fewgoodcards

some cardinals fans are hoping they take lawrie and just put him at third to fill their void at that position

i have heard meyer is unsignable, and baseball america is reporting today that melville is going to north carolina if he isn't picked in the 10-15 range. of course he could change his mind if someone takes him later and pays him like a top 15 pick, but the brewers don't seem like a team that is willing to do that.

and he was done pretty soon after that

colby, putnam could get that many starts, but if he doesn't pitch this weekend he only has 2 chances to start before the draft.

the cardinals didn't know with rick ankiel until about 8 years in http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

i still think josh fields is the obvious choice

thanks for the reply. those were the same names i was thinking. shooter hunt seems like a perfect fit for their preferences, but his walk totals scare the crap out of me. you are right, friedrich doesn't really seem to fit their mold as they like high velocity guys and they don't draft a lot of lefties either. melville does seem like a nice fit, but i just don't know what to make of his struggles this year. obviously he still has a ton of potential and looks like a stud out there on the mound with his size. if you would have told me two months ago that the cards would get melville at 13 i would have been thrilled, but i don't know what to think now. i still think he may be the best combination of projectability and track record available at 13. i do think meyer and gray could be good fits. apparently luhnow loved jarrod parker last year and according to one of the scouts on draft day the rangers took blake beaven "right out from under them." meyer seems to be the closest thing there is to beaven this year as far as size and stuff, but obviously he isn't as polished. gray also has a lot of jarrod parker in him. i still like the potential of martin, but i would really like to see a video of him on the mound before i say i'm all for that pick. i also think you could see them reach a little for a guy like jemile weeks. they took a couple of miami players a couple years ago in perez and jay and both have done pretty well. luhnow also likes guys with track records, and weeks has been a stud since he step foot on campus. he has also proven he can hit with wood. i'm still trying to find my knew group of players. my favorites before the year started were scheppers and harold martinez, but scheppers pitched himself up out of our range, and martinez has gone the opposite direction. i also liked gordon beckham and buster posey, but i don't see any way either of those guys makes it down to 13.

colby, who do you think are some of the guys the cardinals may be considering at 13? also, do you consider kelly as a shortstop or a pitcher? do you think hicks is going to hit?

i think fields is the obvious pick there unless you want another high school pitcher.

i just don't see how posey would be a reach 16. he is a solid mid first round talent at this point.

if you want a catcher and skipworth is gone, i would see no problem with taking buster posey. he is very athletic for a catcher and is a good pure hitter. he has some pop, and he will steal some bases early in his career. he is new to catching so he probably has some work to do, but he should have great agility behind the plate and i know he has a fantastic arm.

colby, what do you think adams' ultimate mlb hitting potential is? his numbers up to this point are better than what ryan zimmerman did at virginia, but it seems like ryan was always a guy that was considered to be a very good hitter that just didn't have the stats to back it up. i have heard people call adams a very good pure hitter, but no one really projects him to hit for much power even though he has a nice build. i saw he hit 2 homers in a game over the weekend, and was just wondering if he was a guy that could hit 20 homers or if he was more of a 10 homer guy.

aaron hicks is the toolsy centerfielder, he has 6.7 speed in the 60 and a 95 mph fastball from the mound. he is also a switch hitter and has plenty of room to fill out and add power. the only question is will he hit?

i would take tanner scheppers over all those college pitchers you listed. here is how i have the top 5 college pitchers ranked right now: brian matusz, aaron crow, christian friedrich, tanner scheppers, and brett hunter.

i think it depends on their control. a guy with good control is going to move very fast (see street and cordero), but a guy with control that is not so good isn't going to be ready nearly as quickly (see devine, hansen, and chris perez).

sonny gray sounds an awful lot like jarrod parker. shorter righty with a very smooth delivery that produces mid-90's heat and he backs it up with a filthy slider. do you think gray will fly up the rankings this year like parker did last year?

i thought about putting a closer for the brewers' pick, but i think it would be hard to pass up a guy like meyer who could be a very good starter when there should still be a very good closer available at 32. for closers you have st. clair, perry, fields, and hunter if you consider him a closer that could all be first round worthy. as for st. clair and hunter, i want to see st. clair healthy before i move him up as far as you have him. he can be electric when healthy, but i want to see him pitching this spring. do you know if they plan to start him or if he is going back to closer? hunter does have great stuff, but i want to see him get his walks under control before i put him in the top 15. to me, he is mark mccormick right now and mccormick didn't go until the middle of the sandwich round. i did almost put him going to the cardinals at 13 though b/c they seem to like the raw college righties with the big arms. i do like friedrich and think he would be a solid pick at 13. i also think he is a lot like zito b/c he has such a fantastic curveball and his velocity seems to be solid average. the thing that concerns me with him is his control as he walked more guys his sophomore year than he did his freshman year, and he also had huge walk problems on the cape this summer. now maybe it is a result of pitch selection and him throwing his curve too much, but i just don't see how so many people are projecting him to be a fast mover when he walks over 4 guys per 9 in a very weak conference.

