I am definitely not a football fan, but I am a fan of two things very specific to tonight, and the above video:
- Pro sports drafts
- Hilarious youtube videos.
The above video showcases both of those, as it is a compilation of fans booing at their own incompetent front office. Basically, Twins fans, but football.
The Toronto Blue Jays will pick in the 10th overall slot, and, unlike most years, will not have an extra 7 selections. Happens. I'll be around until then... maybe slightly afterwards.
Houston selects Mark Appel with the first overall selection. They opted not to take him last year at #1, and he fell to 8th overall or something, ultimately not signing, and going back to school. Houston chooses, interestingly enough, to go with the best-ish player in the draft in Appel, rather than mimic last year's strategy of going a little bit off the board and saving money for later picks.
Harold Reynolds just said that Appel could, and will, be in the bigs in July at some point. What the fuck.
7:16PM
Cubs will probably take Jonathan Gray, who many thought the Astros would take with the first.
7:19 PM
Cubs take Kris Bryant, a large, powerful 3B. The Rockies must be absolutely thrilled, assuming they're taking Gray now. The Rockies suck at developing pitching, though that ballpark probably compounds that, so Gray to Colorado makes a lot of sense, barring signability concerns or the positive Adderall test from the other day.
7:25PM
Rockies get Gray. It's been pointed out to me that Kris Bryant was taken by the Jays a few years ago in the 18th round and didn't sign. Kohl Stewart will probably go to Minnesota, though Colin Moran is probably the best position player left.
7:31PM
Most mocks I've read have the Indians taking Colin Moran here, but I wouldn't be surprised if they grabbed a pitcher. Braden Shipley and Trey Ball are the only pitchers that are ranked this highly, and any other pitcher would probably be a bit of a reach, so it's tough to say.
7:38PM
Indians took Clint Frazier. I'm guessing that Colin Moran's got some signability concerns if he hasn't gone yet. Moran was as high as third on some mocks, which is like a $5.2MM bonus slot, so Moran's value is taking a pretty huge hit the farther he drops down.
7:45PM
Rockies take Moran. More importantly, Bud Selig just called this the "2000 1st year player draft." He seems drunker and drunker every year.
7:50PM
Boston coming up. Keith Law says Austin Meadows, an outfielder.
Boston instead took Trey Ball, a two-way lefty pitcher/outfielder. Big, tall lefty.
7:55PM
Royals up. Keith Law had them taking Ball. Austin Meadows is probably the top position player available, Alex Gonzalez is Law's highest ranked pitcher left. This Alex Gonzalez, unlike most, is not a shortstop. Jays up in three picks, or 12-ish minutes. Ryne Stanek and Chris Anderson are both tall RHP's that could go here if they want a pitcher.
8:00PM
Royals take Hunter Dozier. Keith Law had Dozier going 29th overall, so that's our first real leap. Most things I've read about Dozier suggest that he's not likely to stay at SS, which is fairly common. The Royals have a couple of picks later on tonight, so they're probably taking this guy to save some cash and get some guys who drop later on.
I kind of feel like the Jays are going to get Reese McGuire, the highest rated catcher in the draft, or Austin Meadows, if the Royals take McGuire. We'll find out soon, I guess.
Harold Reynolds doesn't understandthe way the draft works now anything.
8:03PM
Meadows to KC. If not McGuire here, probably JP Crawford, a high-school shortstop.
I'd like to point out that Bud Selig has stopped trying to remember what year it is.
8:06PM
Jays leap and take HS RHP Phil Bickford. Had huge bonus demands, and a lot of guys thought he was going to fall. More to come.
8:15PM
Bickford is 17. Keith Law, three days ago, had Bickford going to Kansas City, but in his last mock today, had Bickford falling as one of the guys with signability concerns.
Law's scouting report:
Classic Blue Jays.
Another report here as well. It sounds a lot like the reports that we got about Noah Syndergaard or Aaron Sanchez, in that they had big arms with not much for secondary stuff.
A contact of mine is going to look up some scouting reports on Bickford from a database that he has access to and presumably not hog that for himself. Doubt I'll get links or anything, but I'll hopefully get a reasonably detailed look. He believes that McGuire is going to go to the Mariners, now that the Jays passed.
8:20PM
Dominic Smith for the Mets, DJ Peterson to Seattle. 2 minute hug from his brother.
8:25PM
A couple of tweets, from Shi Davidi:
7:19 PM
Cubs take Kris Bryant, a large, powerful 3B. The Rockies must be absolutely thrilled, assuming they're taking Gray now. The Rockies suck at developing pitching, though that ballpark probably compounds that, so Gray to Colorado makes a lot of sense, barring signability concerns or the positive Adderall test from the other day.
