I’m going to start off my annual 2010 draft review with a quick note. I’m not one for self-editing. When I sit down to write something, I normally do it in one shot. I’ve written some very very long pieces in the history of this site, and off the top of my head, I think all of them were written in one sitting. Its the way I work. When I want to write something, I generally sit down and either it happens or it doesn’t. I have ideas, I want to talk about them, then I move on. But in writing this draft recap, I did a lot of self-editing. I started writing last night and ended up writing 5,500 words which I’ve since scrapped, or more accurately put, shelved until a later date. I started writing and realized my draft recap barely even talked about the 2010 draft, it was more of a philosophical writeup on the draft mechanics as a whole. Which I want to save for a later date, because I think they are still valid, but they’ll require me doing more work. And right now, all it seems anyone wants is my take on the draft. I’m going to pull a few small parts from that previous writeup, and its still going to be somewhat philosophical, but I’m going to focus more on the 2010 picks, and I’ll polish up that other piece for a rainy day while we wait for the signing deadline in August. So, for what is sure to still be a really long piece, check below…

Continue reading 2010 Draft Review →

I’ve added the 2010 Draft Register at the top of the website, and you can get there by clicking here. This year, I’m going to try and go about assembling this page a bit differently. At the top, I’m still going to list the 50 picks, and when they sign, I’m going to put them in bold. Underneath the list of picks, I’m going to list each guy individually, in the order they were picked, and then also insert all of the scouting reports, articles, and anything else that I (and you) can find on the player. My hope is that page becomes the go to for all the information on the picks. So if you find scouting reports or information that hasn’t been posted, go ahead and post it on that page, not this post.

Also, a big thank you to Ryan, who helped update all of the lists during the last 2 days, and thank you to everyone else for posting information and creating a good discussion during the draft. Its going to take me a while to write my draft recap, but I hope to have as much information as possible, and I want to also write it from a bit more of a philosophical angle, not just regurgitating scouting reports. Check back for that maybe this weekend, or maybe sometime next week.

Today concludes the draft. Use this posting to discuss all of the picks taken. I will be completely off the grid and will not be able to comment/update the picks. I’m hoping that Ryan will be able to update the list, but if not, I’ll update it when I get home from work tomorrow. If you have comments, articles, or scouting reports on any of the guys taken on Day 2, please post it in the Day 2 list so it will be easier for me to find when I begin to write up the draft.

Check below for the picks….

Continue reading 2010 Draft Day 3 Selections →

This is going to be a fairly short posting. The draft is a little over half way complete, and there are still 20 picks to come tomorrow. I was away from the computer for much of the afternoon, so I wasn’t able to update the list, but a big thanks to Ryan for helping to add the players. I posted a few scouting reports of some of the early picks, and when I do my full recap, I will try and scrape together information on every pick made. My draft writeup will probably be done over the weekend, as I don’t envision having time to do it this week, but we’ll see. I’m not going to dissect every pick here, but I’ll give you a few of my general thoughts below the cutoff…

Continue reading Some quick day 2 thoughts →

I was going to use one post for all of the comments, but with 350+ comments, its going to really take forever to load and reload, so I’ll just split things up and put the rest of the selections here. Some really interesting guys still on the board, including Stetson Allie, Austin Wilson, Brandon Workman, AJ Cole and Micah Gibbs. It should be an interesting day. Check below the fold for all of the picks.

Continue reading 2010 Draft Day 2 selections →

I am going to put up a post for the remaining picks later, and we’ll use that spot to discuss Day 2. Until tomorrow, here are a bunch of guys I find interesting that haven’t been picked yet.

Stetson Allie, RHP, AJ Cole, RHP, Austin Wilson, OF, Micah Gibbs, C, Brett Eibner, RHP, Chad Bettis, RHP, Yordy Cabrera, SS, Marcus Littlewood, SS, Kevin Gausman, RHP, Jordan Swagerty, RHP, Adam Plutko, RHP and many others. Should be an interesting day.

Check out PNR Scouting’s Top 100 and look at some of the names on there.

Check below for a position breakdown on PNR’s rankings

Continue reading Some elite names still left on the board →

Biddle was a fast riser up draft boards in the last month, and with the local connection, it wasn’t a huge surprise that the Phillies took him. You’ll hear the Phillies braintrust talk about how they “have to take the best player available”, but that wasn’t the case here. They took a guy they knew they could sign, with a bunch of premium talent still on the board. Biddle isn’t a reach of Anthony Hewitt proportions, but he wasn’t the best player available, and there were 4 or 5 premium prep prospects still on the board at this pick. Still, this isn’t a big reach, and he wouldn’t have gotten to the Phillies at #77

You can read his scouting report here and here is an older report from Summer 2009
You can see his scouting bureau video here and an older video of him here.

He’s a big, tall LHP with plus velocity and the chance for two average secondary pitches. He is projectable, and LHP is something the Phillies lack in their system, at least the high ceiling variety. This is certainly a good pick, but there were much better players on the board. As is the case every year, what the Phillies do later in the draft will determine the ultimate grade. I view this pick as a little above average, maybe a B? The real action starts tomorrow.

Update —> Something else to consider. Biddle, on raw talent, was probably in the 30-50 range. The Phillies next pick wasn’t until 77. If they’d waited, he’d have been gone by then. This might have been a reach, but it wasn’t a huge reach. He was getting consideration at #14 overall, he’d have definitely gone in the sandwich round. This isn’t an Anthony Hewitt or Kelly Dugan-esque reach. This is a solid pick, even if its not the guy I really wanted.

This post will serve as the master list for all the draft picks. I’m going to update THIS post (along with the help of reader “Ryan”) as the picks are made today/tomorrow. I’m going to do the entire 1st round, and then after Round 1 just the Phillies selections. You can use this posting to discuss anything related to the draft. All the details are below the fold..

Continue reading 2010 Draft Round 1 →

Check this spot and I’ll try and post any Phillies relevant gossip that comes up on who may or may not get to the Phillies at #27. Frankie Pilliere at AOL Fanhouse indicates the Brewers are going to take Jesse Biddle at #14 overall, which would be quite a leap of faith. In another strange one, Pilliere has Austin Wilson going to Toronto at #11. I’m not buying that one either.

I’ve gotten a number of emails asking when I was going to write about the draft. I’ve tried to incorporate draft talk into my weekly notes column, and I’ve shared some thoughts here and here. I also wrote a lengthy piece on ways to fix the draft, which you can find here, and I shared some initial thoughts on this year’s draft in a longer piece which you can find here. So that’s everything I’ve written about the draft so far. But as we’re getting closer, I figured I should maybe add a bit more. So check below…

Continue reading The draft is a few days away →