What do you bring to a draft-eve party, anyway, I wonder?
Anybody who has read my threads knows that I have felt from the get go that the Royals would eventually pass on Andrew Miller with the number one pick in this year's draft. With less than twenty-four hours to go, it's looking like a real possibility according to BA's Will Lingo. In the last two days the buzzon Luke Hochevar has died down a bit and I'm starting to think that the Royals will pick Houston's Brad Lincoln instead. KC columnist Joe Posnanski outlines the Royals dilemma and compares the two frontrunning college men. Jim Callis says that Hochevar is still a consideration. What's more, MLB.com talked to Royals exec Daric Ladnier and he insists that KC hasn't made up its mind yet. I'm telling you right now that whoever they choose, that kind of organizational waffling is not a good thing. The last time a team vascillated so much on a number one pick was two years ago, when the Padres couldn't come to a consensus and wound up getting Matt Bush. The Rockies of course took Chris Nelson and the D-backs got Stephen Drew.
Now, if the Rockies are truly unafraid of Miller's contract concerns and as keen on him as Callis and others seem to say, then that means we're getting a Tar-Heel under our draft day tree. One thing that would mean is that in later rounds the team will probably shy away from heavy bonus demands with maybe one exception as an alternative in case Miller won't sign.
Jonathan Mayo has a draft chat going right now. I'll post updates if they come in throughout the day.