6:00–That’s going to do it for me. Thanks to everybody who stopped by. Drive home safely.
5:56–Five minutes before the end of the broadcast, Ravech delivers the best line of the night. Looking over at an anxious Steve Phillips, he says “You’re about to talk for a while, aren’t you.” I think he had been waiting two years to say that.
5:50–Daryl Strawberry joins the crew to discuss what it takes to develop into a good major leaguer. He fails to mention not repeatedly doing cocaine.
5:47–And Shannon Stewart breaks up the no-hitter. It’s going to be a rough last 13 minutes for Peter Gammons.
5:42–ESPN has lost interest in the draft due to Curt Schillings potential no hitter. Apparently they don’t care how many no-hitters 44th overall pick Neil Ramirez could throw if he makes the major leagues. I’m actually impressed ESPN made it this far without preempting the draft.
5:35–Bud Selig’s day as done. He followed the lead of David Stern and Paul Tagliabue and decided one round is enough. Frankly, I think Selig should have to do the entire draft, or at least one round for every player who did steroids while he was commissioner. That seems like a fitting punishment.
5:30–Daniel Moskos, the 4th overall pick by the Pirates chats with Ravech and says he was “shocked” when the Pirates chose him. It’s not a good sign when even the player thinks the pick was reach. Moskos, who will start a College World Series game tomorrow, also looks a little bit irritated he has to take a break from his day to talk to Ravech. I can’t blame him.
5:22–3rd baseman John Gilmore goes to the Braves while 3rd baseman Todd Frazier goes to the Reds. In my mind ESPN’s decision to ignore the sandwich picks in the new “Hedi” incident.
5:17–Barry Larkin joins the ESPN team around the tiny coffee table. Meanwhile, Karl Ravech just compared the draft room to a Bar Mitzvah because of the music playing.
5:14–The Nationals select high school lefthander Josh Smoker and the Giants pick 2nd baseman Nick Noonan. The Giants four 1st rounders will do a lot to help restock their farm system with prospects. I look forward to the day they trade them to the Twins for an average catcher who everybody hates.
5:12—-After a 15 minute recess we’re back for the ever exciting sandwich round, the place where teams who can’t afford to re-sign their players are inadequately compensated. Unfortunately, ESPN doesn’t feel the need to share the picks with us.
4:56–Devil Rays General Manager Andrew Friedman gushes over David Price and discusses how the Devil Rays could become a contender. It sure is nice to take your mind of Elijah Dukes’ gun collection for one day.
4:52–The Yankees pick Andrew Brackman, a 6″10 righthander who used to be on the N.C. State basketball team. Brackman’s baseball career is the one great success of Herb Sendek’s tenure as the N.C. State basketball coach. Brackman will be an interesting foe for David Ortiz in any future brawls with the Red Sox. And the first found finally comes to an end.
4:46–The Giants pick Wendell Fairley, a high school outfielder from Mississippi. Fairley is a great athlete and has drawn comparisons to Carl Crawford—minus the fact that Fairley didn’t have scholarship offers to play quarterback at Nebraska and point guard at UCLA like Crawford did. The Yankees are now on the clock.
4:42–With the 28th pick the Twins select a 5″9 150 lb outfielder named Ben Revere. Revere has great speed, so he should be able to match the long, industrious careers of fellow 1st-round speed demons Jason Tyner, Dave Krynzel, Vince Faison, and Chip Ambres. Actually, the truth is I’m excited that somebody with my exact height and build was able to get drafted in the 1st round.
4:35–The Tigers finally pick Porcello, causing Scott Boras to throw the gold-plated Blackberry he was holding. You can’t really have less leverage than negotiating with a team loaded with pitching that just made the World Series. For some reason the only footage ESPN has of “the best pitcher in the draft” is Porcello wildly firing a warmup pitch up and away.
4:31–Oakland picks James Simmons, a college pitcher from UC Riverside. Karl Ravech gives one of the all time terrible fake laughs when Keith Law jokes he’s “shocked” Billy Beane drafted a college pitcher.
4:29–The Oakland A’s are on the clock. The jokesters in the Tigers war room just called Billy Beane and offered to trade him Jeremy Bonderman for Oakland’s first round pick.
4:25–The White Sox pick Aaron Poreda, a big lefty from the University of San Francisco. Poreda is the first draftee who is visibly intoxicated in his file photo. Meanwhile, Steve Phillips attempts to explain why we won’t see any of these draft picks for another four years.
