Marines Wrap Up Busy Day

In what was referred to by Joe as the "Colorado Springs round" of the draft, the Marines drafted 4 times over the course of the afternoon and into the evening. The Marines had five names in mind at the start of the day, and they came out with four.

#101 – Sean West - The day began with Marlins prospect Sean West coming on board. Though sporting an utterly abysmal 2009 card, the Marines decided at #101 to nab the 6'10 southpaw, hoping for some of that 1st round talent to start creeping out as early as 2010. With West going as early as 30th overall in some leagues, the Marines found his potential impossible to pass up and are happy to welcome him to Colorado.

#110 – Eric Young Jr. - Though already bolstered at second base with the addition of Dan Uggla, the Marines opted to grab the local speedster that GM Eric Posch has had the privilege of seeing twice while playing for the Rockies AAA team. "He was a treat to watch when I saw him," Posch said. "Between his solid contact ability, a great eye and unbelievable speed [87, 73, 46, 58 SBs over the last four years in the minors], he was too much to pass up at this point in the draft." The Marines hope that despite the Rockies signing of Melvin Mora that Young will get an opportunity to earn some at bats at the major league level.

#115 – Conor Jackson - After posting years of consistent .300 averages with great on base ability and some pop, Conor missed the bulk of the 2009 season with sickness and was sub-par while he was playing. Regarding Jackson's 2009 bout with valley fever as a fluke, the Marines drafted him with their third pick of the day. "With Matsui a question mark for 2010, Conor is a big addition for us," Posch stated afterward. "He's going to be a huge factor next season."

#117 – Michael Saunders - With their final pick of the round, the Marines opted to strengthen the depth of what is already a deep outfield. "The two outfield prospects we were interested in (Schafer being the other) both fell to this point," Posch commented. "Although the outfield was not a huge priority coming into this draft, I decided for the best-player over need approach for this pick." When asked what caused him to choose the Mariners 2nd ranked prospect over the highly touted, toolsy Atlanta outfielder, Posch replied, "We liked that Saunders had proven success above AA. While Schafer harbors a ton of talent, he seems a lot more raw, and in a situation where we've got a stacked system and only 20 keepers each year, we wanted the more developed player." He later noted that he likely would not pursue Schafer with a later pick, but added that under the right circumstances, anything is possible.

--

Once again, the Marines targeted youth and establishing a deep system over the players that could help them most in 2010. Their decisions and gambles can only be properly reviewed this time next year and beyond, but for what it's worth, the Marines are pleased with the crop of young, high-upside players they've amassed thus far.

Pre-season Opener: Bartonville @ Washington

Bartonville came to Washington for the pre-season opener. With Wainwright on the mound, Bartonville stacked its potent lineup with LH hitters, but Wainwright was up for the challenge.

BOXSCORE: 2010 Bartonville Bombers At 2010 Washington Booze Hounds

(Sorry for the sloppy format, I'm having trouble with the blog tool.)

Bombers AB R H RBI Booze Hounds AB R H RBI
I.Suzuki RF 5 1 1 0 S.Victorino CF 2 2 2 1
N.Morgan CF 5 0 1 1 C.Gonzalez RF 4 2 2 0
T.Helton C 4 0 1 1 C-C.Ross PH,RF 0 0 0 0
A.Gonzalez 1B 4 0 1 0 M.Teixeira 1B 4 2 1 1
G.Jones LF 4 0 1 0 J.Mauer C 4 2 3 1
C.Coghlan 2B 4 0 1 0 T.Tulowitzki SS 5 0 2 2
C.Figgins 3B 3 0 1 0 R.Zimmerman 3B 5 2 2 2
M.Scutaro SS 4 1 2 0 R.Cano 2B 5 1 2 2
U.Jimenez P 0 0 0 0 J.Ellsbury LF 5 1 1 0
J.Hammel P 0 0 0 0 A.Wainwright P 2 1 0 0
B.Jenks P 0 0 0 0
A-J.Reyes PH 1 0 0 0
J.Valverde P 0 0 0 0
B-M.Diaz PH 1 0 1 0
B.Wilson P 0 0 0 0
M.Wuertz P 0 0 0 0
N.Masset P 0 0 0 0
D-C.Lee PH 1 1 1 0
-- -- -- --- -- -- -- ---
Totals 36 3 11 2 Totals 36 13 15 9

