Live Mock Draft... Monday at 8:30pm

[Stotle]

Command issues = huge red flag

I didn't see anything about command issues with Arrieta. In fact the report says that he had good command and he was a mid rotation starter that could get to the majors quickly. They saw that he had three pitches.

White only really has two - fastball and slider.

What? His splitter was arguable his best pitch all year. It serves as an offspeed and has good late depth.

So, I count three offerings from White:

1. FB (4S/2S)

2. Splitter

3. Slider

[markpolis]

1:13 Oakland A's select Tim Wheeler, OF, Sacramento State

Greg pops Grant Green just as the A's were ready to take him.

With their only pick in the top three rounds, the A's must choose between Wheeler and Notre Dame OF'er AJ Pollack.

At 6-foot-4 and 205 pounds with a strong and athletic frame and lefthanded bat, he's a prototypical corner outfield prospect. His wiry build has room for further projection. Scouts suspected Wheeler was poised for a breakout after a strong summer in the Cape Cod League, but he has exceeded even those expectations, batting .396/.500/.786 with 18 homers and 69 RBIs. Wheeler's bat is by far his primary tool. He projects to be a plus big league hitter, with power that is a shade above-average. Scouts laud his baserunning instincts. Scouts who saw Wheeler last year, or even earlier this year, would not have pegged him as a first-round candidate, but as the season has progressed his bat has made the prospect more and more likely.

For me this is an easy pick for the A's.

[Stotle]

I don't know . . . the Royals seem to have a fascination with players who do not get on base. I think Green will have to lengthen his swing and maybe wearing a pirate eye patch to progress through the system.

Made me spit up my coffee -- damn you, sir...

[YardBirds13]

1:13 Oakland A's select Tim Wheeler, OF, Sacramento State

Greg pops Grant Green just as the A's were ready to take him.

With their only pick in the top three rounds, the A's must choose between Wheeler and Notre Dame OF'er AJ Pollack.

At 6-foot-4 and 205 pounds with a strong and athletic frame and lefthanded bat, he's a prototypical corner outfield prospect. His wiry build has room for further projection. Scouts suspected Wheeler was poised for a breakout after a strong summer in the Cape Cod League, but he has exceeded even those expectations, batting .396/.500/.786 with 18 homers and 69 RBIs. Wheeler's bat is by far his primary tool. He projects to be a plus big league hitter, with power that is a shade above-average. Scouts laud his baserunning instincts. Scouts who saw Wheeler last year, or even earlier this year, would not have pegged him as a first-round candidate, but as the season has progressed his bat has made the prospect more and more likely.

For me this is an easy pick for the A's.

He seems like the consensus guy to go to Oakland as well. Not too much to disagree with here fellas....

[McNulty]

I said that the board suffered from you being away this spring and that hopefully you would be around much more next draft season, particularly to provide insight into an interesting ACC class next year. Seriously, your voice was HUGELY missed here.

Wow man, I appreciate the kind words. I'll be in a much better place next year this time, so I'd count on it. I am going to have to make the trip down 95 to Charlottesville at least once.

[allstar1579]

Shelby Miller - Brownwood (TX) HS

The Rangers do a happy dance as Miller falls to them, I think this is who they want all along.

I would grab Miller here too, he and Wheeler are neck and neck for me and Wheeler could have gone as high as 4. Not as close to the majors as they could use, but pitching is pitching and in that park any pitcher with natural sink on the fastball is a must have.

[crawdad]

1:13 Oakland A's select Tim Wheeler, OF, Sacramento State

Greg pops Grant Green just as the A's were ready to take him.

With their only pick in the top three rounds, the A's must choose between Wheeler and Notre Dame OF'er AJ Pollack.

At 6-foot-4 and 205 pounds with a strong and athletic frame and lefthanded bat, he's a prototypical corner outfield prospect. His wiry build has room for further projection. Scouts suspected Wheeler was poised for a breakout after a strong summer in the Cape Cod League, but he has exceeded even those expectations, batting .396/.500/.786 with 18 homers and 69 RBIs. Wheeler's bat is by far his primary tool. He projects to be a plus big league hitter, with power that is a shade above-average. Scouts laud his baserunning instincts. Scouts who saw Wheeler last year, or even earlier this year, would not have pegged him as a first-round candidate, but as the season has progressed his bat has made the prospect more and more likely.

For me this is an easy pick for the A's.

Scheppers might also be an option if what is scaring people off is his contractual demand as opposed to his shoulder. The A's, lacking a 2 and 3, may be more willing to devote money here.

[LAOSfan]

Ooooh fancy pants with the video.

Hey guys, just got back from Tempe where I watched Clemson (alma mater) v. ASU. Thought I'd give my two cents on Leake as I just saw him pitch from the second row behind the screen.

