jacksonianmarch

How can you say that Cashman doesnt draft well when he finally got a legitimate draft budget in 2005. His 2006 draft was amazing. Joba, Kennedy and Robertson are in the majors already. Do you know how rare it is to see 3 players in the majors from a draft that occured only 2 yrs prior? Regardless, if the rumor is true that Cole had a "change of heart" then so be it.

Gom, regardless man, our MiLB system gets a boost with Brackman coming back. Looks like Bleich is gonna need TJS. Didnt make much sense when Oppenheimer was interviewed after the draft and he said Bleich sits 92-93 and come the CWS he's throwing mid 80s after a bout of elbow "tendonitis". I still liked his off speed offerings with elbow problems. Also, I know the comp picks are unprotected. But how many of our first rounders have gone unsigned? Just one in recent memory and that's Cole. Hell, we offered 4.5 mil up front to Brackman with the possibility of making his bonus worth 13.4mil while we knew he needed TJS. The draft strategy has been solid to this point. The one thing I find intriguing is that we did have some top talent, but we didnt have another headliner in the draft as protection. 2 yrs ago we drafted Peavey late as insurance in the event that Brackman didnt sign. Regardless, we have the potential to have 6 players leave this offseason with draft compensation. (Marte, Pudge, Giambi, Abreu, Mussina, Pettitte). I know they wont all go, but I have a feeling we'll have at least 3 picks in the first round and likely 7-8 picks before the third round. We'll likely draft conservative in the comp picks from this draft since those picks arent protected, but we'll likely go for the gold in the other ones. I am not worried. Just upset that the best talent to fall to us didnt stick. That being said, if we flop the rest of the way like I think we will, then we could have a shot at some really awesome talent.

In his last 2 games, he's 5 for 10 with a walk, triple, double and a walkoff hit. BTW, Melky walked two times in his AAA game today in his first 2 ABs. Prior to that, he had walked 2 times in his past 68 MLB ABs. Jackson is eventually the answer regardless. But I like that Gardner is actually hitting.

We do get another pick next season in both the first and second round. So it isnt a total loss

Well, you need to look at this thing without emotion, unfortunately. Bad things happen when you act impulsively. We signed 4 HS pitchers. (more than we have in the 2005, 2006, and 2007 drafts combined) Marshall and OBrien are very similar in that they throw very hard for 18 yr olds. Richardson is a very solid HSer with a good arsenal and throws low 90s. Nikolas Turley (our 50th rounder) might be the best of them all when it is all said and done, 6'7" lefty capable of throwing low 90s as an 18 yr old. We drafted some highly talented high school position players Corban Joseph is dominating the GCL right now. Chris Smith is a very projectable bat. Garrison Lassiter might end up being the best of them all. Lefty SS with a very advanced bat. We drafted some college pitchers with lots of polish. Bleich the best of the bunch, though he may need TJS. Mitchell was a tough sign who should rocket through the system. Phelps is another highly polished college pitcher who should move fast. We drafted 2 solid college bats in the top 10 with Adams and Brewer. Maruszak and Lyon have hit the crap out of the ball thus far too. The draft is a solid one. It has a lot of very young talent. I just wish we had the crown jewel, which we dont.

Gardner is also hot right now. He was 8 for 13 prior to callup and is now 3 for 9 in his callup. If he takes pitches and slaps at the ball, he could be very valuable. I have said all along, I dont care if his IsoPower is 0. If his OBP is .350 or higher, he'll be very, very valuable.

STBB

He is out for the season with elbow tendonitis and it looks like he has a torn UCL. He has said he will retire if he needs tommy john. 300+ wins, 2CY awards, obvious HOFer from this class. This might be an interesting yr for HOF eligibility. Maddux may hang it up. Smoltz might be done. Glavine is likely done. Imagine the Braves big 3 going into the hall together. If this is it for Schilling too, I would imagine he doesnt make it in first pass.

Now that the booze is out of my system, I can think like a level headed individual. I just cannot seem to shake the thought of having Shooter Hunt, Tim Melville, Lobstein, or some of the other high end talents at that 1 spot. Regardless, having another first rounder next yr cannot hurt. I do like the majority of this draft. Just not signing your 1st and 2nd rounder hurts for this yr. Hopefully we draft right next yr. We'll have a ton of picks. The supplemental pick, Bleich is a solid lefty starter. Problem is, he may need TJS, hence why he accepted below slot. The third rounder, Dave Adams is a solid, Pedroia type 2b. The fourth rounder, Corban Joseph, is killing the ball right now. The fifth rounder, Chris Smith, has a lot of potential. The sixth rounder, Brett Marshall, is a first round talent with high upside. The seventh rounder, Kyle Higashioka, is a solid HS lefty swinging catcher with power I like our 9th rounder, Mikey Obrien, a power armed HSer capable of sitting mid 90s I like our 10th rounder, DJ Mitchell, who will run through the system quickly. I also like some of the later picks in Lassiter and Richardson, both signability HSers. What I dont like is the fact that we didnt take Cole's money and distribute it to some of our other signability cases. No Suiter, Dwyer, Monar, McMahon, Summers, etc. This is the travesty of the draft. We do have a ton of picks next yr and we should restock appropriately. At least we get the picks for next yr. Regardless, I dont think anyone should be fired. I just hope they know that they are a bit less secure than they had been.

and this is an offense that I could conceivably waive my Cashman allegiance for. This is a massive debachle. The 08 draft was a deep draft and we come away counting pennies while our chief rival splurges on top talent.

