Sickels on the Rangers Draft
Texas: The Rangers were supposed to draft Shelby Miller in most mocks, but went with a different Texas prep in reality, Matt Purke. He's got excellent stuff but a big price tag, but I imagine he'll end up signing. Supplemental pick Tanner Scheppers has the second-best arm in the draft, but the shoulder issue kept him out of the first round. High-risk, high-reward here definitely; I'll admit that I wouldn't have drafted him myself because of the injury history, but I'm risk-adverse and I'll give the Rangers credit for having guts. Tommy Mendonca in the second round out of Fresno State is basically Chris Davis but with a decent glove at third base. Robbie Erlin in the third round, prep lefty from California, is "short" at 5-11 but has a live arm and I think he is a good gamble. Fourth round Oklahoma ace Andrew Doyle has average velocity but throws strikes and eats innings. The rest of the rounds were filled out with athletes and arms, raw but promising. Sixth round Puerto Rican OF Ruben Sierra Jr, 7th round Georgia prep Braxton Lane,. and 9th round Miami Dade CC outfielder Jabari Blash all stand out for their athleticism but are very raw. This is a bold draft, which could yield great dividends but could also result in a series of tools busts.
over 2 years ago
Kinslerhomer
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Fun read
Thinking about it, this is really the advantage of having a stacked farm system. You can take risks like they did in this draft and not be set back a whole bunch. The Scheppers pick is such a great one, but I think if this were the 2005 Rangers I’d have been horrified. When you’re in Houston or Seattle’s condition, you have to be conservative and stock your system with more low-risk/low-ceiling guys just to make sure that you have safety to build around.
Go Rice Owls!
Yeah...
The Rangers have set up their farm system to be stocked enough to now be able to take some gambles and not cost their future. There’s not many other teams that could have probably taken Scheppers like we did and not have a ton of fear of the injury history.
Ron Washington...giving hope everywhere to the kids who eat lead paint chips of being a big league manager when they grow up since 2007.
I still hope they sign
A few of the high risk/high reward guys as more guys are graduating out of the system, and we need to continue the influx of talent. Along with the hope of adding guys like Pimentel, Profar, etc. from LA. One weak draft can deplete farm, when this MLB club needs so much help.
wow
Supplemental pick Tanner Scheppers has the second-best arm in the draft
Is that the consensus among the media?
Must kill Moe. Weeeeeeeee
Arguably the second best, yeah
Arlington, TX: home of The Blue Blur
by Brett Perryman on Jun 11, 2009 6:38 PM CDT up reply actions
that's just sexy
still a great pick, even if the injury causes him to spend an extra year in the minors
Must kill Moe. Weeeeeeeee
by Baseball North on Jun 11, 2009 6:40 PM CDT up reply actions
I think he means College arm
But looking at the plus plus fastball, plus curve, only Strasburg is better.
I'm not so sure he's saying that with the college qualifier
Callis said Scheppers was the best pure arm in the draft outside Strasburg.
"wORLD sEIRES HERE WE COMER!!!!!!!!!"by bigsteve on May 29, 2009 10:21 PM PDT
"Elvis Andrus has just performed a miracle." -Eric Nadel
Scheppers
The things I read about him and his shoulder make me pretty leery of the guy. It seems he is quite likely to see another injury at some point, perhaps one that he won’t recover from. Not to mention the fact that any adjustments that are needed in order to reduce the chance of additional injury may reduce the quality of his stuff. I mean, I think the Rangers had a good draft and definitely have earned the luxury of taking a gamble here, but if his shoulder is really bad off, I think there’s a pretty strong chance he’s not going to pan out.
"Was this really necsarry?" - cowpoke/hurler hurley
That's quite possible
he might get injured and never see a day in the big leagues — and it would still be a good pick, well worth the rist at #44.
G G G E-flat_______ F F F D__________....
44th pick
38% chance of seeing the big leagues. Jon Lieber and Bob Wickman are the best ever
http://www.baseball-reference.com/draft/?query_type=overall_pick&overall_pick=44&draft_type=junreg
You can take a gamble here
Go Rice Owls!
KLAW linked to this in his twitter
pretty cool site: http://www.collegesplits.com/
"He will not coddle them. Nolan Ryan doesn’t coddle." - Jeff Passan
Well, I'm glad Sickels isn't running the Rangers draft (or my retirement account).
It’s nice to see the Rangers employ strategies that are respected by many different types of analysts.
Wonderboy, what is the secret of your power? Wonderboy, won't you take me far away from the mucky-muck now. -- Tenacious D
Yes...
The other thing I see is, we are not the same MLB organization now. We NEED high-upside players more than run of the mill talents because we have a lot of solid talent anyway. It’s easier to take a few gambles when you have some money to lose.
Its been around for awhile
first tools bust I recall was dwhen we drafte Donald Harris, who had all the tools, instead of a guy who was only able to hit, Frank Thomas.
"He (Padilla) shouldve gone back to Venezuela and watched on his Direct TV waiting to find out who his new team would be!!. ." - crops.mlblogs.com
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