The draft is complete

2008 Draft

The Phillies picked their max number of players. Lots of guys in the 2nd day that aren’t signable, maybe they’ll take a run at a few guys. We also added a number of interesting guys, guys who could fit in as role players or relievers. I’ll try and post some thoughts later, or at some point this weekend. I have a lot of work to do on the site here, but I want to thank everyone for continuing to come back. We had over 25,000 hits in the last 2 days, and if you’ve just stumbled onto the site, I hope you continue to come back. Thanks again for all of the comments/feedback and discussion. The draft is one of the best times of the year. Now its time to sign these guys and add some new blood to the system.

30 thoughts on “The draft is complete”

  1. Thanks for all your hard work, James, and congrats on all the traffic. I look forward to reading your wrap-up.

    The ultimate success of the second day will depend on how many of the picks the Phils are able to sign. Sounds like Marrs, Cosart, and O’Brien are non-starters, but as I said in the other thread, I’d like to see them get something done with guys like Shreve, Coy, Weber, and Law, as they all sound like intriguing kids. Is August 15 the signing deadline?

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  2. Interested to hear what you have to say about some of the tougher signs. It could really help the way I feel to see them bust slot to get a guy they shouldn’t have found on the 2nd day.

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  3. Thank you for all your hard work and attention to detail It is a pleasure to visit this site

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  4. Remember taking players who cannnot be signed keeps them off the draft list of the Yankees or Red Sox where millions can allocated at the drop of the hat.

    Defensive Drafting. Still would be great to go at them
    aggressively and hit one or two in the upper deck. We
    have a nice team now, which helps.

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  5. In order to keep the big club winning, you need a couple of impact players each draft. If you look at the draft board, are there players that will make a splash 3-5 years out. Maybe, once in a while, you look at these “unsignable” later round picks and you take a chance. Throw some money at a guy you really think will be an impact player. I’m not saying, be like the Red Sox or Yankees. But once in a while, you take a shot. Wouldn’t it be more cost effective than buying a broken down, ineffective pitcher through free agency?

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  6. Why in the world would we utilize “defensive drafting” in order to sabotage the Yanks or Sox? I am not worried about either of those teams. In fact, I do not care about those teams. I care about who the Phillies pick and who the Phillies sign. I certainly hope that the Phillies feel the same way, or that is a worst decision than selecting Hewitt number one.

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  7. With Baez now a pitcher do they move up Moose Mattair?

    Phillies director of scouting Marti Wolever singled out two seniors: Cody Overbeck, a third baseman from Mississippi, and Michael Stutes, a pitcher from Oregon State, as players who could immediately help the system.

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  8. James, what do you give as an initial letter grade to this draft. I have to admit that I have no idea about alot of these guys and I know that the baseball draft is the biggest crap shoot of all the pro sports draft but still was interested in your opinion. Hell lets open this question up to everyone. I’d be very interested in the opinion of all. Don’t just give a grade though, give the reason why..

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  9. I have my doubts that they would move Mattair to Clearwater – he’s been keeping his head above water at Lakewood, but I think he needs to be brought along slowly. I wonder if they plan on starting Overbeck at Clearwater. I believe he was a 4th yr player at Mississippi

    – Jeff

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  11. You’re probably right on them not moving Mattair. Can’t see them going with Antoniato or Clay Harris at third the rest of the way at Clearwater. Overbeck sounds like an option for the Threshers. Wonder if they move up Naylor, will they would start Stutes at Lakewood?

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  12. I feel better today about the draft than I did after the first
    few rounds. But of course it all depends on how aggressive
    the front office is in signing people. I have to say, on the
    basis of history, that I’m not all that confident on that score.

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  13. It’s too bad that there aren’t more of our draftees still in
    the CWS chase. It seems like only Susdorf (Fresno St)
    and McConnell (NCSt) are the only ones that we could
    catch on the tube.

