is a great pick in round one. I'm not so sure he sticks behind the plate, as he's probably more like Michael Barrett than Russell Martin, but the team can be patient with his development behind the plate. As guessed by many earlier, the team might have to move Lawrie elsewhere for the simple fact that his bat may carry him faster than his defense will. Also, for a team that made it clear that they had organizational weaknesses at both catcher and third base, positions that Lawrie could play, they didn't really go out of their way to address either position, particularly third base. I'm not sure if this is just how their draft shaked out or if it may have to do with a renewed confidence in the players they already have in their system at those positions, but I personally found that to be an interesting storyline after looking at the players they drafted.

Jeffress out-groundballs Evan Anundsen this evening with a 10-2 GO:FO ratio as part of his spectacular start. Hopefully the Manatees hitters can come through for him.

The Royals draft looks good on paper with Hosmer, Montgomery, Sample and Melville, but there will be challenges signing this group of prep standouts. What are your impressions of the Royals draft so far and will they be able to sign everyone? Going into the draft, I liked Sample and Montgomery and hoped the Brewers would select one of them. I think Melville is their back-up plan in the event they're not able to sign Hosmer, who is going to take a ton of cash and isn't opposed to walking away from big money to go play at ASU. I don't think they get both of those players signed, but crazier things have happened. They did a really nice job taking the players they did.

If he pans out it's an awesome pick, if not he shouldn't be the focus. Great perspective igor. You really can't fault the organization for taking a chance on this guy. Hopefully he's more mega than Eric Mega Thomas http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif. What's the left-handed verison of "Mega"? Frederickson sounds interesting, but walking 13.4, 11.9, and 7.3 guys per 9 innings over his college career has me hoping he's not a left-handed version of Jason Neighborgall. Notice the improving trend, and that's a big reason why scouts think he could get even better. He transferred from Virginia Tech for his junior year, and he really took well to the instruction at San Francisco, a school known for handling pitchers well. I agree 100% that Jason Neighborgall was the first name I thought of when Fredrickson was first suggested to me as a possible early-round pick about two weeks ago. As for Logan Schafer, first of all battlekow is absolutely right that Brantley, Cain and Gillespie are completely different prospects, and Schafer really doesn't profile like any of them. He's more of a Steve Finley type of CF, with good but not great speed but makes the most of his natural baseball instincts to take excellent routes on flyballs and get good jumps on the basepaths. He has a line drive bat and a good eye at the plate, with more power potential than Brantley but less than Gillespie. If anything, he's the left-handed hitting version of Steve Moss, which should perk up Katuluu http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif.

I really like the players the team targeted on the first day of the draft. There probably weren't as many high profile names that many would have hoped and/or expected, but they definitely loaded up on pitching, and the pitchers they took are very similar to one another. They're all in the 6'1"-6'3" range and 170-190 pounds with good fastballs, good fastball movement, good breaking pitches and most of them profile as pretty good hitters as well, an added bonus for an NL club. Of course Fredrickson doesn't fit that same profile, as he has a lot more to work on, but if the team (and fans) are patient with him he could be one heck of a pitcher. It just isn't easy finding lefties that throw as hard as consistently as he does, and his slurve is also a pretty nasty pitch. The Power 50 team has their work cut out for them to try and figure out how these players fit.

We heard a few days ago that Fredrickson had some helium. It's hard to say who would have and would not have been available in the 50s. The Brewers obviously liked him enough to not take the risk of seeing if he would have. EDIT: Fredrickson is also the first college pitcher Jack Z. has selected before round 3.

Fredrickson is a high-risk, high reward player. He's a big lefty that can throw in the mid-90s, but he walks a ton of guys. Here's a first-hand report on Odorizzi from February: Louisville recruit Jake Odorizzi was the best of the best from this year's group, showing an incredibly live arm that easily produced radar readings in the low-90s. His fastball topped out at 93, and it never dipped below 90. He showed the ability to drop his nasty low-80s slider into the strike zone or use it to get batters fishing in the dirt. In addition to his slider, Odorizzi also showed a true 12 to six curve that was a good five miles per hour slower than his slider while showing a more dramatic, downward break. It's easy to envision him throwing harder this spring as the weather warms up (it has nowhere to go but up) given how easy his arm works, and it's also easy envisioning him creeping into the first round come June. After seeing him last Saturday, I would be surprised to see Odorizzi end up at Louisville.

Odorizzi is an awesome pick, and actually a player I took both in my projected picks (I believe at pick #32) and on the blogger mock draft.

Please supply links and stuff in the draft pick discussion thread as well if you don't mind. I've deemed this thread a free-for-all, but any pertinent info might get lost since I'm guessing no one is going to want to read through this thread later.

I'm guessing people are flocking here to get scouting reports on players, as I can't even open the draft page right now to post the report I had on Lawrie. The attention is nice http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif.

Brett Lawrie gets the call, as a catcher, with the team's first pick. Please supply any useful information on Lawrie and the picks to come in the top 5 rounds within this thread.

Wow, I actually didn't jinx the pick this year. Did anyone hear if Ethan Martin was announced as a RHP or a 3B? ESPN has him listed as a 3B, although that might just be how they have him listed in their database.

Ethan Martin emerged as arguably the top prep pitcher by throwing in the low-to-mid-90s this spring with a hammer curveball. It might be the best true curve available in the draft. Prior to this spring, he was considered a better prospect as a power hitting third baseman, as he shared the HR derby crown with Destin Hood at last summer's Aflac game.

Scratch what i just said. I've made a new Brewers draft pick discussion thread for the top 5 rounds. Use this thread to talk about the draft in any way you see fit, including other team's picks, etc.

Please use this thread to share your thoughts, links, stories, pictures and anything else on the Brewers picks on draft day from rounds 1 through 5. Please do not start separate threads to discuss the individual picks. Please use the in-draft thread to talk about the picks similar to a game thread.

Nevermind, I don't want to surpress the draft talk. Chat away, but keep in mind there is a chat room as well if you want more of a live person-to-person chat atmosphere.