The Rockies have the 25th pick in the June draft this year, the farthest back they've chosen since 2001 when the team did not have a pick in the first round (they chose Jayson Nix with the 44th pick that year). I'm always up for a history lesson, so let's take a look at who's been selected with the 25th pick over the last five drafts. I've also included players taken around the 25th pick to highlight what other talent was available before and after the pick. Now, we shouldn't use this as a way to determine how our choice will pan out, but it may be able to help us identify players (or player types) that the Rockies will look at come June. We'll look at several of those potential players in Part II some time soon.

2003
Brad Sullivan, Houston, RHP, Oakland Athletics - Sullivan signed with the Athletics after slipping out of the early picks in the first round, which was due to a less-than-desired performance for the Cougars as the season closed (he also played the infield during the playoffs). As a result of his fatigue, he pitched 11 innings, all out of the bullpen, that summer. His pitch selection of a fastball, slider, and curveball advanced him to Modesto for the '04 season. It wasn't a great season for him as gave up 180 hits in 147 IP, struck out 99 and walked 48, and had a 4.65 ERA and a 1.55 WHIP. In `05, the troubles began. He had a hard time staying on the field, making 16 appearances and five starts between Hi-A Stockton and Rookie-level Arizona. The next year was better in terms of appearances as he made 29 between the same two levels he was at the previous year. The bad news was that he couldn't strike out batters as he usually did. For Houston, he struck out 157 in '02 and 154 in '03, but that ability never translated to pro ball. He made five appearances for Stockton in '07 as a result of another injury. The clock is still ticking for Sullivan, but the battery in the clock is almost dead.

Players taken around 25th pick: Brandon Wood (23), Chad Billingsley (24), Daric Barton (28), Carlos Quentin (29)

2004
Kyle Waldrop, High School, RHP, Minnesota Twins - Waldrop may have gone earlier during the '04 draft, but he had a commitment to Vanderbilt that scared some teams away. The Twins did their homework, and knew they could sign him. Waldrop was a star two-way player in high school, but at 6'4", 190 lbs, pitching was in his future. He made 11 starts between the two rookie leagues and walked only seven batters in 63 IP that summer. It was off to the Midwest League in 2005. He walked only 23 batters all season and struck out 108, but allowed 182 hits and 17 homers in 151 2/3 IP. He also had a 4.98 ERA. He started 2006 back in the Midwest League and continued to not issue free passes (17 in 110 IP). He received a promotion to the Florida State League and ran into a bit of trouble. He walked 17 batters here in 45 1/3 IP and struck out only 25 during that time. He began 2007 in the Florida State League and pitched well enough (3.40 ERA in 92 2/3 IP. 24 BB, 57 K) to earn a promotion to Double-A New Britain. He made 11 starts, posted a 5.34 ERA over 59 IP, walked 19, and struck out 33. We should expect to see him start 2008 back in Double-A and likely be promoted mid-season to Triple-A.

Players taken around 25th pick: Glen Perkins (22), Philip Hughes (23), Taylor Tankersley (27), Blake DeWitt (28)

2005
Matt Garza, Fresno State, RHP, Minnesota Twins - The Twins make another appearance on this list with their selection of Matt Garza. His first two years at Fresno State were rather undistinguished, but 2005 would turn into his year. He struck out 120 in 108 1/3 IP, which was 43 more in 18 1/3 compared to 2004. He made a brief appearance in the Appalachian League before making 10 starts in the Midwest League. He more than held his own there (3.54 ERA, 15 BB, 64 K). Garza made a rapid rise to the majors in 2006 after starting the season in the High-A Florida State League. He made 10 appearances (nine starts) for the Twins, compiling 50 IP. He allowed 62 hits, walked 23, and struck out 38. He split 2007 between Triple-A and the majors. He had little trouble in the minors and did improve slightly upon his return to the majors. Limiting baserunners was still a problem (both hits and walks). 2008 will have change of scenery for Garza as he and several others were traded to the Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays for Delmon Young and two other guys.