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  15. I like the draft, depending if they can sign most of these guys. I also think if we can get Hose to pitch eventually it could be a great, great draft. Law projects him to be a number 2 starter. One of our raw athletes Has to come through don’t they?

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  16. olgrandad — I hate it when we have college pitchers in the CWS. Just keep thinking of overuse arm damage between draft day and when they report to Phillies.

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  17. I agree. You’re right about that, but I enjoy seeing some
    of the prospects in action…as at times in the past.

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  18. McConnell pitched only a third of an inning today give up a basesloaded single then struck out the next batter to win the game. Looked like he had a decent fast ball and some offspeed stuff.

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  19. i know this is way off topic, but is there any chance we keep Lidge…my lord he was just filthy tonight(and all season)..hes only 31 and with a good 3-4 years of big time years/stuff still in him..I know most here just say hes gone, do we know that for sure?I for one would love to see us extend him

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  20. Sam Walls has been outstanding closing for Clearwater. Last night he showed he can be more than a one inning closer. Nothing better than striking out 4 over the final 1.2 innings to save a 1-0 win. Hope he moves up soon because they probably do not have the money to match the money that will be showered on Lidge by a big market team for next year.

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  22. did anyone see the inky sports section today? There was an interesting article about the draft. the person they interviewd, whose anme escapes me right now, seems to really like what the phils did. He raved about most of the tops picks, with the exception of course of Hewitt who he felt was a big gamble. My hope is that they sign all of the HS’ers really quick and get them to the GCL asap. They are gonna need all the instruction they can get.

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  23. Just watched “Behind the Pinstripes.” Some pretty cool video of the “war room” during the draft. In particular, it was interesting to see their reaction when the Mets passed on Collier at 33. They were slapping each other on the back, congratulating each other, etc. They are very excited about their first two picks. Wolever looked like a little kid on Christmas morning – all smiles. He claims they did a great deal of homework on Hewitt. There was even some video of Hewitt working out at Citizen’s Bank Park at third base.

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  24. From Keith Law:

    And if you like the upside-or-death approach, the Phillies decided to do it naturally, taking the toolsiest tools in the draft, landing five from my top 75, but with four of them coming from after the 66th pick. If they can sign Anthony Gose and convince him to pitch, they will have obtained a first-round arm with the 51st overall pick. Keep an eye on fourth-rounder Trevor May, a Washington high school right-hander. May’s velocity ticked upward late in the spring, when the weather warmed up in the Northwest. The Phillies had a risky Day 1, but the potential reward is pretty significant.

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  25. Lots of rumblings here in Clearwater. The Phillies extended Extended Spring training for a week and scheduled game against the Rays every day. The rumor mill is reporting lots of changes in the 2nd half Threshers. Lots of noise about Chance, Byrd, Taylor and Durant coming to Clearwater. (Durant is rehabbing now in ex spring.) And, Cardenas moving to Reading. Don’t know how much is true… But, an interesting note is that the Williamsport roster and GCL holdovers are usually known by now. Neither roster has been set yet. Next week should be interesting.

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  26. Hmmm… Cardenas to Reading. He has been stroking the ball pretty consistently. I wonder what that means for Harman. A promotion to AAA, or a switch to 3B. I’m thinking that if the Phils are going to do some promoting to Lehigh, they should do it en masse – Donald, Harman, Marson, Golson, maybe a pitcher or two – to hopefully offset the losing atmosphere that the Pigs have.

    I’m guessing Naylor will receive a promotion to Clearwater also.

    – Jeff

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  28. Taylor needs a promotion, i feel some big moves in the minors coming up though, so he probably will be one of them….

    Taylor also deserves a Profile at this point

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  30. The reporting of draft pick signings has historically been hit and miss. The Phillies usually do some press releases. Sometimes guys just show up on a roster at http://www.milb.com. Sometimes somebody in Clearwater just sees a guy at the complex. I expect we will hear something in the next day or so. There is no reason for the college seniors not to have signed if there college team is done.

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