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[beautox]

2007 Draft

The Brewers enjoyed a taste of what it's like to draft outside of not only the top 10 picks, but the first half of the first round. With a disappointing season the Brewers are poised to draft in the top 10 once again. As of games played through September 18, with a 68-82 record (a .453 winning percentage), the Brewers would draft seventh in next year's draft. The Brewers last drafted seventh overall in 2002 when they selected Prince Fielder. Being able to draft a player like Fielder is about the only silver lining you can take from a season like this.

 

While the 2006 draft crop was considered relatively weak, the 2007 group is considered quite strong. There is an exciting player at every position from both the college and high school levels. In other words, there will be something for everyone. There is also very good premium talent at the top supplemented by a fair amount of depth.

 

Most consider the top prospect overall to be left-handed pitcher David Price from Vanderbilt. He was named Baseball America's player of the summer for his amazing performance pitching for Team USA. That marked his second tour with Team USA, and he has two very good seasons at Vandy under his belt as well. He's a prototypical staff ace, with a 6'6" projectable frame and a very impressive and complete arsenal. However, I'm going to buck the trend and make Matt Wieters my top overall prospect heading into next spring. For me Price and Wieters are really prospects 1A and 1B, much like Mark Teixeira and Mark Prior were considered near equals entering the spring of 2001. If I had the first overall pick right now I would take Wieters given his productivity at every level he has played, with both a metal and wood bat while considering his switch-hitting ability, his leadership skills and the fact that he's a catcher. Prepare yourself for Jason Varitek (who also attended Georgia Tech) comparisons when it comes to Wieters.

 

The biggest and more specific strengths in next year's draft are the number and depth of powerful arms at the high school level, prep third basemen, college closers and college lefties in general.

 

High School

1. Josh Vitters, 3B, Anaheim, CA

2. Rick Porcello, RHP, Chester, NJ

3. Michael Main, RHP, Deltona, FL

4. Matt Harvey, RHP, Mystic, CT

5. Tanner Robles, LHP, Murray, UT

6. Michael Burgess, RF, Tampa, FL

7. Jason Heyward, 1B, McDonough, GA

8. Neil Ramirez, RHP, Virginia Beach, VA

9. Justin Jackson, SS, Asheville, NC

10. Madison Bumgarner, LHP, Lenoir, NC

 

Prep notes:

Similar to last year, we're probably going to see the high school pitchers jockey for position all spring long. There were several pitchers that stood out at the major showcase and tournament events over the summer of 2006, with a new name performing particularly well from event to event. Rick Porcello and Madison Bumgarner are two arms that pitched well almost the entire summer. Michael Main and Matt Harvey may have the strongest arms, but they also may need the most polish. Main is an exciting overall prospect that could be drafted very high as a multi-tooled outfielder, but his near-100 mph fastball means his future lies on the mound. Tanner Robles is about as smooth as they come from the left side, and Ramirez is about as polished as they come. Throw righties Sam Runion (Asheville, NC), Erik Goeddel (Hillsborough, CA), Greg Peavey (Vancouver, WA) and Tim Alderson (Pheonix, AZ) as well as lefty Joshua Smoker (Sugar Valley, GA) onto the polished pitcher pile. Michael Burgess and Jason Heyward bring the power, and if you're looking for a slick all-around shortstop, you have two to choose from: Justin Jackson and Christian Colon (Anaheim Hills, CA). Josh Vitters sits at the top of my list, proving all summer long that he has the best present day skills of any high school player. He performed well at every major stop, hitting the best pitchers in the nation along the way. Vitters may not be a third baseman in the long run, but his bat should make that concern irrelevant. Matt Dominguez (Van Nuys, CA) and Victor Sanchez (Norwalk, CA) add to the depth of talented third baseman. Outfielder Kentrail Davis (Theodore, AL) and infielder John Tolisano (Sanibel, FL) gives the prep ranks two more polished all-around players with very good present hitting skills.

 

College

1. Matt Wieters, C, Georgia Tech

2. David Price, LHP, Vanderbilt

3. Andrew Brackman, RHP, NC State

4. J.P. Arencibia, C, Tennessee

5. Sean Doolittle, LHP/1B, Virginia

6. Joe Savery, LHP/1B, Rice

7. Josh Fields, RHP, Georgia

8. Matt Mangini, 3B, Oklahoma

9. Nick Schmidt, LHP, Arkansas

10. Bryan Augenstein, RHP, Florida

 

College notes:

I already talked about Price and Wieters above, so I'll start with the 7' tall Andrew Brackman here. Brackman reportedly has already decided not to play basketball for the Wolfpack this year. You know with his stature scouts are already drooling over his future potential. J.P. Arencibia gives the draft class another solid catching prospect with a proven bat. Sean Doolittle and Joe Savery both pitch and hit nearly equally well, although both are currently preferred as pitchers given their polish and power repertoires. Add two more SEC lefties, Nick Schmidt and James Adkins (Tennessee) to face David Price at some point next spring, and throw two lefty relievers in the mix when you're talking about potential first-rounders: Cole St. Clair (Rice) and Daniel Moskos (Clemson). The best reliever available is Georgia's Josh Fields, whose high 80s slider makes his mid-90s fastball look like a pretty good pitch to hit. If Doolittle isn't drafted as a hitter, Matt Mangini likely takes the honors as the best pure hitter. Bryan Augenstein burst onto the prospect scene as a sophomore at Florida, one of the few Gators that actually had a good year. It's a good year for shortstops in the college ranks as well. Take you pick from Rutgers' Todd Frazier, Mississippi's Zach Cozart, Arizona State's Andrew Romine, Rice's Brian Friday, Oregon State's Darwin Barney and North Carolina's Josh Horton. In the polished pitcher category, Wes Roemer (Cal State Fullerton) leads the way, who worked 50+ innings last spring before issuing a single walk. Right-handed pitchers Sean Morgan (Tulane), James Simmons (UC Riverside), Wynn Pelzer (South Carolina), Brad Meyers (Loyola Marymount), Sam Demel (TCU) and Eddie Kunz (Oregon State) could all find themselves taken in the first round with big springs.