A-Pinch Hit For Jenks In 5th Inning
B-Pinch Hit For Valverde In 6th Inning
C-Pinch Hit For Gonzalez In 7th Inning
D-Pinch Hit For Masset In 9th Inning

Bombers......... 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 - 3 11 0
Booze Hounds.... 5 0 1 3 0 2 2 0 - 13 15 1

Bombers IP H R ER BB SO HR PC SCORESHEET
U.Jimenez LOSS 0 2/3 4 5 3 1 1 0 31 A1 A7
J.Hammel 3 5 4 4 0 1 1 59 A8 C3
B.Jenks 0 1/3 2 0 0 0 1 0 13 C4 C6
J.Valverde 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 18 C7 D2
B.Wilson 0 2 2 2 1 0 0 12 D3 D5
M.Wuertz 1 1 2 1 2 2 0 26 D6 E2
N.Masset 2 0 0 0 1 3 0 20 E3
Totals 8 15 13 10 6 8 1

Booze Hounds IP H R ER BB SO HR PC SCORESHEET
A.Wainwright WIN 9 11 3 2 2 8 0 150 A1
Totals 9 11 3 2 2 8 0

ATTENDANCE- 48,744 TIME- Night WEATHER- Good
UMPIRES- Brian O'Nora, Paul Nauert, Jerry Crawford, Tom Hallion
T- 3:22
LEFT ON BASE- Bombers:10 Booze Hounds: 7
DOUBLE PLAYS- Bombers: 1 Booze Hounds: 0
ERRORS- T.Tulowitzki
DOUBLES- I.Suzuki, N.Morgan, C.Coghlan, S.Victorino, M.Teixeira, R.Cano
TRIPLES- T.Tulowitzki
HOME RUNS- R.Zimmerman
STOLEN BASES- S.Victorino, J.Ellsbury
SACRIFICE HITS- J.Hammel, A.Wainwright
SACRIFICE FLIES- T.Helton, S.Victorino
WALKS- A.Gonzalez, C.Figgins, S.Victorino-2, C.Ross, M.Teixeira, J.Mauer,
A.Wainwright
STRIKE OUTS- N.Morgan, A.Gonzalez-2, G.Jones, C.Coghlan-2, C.Figgins, M.Scutaro,
M.Teixeira, T.Tulowitzki, R.Zimmerman-3, R.Cano, J.Ellsbury-2
GIDP- M.Teixeira
PASSED BALLS- T.Helton-3
WEB GEMS- Top 5th: Shane Victorino robbed Nyjer Morgan of an extra base hit.

SCORESHEET: 2010 Bartonville Bombers at 2010 Washington Booze Hounds
I.Suzuki-A1 A1:G/43 B1:P/4 C1:Do D1:G/53 E1:FO/2


