Crack of the Bat
by David Rawnsley
DAVID RAWNSLEY'S DRAFT DIARY
I was fortunate enough to be able to act as the MLB Radio "draft expert" for the 2005 "First Year Player Draft", as Major League Baseball officiously calls it. This was the second year for that honor but 2005 was completely different.
I think MLB has finally realized that there are a huge number of people who care what happens in the draft and that it's in their best interests to promote the event....to an extent. As recently as the last 12-15 years only the names of the first round picks were released immediately and the rest of the draft names were released a week later in Alpha order, not even by round.
This was supposedly, and naively, done to protect the clubs from college coaches who would use the exact lists for recruiting purposes and keep players from professional baseball. The coaches who wanted the lists found them anyway from friendly scouts and professional baseball derived no benefit.
It's still very unlikely that the highly protective MLB decision makers will make the draft a media spectacle like the NFL or NBA drafts (not to mention the relatively obscure WNBA or NHL drafts). I can't imagine MLB giving the rights to televise the draft to ESPN or anyone else, except at a very high premium. But you never know.
What was very different in 2005 from any previous draft was that MLB inserted breaks between picks and between rounds specifically for media purposes: 30 seconds between picks for 5 rounds and 10 minutes between rounds for the first 5 rounds. This extended the timing of the first day of the 2-day draft about 2 hours past what has been previously done, but enabled MLB Advanced Media (mlb.com, MLB Radio, MLB Video) to cover the draft in much more depth than ever before.
Because of the additional time, MLB Radio asked me to fly out to New York City to do the draft in their studios, as opposed to doing by remote from the Perfect Game offices in Cedar Rapids, as I did in 2004. It was a great decision given that I was essentially "on air" for about 8 hours straight, with lots of finely timed radio production going on continuously.
The MLB Advanced Media Offices are separate from the regular MLB corporate offices, located on the south end of Manhattan in the Chelsea District. It's a surprisingly huge and ambitious operation that MLB has obviously invested a lot of money and time in. They have some big goals that won't fail because lack of commitment from what I observed.
I've been to Manhattan a few times but never for a couple of days and by myself. Even for someone who has traveled extensively and spends 130-150 days a year on the road, it was an eye opening experience. It's a different world down in the canyons of Manhattan; fascinating for its diversity and completely different lifestyle than most are familiar with.
One of the peripheral highlights was going out to dinner with some of the MLB people and the MLB Video "draft expert", former Dodgers GM Fred Claire. We went to a mid-Manhattan Italian place that Claire swore wasn't recommended by his former manager, Tommy Lasorda. Claire's GM tenure coincided with when I was working with the Houston Astros, although I had never met him informally. He's a fascinating man with a deep and broad baseball background and the kind of humble and generous attitude that it's refreshing to find in someone who has held top positions in the baseball industry.
Enough about the background material. During the broadcast there were a number of picks that jumped out at me as outstanding or interesting picks and I tried to remark on those as much as time allowed. Walking through the draft from Justin Upton on down, here are some picks and draft trivia from the first day that caught my eye.
It was nice to see the Upper Midwest represented so well at the top of the draft. Alex Gordon went to high school at Lincoln (NE) Southeast HS before moving down the road to Nebraska, while USC's Jeff Clement hails from Marshalltown, Iowa. Great athletes can develop anywhere!
Perfect Game scout Bobby McKinney points out that Washington first rounder Ryan Zimmerman played on the same AAU team as a teenager with B.J. Upton (Tampa Bay) and David Wright (NYM). Zimmerman, an acclaimed defensive third baseman, played second base. That must have been a heck of a team.
It was interesting to see how the college closers went off the board. Relievers such as Chad Cordero (Washington) and Huston Street (Oakland) have gone almost directly to big league closers jobs. Pending their signing, Boston (Craig Hansen) and Atlanta (Joey Devine) might have found immediate help for their bullpens. Given their current bullpen, I was wondering about the Yankees passing on both Hansen and Devine in the first round until they picked up J. Brent Cox in the second round. Great pick.
The Yankees can also lay claim to the best basketball backcourt in the draft. If 1st rounder C.J. Henry and 8th rounder Austin Jackson don't sign, they will likely play basketball (and hopefully baseball as well) at Kansas and Georgia Tech, respectively.
In my judgement, Iowa HS RHP Jeremy Hellickson (4th round, TB) was a better prospect going into the draft than either Joel Hanrahan or Zach Hammes, two Iowa prep pitchers who were recent second round picks. Was the draft that deep that Hellickson fell to the fourth round? No, teams just put too much emphasis on Hellickson's size as opposed to the rest of the package. Great pick for the Devil Rays.
Tulane/Arizona 3rd round RHP Micah Owings has achieved at every step of his baseball career at the highest levels both as a pitch and a hitter. He has command of a power low 90's sinker, the basic pitch in baseball. My bet is that he'll beat most of the picks higher than him to the big leagues and have a better career than most as well. Great pick.
Speaking of the Diamondbacks, they have really changed their talent base in the last few years. Few organizations, if any, have the kind of AA/AAA position talent that Arizona has (Conor Jackson, Carlos Quentin, Sergio Santos, etc.). Add Justin Upton to that. Then look at their picks after Upton this year: UMass RHP Matt Torra, NCAA strikeout leader Matt Green, Georgia Tech's enigmatic Jason Neighborgall, Owings, Stanford ace LHP Mark Romanczuk. With the exception of Neighborgall, all have great present skills and Neighborgall has more raw talent than virtually any pitcher in the game. The Diamondbacks are loaded.
High school sleeper picks after the 4th round? 1) OF Ryan DeLaughter (Nationals, 5th round). More polished a hitter with wood than many scouts believe. Great tools. 2) RHP Scott Taylor (Cubs, 5th round). Fierce competitor with enough stuff to win right away. 3) IF Brandon Monk (Braves, 7th round). Good bet to have been a top round pick after 3 years at Auburn, but Atlanta has already inked him. 4) Carlos Hereaud (Brewers, 9th round). Venezuelan native can just punish the ball and handles top level stuff easily.
Lastly, congratulations to all the young men and their families who worked so hard and whose dreams were rewarded in the 2005 draft. But remember, getting drafted isn't the goal! Keeping your focus on your ambition to become the best player you can be, reaching your potential and reaching the Major Leagues. This is just the first step on what will hopefully be a long and enjoyable journey.