 

Predicting who the Brewers will take is no easy task, especially this far in advance. One thing is for sure, until Jack Zduriencik selects a college pitcher in the first two rounds, something he has yet to do as scouting director of the Milwaukee Brewers (since 2000), I'll look elsewhere. If the team is looking to address an organizational need like when they took Ryan Braun in 2005, a catcher might be the way to go, especially since next year's draft looks particularly strong at the position.

 

While Zduriencik hasn't taken a college pitcher in the first two rounds of the draft, he hasn't selected a high school pitcher in the first round two years in a row. That leads me to a bat, and given the love for tools I am going to single out Tampa's Michael Burgess, who not only has the power potential as a left-handed hitter to rival Prince Fielder's, but also has incredible arm strength that would make him a natural fit in right field.

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[maggsmaggs]

What if we drafted Josh Fields? We would have three!

[ShoeLessRob]

What if we drafted Josh Fields? We would have three!

 

[Flash Tizzle]

Would only make sense for Kansas City to draft David Price and continue building lefthanded, Sox killling pitchers within our division.

[beautox]

Would only make sense for Kansas City to draft David Price and continue building lefthanded, Sox killling pitchers within our division.

lol yeah, the central is going to get even tougher. in the '07 draft id like to see the sox go after SS/2B and even more C if someone should slip.

[Chisoxfn]

Great stuff. It'll be interesting to see how these guys actually develop because you'll see rankings like this vary a bit once baseball play starts in a long while.

[beautox]

Great stuff. It'll be interesting to see how these guys actually develop because you'll see rankings like this vary a bit once baseball play starts in a long while.

[daa84]

Ive seen price pitch probably 20 times, and hes absolutely nasty....can touch 96 with the fastball, 85 with the slider...the guys on the baseball team at vandy say his slider is big unit-esque....he tinkered with a change up this summer and is gonna use it more often this year....he also figured out a kink in his delivery where he dropped his arm angle when he started to struggle last year, and corrected it this summer...adn then he exploded for team USA. the comparisons to andrew miller have been there, but i havent seen nearly enough of miller to confirm that...hes also a guy who loves to compete and wants the ball...his energy on teh mound reminds me of dontrelle. the best i saw him was against Arkansas (then ranked 12 i think) and he went 8 (maybe all 9, i cant remember) and struck out 17 while allowing just 1 hit to the second batter of the game.

[beautox]

^^^

wow, looks like Kansas city is going to get even better.

[Flash Tizzle]

^^^

wow, looks like Kansas city is going to get even better.

Unfortunately for Kansas City they screwed themselves sweeping Detroit. One more win than Tampa Bay this season.

 

Now, saying Price is everything people have said of him, imagine if Williams were to trade McCarthy to the Devil Rays for Crawford. They'd have a future 1-2-3 consisting of Kazmir/McCarthy/Price. It'd suddenly become a lot tougher in the American League East.

[beautox]

Unfortunately for Kansas City they screwed themselves sweeping Detroit. One more win than Tampa Bay this season.

 

Now, saying Price is everything people have said of him, imagine if Williams were to trade McCarthy to the Devil Rays for Crawford. They'd have a future 1-2-3 consisting of Kazmir/McCarthy/Price. It'd suddenly become a lot tougher in the American League East.

Flash your also forgetting that they already have two studs waiting down at A that will be ready when the Drays are ready to start pushing for the AL east around 08 in Wade Davis and Jacob McGee

 

Kazmir + Price is a handful let alone who they're going to get for Crawford + McGee and Davis, along with a Longoria at SS and upton moving to LF. Their future is bright, now they just need to get something/anything for Dukes.

[CWSGuy406]

Kazmir + Price is a handful let alone who they're going to get for Crawford + McGee and Davis, along with a Longoria at SS and upton moving to LF. Their future is bright, now they just need to get something/anything for Dukes.

 

Beautox, I think you are misinformed about Longoria. I noticed that you posted this on SSS too about him, I don't think he played even an inning at SS this year. He took a little more than 200 ABs this year, and minorleaguesplits.com is showing that he didn't even take one AB as a SS.

 

They've got him on the fast track to the hot corner. I doubt he's moving back to SS.

[beautox]

Beautox, I think you are misinformed about Longoria. I noticed that you posted this on SSS too about him, I don't think he played even an inning at SS this year. He took a little more than 200 ABs this year, and minorleaguesplits.com is showing that he didn't even take one AB as a SS.

 

They've got him on the fast track to the hot corner. I doubt he's moving back to SS.

 

Damn milb.com! they have him listed at SS, and seeing how a 6'2 SS isn't that crazy,

[daa84]

while i remain high on price, dont count on any #1 pick being a sure thing, guys get hurt, fizzle out etc....its all part of the gamble