BA's 2009 Mock Draft (v3.0)

[jamesenoch]

http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/draft/mock-draft/2009/268291.html

First 10 (With BA's v1.0 pick and v2.0 in parenthesis) :

01) Nationals - Strasburg

02) Mariners - Dustin Ackley

03) Padres - Donovan Tate (Mike Minor, Grant Green)

04) Pirates - Aaron Crow (Crow, Kyle Gibson))

05) Orioles - Zack Wheeler (Kyle Gibson, Alex White)

06) Giants - Tyler Matzek (Matzek, Donovan Tate)

07) Braves - Mike Minor (Zack Wheeler)

08) Red - Kyle Gibson (Tanner Scheppers , Aaron Crow)

09) Tiger - Jacob Turner

10) Nationals - Chad Jenkins

What they are saying about the Orioles : Baltimore would like a college pitcher, but Gibson's health is a question, White is slumping and it's too early to pick Minor. The Orioles have shown interest in Crow and Matzek, but they're zeroing in on Wheeler.

2 interesting notes/developments :

Rumblings started to come out Thursday that North Carolina first baseman Dustin Ackley, who's advised by the Scott Boras Corp., may be spooking Mariners at No. 2 with his asking price. Boras is alluding to Mark Teixeira's record deal for a drafted hitter (a $9.5 million big league contract), and may want to adjust up for eight years of inflation.

California high school lefthander Tyler Matzek has moved ahead of the other elite prep pitchers—and to No. 2 overall on some clubs' draft boards—with back-to-back exceptional playoff starts. He touched 97 and 98 mph in the two outings, maintained his velocity and quality breaking stuff deep into both games.

[JTrea81]

Rumblings started to come out Thursday that North Carolina first baseman Dustin Ackley, who's advised by the Scott Boras Corp., may be spooking Mariners at No. 2 with his asking price. Boras is alluding to Mark Teixeira's record deal for a drafted hitter (a $9.5 million big league contract), and may want to adjust up for eight years of inflation.

Please let him drop to us, please let him drop to us...

[Duke2010]

I really hope by 'zeroing' in, that the O's are just establishing a baseline for Wheeler just in case Crow and Matzek are gone by pick #5. I'll only be disappointed with the Wheeler pick if we pass on Crow and Matzek to do so.

And with Ackley, I just don't see him falling. Even if the Mariners decide that his price is too high, I doubt SD passes on him. His demands are probably similar to that of Buster Posey, and IIRC he got nothing close to what he wanted last year. However, I see PIT taking a pitcher, so if Ackley is around at 4 I could see him being available at 5...I'd just be shocked if it happened that way.

[High Mileage]

Can you tell me who they have KC taking please?

[JCK]

"zeroing in" is a pretty strong statement. I wouldn't be disappointed with Wheeler, as long as JJ believes he is the best available. If we are passing on someone (Matzek, Ackley) for signability reasons, I will be legitimately pissed.

[Duke2010]

Well, according to Mayo the word around town is that Wheeler visited Baltimore not to long ago, so where there's smoke there's fire.

[WebLink21]

Please let him drop to us, please let him drop to us...

I am trying not to think about it because I don't want to be disappointed, but that would really be nice. I love the thought of putting a college bat like his into the system. He could be up just in time to contribute to the team when we are becoming really competitive.

[DocJJ]

The O's have had significant conversations with : Wheeler, Turner, White, and Hobgood. White and Wheeler have visited Baltimore.

[shoriole]

http://baseballanalysts.com/archives/2009/06/interview_with.php

Zack Wheeler interview. Sounds very confident throwing any one of his pitches- doesn't mind throwing a 3-2 curveball.

[JCK]

The O's have had significant conversations with : Wheeler, Turner, White, and Hobgood. White and Wheeler have visited Baltimore.

Ugh. Wheeler I don't mind, but the others...

PS- your sig confuses me. What if there were 2 that could actually pitch? Then 37*2 = 74 pitchers?

[ChaosLex]

http://baseballanalysts.com/archives/2009/06/interview_with.php

Zack Wheeler interview. Sounds very confident throwing any one of his pitches- doesn't mind throwing a 3-2 curveball.

I linked to that in my thread as well.

Also, here's a link to his MySpace page. :laughlol:

http://www.myspace.com/zackwheelerbaseball

[ChaosLex]

BTW, is Wheeler a Boras client?

[JCK]

BTW, is Wheeler a Boras client?

I don't believe so. Turner is though.

[LookinUp]

The O's have had significant conversations with : Wheeler, Turner, White, and Hobgood. White and Wheeler have visited Baltimore.

Could Hobgood possibly fall to 2:5?

[crawdad]

Could Hobgood possibly fall to 2:5?

I doubt it. He has been charging up the boards.

On Today's Mock Draft at Minor League Ball . . . I think we are taking either Matzek or Wheeler, depending. Should be interesting . . . 3 rounds.