Crack of the Bat
by Patrick Ebert 

Comp Picks slow to take shape

While tough economic times haven’t stopped the Yankees from making some significant financial commitments, the rest of the market has been slow to develop.

Since the Winter Meetings ended over a week ago, there has been virtually zero free-agent signings. Mark Teixeira remains unsigned, and no other Type A or Type B free agent has signed that would effect the raw draft order.

This is how the draft order stacks up at this point in time if Joshua Fields does not end up signing with the Mariners and if every unsigned free agent that would garner compensation picks ends up signing with a different team for the 2009 season.

First-Round:

1. Nationals

2. Mariners

3. Padres

4. Pirates

5. Orioles

6. Giants

7. Braves

8. Reds

9. Tigers

10. Nationals (unsigned '08 pick Aaron Crow)

11. Rockies

12. Royals

13. Athletics

14. Rangers

15. Indians

16. Diamondbacks

17. Dodgers

18. Marlins

19. Cardinals

20. Blue Jays

21. Mariners (unsigned '08 pick Joshua Fields)

22. Astros

23. Twins

24. White Sox

25. Angels (pick from the Mets for Francisco Rodriguez)

26. Brewers (pick from Yankees for CC Sabathia)

27. Brewers

28. Mariners (pick from the Phillies for Raul Ibanez)

29. Yankees (unsigned '08 pick Gerrit Cole)

30. Red Sox

31. Rays

32. Cubs

33. Angels

First-Round Supplemental:

34. Mariners (Type A free agent Raul Ibanez)*

35. Rockies (Type A free agent Brian Fuentes)

36. Diamondbacks (Type A free agent Orlando Hudson)

37. Dodgers (Type A free agent Manny Ramirez)

38. Blue Jays (Type A free agent A.J. Burnett)*

39. White Sox (Type A free agent Orlando Cabrera)

40. Mets (Type A free agent Oliver Perez)

41. Brewers (Type A free agent CC Sabathia)*

42. Red Sox (Type A free agent Jason Varitek)

43. Angels (Type A free agent Mark Teixeira)

44. Diamondbacks (Type A free agent Juan Cruz)

45. Dodgers (Type A free agent Derek Lowe)

46. Brewers (Type A free agent Ben Sheets)

47. Angels (Type A free agent Francisco Rodriguez)*

48. Reds (Type B free agent Jeremy Affeldt)*

49. Pirates (unsigned '08 pick Tanner Scheppers)

50. Royals (Type B free agent Mark Grudzielanek)

51. Rangers Type B free agent Milton Bradley)

52. Diamondbacks (Type B free agent Brandon Lyon)

53. Twins (Type B free agent Dennys Reyes)

54. Brewers (Type B free agent Brian Shouse)

55. Red Sox (Type B free agent Paul Byrd)

56. Angels (Type B free agent Jon Garland)

*Already signed with a new team.

Second Round:

57. Nationals

58. Mariners

59. Padres

60. Pirates

61. Orioles

62. Giants

63. Braves

64. Reds

65. Tigers

66. Rockies

67. Royals

68. Athletics

69. Rangers

70. Indians

71. Diamondbacks

72. Dodgers

73. Marlins

74. Cardinals

75. Blue Jays

76. Yankees (unsigned '08 pick Scott Bittle)

77. Astros

78. Twins

79. White Sox

80. Mets

81. Blue Jays (pick from Yankees for A.J. Burnett)

82. Brewers

83. Phillies

84. Red Sox

85. Rays

86. Cubs

87. Angels

Third Round:

88. Nationals

89. Mariners

90. Padres

91. Pirates

92. Orioles

93. Giants

94. Braves

95. Reds

96. Tigers

97. Rockies

98. Royals

99. Athletics

100. Rangers

101. Indians

102. Diamondbacks

103. Dodgers

104. Marlins

105. Cardinals

106. Blue Jays

107. Astros

108. Twins

109. White Sox

110. Mets

111. Yankees

112. Brewers

113. Phillies

114. Red Sox

115. Rays

116. Cubs

117. Angels

Third-Round Supplemental:

118. Astros (unsigned '08 pick Chase Davidson)

Early Returns

It took Jack Zduriencik eight years while serving as the Brewers scouting director to get any extra compensation picks, as he received a pair of sandwich picks and a pair of extra second rounders last June, which turned out to be an early going away gift. Zduriencik of course is now the General Manager for the Mariners, and while he doesn’t specifically oversee the draft anymore, his club will be awarded an additional first-round pick and the first pick in the sandwich round due to the Phillies signing of outfielder Raul Ibanez. The Mariners also could gain an additional first-round pick should their unsigned ’08 first-round pick, Joshua Fields, does not end up signing with the club.

Since they also have the second overall pick in every single round in the draft, Zduriencik will be looking to replicate his success adding talent to a system in dire need of it.

His former team, the Milwaukee Brewers, should continue to add extra, early picks. CC Sabathia’s departure gets the Brewers an extra first and a first-round supplemental pick, while they could get a similar return should Ben Sheets also change his address. Type B free agent Brian Shouse could garner the Brew Crew an extra sandwich pick, and if everything falls the way it could, they could be looking at signing three first-round and three supplemental first-round picks next June.

Both teams from Los Angeles, the Angels and Dodgers, each have a pair of Type A free agents, although both teams are doing their best to keep at least one of those free agents in Mark Teixeira and Manny Ramirez. The Angels also could receive a sandwich pick for Type B free agent Jon Garland.

Arizona also has a pair of Type A free agents, and they seem unlikely to re-sign either Orlando Hudson or Juan Cruz.

The Red Sox have both a Type A and a type B free agent, although they reportedly are trying to re-sign catcher Jason Varitek.

I expected more activity to occur over the last week, but things remain in a holding pattern with some of the bigger names available, such as Teixeira and Manny Ramirez. When those two sign, we should see more and more names find homes.

Allow me to wish everyone out there a very blessed holiday season. As the New Year approaches, we’re that much closer to baseball!

The thoughts and opinions listed here do not necessarily reflect those of Perfect Game USA. Patrick Ebert is affiliated with both Perfect Game USA and Brewerfan.net, and can be contacted via email at pebert@brewerfan.net.