2010 Draft Position Race

[allstar1579]

We agree to disagree. Let's get back to root "against" the O's to get a higher pick .

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/draft/early-draft-preview/2009/268869.html

Thoughts on Christian Colon, SS out of Cal State? I know you or someone brought his name up. All I have read is a very good fielding SS, but not much about his bat.

I liked him, but I think the higher the level, the less he hits, and ends up another all glove-no hit SS. I'd think of him like Izzy for us now, he'll hit a little bit, not a bunch of pop.

I actually like Yordy Cabrera, the HS SS a little more. Not as good with the glove, but a better balance of bat/glove. Should have good gap power and hit you about 10-15 HR once he finishes growing.

[QBsILLEST1]

I liked him, but I think the higher the level, the less he hits, and ends up another all glove-no hit SS. I'd think of him like Izzy for us now, he'll hit a little bit, not a bunch of pop.

I actually like Yordy Cabrera, the HS SS a little more. Not as good with the glove, but a better balance of bat/glove. Should have good gap power and hit you about 10-15 HR once he finishes growing.

How do you feel about BA's list of top draft prospects? I really dont like it, I guess its so far away its hard to say who should be rated higher, but why Ranaudo so high and Pomeranz so low. Same with Brentz, yet Paxton is rated pretty high and throws nice and hard but may never put it all together.....By now in college he should be putting ti somewhat close together, his lack of development deters me from him though he may have some of the best stuff of college draftees.

I do believe if he puts it all together this year and his performances reflect his stuff, he could sit close to the top of the draft board, but I wouldnt rate him high based on the fact of "what if" he puts it all together, Id rank him towards the bottom and IF he makes these developmental strides everyone was expecting, then rank him higher. I just dont understand that ranking....

Wow, theres a guy who is both a LHP and a RHP? Drew Vettleson.....Dont see that every day....

[RandyM]

I liked him, but I think the higher the level, the less he hits, and ends up another all glove-no hit SS. I'd think of him like Izzy for us now, he'll hit a little bit, not a bunch of pop.

I actually like Yordy Cabrera, the HS SS a little more. Not as good with the glove, but a better balance of bat/glove. Should have good gap power and hit you about 10-15 HR once he finishes growing.

It seems like another pitching heavy draft. Isn't LeVon Washington the guy the Rays drafted this year in the first that didn't sign? I thought he was a 2nd baseman. If he is 2nd, that would be interesting.

Thought Pomerantz was rated higher by most folks? This guy has him listed #11th overall for college guys.

Can Jordan improve his track record for drafting positional players? Harper and Ranaudo being represented by Boras effect things with us. I know people like Bigbird have stated that McPhail won't ever draft Boras clients. Bigbird stated that Arrieta and Wieters were drafted and the majority of the signings were done by Duquette and Angelos.

[RandyM]

How do you feel about BA's list of top draft prospects? I really dont like it, I guess its so far away its hard to say who should be rated higher, but why Ranaudo so high and Pomeranz so low. Same with Brentz, yet Paxton is rated pretty high and throws nice and hard but may never put it all together.....By now in college he should be putting ti somewhat close together, his lack of development deters me from him though he may have some of the best stuff of college draftees.

I do believe if he puts it all together this year and his performances reflect his stuff, he could sit close to the top of the draft board, but I wouldnt rate him high based on the fact of "what if" he puts it all together, Id rank him towards the bottom and IF he makes these developmental strides everyone was expecting, then rank him higher. I just dont understand that ranking....

I too was surprised to see Paxton and Washington so high. Especially over guys like Pomeranz and Zack Cox.

[QBsILLEST1]

It seems like another pitching heavy draft. Isn't LeVon Washington the guy the Rays drafted this year in the first that didn't sign? I thought he was a 2nd baseman. If he is 2nd, that would be interesting.

Thought Pomerantz was rated higher by most folks? This guy has him listed #11th overall for college guys.

Can Jordan improve his track record for drafting positional players? Harper and Ranaudo being represented by Boras effect things with us. I know people like Bigbird have stated that McPhail won't ever draft Boras clients. Bigbird stated that Arrieta and Wieters were drafted and the majority of the signings were done by Duquette and Angelos.

Pomeranz is rated higher by most folks from what I know. And Matt Harvey is no where on the list either which surprises me, even though he has been slightly disappointing. I plain and simple dont like the list from BA. But I wouldnt worry too much about the Boras theory, there are better guys out there IMO for us than Ranaudo and Harper.