Players taken around 25th pick: Jacoby Ellsbury (23), Craig Hansen (26), Joey Devine (27)

2006
Hank Conger, High School, C, LAA - I'll let FutureAngels.com tell you all about Conger. He's #5 on the linked-to list.

Players taken around 25th pick: Ian Kennedy (21)

2007
Aaron Poreda, University of San Francisco, LHP, Chicago White Sox - Poreda dominated the Pioneer League (4-0, 1.17 ERA, 48 K in 46 1/3 IP). He's a 6'6", 240 lbs. lefty who can get his fastball in the mid-90s. Poreda threw a fastball at 100 MPH last season. He's the White Sox's top prospect who will need to use more than his fastball to get more advanced hitters out as he advances up the ladder. Baseball America can see him making the majors this season if he makes a switch to the bullpen (which could happen if his secondary pitches don't develop as well as the organization wants).  

Players taken around 25th pick: James Simmons (26)

Pitcher has been the popular choice in the 25th slot. Matt Cain was the choice there in 2002, and if you go all the way back to 1990 (I haven't looked beyond that), you'll see that pitcher was the popular choice through course of the decade. The Rockies aren't beholden to a pitcher with the selection, but if you want to make something out of draft trends . . .

Unlike the 2007 draft, the 2008 one doesn't have a clear-cut favorite for the first overall pick (though Vanderbilt's Pedro Alvarez seems a likely choice). David Price, a lefty out of Vanderbilt, went first overall to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and has a chance to pitch for the now Tampa Bay Rays in 2008. The 2007 draft, just to recap, was the first one to be viewed on national television, having been relegated to an internet-only broadcast in years past. New draft rules came into effect in 2007 after the new CBA was agreed to. A universal signing date (15 Aug.) put an end to long-term holdouts (such as Justin Upton, Luke Hochevar, and Max Scherzer in the recent past) and the draft-and-follow practice that had been common for so long also went away. As for the Rockies in the 2007 draft, it wasn't a departure from past drafts. It was heavy on college players, with 11 of their first 13 picks coming from college. Casey Weathers, the eighth overall pick, closed for Vanderbilt and competed at low-A and high-A ball for the Rockies after signing. With those rule changes, the Rockies passed on drafting junior college players and selected many seniors in the later rounds.

With one year under these new rules in effect, front offices will now have a better sense as to how they should approach the draft. Does that mean we'll see more teams stop drafting once the rounds reach into the 30s? For some teams, it might. The Blue Jays stopped after round 30. Under the old rules, teams still passed, but it was much more common to happen in the 40s.

The 2008 draft will be different for the Rockies. For the first time since 2001, the Rockies won't have a pick in the top 10 choices. As we all know, during the '00-'01 off season, the Rockies signed two pitchers who cost the team draft picks, among other things, and didn't sign their first-round pick from the 2000 draft, Matt Harrington. As a result of not signing Harrington, the team received a supplemental first round pick as compensation. That pick became Jayson Nix, who is now poised to make the majors after seven years in the minors.

We'll take a look at some college players early on. For today, we'll look at three of the top pitchers available in the draft at the moment.

Much of what follows has been collected from the following sites: Cape Prospects, The College Baseball Blog, CSTV.com, and each player's respective school website.

Aaron Crow is a RHP for the Missouri Tigers who dominated the Cape Cod League over the summer. He uses four pitches (fastball, cutter, slider, changeup) to dominate hitters, with his fastball usually reaching the mid-90s. He was named the top pro prospect in the League and the top prospect in Baseball America's Top 30 Cape Cod Prospects list (you can read his entry at at Missouri's site). I'd highly recommend reading his scouting report at Cape Prospects and watch the video that accompanies it. In 2007, Crow went 9-4, 3.59 ERA in 18 starts (2 CG), struck out 90 and walked 33 in 117 2/3 IP.

Brian Matusz is a 6'4"-5" LHP for the San Diego Toreros who spent the summer with Team USA, compiling a 1.33 ERA and a 3-1 record in four starts. According to his Brewerfan.net profile, Matusz throws three pitches: a fastball that sits in the low 90's, a curve ball, and a changeup that could become his best pitch. During the 2007 college season, Matusz went 10-3, 2.85 ERA in 18 games (1 CG), struck out 163 and walked 37 in 123 IP.