N.Morgan-A1 A2:K *3*:G/43 C2:F/8>23 *7*:F/7 E2:Do>3#
13

T.Helton-A1 A3:Si B3:G/43 C3:E/6>3# D3:F/7 E3:SF/8>3
b2 #

A.Gonzal-A1 A4:Si>12 B4:K C4:W>b1 D4:F/7 E4:K


G.Jones-A1 A5:K *4*:G/3 C5:Si>2o *8*:G/43
12

C.Coghla-A1 *2*:Do B6:K *6*:K D6:FO/2


C.Figgin-A1 A7:W>b1 B7:Si C7:K D7:G/3


M.Scutar-A1 A8:K B8:G/53 C8:Si *9*:Si


U.Jimene-A1 A9:Sac/34 *5*:L/4 C9:Si>13 D9:Si>13
J.Hammel-A6 >23 12
B.Jenks-B9+

S.Victor-A1 A1:W>b1 B1:Si C1:SF/9>3 D1:W>b1 E1:Do>13
#

C.Gonzal-A1 A2:Si>12 B2:F/8 C2:Si D2:SB>12 E2:PB>3#
C.Ross-E2 F/8 23 W>b1

M.Teixei-A1 A3:L/4 B3:K C3:Do>1# *6*:W>b1 E3:G-DP/6
43>3# 1o

J.Mauer-A1 A4:Si>23 *3*:G/63 C4:Si>2# D4:Si>12 E4:W>b1
12

T.Tulowi-A1 A5:K B5:FO/2 C5:Si>12 D5:Tr>2# E5:G/3
1#

R.Zimmer-A1 A6:Si>3# B6:HR>b# C6:K D6:K *8*:K
23 12

R.Cano-A1 A7:Si>3# B7:G/43 *5*:Do D7:G/3 E7:K
2# 13

J.Ellsbu-A1 A8:PB>3# *4*:Si C8:G/43>2 D8:K E8:K
23 PB>3# 3
G/63
A.Wainwr-A1 *2*:F/7 B9:SB>12 C9:G/31 *7*:W>b1
Sac/14>23

Review of Draft Picks 11-20

Folowing the action of day 1, day 2 also took its share of twists and turns. Here are the picks, with Commissioner John's predictions in parenthesis, and my analysis following.

• 11. Bowling Green: Neftali Feliz (Feliz): Hard to pass on this possible phenom, with the bonus of getting 30+ unhittable relief innings out of him this year. The big gamble with Feliz seems to be the question of whether you drafted a starter or a reliever.
• 12. Oregon: Jeff Niemann (Dexter Fowler): Oregon needs the innings and takes a solid SP card with innings here. Some people think this is a reach for Niemann, but aside from going with a low-inning prospect, he might be the best combination of 2009 performance and career steadiness remaining. Bob declares that he gets his man, so all's well that end's well!
• 13. Loves Park: Andrew Bailey (Niemann): LP is put in a difficult position here. Clearly the CFs Rasmus & Fowler are two of the best prospects left, but Michael has G. Sizemore and Rajai Davis patrolling CF already. He decides to take maybe the best possible card available in Bailey, even though he's got a very good closer (Street) and a generally sold bullpen. Having a great bullpen never hurt a contender! Michael has Rasmus lined up several times but didn't pull the trigger.
• 14. Brighton: Colby Rasmus (A. Escobar): With the two high potential CFs staring him in the face, Brighton decides to eschew his pitching needs and takes the one with the most potential. He then immediately ships off Josh Hamilton to upgrade his SS w/ Yunel Escobar. If you cannot have one Escobar, get another. (As long as it's not Pablo Escobar, South American drug kingpin.)
• 15. Washington: David Aardsma + Cody Ross (Bailey): I clearly think my team is a contender, especially in a weak NL. Plus, I'm the only team without a real closer so it was pretty clear that I wanted Bailey. However, I got presented with the opportunity to draft Fowler who I am also high on. Fortunately, the next team (Reno) really wants Fowler and he gives me Cody Ross as incentive not to keep Fowler. So I get the closer I need and good fielding RH bat in the OF for my efforts. (Yes, I know I picked Fowler and Reno picked Aardsma, but for this write-up it's clear what we each got.) John nailed this pick on the head with me drafting a closer. I think Aardsma is a reach here and may have peaked, but I needed that closer for this season.
• 16. Reno: Fowler (Mat Latos): Reno gets Fowler, a player he covets and thought he'd never have a chance at, but he has to give up an additional asset in Cody Ross to be certain he gets him. Unless WAS wins the Hello Kitty Cup, I predict Reno will be laughing at me for a long time.
• 17. Reno: Brian Matusz (Chris Coghlan): Reno now starts its move towards high-end pitching prospects (as John predicted for one pick earlier and gets a good one here. Although Latos and Davis may be rated higher, he takes the lone lefty here, feeling reasonably certain he can get one of the righties with his next pick 4 picks later (and he does: Mat Latos).
• 18. Vero Beach: Wade Davis (Davis): John nails this one as VB adds a high-ceiling pitching prospect to his roster.
• 19. Edgewater via WAS from Oahu (whew!): Randy Wells (Trevor Cahill): John again had the right idea about a starting pitcher here. Edgewater's selection of Wells here seems to indicate that Edgewater believes it can compete for a playoff spot in the weak NL. There are a few murmors among the peanut gallery at the draft that this might have been a reach, but Wells has some good innings to give and is very tough on RH batters.
• 20. Bartonville: Coghlan (Garrett Jones): With a great lineup and pitching staff already in place, Bartonville is just fine tuning for another run at this point. Being in the AL, he has the luxury of drafting on-base machine but 5-rated fielder Coghlan and installing him as a DH. Plus it potentially gives him a solid 2B for the future which is Coghlan's natural position. John had the right idea here again -- adding a DH-type of bat to an already solid lineup.

