Day two Overview:
Day two's are usually fairly blah, and also toward the end, nepotistic (follow the link in the Tulo thread above to find out why). Definitely the most exciting pick on Day two for the Rox is halfway down the list, Reese Havens out of South Carolina. Rox Fan in NY brought up a bitter memory for me regarding another high profile pick who signed late with a strong college commitment to a different USC. Anyway, Havens probably needs a seven figure deal to lure him away from Charleston, and the Rockies have in the past been willing to pull out the purse for late rounders if they feel the player is special enough, Havens might be that special.
Other than Havens, I like a few of the pitchers, Binda, Martin, and Toler, particularly, but a couple of the others could be sleepers. These are the rounds where you really have to go looking for the hidden gems, as far as position players, the two other high schoolers, Nazario and Halton, logically figure to have the most potential.
Rockies Picks:
#567 Byron Binda, rhp, Coastal Carolina
A senior, Binda was demoted from CCU's closer role in favor of Mike Costanzo earlier in the year, although I'm not sure if it was for performance or injury concerns. I don't know why it would be for performance, Binda struck out 75 batters in only 50 IP this year.
#597 Andrew Kreidermacher, rhp, Minnesota State Mankato
All I know is that he's big 6'4", 200 lbs, and another college senior.
#627 Christopher Martin, rhp, McLennan CC
A tall and lanky right hander (6'7", 175 lbs,) Martin just turned twenty, either he is the Rox first draft-and-follow selection of 2005 unless you count Dominick Foster, who we already drafted once, or Martin's just a young lanky project that could be intriguing as we develop him, once I know more, I'll let you know.
#657 Radames Nazario, ss, Dr Juan J Maunez Pimental, (High School)
His bio on MLB says he has gap power, but a slight uppercut swing. 6'0" 166 lbs, medium frame. If we can sign him it will be one more middle infielder to watch. Could possibly be a DNF, as well.
#687 Philip Cuadrado, 3b, Cumberland U.
Ugh, a slap hitting senior who doesn't have much offensive projection despite his big frame. I don't like this pick, but for round 23, it's probably not bad. These last few infielders are defense first so far in their careers, but at least Nazario has some offensive upside.
#717 Sean Toler, rhp, Parkway South HS, MO He can pitch in the upper eighties and has a baseball scholarship to Saint Louis University according to his school's paper.
#747 Steven Hirschfeld, rhp, CC of Southern Nevada
He's not yet twenty, and tall at 6'4".
#777 (it's like we're buying Boeings these last two rounds) Ethan Katz, rhp, Cal State Sacto,
Upper eighties fastball and a decent change, with two breaking pitches already as well. He's a senior that might just be minor league filler, but he has enough to make him a little intriguing.
#807 Sean Ruthven, rhp, Georgia
Another college senior, Ruthven pitched mostly in relief for the Bulldogs, I don't know much about his stuff.
#837 David Bechtold, lhp, Liberty U
A stocky southpaw, 6'2" 205 lbs
#867 David "Reese" Havens, Bishop England HS, ss, SC
He'll probably have to be moved, but I like this pick if we can sign him. He has video up at MLB. He's got a strong commit to play for South Carolina and it will definitely take more money than most 29th rounders would get. But it will be worth it. Havens ranks in the top 100 draft prospects according to BA, and they say, "scouts have compared him to David Wright and Hank Blalock"
#897 Michael Milliron, ss, Penn State,
Yeah, another one, apparently we were weaker at shortstop than we thought.
#927 Sean Halton, 1b, Fresno HS
I love California prepsters, here's an instant profile for you. He's much better at first and looks strong enough to have quite a bit of power. I'm still looking for college commitments, but I like the pick.
#957 Jarrad Page, cf, some crap school in California,
but he might be a decent player.., for a Bruin.., and football player.., oh who am I kidding, I don't like this one very much either. It's probably mostly school bias though.
#987 Jordan Jarvis, rhp, Arcadia HS, AZ
Interesting, he's in the choir:
#1017 Kyle Beitey, lhp, Lower Columbia College
#1047 Timothy Brewer, lhp, Ivanna Eudora Kean HS
#1077 Christopher Cook, 1b, Grand Canyon U.
#1107 C.J. Belanger OF Cypress HS, Stanton, Calif. CA
#1137 Barret Browning lhp Florida State U. FL
#1167 Rod Scurry rhp Sierra (Calif.) JC CA
#1196 Joseph Servais C Garden City (Kan.) CC KS
#1225 Jeremy Farrell 3b St. Ignatius HS, Cleveland OH
#1254 Maikol Gonzales SS Louisburg (N.C.) JC NC
#1283 Jordan Rogers rhp Dayton (Texas) HS TX
#1312 Philip Myers lhp Ballard HS, Louisville KY
#1341 Chris Bell OF Johnson HS, Gainesville, Ga. GA
#1370 Garrett Vaughan C Sibley (La.) HS LA
#1399 Brent Weiss 2b St. Joseph Regional HS, Suffern, N.Y. NY
#1427 Spencer Schuh rhp Harrison (Ark.) HS AR
#1454 Jordan Moore lhp Spokane Falls (Wash.) CC WA
#1481 James Pollack C North Broward Prep, Parkland, Fla. FL
As exciting as listening to the Rockies pick draft-and-follows and future Mike Piazza sounds, there are a lot of picks in these next thirty-two who won't even make it to Casper. So today, now that we know Tulo's starting at Modesto and now that we have seen a little more of the ups and downs of our farm system for the season, I want us to pullout the crystal balls for the beginning of our World Championship Run in 2008 again and start projecting the lineup, bench, and pitching staff.
Here's my updated lineup:
Leading off:
- Jeff Salazar, cf - I like his power, his OBP, his defense, and I think he'll be pretty good on the bases too, eventually.
- Our second baseman. Or maybe our shortstop. Or a strange combination of the three players who we'll have at these spots at that point: Clint Barmes, Matt Macri and Troy Tulowitzki. I think Tulo we'll be mostly a reserve in '08 and the other two the starters that year.
- Jeff Baker - He'll be rising fast next year and be our best hitter by 2008, but he'll be injured a lot so it's a good thing we'll have young phenom Ian Stewart backing him up. Garrett Atkins will have been traded for some pitchers.
- Todd Helton - 1b, his skills declining a bit, he'll have regained the power stroke he's been missing this season, but he will no longer be at number three in the order.
- Matt Holliday - lf, He'll be the right handed protection to make matchups difficult. Seth Smith will be knocking on the door in AAA, though, so watch out.
- Brad Hawpe - rf, our lineup will be so deep that this will be the best place to put him despite his good numbers.
- Our other middle infielder - not bad this deep in the lineup, if it's Macri, there's a lot of power, if it's Tulo, some power with a pretty decent average, and with Barmes, a little of everything and a lot of grit.
- Chris Ianetta - c, He'll always get on, putting the pitcher's spot up frequently and causing a great annoyance to the opposition.
- Our pitcher. I'll post my rotation, pen, and bench in the comments.