[RandyM]

Pomeranz is rated higher by most folks from what I know. And Matt Harvey is no where on the list either which surprises me, even though he has been slightly disappointing. I plain and simple dont like the list from BA. But I wouldnt worry too much about the Boras theory, there are better guys out there IMO for us than Ranaudo and Harper.

I thought Matt Harvey had done terrible in the cape cod. I was reading a Callis or Law chat just recently and they thought late first round. Agree, seems like the list is very high on last year's high school guys than guys that have done well in college.

Tell me what you know about Zack Cox? Again I know about Bell, but you take the best guy available.

[allstar1579]

wow, so much so fast....I'll try to answer all the questions, let me know if I forget one.

I thought the list was ok for being such an early list, it will be completely topsy-turvey come next May, it's basically just a list of people to keep an eye on, I wouldn't worry too much about where they are rated.

I've seen Pomeranz at the top of some lists, but I haven't seen enough from him to put him at the top of mine, he might get there, but I said the same thing about Alex White last year and that he was a bit overrated, and I was right there

Renaudo has the LSU pedigree, has pitched in some big games, and will be in the top 10 somewhere, but I have a feeling signing demands will move him down further than talent warrants. Brentz had a great power season last year, but every year guys do that and then go on to never produce past that level. He should be rated top half talent, and then see him reproduce it this year with teams knowing they have to watch how they pitch him.

Harvey put up good solid numbers and is a break-out candidate that hasn't broken out yet. A strong cod year and then a strong season here would have put him at the top of charts, starting slow means he really needs to break out this season or he's a middle-first guy come draft time. We'll see how he does as Friday night starter with that extra pressure, but the ACC should be very competitive this year.

I think it's more just HS-heavy than pitching heavy, the HS class looks like they are completely outclassing the college guys right now. Cole looks like the next legit ace to me. Tallion has some talent, but he's a bit "toolsy" for me so far, I want to see some more polish there. (like athletic hitters are toolsy, when a pitcher is for me, it's someone that throws a hard fastball and has one more good pitch. they can dominate in HS and put up great numbers, but it doesn't always translate as they move up the ladder, poise and composure always translates).

Hope this helps, exciting to see this much draft excitement this early. I guess it means I really gotta get focused on the amateur guys again huh?

[QBsILLEST1]

wow, so much so fast....I'll try to answer all the questions, let me know if I forget one.

I thought the list was ok for being such an early list, it will be completely topsy-turvey come next May, it's basically just a list of people to keep an eye on, I wouldn't worry too much about where they are rated.

I've seen Pomeranz at the top of some lists, but I haven't seen enough from him to put him at the top of mine, he might get there, but I said the same thing about Alex White last year and that he was a bit overrated, and I was right there

Renaudo has the LSU pedigree, has pitched in some big games, and will be in the top 10 somewhere, but I have a feeling signing demands will move him down further than talent warrants. Brentz had a great power season last year, but every year guys do that and then go on to never produce past that level. He should be rated top half talent, and then see him reproduce it this year with teams knowing they have to watch how they pitch him.

Harvey put up good solid numbers and is a break-out candidate that hasn't broken out yet. A strong cod year and then a strong season here would have put him at the top of charts, starting slow means he really needs to break out this season or he's a middle-first guy come draft time. We'll see how he does as Friday night starter with that extra pressure, but the ACC should be very competitive this year.

I think it's more just HS-heavy than pitching heavy, the HS class looks like they are completely outclassing the college guys right now. Cole looks like the next legit ace to me. Tallion has some talent, but he's a bit "toolsy" for me so far, I want to see some more polish there. (like athletic hitters are toolsy, when a pitcher is for me, it's someone that throws a hard fastball and has one more good pitch. they can dominate in HS and put up great numbers, but it doesn't always translate as they move up the ladder, poise and composure always translates).

Hope this helps, exciting to see this much draft excitement this early. I guess it means I really gotta get focused on the amateur guys again huh?

Yes! I could talk about this stuff all day long, and w/o the minor leguae prospects to follow, all I can do is focus my attention to this stuff. Itll be itneresting to see Taillon and Cole battling it out for the top spot and see who else pops up.