Another good prediction job by John. Most of the times when he did not get the player right, he got the idea or position right on!

Biggest Winner: Reno. This was a tough one, but having Fowler slide down to him and being able to get a pitching uber-prospect is a plus. The soft spot is that he had to give up a viable asset to get Fowler. Runner-up: Brighton for a high-potential pick sliding down to him, and Washington for filling its biggest need and picking up a nice role player at the same time. Vero Beach gets some plusses for adding a high-end pitching prospect to an already competitive team.

Biggest Loser: Washington. I am partially taking the chicken way out by avoiding criticizing others, but even though WAS filled its main need for this season, this first rounder might be worthless next year. WAS needs to win now to make that pick worthwhile. Runner-up: Oregon and Edgewater may have reached for their guys who may not have the longevity of some of the highly-rated prospects.

I hope you enjoyed these recaps and the analysis. Feel free to disagree in the comments!

Review of Draft Picks 1-10

With the draft getting underway and everybody getting into the spirit of it, I thought I'd review the Top 10 picks under the prism of Commissioner John's original predictions in December.

First off, John was amazingly accurate in his predictions. Only one of his projected top 10 (Rasmus #9) fell outof the top 10. Here's the list with the actual pick followed by John's predicted pick in parenthesis:

1. COL: Matt Wieters (Wieters): No brain surgery. Nearly a unanimous number 1 in the SOM realm.
2. OLD: Tommy Hanson (Hanson): John pegs this one. There was some rumbling that Pete might go with Andrus, but he takes the top rookie pitcher in the draft.
3. ABE: Andrus, McCutchen, Beckham (Andrus, McCutchen, Carpenter): John nearly gets all three here. It looked to me like ABE was setting up his lineup for the future so I thought Beckham would go here. Jeremy said he had Carpenter lined up several times and just could not click the button. Not taking Carpenter here seems to indicate that ABE is setting itself up for a long, successful future, especially with Beckham reportedly moving to 2B this season.
4. See #3.
5. See #4.
6. NAP via SAN: Chris Carpenter (Rick Porcello): In the first of the draft day trades, SAN waves the opportunity to take the best SP card in the draft in front of the rest of the league. All wanna-be contenders, it's time to step up! The surprise taker is dispersal team and hyper-active trader Napa ponying up the #10 pick plus two high picks next season for the right to pair Carpenter with Lincecum. That's the best duo of SPs on any team (passing Haren and Josh Johnson of London), and makes Napa a threat right away. San Antonio seems to be aiming for a younger arm by sliding to 10, and we can infer that SAN does not consider itself a top contender.
7. NAS: Porcello (David Price): With Porcello still on the board, Nassau grabs him in hopes he'll be in the rotation for 10+ years. Good solid pick here.
8. HAL: Brett Anderson (Beckham): Halifax grabs arguably the next best rookie SP with innings here. Also a hopeful cornerpiece for years to come.
9. LON: Price (Colby Rasmus): London cannot ignore the potential of David Price here, and probably with good reason. London is setting up a potentially great pitching staff here for the foreseeable future. This begins the slide of Colby Rasmus.
10. SAN via NAP: Alcides Escobar (B. Anderson): I think San Antonio got surprised here. I think John was aiming for one of the 3 rookie pitchers but they all got taken right in front of him. The consolation prize is nothing to sneeze at. Hot prospect Alcides Escobar could man the SS position for a decade, and SAN is going to need a SS real soon with M. Tejada slated to move to 3B in Baltimore.