jim callis gave his thoughts on the top 5 picks at this time in the latest ask BA. here's the link if you want his reasoning check out the story, but here are the picks 1. Rays- Tim Beckham SS Griffin High School, GA 2. Pirates- Pedro Alvarez 3B Vanderbilt 3. Royals- Aaron Crow RHP Missouri 4. Orioles- Brian Matusz LHP San Diego 5. Giants- Justin Smoak 1B South Carolina i thought it would be fun to try and guess some more, so here's what i think up to the brewers' first pick 6. Marlins- Harold Martinez SS Braddock High School, FL 7. Reds- Tim Melville RHP Holt High School, MO 8. White Sox- Gerrit Cole RHP Orange Lutheran High School, CA 9. Nationals- Eric Hosmer 1B American Heritage High School, FL 10. Astros- Jacob Thompson RHP Virginia 11. Rangers- Aaron Hicks CF Woodrow Wilson High School, CA 12. Athletics- Yonder Alonso 1B Miami (FL) 13. Cardinals- Christian Friedrich LHP Eastern Kentucky 14. Twins- Kyle Shipworth C Patriot High School, CA 15. Dodgers- Isaac Galloway CF Los Osos High School, CA 16. Brewers- Alex Meyer RHP Greenburg High School, IN thoughts?

it seems like kyle shipworth would be a perfect fit for the brewers, but i don't know if he will last that long. maybe jacob thompson as a fast moving college pitcher that could fit in the back of the rotation in a hurry. as for my cardinals, i am really hoping that harold martinez lasts until #13. he would be an ideal fit for our system.

heres what i am thinking in order of what i would be happy with 1. heyward. 2. wieters 3. moskos (i love lefties who can bring the heat) 4. Detwiler moskos only brings the heat when he is in the pen. he has been about 87-89 in the rotation and not striking out anyone. personally, i don't understand why he is ranked so highly. IMO he has 3rd starter upside in the rotation and is probably better in the pen. everyone says you don't take a closer that high when talking about weathers, so why don't they say it about moskos?

Which only emphasizes how big it could be to add a player like Mike Moustakas into the system. He would immediately give the organization an impact bat, which it desparately needs with Braun's promotion. It makes too much sense, and the only reason I don't have Moustakas going to the Brewers is because I don't think he falls that far. If he does, and the Brewers don't take him, I may suffer a pulled Kotchman. moustakas and heyward would be great picks for you guys and both seem to fit in with the needs that you were describing, lefthanded power bats. i ran the cardinals draft at minorleagueball.com and i was absolutely thrilled with my first 2 rounds. i took 18. kevin ahrens 36. pete kozma 71. nathan vineyard 82. wes roemer i don't think any of those players will still be available at the spot i drafted them at on thursday.

colby already mentioned it in another thread, but they have the brewers taking moustakas. they basically said your new owner is excited and he wants to spend the money it takes to get a top of the line bat. looking at who they have the cardinals taking, i would be beyond happy if we actually got wieters at 18.

That meant they had to sign Fielder for $200,000 more than expected, and that year, coupled with the signing of DFE Manny Parra, meant the team lost several of their early picks that they had hoped to sign (although none of them came back to haunt the Brewers). isn't it more important to get the right player early (especially in the top 10) than to worry about having the money to sign 3rd and 4th rounders. i know every pick is important, but i would think the percentage of top 10 draft picks that make it to the major leagues is a lot higher than 3rd or 4th rounders. if i had to choose between getting the guy i wanted in the first round and signing my 4th rounder, i am getting the guy i want in the first.

i think it is wrong to compare major league pitch counts to college pitchers. major league pitchers are throwing on 4 days rest and throwing 100-110 pitches most times out. a college pitcher only goes once a week and gets an extra 2 days rest. you don't think that makes a difference? i bet if you gave major league pitchers a week to get ready they would have no problem throwing 120-130 pitches.

A team may be nuts to pass on a talent like Wieters, but it won't cost "a little extra" to sign him i keep thinking back to 2004 when the padres wanted to save some money and took matt bush #1 overall. they ended up paying him just over $3 million to sign and he has been a total bust since the day he signed (i don't know why they haven't tried him at pitcher). they could have had stephen drew or jered weaver for less than a million dollars more. what is saving money, paying matt bush $3 million when he more than likely will never play a game in the majors or paying about a million more for a guy that could be a front line starter or everyday shortstop? i don't understand the saving money idea at the top of the draft. you save money by getting guys to the major leagues and paying them the minimum for 3 years to provide a lot more than the minimum production. your best chance to get guys to the major leagues is to take the best players. colby, you have said that wieters is likely looking for something in the range of stephen drew. now i know that the 7th pick isn't slotted for over $3 million like the #1 pick, but its still going to be about $2.5 million. i know that's not a "little bit extra" b/c its like having another first round pick to pay, but i don't see how that much could stop you from getting a top 3 talent later in the draft.