I’m tired of everyone focusing on the positive. Who’s going to be elected to the All-Star team. Where the close races are. I’m more interested in the best of the abjectly bad. Who gets in only because there has to be a representative from every team?
I want the teams where not only aren’t there any near-misses, but managers are going to have to stretch to make any selection at all. Who’s the most likely of the least deserving to get recognized this year?
Time was that the baseball amateur draft was held in relative quietude, unnoticed by fans and media alike. In the past few years, that has changed dramatically. While still not as over-the-top as its football and basketball counterparts, baseball’s drafting of schoolboy and collegiate talent gains more notice with each passing year.
In spite of the increased scrutiny, there are still a large number of young men out there who escape notice in the days and weeks leading up to the draft. Baseball Prospectus presents here a few of those players more deserving of national attention.
“Guerra, which is Spanish for war.”
Before I get to talking about the actual players or any of that stuff that you’re actually here for, I want to thank someone. Tommy Lasorda, thank you. I agree with Rob Neyer that the MLB draft just doesn’t have the sort of short-term impact on the game that would justify making a big NBA-style production number out of the first few rounds. As it turns out, though, the teams seem to go out of their way to make the event as dull as possible, with a host of mid-level functionaries, some with decent TV and/or radio (OK, Internet audio, but you know what I mean) presence, and some decidedly without, all opening their statements with a nondescript five-digit accounting number. Then there’s Tommy, whose announcements, even for a seventh-rounder who’s going to be out of the system in four years, have the character and enthusiasm of a state delegate to a national political convention. He, along with the occasional oops moment with a mike left open, provided all the entertainment of the day.
Anyway, on to the players. Here are the season numbers with a few comments for all of the senior college players drafted in the first two rounds. The first thing you’ll notice about these lists compared to last year’s is that they’re longer; the trend toward drafting college guys has definitely snowballed.
High school or college, position player or pitcher, the one constant in the
amateur draft is that no one seems to like Scott Boras’ players.
That was rarely as evident as it was yesterday as two Boras clients, each
considered the #1 draft prospect at one point during the college season, fell
to #12 and #15 on a draft day marked by an all-out search for pitching.
The Padres, picking first, passed on Florida State shortstop Stephen Drew to
instead take local high schooler Matt Bush, who signed almost immediately for
$3.15 million. Bush was probably only the second-best prep shortstop prospect
in the pool, and joins Adrian Gonzalez has a recent overall #1 who holds his
spot in history more for financial reasons than talent ones. Drew, who was
rumored to be the Padres’ choice as late as Friday, slipped all the way to
#15, where the Diamondbacks ended his torment. Given that the gap between #15
money and #1 money has range from $2-$3 million over the past few years, a
heck of a negotiation awaits Drew and the Snakes.
The first day of the draft has come and gone, while the baseball world spun around it. Instead of immersing myself in it, I stayed on the move, Nokia in hand, and got to spend a nice day at the ballpark. Jim Rushford and the Red Barons were in town. With a blue sky and a slight breeze, it couldn’t have been a better night at the ballpark.
On to the injuries…
Randy Wolf will head to the DL as the Phillies activate Billy Wagner. The team doesn’t seem overly concerned about the injury. Wolf had similar problems a few years ago and came back quickly. The Phillies think the problem is simple inflammation, and rest (and medication) will correct it, allowing him to miss only a couple starts. Ryan Madson will likely take the starts, while Larry Bowa is asking for a look at Gavin Floyd.
The Mariners’ ineptitude knows no bounds. The Expos have a gem in Nick Johnson…when he’s healthy, that is. And the Indians recently took a chance on former-Rockies hurler Scott Elarton, claiming they’re not worried about his lack of effectiveness at Coors Field. Well, perhaps they should pay attention to how ineffective he was in other places as well. All this and much more news from Cleveland, Seattle, and Montreal in your Tuesday edition of Prospectus Triple Play.