Although I did not have a gun, it did not appear that he had major league pop on his fastball. His curveball, however, was ridiculously good at times. That being said, we (Clemson) hit a lot of hard balls against him and we were not a particularly good hitting team this year. Despite his gaudy numbers, both my friend (an ASU alum) and I questioned whether he would be a good major league pitcher after we watched him.

Their #2, Spence, was very impressive last night.

[Hank Scorpio]

Shelby Miller - Brownwood (TX) HS

The Rangers do a happy dance as Miller falls to them, I think this is who they want all along.

I would grab Miller here too, he and Wheeler are neck and neck for me and Wheeler could have gone as high as 4. Not as close to the majors as they could use, but pitching is pitching and in that park any pitcher with natural sink on the fastball is a must have.

And Shelby Miller dances at the thought of playing for his hometown team, then faints at the thought of pitching in that ballpark.

[YardBirds13]

Shelby Miller - Brownwood (TX) HS

The Rangers do a happy dance as Miller falls to them, I think this is who they want all along.

I would grab Miller here too, he and Wheeler are neck and neck for me and Wheeler could have gone as high as 4. Not as close to the majors as they could use, but pitching is pitching and in that park any pitcher with natural sink on the fastball is a must have.

Another one that makes a ton of sense....will someone pick something I don't agree with????

Really, the only pick of this entire draft that I really don't think is right is our pick at 5. We are taking Wheeler, IMO. Other than that, I think I've agreed with every single pick in that they all make sense.

[Greg Pappas]

First Round:

1. Washington Nationals : Allstar1579: Stephen Strasburg, RHP, San Diego State

2. Seattle Mariners : crawdad: Dustin Ackley, 1B/2B/CF, UNC

3. San Diego Padres : Greg Pappas: Aaron Crow, RHP, Fort Worth Cats

4. Pittsburgh Pirates : Markpolis: Tyler Matzek, LHP, HS (CA)

5. Baltimore Orioles: Stotle: Alex White, RHP, UNC

6. San Francisco Giants : Markpolis: Donovan Tate, OF, HS (GA)

7. Atlanta Braves : crawdad: Zack Wheeler, RHP, HS (GA)

8. Cincinnati Reds : Stotle: Mike Minor, LHP, Vanderbilt

9. Detroit Tigers : Greg Pappas: Jacob Turner, RHP, HS (MO)

10. Washington Nationals : Allstar1579: Chad Jenkins, RHP, Kennesaw St.

11. Colorado Rockies : crawdad: Mike Leake, RHP, Arizona State

12. Kansas City Royals : Greg Pappas: Grant Green, SS, USC

13. Oakland A's : Markpolis: Tim Wheeler, OF, Sacramento State

14. Texas Rangers : Allstar1579: Shelby Miller, RHP, HS (TX)

15. Cleveland Indians : Markpolis:

16. Arizona Diamondbacks : Greg Pappas:

17. Arizona Diamondbacks : Greg Pappas:

18. Florida Marlins : Stotle:

19. St. Louis Cardinals : Greg Pappas:

[Stotle]

Is Neal Davis still considered a prospect?

2006 MD Gatorade POY, Baseball America's 103rd ranked prospect coming out of HS... O's selected him late...

Junior this year...

2-0, 4.63 era... 23.1 innings, 25 hits, 16 k's, 5 bb's

Had a much stronger year last year out of the bullpen:

http://www.virginiasports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=88824&SPID=10613&DB_OEM_ID=17800&ATCLID=1134203&Q_SEASON=2008

Personally, I think he comes back and tries to put together a better senior year while getting the degree.

[Hank Scorpio]

What a great idea this was.

:clap3:

[markpolis]

Shelby Miller - Brownwood (TX) HS

The Rangers do a happy dance as Miller falls to them, I think this is who they want all along.

I would grab Miller here too, he and Wheeler are neck and neck for me and Wheeler could have gone as high as 4. Not as close to the majors as they could use, but pitching is pitching and in that park any pitcher with natural sink on the fastball is a must have.

OK, that's two in a row. Please stop making me work so hard.

[allstar1579]

Hey guys, just got back from Tempe where I watched Clemson (alma mater) v. ASU. Thought I'd give my two cents on Leake as I just saw him pitch from the second row behind the screen.

Although I did not have a gun, it did not appear that he had major league pop on his fastball. His curveball, however, was ridiculously good at times. That being said, we (Clemson) hit a lot of hard balls against him and we were not a particularly good hitting team this year. Despite his gaudy numbers, both my friend (an ASU alum) and I questioned whether he would be a good major league pitcher after we watched him.

Their #2, Spence, was very impressive last night.

Sweet, thanks for the report. I love to hear live reports.