Who do you target in the 2nd?

[allstar1579]

This is a very good point. Wake Forest had a pretty bad lineup. By the same token, Dykstra wasn't given any protection, which might be a plus depending on whether you think protection really matters. He's a kid to watch.

Totally agree, Dykstra there is kind of like Markakis here (well before he started trying too hard) he was being pitched around constantly. He's got some serious potential. The other Dykstra does too actually, if he is half the player his dad was, he will be a steal for someone.

There are a couple sleeper picks at SS I had my eyes on, one being Casey Kelly, who is slated to be the QB at Tenn. which should kill his draft status, but has a smooth swing and a cannon arm and is projected to play middle infield. The other was a college kid with a 70 arm that I can't remember his name now, should really write these things down.

[rhall]

There are a couple sleeper picks at SS I had my eyes on, one being Casey Kelly, who is slated to be the QB at Tenn. which should kill his draft status, but has a smooth swing and a cannon arm and is projected to play middle infield. The other was a college kid with a 70 arm that I can't remember his name now, should really write these things down.

There are many mock drafts floating around that still see Casey Kelly going in the first round, some as early as mid-1st. If these prognosticators are correct, he's not much of a sleeper anymore. He was one of the HSers that was near the tops of everyone's watch lists preseason as well, so people have been paying attention to him. At this point, I'll be more surprised if he falls past the second round than if he goes top 20.

[Stotle]

There are many mock drafts floating around that still see Casey Kelly going in the first round, some as early as mid-1st. If these prognosticators are correct, he's not much of a sleeper anymore. He was one of the HSers that was near the tops of everyone's watch lists preseason as well, so people have been paying attention to him. At this point, I'll be more surprised if he falls past the second round than if he goes top 20.

Eh, "sleeper" in that most think it will be almost impossible to sign him considering his strong commitment to Tennessee and his demand that any team that drafts him will only play him at SS. I think allstar simply meant he's a candidate to slip to later in the draft.

[rhall]

Eh, "sleeper" in that most think it will be almost impossible to sign him considering his strong commitment to Tennessee and his demand that any team that drafts him will only play him at SS. I think allstar simply meant he's a candidate to slip to later in the draft.

Fair enough... but I've heard that baseball is actually Kelly's first love, and as long as the team picking him wants him as a SS and didn't wait until late in the draft to do it, he'll choose baseball. So if someone likes him enough at SS to take him in the 1st or 1st supplemental, I don't think he'll be too difficult to sign.

[bluehens45]

The guy i really like is Tony Hewitt. SS from Conn. A few other players that might fall doubt it but we'll see.

Dennis Raben Major Power 6-3/220 lbs OF/1B Miami

Lance Lynn 6-5/260 lbs RHP University of Mississippi

Tyson Ross 6-5/215 lbs RHP University of California

Conor Gillaspie 6-1/200 lbs 3B Wichita State

Allan Dykstra 6-5/230 lbs 1B Wake Forest

Tanner Scheppers Ht/Wt: 6-3/170 lbs RHP Fresno State

if he falls we should be all over him.

The kid i would love in the 3rd or 4th is Harold Martinez 3B out of Cali. This kid was talked about as a legit top 10 pick before the season. I love his game. One more for ya that i love Isaac Galloway OF. My dream draft would be

1st Beckham

2nd Scheppers/Dykstra

3rd Galloway

4th Martinez.

[S'GOS]

I like Stockhill's philosophy of drafting high on positions players and always being able to find pitching in the later rounds. I would target a college position player who is close to contributing with the 2nd pick, ideally a middle infielder who can stick in the middle. Ladendorf, Weeks, Havens, or Mercer. If we take Gordan Beckham with our first pick, I would go with someone like Dykstra or Scheppers if he falls

[Stotle]

The guy i really like is Tony Hewitt. SS from Conn. A few other players that might fall doubt it but we'll see.

Dennis Raben Major Power 6-3/220 lbs OF/1B Miami

Lance Lynn 6-5/260 lbs RHP University of Mississippi

Tyson Ross 6-5/215 lbs RHP University of California

Conor Gillaspie 6-1/200 lbs 3B Wichita State

Allan Dykstra 6-5/230 lbs 1B Wake Forest

Tanner Scheppers Ht/Wt: 6-3/170 lbs RHP Fresno State

if he falls we should be all over him.

The kid i would love in the 3rd or 4th is Harold Martinez 3B out of Cali. This kid was talked about as a legit top 10 pick before the season. I love his game. One more for ya that i love Isaac Galloway OF out of Cali. My dream draft would be

1st Beckham

2nd Scheppers/Dykstra

3rd Galloway

4th Martinez.

Martinez is from FL, right? SS at Braddock HS (rumored to switch to 3b eventually). Maybe your confusing with Eric, the SP from CA?

Anyway, I heard Harold has all but stated outright he will not sign and will attend Miami to fine-tune his game. He has a great skill set, but is really raw, as evidenced by his sloppy season. He will be one to watch for the '11 draft -- I'm not sure I'd want to pay him enough to sign and try to work out some pretty large flaws at the professional level. He struggled with good HS competition this year.

[Stotle]

Fair enough... but I've heard that baseball is actually Kelly's first love, and as long as the team picking him wants him as a SS and didn't wait until late in the draft to do it, he'll choose baseball. So if someone likes him enough at SS to take him in the 1st or 1st supplemental, I don't think he'll be too difficult to sign.

Fair points. Teams will be talking to him and his advisor, so we'll see how serious he is about 1) his demands, and 2) QBing the Vols.

[allstar1579]

Fair points. Teams will be talking to him and his advisor, so we'll see how serious he is about 1) his demands, and 2) QBing the Vols.

