Now that the MLB amateur draft is less than a week away, I thought it would be extreme torture for all of you fun if I did a fake Q&A with myself that hopefully will answer some of the more common questions nobody in their right mind people have. I promise to do my best in order to answer them both thoughtfully and correctly. Read the rest of this entry »

Here at MLJ we are going to be getting to know players who are projected to go all over in this year’s draft. Yesterday we took a look at Tyler Matzek, who could go as high as the top 5. Today it is high school catcher Austin Maddox. Maddox’s stock has been falling for most of the spring, but he should still go in the late first round or so.

Maddox stands around 6′3″ and is about 215-220 pounds. Maddox is a pretty good receiver who has a cannon for an arm. At a recent event he caught two games in one day, and the next day he pitched. He features a 90-91 mph fastball on the mound with good sink, but his defense and hitting will make that option more attractive to teams than his pitching.

As I said above, Maddox’s stock has taken a bit of a hit this year. This is because he doesn’t have great athleticism and he is very slow. He also has great raw power in batting practice, but has struggled in some games, especially against better competition.

His raw power is tremendous and Maddox is a very hard worker. Some scouts think he has the best makeup in the draft class. However, there are questions about his chances to catch long term because of his size and he isn’t mobile behind the plate at all. He has the potential to be one of the best players in the class, but if he can’t catch long term then his power really needs to show up, because he would almost have to be a 1b/DH type.

With the huge stable of high school catchers, it will be interesting to see if a better defender like Michael Zunino (Cape Coral, Florida) or a great hitter like Max Stassi (Yuba City, California) gets picked first. And it will also be interesting to see if having a huge stable of high school catchers drives their collective price up or down, or if it will have no impact.

Back even before I was an official contributor to MLJ, I did the 2008 Mock Draft. Even though it was my first ever mock draft of any sort, I was fairly happy with my results. I certainly did as well as the Baseball Americas and Baseball Prospectuses of the world. That’s all a guy can ask for really.

Today I’ll be reviewing my mock draft and what the teams actually did, and trying to figure out where I went wrong, or how on Earth I got a couple of these right. This is all leading up to the 2009 draft in June, the best day in the baseball calendar. Read the rest of this entry »

To kick off our 2009 draft coverage in earnest here at MLB, it’s time to review the 2004 draft. Last year we graded the 2003 draft, and I was needled a bit for saying that Nick Markakis would end up being the best pick of that draft. I stand by it though. The only thing certain about the 2004 draft is that the #1 pick won’t be the best player in the draft, as his career is pretty much over. The theme of the 2004 draft was pitching. Specifically college pitching. 6 of the top 10 picks were college pitchers, and 3 of them went to Rice and were part of one of the greatest trios in college baseball history. It is incredible that they didn’t win the 2004 national title, although they did win it in 2003. Just taking a quick look, I have no idea who the best player of this draft is. I don’t think anyone has fulfilled their potential, but there are a few canditates. A pick by pick review after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Hey everyone, the draft is less than two months away! As you can tell I am tremendously excited about this development. Even though this year’s draft crop isn’t as good as last year’s and there will be absolutely zero suspense over who the top pick will be (unless the Nats display their cheap side once again) it should still be interesting to see where guys like Aaron Crow and Tanner Scheppers, who are both pitching in Indy Leagues, go. And fetch favorite Dustin Ackley already has his career high in homers and is playing very well for North Carolina, and has risen to #2 on my “big board.” Why the quotes? I’m not Mel Kiper, that’s why. I don’t have that much hair, nor do I have someone like Todd McShay that I just yell at 24/7. I won’t be doing a draft ranking per say, but just some updates on how some of the guys we’re keeping tabs on are doing. [Edit: Ah Screw it, I'll put a top 10 mock at the end.]

Stephen Strasburg, RHP, San Diego State

Ah yeah, he’s good. In 8 starts this season, Strasburg is 7-0 with a 1.49 ERA and a .177 batting average against. Strasburg has struck out 107 guys in 54.1 innings while walking just 11 guys. If my math is right, thats over 17 k/9 and 9.73 k/bb. That is so good it’s hilarious.

Dustin Ackley, OF, North Carolina

Ackley is hitting .388/.497/.694 with 30 walks next to 18 strikeouts in 147 ABs. And as I mentioned above he has a career high in HRs, 11 to lead the Tar Heels. Ackley has gotten time in the OF this year as well as at first base and from what I have read he is asserting himself well. If anyone from my sim league is reading this, if Ackley is available at 8 I’m taking him no questions asked. Read the rest of this entry »

Anytime you log onto ESPN.com over the next couple of months, or flip onto either ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNEWS, you will see Mel Kiper Jr.’s big board, ranking prospects for the NFL Draft. I am no Mel Kiper Jr., so I won’t even try to do football. Instead, this is the MLB big board for the June draft. I’ll run this every so often leading up to the draft, but look for it to be updated weekly as we hit the home stretch.

1. Stephen Strasburg, RHP, San Diego St.

There’s not much to say about Strasburg that hasn’t already been said. After having one of the best Sophmore seasons in recent memory, the tall righty dominated in the Olympics, helping team USA win a bronze. There are some questions about Strasburg’s mechanics, but his pure stuff is off the charts. One thing to note is the hitch at the end of his delivery, where he abruptly stops his arm action, rather than allowing it to carry through naturally.

2. Alex White, RHP, University of North Carolina

White reminds me a lot of Derek Lowe. The Junior has a heavy sinker with pretty clean mechanics. As I always say, pitching is the most athletic event in baseball, and White is a great athlete, as he was recruited to play D-1 basketball. His secondary stuff has really come along, he features a hard slider that he can throw for strikes and also bury to put hitters away. He has been working on a splitter that will work like a change, but right now I would call it just fringe-average, although I obviously haven’t seen him pitch since June. For me, the gap between Strasburg and White is virtually non-existent. Read the rest of this entry »

Often people like to think they know what they’re talking about when discussing a draft (if you need evidence of this, check any of our draft thread comments and read what I have to say), but often nobody really knows what will happen. Case in point: Here is the player comment for the #3 overall pick in the 2003 draft: “Long career likely. Very good shot as frontline starter. Improved control & cb. Likely early 1st round type pick.” Who was it? Stay tuned. Here is a pick by pick review of the first round of the 2003 Draft… Read the rest of this entry »