Zach Putnam is a two-way player for the Michigan Wolverines. He's pretty good doing both, but pitching appears to be his future in the pros. As a right-handed pitcher, Putnam offers a fastball in the low-90s, a slider, and a changeup. Putnam stepped onto the national stage last June when he came close to no-hitting the eventual College World Series winner, Oregon State.

That's it for today. If there are any special requests, such as a specific position or conference, I'm all for it.

Official Press Release

Renck says Weathers signed for a $1.8M signing bonus.

Here's what David had to say in the Signings Diary:

About 15 minutes until the second day starts. Alan Matthews has a list of some of the best remaining talent to be drafted.

Round 6: Cory Riordan, RHP, Fordham - can hit mid-90's fastball on occasion, 100 K in 100.1 IP, 29 BB

Round 7: Jeff Cunningham, 1B, South Alabama - 22 homers in 2007

Round 8: Parker Frazier, RHP, Bishop Kelley HS (OK) - Son of George Frazier. Read David OhNo's comments on the guy. He's already pitched at Drillers Stadium.

Round 9: Jordan Pacheco, 2B, New Mexico - 21 2B, 44:28 BB:K. Five homers each of the past two seasons, he had 15 as a freshman.

Round 10: Jeff Fischer, RHP, Eastern Michigan - 6'5". 95 K in 102 IP, 44 BB, 87 H

Continue reading this post »

With its broadcast of the MLB Draft today, ESPN now airs all the major sports drafts (the NHL Draft isn't major as it's on Versus - if you can find the channel - and do you know who Patrick Kane and Angelo Esposito are?). ESPN handled the draft well for the most part. They had a good cast of characters to talk about the draft, including Peter Gammons, Keith Law and Jim Callis. Steve Phillips was there, but when was the last time he had anything important to tell us? Karl Ravech was the host.

Ravech, Phillips and Law were on the main set, which was located close to the representatives for each club. There was no special design to the stage, just three leather-cushioned chairs and a few tables. Wow, did Ravech's table get messy. Papers were all over the place and I believe he had a problem finding a particular paper at one point. Keith Law was not with those three, though he played the part of Mel Kiper (minus the hair and the smugness). He did, however, attempt to imitate Kiper when Ravech asked him about the A's selection of James Simmons: "Shocked! Shocked! Shocked!" Of course, Law wasn't really shocked by the pick, but the way he said it made him come across as Kiper-sounding. Funny stuff.

Peter Gammons has a wealth of knowledge, and he had the best quote of the day: "Most people who talk about Moneyball have never read the book."

Jim Callis spends countless hours on the phones trying to get us the information we all crave, especially the night before the draft, and you could see the toll it took on him. Whenever he was on camera, I thought he was about to fall over due to lack of sleep. Get some sleep, Jim.

The five-minute clock is OK since it's not as long as the 15-minute one for the NFL (though that may change before the 2008 draft). The fast-paced nature of the MLB Draft is what made it unique among the other ones, but one-minute picks on TV are not good for advertisers. It took roughly 2.5 hours (2:10 ET to around 4:40 ET) to finish the first round, which wasn't terrible.

Like the NBA and NFL, the MLB one had some of the top prospects there to walk across the big stage, hold a jersey up and take a picture with Bud Selig. Selig also announced every first round pick; I already miss hearing Tommy Lasorda announce Dodgers draft picks.

Overall, it was a good first attempt at televising the draft, but I expect to see a few improvements next year.

Connor Graham

RHP, Miami U. (profile)

HT: 6'6" WT: 233 lbs.

2007 Stats: 13 APP, 13 GS, W-L 5-4, 80.2 IP, 80 H, 43/38 R/ER, 34 BB, 76 K, 4.24 ERA, .261 BAA

Bio: Entering the 2004 draft, Graham was set on going to college. He served as the closer for the Red Hawks and saved four games. He struck out 42 in 32 innings. He moved into the rotation last season (a rotation that included Keith Weiser), but also pitched six times in relief. He struck out 41 in 46 innings and walked 25 batters. After entering the rotation full-time this season, Graham had a decent 2007 campaign, but showed the scouts he had the ability to be a top-five round talent.

