Wednesday, April 2, 2008

It's Still Hot in the Desert

Only because this is Yuma, read Devil's Highway...

Team's Good Picks:
There are a lot to choose from. Rafael Perez and Rohrbaugh are great picks. Obviously Perez was thought highly of as he was a first round selection. Rohrbaugh is a Braves farmhand who was a draft and follow. That means he was selected out of high school and chose not to sign with the Braves, but went to a junior college. This allows the Braves to sign him before he is eligible for re-entry into the draft. He is a good lefty who is the leader of a new young class of Braves arms. Daniel Moskos could rise quickly in the Bucs organization. He throws hard and is left handed and in my opinion would be a fantastic set up man like BJ Ryan. Another highlighted pick is Johnny Cueto. Cueto is a bulldog type pitcher which is probably necessary in the Great American Smallpark.

Team's Bad Picks:
Really none, but I would say that Matusz is the weakest pick. He is only in this category because he is still in college. As I have said before, drafting college players is bad in the 40 man roster era of BARB. Matusz, despite being a highly regarded arm, is still going to take a few years to reach the pros. He takes away a degree of freedom from roster flexibility.

Most Underrated Selection:
Carlos Carrasco could be this season's version of Yovani Gallardo. He has tremendous stuff and is in an organization that sorely needs arms. This was a great pick and beat Brooklyn to the punch.

Overall: A
There is little that gets past Chris come draft time. He had a phenomenal draft and continues to add players taht can contribute now, the near future, and down the line a few years. This creates a stable organization that makes the playoffs year after year. The depth that was created through solid deep drafts allows Yuma to trade an All-Star OF for a young shortstop and not miss a beat. Another excellent draft in the desert.

6 comments:

cjm06 said...

in my opinion, matusz could reach the majors in the same amount of time that it will take price, who will probably see some action this year but should be pitching in 09. Matusz and Price were nearly identical pitchers in college, although price has a more lively fastball and stronger build. i except matusz to be a regular by 2010, about the same time rohrbaugh will pitch (same with parker, alderson perhaps)

you also beat me to the punch with dewitler. i guess we are even

ejcMOABS said...

True taht Matusz may make it to the majors by 2009 but you probably could select him next year in the 4th round. I just think you jumped the gun a bit with Matusz, a lot could happen with young pitchers.

cjm06 said...

very true, thats why i live by them motto that you can never have enough pitching!

just for example, ex draft picks who have been "busts":

Cesar Carillo
Ricky Romero
Mark Pawalek

Questionable: Brendan Morrow (control is really bad), Troy Patton (labrum)

Success: Matt Cain

ouch.

of course, i still have to wait and see with Buchholz, Hurley, and Price, guys that i drafted before this year.

Scott Hatfield . . . . said...

I agree, Chris got an 'A' in this draft, without question. My other comment is that he obviously focused on obtaining lefthanders in this year's draft, much the same way as I did last year. It's probably harder to develop left-handed pitching than anything else.

Andrew Haynes said...

I must disagree with the A as long as my draft got a B. It seems I got a B mainly because of the players that are "years off". If you look at it, my younger prospects are in the same category as the ones Chris drafted.

Scheppers and Matusz will both go in the top-10 and be in the majors by the end of next year. Rohrbaugh is intriguing but wasn't even on BA's Top-100. Unless he makes a meteoric rise as a reliever, he won't be in the majors until late 2010 at the earliest. Brett Anderson's ETA is 2009 and he was #36 according to BA.

Daniel Moskos, another guy outside the Top-100 (didn't even get any votes as one of the top 150 from any of BA's voters), might come up soon but BA doesn't even project him in the Pittsburgh rotation (or as closer) in 2011. Jason Heyward, another of the three you questioned, is a few years away but was #28 in the BA list and will probably be higher next year. I'm surprised you didn't show him the same hometown favoritism you did Rohrbaugh.

I don't have the individual team draft lists in front of me, but I feel my draft was just as good (if not better because of the talent) than that of Chris.

ejcMOABS said...

With concern to 'years off' which I receive a lot of criticism, I must say that I took into consideration the organization and its need too. With Rohrbaugh, the Braves rotation is Ancient. I mean they have a foot in the grave. Heyward has less opportunity to reach the Braves quickly, unless of course the Braves can resign Tex. Moskos is a hard throwing lefty destined to be in the bullpen. He was in college, and if you take Billy Beane's approach, he is more likely to succeed. Pirates are also terrible and will need a hardthrowing lefty out of the pen.

With Scheppers and Matusz, I just think, even with a quick rise, an owner should draft a player already in the system. It is not always easy to project college arms and their transition to wooden bats. The unknown translation removes a free slot. My point is that with the 40 person cap, there are better players and players more likely to contribute sooner than a top flite college player. Hope that clears it up.