7:25PM
Rockies get Gray. It's been pointed out to me that Kris Bryant was taken by the Jays a few years ago in the 18th round and didn't sign. Kohl Stewart will probably go to Minnesota, though Colin Moran is probably the best position player left.
7:31PM
Most mocks I've read have the Indians taking Colin Moran here, but I wouldn't be surprised if they grabbed a pitcher. Braden Shipley and Trey Ball are the only pitchers that are ranked this highly, and any other pitcher would probably be a bit of a reach, so it's tough to say.
7:38PM
Indians took Clint Frazier. I'm guessing that Colin Moran's got some signability concerns if he hasn't gone yet. Moran was as high as third on some mocks, which is like a $5.2MM bonus slot, so Moran's value is taking a pretty huge hit the farther he drops down.
7:45PM
Rockies take Moran. More importantly, Bud Selig just called this the "2000 1st year player draft." He seems drunker and drunker every year.
7:50PM
Boston coming up. Keith Law says Austin Meadows, an outfielder.
Boston instead took Trey Ball, a two-way lefty pitcher/outfielder. Big, tall lefty.
7:55PM
Royals up. Keith Law had them taking Ball. Austin Meadows is probably the top position player available, Alex Gonzalez is Law's highest ranked pitcher left. This Alex Gonzalez, unlike most, is not a shortstop. Jays up in three picks, or 12-ish minutes. Ryne Stanek and Chris Anderson are both tall RHP's that could go here if they want a pitcher.
8:00PM
Royals take Hunter Dozier. Keith Law had Dozier going 29th overall, so that's our first real leap. Most things I've read about Dozier suggest that he's not likely to stay at SS, which is fairly common. The Royals have a couple of picks later on tonight, so they're probably taking this guy to save some cash and get some guys who drop later on.
I kind of feel like the Jays are going to get Reese McGuire, the highest rated catcher in the draft, or Austin Meadows, if the Royals take McGuire. We'll find out soon, I guess.
Harold Reynolds doesn't understand
8:03PM
Meadows to KC. If not McGuire here, probably JP Crawford, a high-school shortstop.
I'd like to point out that Bud Selig has stopped trying to remember what year it is.
8:06PM
Jays leap and take HS RHP Phil Bickford. Had huge bonus demands, and a lot of guys thought he was going to fall. More to come.
8:15PM
Bickford is 17. Keith Law, three days ago, had Bickford going to Kansas City, but in his last mock today, had Bickford falling as one of the guys with signability concerns.
Law's scouting report:
Bickford is a high-upside, high-risk prep right-hander who has velocity and projectability but is a long way away from being a major league starting pitcher.He will sit 90-93 mph and has touched 96 with riding life on it, a pitch that appears to explode in on hitters late. His lack of a breaking ball is a real concern -- his curveball is well below-average, lacking depth and easily visible out of his hand, while his slider is flat thanks to his low three-quarters arm slot. His arm action is very clean and he's got a great pitchers' body, leading one scout to suggest to me that Bickford might hit 100 mph at some point, easy to believe when you see how quick his arm is.The lack of a breaking ball is a red flag for me, because it's harder to teach a curve or slider than it is to teach a changeup, but in the second round this kind of pure upside is going to be very attractive to teams that like high school arms.
Classic Blue Jays.
Another report here as well. It sounds a lot like the reports that we got about Noah Syndergaard or Aaron Sanchez, in that they had big arms with not much for secondary stuff.
A contact of mine is going to look up some scouting reports on Bickford from a database that he has access to and presumably not hog that for himself. Doubt I'll get links or anything, but I'll hopefully get a reasonably detailed look. He believes that McGuire is going to go to the Mariners, now that the Jays passed.
8:20PM
Dominic Smith for the Mets, DJ Peterson to Seattle. 2 minute hug from his brother.
8:25PM
A couple of tweets, from Shi Davidi:
#BlueJays scouting director Brian Parker: "We're confident" Phil Bickford will sign.and
— Shi Davidi (@ShiDavidi) June 7, 2013
Brian Parker on Bickford: "We feel has has one of the best fastballs, high school or college, in the draft. ... It's a high ceiling arm."8:32PM
— Shi Davidi (@ShiDavidi) June 7, 2013
Hunter Renfroe to San Diego, Reese McGuire goes to Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh gets a really nice haul here in the first round.
8:40PM
Bob Elliott just tweeted this, a video of Bickford.
8:55PM
Yeah, I'm pretty well done for the night. I don't really know a whole lot more about anybody else, save for a few guys who are going to fall (Sean Manaea, for one). The big thing was getting the first couple of picks and then whoever the Jays took. With only the single Jays pick tonight, I care much less. See you tomorrow!
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