Commentary: Graham works with a fastball usually in the low-90's and also uses a slider and a change up splitter. He's a candidate to anchor a rotation in one of the short-season leagues.

Isaiah Froneberger

LHP, Forest Park HS, Ga.

HT: 5'8"? 5'10"? WT: 200 lbs.

Bio: Froneberger has a commitment to the University of Georgia to play baseball. He is, however, signable and should head to Caper to pitch out of the bullpen. A lefty with a 90 MPH fastball, he also has a good curveball.

Commentary: Seems like a stretch. Take a look at his scouting video. At best, he's a lefty specialist out of the bullpen.

The draft's about an hour away, and as Russ has been updating below, selections are starting to clear up.

Here's where we stand with what I know:

1. Tampa Bay, David Price
   
2. Kansas City, Mike Moustakas
   
3. Chicago Cubs, Josh Vitters
   
4. Pittsburgh Pirates, Daniel Moskos
   
5. Baltimore Orioles, Matt Wieters
   
6. Washington Nationals, Ross Detwiler
   
7. Milwaukee Brewers, Matt LaPorta
   
8. Us, Casey Weathers

It's still looking to me that either Moskos or Detwiler or both will be available at our pick, but Tracy Ringolsby and Baseball America are sticking to their guns about the selection being Weathers, and Renck and Mayo haven't updated saying that it will be anybody other than Moskos.

I still say Detwiler. We're about to find out who's right... and it's Ringolsby!

Lars Davis

C, Illinois (profile)

HT: 6'3" WT: 205 lbs.

2007 Stats: 58 GP/GS, .400 BA, .461 OBP, .644 SLG, 225 AB, 55 R, 90 H, 10 2B, 3 3B, 13 HR, 56 RBI, 20 BB, 8 HBP, 32 K, 8-12 SB

Bio: Davis is a native of Grand Prairie, Alberta, Canada and spent his first season playing for the Prairie Baseball Academy while attending Lethbridge College. Prior to that, the Devil Rays drafted him in 2003. After being named the 2005 "Dawg of the Year" at the PBA, he transferred to Illinois and immediately became the starting catcher. He ranked the top five for average, home runs and RBI that season.

This season he exploded on to the draft scene with his bat, not his defense. He threw out 36% of base runners in 2006 and 28.6% this year. As that link will also inform you, he was the only Big 10 player to make a Louisville Slugger AA Team. He's also into science as he was a molecular and cellular biology major.

Other Links: Canada.com article.

Commentary: Davis has a good offensive skill set that will help him through the minors and already ranks higher in offensive skill than most catchers already in the Rockies' system. Solid pick.

Brian Rike

LF, La Tech (profile)

HT: 6'2" WT: 200 lbs.

2007 Stats: 59 GP/GS, .346 BA, .471 OBP, .705 SLG, 217 AB, 74 R, 75 H, 14 2B, 2 3B, 20 HR, 66 RBI, 42 BB, 14 HBP, 35 K, 16-18 SB

Bio: Brian Rike is a self made success story, entering Louisiana Tech as a walk-on, working full tilt and earning first a spot on the roster, and then in the lineup, then league all-star attention, then the team MVP honors of a summer wood bat league, and then the attention of scouts, and then... you get the picture. He's a left handed right fielder, who's power is sometimes questioned by scouts because of the size of the ballpark he plays in, but who's ability to hit with wood isn't questioned. Much like Rockies rookies Troy Tulowitzki and Chris Iannetta, Rike's a consummate professional, always looking for ways to improve his game and his skills, be it strength at hitting, speed on the basepaths, his defense or wherever he notices a weakness to his game. - Rox Girl

Other Links: Brian Rike at the Baseball Analysts.

Also, there's this Baseball America article by Adam Foster.

Commentary: Rike's an interesting selection to me, as the type of player he really reminds me of is John Mabry, only the younger better John Mabry and not the older version the Rockies suffered through this season. RG