Harvey I agree is the breakout candidiate that hasnt broken out yet though he had a very good freshman year, but Im guessing it was because he was facing the other teams 3rd starters. Now that guys that were originally rated way lower than him from HS are shooting up draft boards and ahead of him, its making me wonder if hes ever really gonna blow up.

[ChaosLex]

Cleveland 61 85 .418 32.5

Baltimore 60 86 .411 33.5

Kansas City 59 87 .404 34.5

Pittsburgh 55 89 .382 37.5

Washington 50 96 .342 43.5

With the Sux series this weekend, there's a good chance we overtake KC.

[section18]

1o games on the road at Toronto, Cleveland and Tampa and 3 with Toronto at home to end the season should allow us to slide into the #3 position quite easily. #2 is a longshot but not impossible. With Matusz out and Tillman probably making one more start #2 is possible. As of today who are the #2 and # 3 prospects?

[QBsILLEST1]

1o games on the road at Toronto, Cleveland and Tampa and 3 with Toronto at home to end the season should allow us to slide into the #3 position quite easily. #2 is a longshot but not impossible. With Matusz out and Tillman probably making one more start #2 is possible. As of today who are the #2 and # 3 prospects?

If you are talking about in the draft, Id say

1: Harper

2: Taillon

3: Cole

But I could see Cole and Taillon flip flopping depending on how they both look down the road. But at this point Taillon looks quite a bit better than Cole and Cole would hafta do a lot of developing between now and then to take him over IMO...

[RandyM]

1o games on the road at Toronto, Cleveland and Tampa and 3 with Toronto at home to end the season should allow us to slide into the #3 position quite easily. #2 is a longshot but not impossible. With Matusz out and Tillman probably making one more start #2 is possible. As of today who are the #2 and # 3 prospects?

New York 63 85

Cleveland 61 86

Baltimore 60 87

Kansas City 60 87

Pittsburgh 56 89

Washington 51 96

Seems like we are going to finish between 2nd and 6th. The Cleveland series is huge for us.

Stole/QB's - I know it is early, but is there a clear top Tier? It seems like it was:

Tier A+ - Strasburg

Tier A - Ackley

Tier A- - Everyone else.

Is it?

Tier A - Harper, Ranaudo, Cole, and Tallion

[QBsILLEST1]

New York 63 85

Cleveland 61 86

Baltimore 60 87

Kansas City 60 87

Pittsburgh 56 89

Washington 51 96

Seems like we are going to finish between 2nd and 6th. The Cleveland series is huge for us.

Stole/QB's - I know it is early, but is there a clear top Tier? It seems like it was:

Tier A+ - Strasburg

Tier A - Ackley

Tier A- - Everyone else.

Is it?

Tier A - Harper, Ranaudo, Cole, and Tallion

IMO the top tier is something like Harper, Taillon, Cole, possibly Ranaudo....IMO if we dont get top 2, then it wont be much diff between 3 and 6 or 7. I really want Taillon, but if not him, then Cole or one of the other HS arms is a nice consolation prize. It seems as though Taillon is good and advanced enough to start in Bluefield with the possibility to even go to loA after a few starts in Bluefield.

Stotle may see it differently though and I will add that there are some other HS kids that could overtake Cole as the #2 HS pitcher.....Sonme are gonna add velo or another good pitch boosting their stock. Hobgood wasnt a top 5 pick until he was showing he could touch mid 90's his last few starts of his HS season. On the other hand, Cole could even add some more velo or add the extra pitch he needs, Cole seems to be very projectable compared to Taillon especially....But Taillonis the complete package IMO....

[MurphDogg]

New York 63 85

Cleveland 61 86

Baltimore 60 87

Kansas City 60 87

Pittsburgh 56 89

Washington 51 96

Just wanted to point out that unless there was a recent change to the tiebreaker rules, we are actually third right now. The tie-breaker if two teams have identical records is whichever team has a worse record in the previous season (2008) picks first. Since we had a worse record than KC last year, we are ahead of them.

[QBsILLEST1]

Just wanted to point out that unless there was a recent change to the tiebreaker rules, we are actually third right now. The tie-breaker if two teams have identical records is whichever team has a worse record in the previous season (2008) picks first. Since we had a worse record than KC last year, we are ahead of them.

Shoot, we are only 1 game away from being the 2nd worse in the majors. Thatd nearly ensure us someone pretty special....