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.

Baseball America has the update today;

Jonathan Mayo has reported in his blog and Baseball America has confirmed with two scouts that Fresno State junior righthander Tanner Scheppers has a stress fracture in his shoulder and will not be able to throw for six weeks. This is obviously a significant blow to the draft stock of a player who had a strong chance to go in the top 10 picks in June, not to mention a crippling blow to Fresno State’s postseason aspirations.

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There are just five college starting pitchers who are regarded as sure-fire first-round picks, so Scheppers going down figures to boost Tulane righthander Shooter Hunt’s chances to go in the top 10 and help Eastern Kentucky lefthander Christian Friedrich sneak up close to the top 10. It also could impact the back half of the first round, where clubs might reach for a college pitcher like California’s Tyson Ross if they don’t feel comfortable taking a risk on Scheppers. Whoever does land Scheppers will get a high-upside talent at a spot in the draft that would have seemed very unlikely up until this week.

So, how does this immediately impact the Phillies? Well, the Phillies were only able to land Cole Hamels because he was coming off an arm injury, and they turned the same trick last season, taking an injury risk in Joe Savery who slid down draft boards because of the uncertainty surrounding his labrum. Scheppers was being pegged as a potential Top 10 guy, I had him at 13 in yesterday’s mock draft, and this should slide him down lots of boards. The Phillies are picking lower in the first round than they have in a long time, and Scheppers will likely be the most talented guy available. Clearly they’d have to really make sure his arm is sound and he’s fully healed, but this could really work in the Phillies favor.

Three weeks ago, I rolled out version 1.1 of my mock draft, so I figured it was time to do a bit more digging, try and find some more info that might make the pick a bit more clear, and then make a few necessary updates. To be clear, I have no inside information here, its based strictly on looking at players available and then the team’s past drafting history. I’ve compiled first and supplemental first round data for all 30 teams from 2003-2007, in hopes of finding patterns which might make this a bit easier. Of course, teams can always throw a curveball and do something unexpected, and even the most detailed mock drafts done days before will have things out of place. But thats part of the fun. So, for each pick, I’ll give my updated pick, my last pick for the team, and the under each team a brief analysis of past drafts. If you’ve found my site and you support another team, please chime in if I’ve missed anything, if you have some info on who the team is leaning towards, etc etc. So, lets get going

Continue reading 2008 Mock Draft, version 2.1 →