Yeah he is right, but you hit exactly what I meant, I don't think any team ponies up enough to sign him away. He is still going to play baseball at Tenn. so it's not like he is going to ruin his draft standing completely. But this article talks about how it is going to cost A LOT to get him to give up Tenn, I think he is hinting more than late first round money, and that will scare off a lot of teams because he is not a top 10 talent, and shouldn't get top 10 money.

http://www.govolsxtra.com/news/2008/jan/30/kelly-commits-tennessee/

[allstar1579]

Ok, so since I had some time today, I did some stat analyzing, and what do you guys think of these guys. Not really 1st rounders, but some of them could go anywhere 2-5th.

1. R. Havens: I know he's projected maybe late first, I just wanted to see if you think he drops, and if we should snatch him, seems like a prototypical leadoff guy, steals, walks, and scores.

2. M. Sheridan: 1B W&Mary - is up at the top of most offensive stats right now, including a very interesting one, hardest to strike out, which is an underrated but telling stat.

3. Michael Harrington: OF College of Charleston. Senior, leading DIV I in HR right now, and at the top of a few other stats.

4.&5. Teammates from GA. Southern: AJ Wirnsberger INF, and Chris Shehan OF.

Just wanted to see if you guys had seen much of these guys and what you thought of them. I saw Sheridan a few weeks back, and he reminds me of Nick Johnson. The other ones I haven't been able to dig much up on, my scout buddies hadn't seen them either, but their numbers are intriguing.

[oriole from cal]

Ok, I'm going to throw a name out there that probably no one has heard of. Since I''m from California there is a 1B name Mike Gonzales who played for Diablo Valley who happens to play in the 2nd best Junior College league in California(Orange Empire being No.1) and maybe the USA since JC ball throughout the USA doesn't want California to compete since they always seem to win, anyway back to my point is that he plays in a very competive league. The kid is 6'6 and weighs 245LBs and is all muscle. My youngest son pitched against him and all I did was pray that he didn't hit up the middle. My prayer was answered and he only hit a 475ft bomb!! BTW, there were at least 25 scouts that day and he didn't disappoint. I know for a fact that the Orioles have their eye on him. Here is his stats.

AVG      AB   R   H   2B  3B  HR RBI   TB  SLG%  BB HBP  SO GDP   OB%  SF  SH  SB-ATT   PO   A   E  FLD%.377     151  44  57   9   1  18  50  122  .808  31  13  25   2  .510   3   0   5-7    387  26   8  .981

Oh, I forgot one thing hit also hit 3 HRs, batted .462 and a Slg% of 1.231 during the State's playoffs

[allstar1579]

Ok, I'm going to throw a name out there that probably no one has heard of. Since I''m from California there is a 1B name Mike Gonzales who played for Diablo Valley who happens to play in the 2nd best Junior College league in California(Orange Empire being No.1) and maybe the USA since JC ball throughout the USA doesn't want California to compete since they always seem to win, anyway back to my point is that he plays in a very competive league. The kid is 6'6 and weighs 245LBs and is all muscle. My youngest son pitched against him and all I did was pray that he didn't hit up the middle. My prayer was answered and he only hit a 475ft bomb!! BTW, there were at least 25 scouts that day and he didn't disappoint. I know for a fact that the Orioles have their eye on him. Here is his stats.

AVG      AB   R   H   2B  3B  HR RBI   TB  SLG%  BB HBP  SO GDP   OB%  SF  SH  SB-ATT   PO   A   E  FLD%.377     151  44  57   9   1  18  50  122  .808  31  13  25   2  .510   3   0   5-7    387  26   8  .981

Oh, I forgot one thing hit also hit 3 HRs, batted .462 and a Slg% of 1.231 during the State's playoffs

Not bad! Looks like a decent later round pick, depending on when someone takes him. The K/BB ratio bothers me a bit, seems like a bit of a free swinger, who at this level makes good contact more often than not. Only 9 doubles to 18 homeruns is an interesting ratio as well.

[TakebackOPACY]

Ok, I'm going to throw a name out there that probably no one has heard of. Since I''m from California there is a 1B name Mike Gonzales who played for Diablo Valley who happens to play in the 2nd best Junior College league in California(Orange Empire being No.1) and maybe the USA since JC ball throughout the USA doesn't want California to compete since they always seem to win, anyway back to my point is that he plays in a very competive league. The kid is 6'6 and weighs 245LBs and is all muscle. My youngest son pitched against him and all I did was pray that he didn't hit up the middle. My prayer was answered and he only hit a 475ft bomb!! BTW, there were at least 25 scouts that day and he didn't disappoint. I know for a fact that the Orioles have their eye on him. Here is his stats.

AVG      AB   R   H   2B  3B  HR RBI   TB  SLG%  BB HBP  SO GDP   OB%  SF  SH  SB-ATT   PO   A   E  FLD%.377     151  44  57   9   1  18  50  122  .808  31  13  25   2  .510   3   0   5-7    387  26   8  .981

Oh, I forgot one thing hit also hit 3 HRs, batted .462 and a Slg% of 1.231 during the State's playoffs

Hmm, shades of Recknagel?

[DocJJ]

some people call him a John Olerud clone, only with more range defensively. Played SS in college, but projects as a 2nd baseman.

another one I like is Arizona State OF/1B Ike Davis-

Monster Power!

[DennisTheOsFan]

Finding out who we drafted with the 4th is exciting. But also hoping we'll land a Joba Chamberlain, a Jake Arrieta, a Mike Piazza, etc, in the rounds after the 1st is also exciting.