So, you can see that our wise commish nearly nailed the top 10. Well done, John!

Biggest Winner: Aberdeen establishes its up the middle core for the long-term with Andrus, Beckham, and McCutchen. I guess it's a no-brainer to choose the team with three top 10 picks as the winner, but he used those picks extremely well in my judgment. Runner-up: Napa who throws itself into immediate contention.

Biggest Loser: Reluctantly, I choose San Antonio. There were no real losers here, San Antonio was chosen solely because I don't think they drafted for the position they were aiming for. However, Escobar could end up being a better addition than a semi-unpredictable young pitcher, plus they gather two high picks to continue building in the future.

Review of picks 11-20 coming soon.

Napa trade action

With the trading restrictions lifted and the draft started, Napa management wasted no time getting back into the trade game. They shipped off sluggers Adam Dunn, Justin Morneau, along with an 8th and 10th round pick to Kansas City. In return, Napa received 5-tooled outfielder Carl Crawford and the big slugger Ryan Howard.

Draft Pick Mayhem

Looking at the Draft Pick Exchange Matrix can be pretty funny. I am not sure whether we've treated draft picks as valuable commodities or as empty beer cans to be thrown around and recycled. In the 2nd round alone, 7 draft picks have been shuffled! The 10th round for some unknown reason is a very popular round to move your pick with 6 picks trading hands.

It also seems that certain teams have attempted to corner the market on certain draft rounds:

• 1st round is the Aberdeen round. Aberdeen has amazingly (and adroitly?) gathered the 2 picks consecutive to his so that he goes 3rd, 4th, and 5th.
• 3rd round will be a "Nassau". Nassua has accumulated 4 picks in this round!
• 5th round will be Washington-themed. 3 picks for us.
• 6th round will basically bounce between Colorado Springs and Washington. Colorado has 4 picks, and Washington 3. None of Washington's three picks are its own original pick!

Other trivia:

• 7th round is the earliest round in which no picks were traded.
• Dispersal teams are active! Every single dispersal team moved or acquired a pick.
• Four teams did not traffic in draft picks: London, Loves Park, Vero Beach, and defending champion Bartonville.
• Aberdeen take a nap. After making 3 of the first 5 choices, Aberdeen does not pick again until the 7th round. They will make 1 additional pick before the 9th round.
• Biggest acquirer of picks: Nassau and Colorado each acquired 5 picks. Colorado shipped 2 out making Nassau's net of +5 tops.
• Biggest spewer of picks: Napa, Reno, and Washington all don't have 6 of their original picks. Napa only acquired 2, making their net of -4 tops (or bottoms)!
• Biggest shuffler of picks: Washington sent 6 picks away and acquired 6 picks for 12 total differences with a giant net of 0! Honorable mention to Reno for 4 acquired and 6 dealt.

In total 38 picks have changed hands! Of course the trading will re-open once the draft begins which could lead to even more mayhem.

Good luck in the draft everyone.

Nassau Deals SS Furcal

Nassau decides to bite the bullet and deals SS Rafael Furcal and a 10th rd pick to Brighton for a 3rd round pick in the upcoming free agent/rookie draft .... that gives Nassau GM Steve Garafalo 4 picks in round 3 to try and bolster the 2010 G-Men's starting rotation as well as some much needed help in the field ... Let the drafting begin