The sox outspent the yankees by nearly 5X on this draft (10mil to a bit over 2 mil). Someone has to pay for this. If the message to the fans is to rebuld from within, we sure are doing a poor job proving it. Time to fire someone. Damon Oppenheimer, the VP of Yankee scouting might be the place to start.

it has been over for awhile now. Nothing new. Close out the yr. Turn off the lights on the old stadium. Yankee stadium ends with no pizzazz. The lights will go off for the final time during the regular season. Seems almost criminal

Meyer has turned down the sox 2 mil offer and will go to Kentucky

Long overdue. This might send a message to Cano that this can happen.

Melky is on pace to have the worst OPS of a yankee starting OFer in history. The lowest is by Hugh High, .636. Melky right now is at .633. Yuck

Nady in CF? Cmon now Gom. He isnt a good corner OFer to begin with. Its a bit of a stretch imagining him in RF. But CF? Jesus, that would be bad.

I agree with Gom on this one. This is on the FO if Cole decides not to sign. The deadline is tonight and the story comes out one day before the deadline. Boras is also his agent. Think about the context here. This might be a ploy. But lets say the kid actually goes to college, this is a big loss. Think about it. Cole throws 95-100mph with a plus offspeed pitch already. He would slot in as one of our top 3 pitching prospects immediately. But the reason why this is on the front office is because of what we could have had. Lobstein, Hunt, Melville and Medders were available in that slot and would have fit very nicely into our fold. In order for us to make that deal with Cole, it must be readily apparent that he is going pro if his demands are met. If that wasnt the case, you pass. BTW, this one isnt on Cashman as much as it is on Damon Oppenheimer. He is the guy who runs the drafts. But it is the front office in general who shares this blame. This also threw off our entire draft strategy. While we did draft a bunch of higher end arms like O'Brien, Richardson, Braboy, and Marshall, none of them were as advanced as Cole (Marshall is the closest). If Cole wasnt a lock to sign, our supplemental pick wouldnt have been Bleich, who I view as a solid, fast moving pick, but his upside is blunted by his high 80s velocity. If Cole was a reach, I would have grabbed Medders who was available when Bleich was taken

thats the plan. If he gets another 25 innings or so, he's be right around the 130 inning mark. That would leave him open, theoretically to 170IP, which is right where he should be and is much more manageable. All you'd need to do in that spot is skip him a few times and you are golden

Losing Cole hurts. If this truly isnt a numbers issue then Cole is an idiot. He was looking at a 5-7 mil payday and he would have had a chance to play for the team he grew up loving. That being said, I am pretty upset he isnt signing. Not that we lost Cole, who I would have loved to have. But because of the other guys we could easily have had in that spot. Lobstein, Melville and Hunt would have been easy signs for us in that spot and passing on them for this kid will hurt. That being said, having another pick next yr will ease the pain a bit. But we lose a yr of development AND we lose a guy who was well better than where we selected him. I hope his arm explodes, the f***.

Bad, bad news.

You really think Cashman is the only guy making these decisions? Do you really think he alone is scouting these players? Cmon now. That type of argument holds absolutely no water. Cashman has legions of scouts that he can call up and get scouting reports from. Your definition of plus is actually not the definition used by scouts. The first plus has everything to do with the break. A plus pitch is one that has a sharp break. The second plus typically involves location.

Well crunch, you have a point. At the same time, you need to develop your guys from within, but fill needed holes from without. Our farm system doesnt have the impact bats at the ready like the sox had. Our most advanced bats are an OBP, gap power 1b in Miranda and a raw, 21 yr old CFer with all the tools. We have the pitching in the farm, but since we got on the train late, most of the high end pitching is in the lower levels, so we'll have to wait awhile. in the meantime, big time power and a front end starter are needs. Dunn and Tex are available in the power dept and CC, Sheets and Harden are available in the ace department. I think we need to shop in both areas.

me neither. Damon can barely stay on the field as the LFer

Not yet CoC. Lars is in AA. Lowrie is holding down a starting SS gig in the bigs and Masterson was a solid starter and is a solid reliever in the bigs. Lars may have bigger upside, but right now, you cannot put him above those two

btw, as much as you try, you arent a good scout. You are grading a rookie on his "torque" when he's seeing some of the best pitchers in the game for the first time. You cannot grade kids by how they look when they first come up. If that was the case, Duddy Pedroia would be an afterthought. He looked AWFUL when he came up to the bigs. But once he got comfortable, he started swinging like he knew how. I agree on the Edwar comment. I think pitchability is something he needs to work on. That and his slider. His slider is actually not all that bad. He just needs to use it a bit more. In terms of Robertson, I dont know what you are watching. To call his curveball anything less than plus is garbage. Does he have plus location with it, NO. Hence why it isnt plus-plus. But it is one of the better benders you will see come out of the minors. If you think he'll be mediocre, so be it. But dont bend the truth.