I meant to do a writeup on this before, but it slipped my mind. I just read Callis talking about it again two days ago, so I guess its time to address it, even though I’d just like to ignore it and move on. In his first mock draft, posted a few days ago, Jim Callis at BA projected Anthony Hewitt heading to the Phillies at #24. Here was his writeup

24. PHILLIES. Philadelphia GM Pat Gillick built the Blue Jays’ World Series clubs on sheer athleticism, and the best athlete in this draft is Hewitt. He’s very raw, but that never has scared Gillick. Collier and Hood are two other possibilities.

Projected Pick: ANTHONY HEWITT.

This fits the profile. The Phillies love raw athletes, and they loved them even before Gillick came aboard. Hewitt is an apparent “toolshed”, ala Greg Golson, but from what I remember before Golson was drafted, Hewitt is even more raw. Golson was a highly touted prospect, ranked the 7th best prospect in Texas, which was loaded in 2004. So, how did Hewitt make it here when he wasn’t even ranked by BA in their Top 100 high school seniors?

Continue reading First Jim Callis mock draft/impending doom →

Baseball America has an article today talking about the choices for pick 1.1, and while that doesn’t really pertain to the Phillies, near the bottom of the article there were two interesting tidbits.

Front-office executives contacted for this story said MLB had yet to inform clubs about the 2008 slot recommendations. However, the enforcer of MLB’s slot system last season, former MLB vice president Frank Coonelly, has taken over as president of the Pirates. Pittsburgh picks second overall, and Coonelly said in his introductory press conference that the Pirates wouldn’t be beholden to a slot bonus and would do what they needed to improve the club. He has reiterated the point since.

One NL scouting director commented, “Everyone will be waiting to see on Pittsburgh. Is (Coonelly) going to step out of the system?” If the Pirates do, the director predicted, other teams could follow suit, though those decisions will be driven more by ownership than scouting directors.

MLB officials already have informed clubs of several small changes to the slotting program. Last year, teams were told to not give any player selected after the fifth round bonuses higher than $123,300, the slot for the last pick of the fifth round. This year, clubs have been informed they can go up to $250,000 for bonuses for two players without having to run those bonuses through the commissioner’s office.

Also, MLB sent a memo to clubs telling them in effect to take the player they want and not to worry about signability—though this should not be seen as a signal to spend heavily. It’s more likely a case of the commissioner’s office providing more flexibility to scouting directors who are disgruntled about the effect of slotting on the draft, though it’s uncertain whether owners will actually open their wallets. Agents are certainly still trying to steer their players toward more free-spending clubs, according to area scouts.

This is pretty interesting. Then again, the Phillies took a pick last year they thought they could sign (Workman), then didn’t when they realized what it would take to sign him. Hopefully the Phillies have a plan with regard to what they can spend and they draft accordingly. Oh, and lets not draft any 4th/5th year seniors in the first 8 rounds just so we can give them well under slot bonuses. Thanks.