4:20–The Rangers pick high school pitcher Michael Main, a guy who is such a good athlete that some teams would have taken him as a leadoff outfielder. The Rangers continue to draft pitchers (their 6th first rounder in the last five years), but still can’t get any good pitching at the big league level. It really makes you pine for the days of Rick Helling and Roger Pavlik.
4:14–With the 23rd, Bud Selig announces the Pardres pick Nick Schmidt from the “University of Arkansas Fayetville, Fayetville, Arkansas.” Thanks Bud. Schmidt is another big lefthander who Peter Gammons thinks will “develop” in PetCo Park.
4:11–By the way, the small table Ravech, Phillips, and Gammons are sitting around it completely covered with ruffled papers, and all three of them look uncomfortable in their chairs. Did they choose this, or would ESPN not pay for the full desk it uses at the NBA and NFL drafts?
4:07–Peter Gammons discusses the “Moneyball Strategy” for the 4,000th time in his career. Behind him, Bud Selig announces the Giants draft a big high school righthander named Tim Alderson.
4:04–The Blue Jays select catcher J.P. Arencibia. The pick means J.P. Riccardi is selecting another J.P. Coincidence? I think not. Meanwhile, Jim Callis definitely needs a cup of coffee, or some cocaine.
4:02–We’re halfway through this things and both Peter Gammons and Steve Phillips look a little exhausted. To stay comfortable Gammons is employing the slouch technique while Phillips is going with the lean forward on your knees strategy.
3:58–With the 20th pick the Dodgers draft Chris Withrow, a high school righthander from Texas. In a span of 30 seconds Steve Phillips just used the words “projectable” three times and “develop” twice. It’s safe to say Phillips expects Withrow to undergo some sort of change.
3:53–The Phillies draft Joe Savery out of Rice. With J.D. Drew in the American league, Phillies fans are hoping Savery won’t sign so they will have a visiting player to throw stuff at.
3:49–The Cardinals pick high school shortstop Peter Kozma. Keith Law calls it the first major reach of the draft because Kozma doesn’t have one skill that stands out. Somebody just made a Davis Eckstein comparison—it’s not a good sign that Kozma’s hitting potential is already being compared to somebody seven inches shorter than him.
3:47–We have our first lengthy “signability” discussion. It center on righthander Rick Porcello, who looks like he’ll slide down to the Yankees. Scott Boras can hardly contain himself. He could get negotiate with a struggling Yankee team that is starting Matt DeSalvo and Tyler Clippard.
3:42–Bud Selig, no longer excited that the Rangers are on the clock, announces Texas drafts a big right hander from Texas named Blake Beavan. David Rawnsley says Beavan “just doesn’t like hitters.” It’s too bad the Nats didn’t draft him—It’s evident from their lineup that they don’t like hitters either.
3:40–An anti-steroids commercial? During the MLB draft? It’s almost like Bud Selig is trying to send a message that baseball is trying to crack down of performance enhancement.
3:37–With the 16th pick the Blue Jays select high school 3rd baseman Kevin Ahrens…AND THE TEXAS RANGERS ARE ON THE CLOCK!!!!! You know Ahrens will be a good one because in his photo he is sporting the C.C. Sabathia slightly off-center hat look.
3:33–The Reds choose high school catcher Devin Mesoraco, a guy who has apparently “developed a lot this year.” So the Reds drafted somebody who has a lot in common with my 12 year-old next door neighbor.
3:28–The Reds are on the clock. We get our first shot of team representative Ken Griffey Sr., dressed in his finest Tony Montana suit.
3:26–The Braves pick high school outfielder Jason Heyward. It’s clear the Braves are continuing their strategy of drafting local kids who will either bypass college or sign at a discount to play with the team they grew up loving. So far Heyward looks like draftee most likely win the “Russel Branyan Award” for batting .230 with 40 homers and 170 strikeouts in every minor league season.
3:22–The Indians select a first baseman named Beau Mills. It’s important to note that Mills isn’t the first top 15 pick named Beau—The Orioles chose Beau Hale 14th overall in 2000. Mills is the most excited draft pick thus far. He obviously did not grow up hoping to be a hockey player.
3:19–So far the highlight of the day is Bud Selig enthusiastically announcing who’s on the clock next. He’s way more excited about what team is on the clock than about who has actually been chosen. Maybe he’s just excited the draft is one pick closer to being over. Next year he better watch some Paul Tagliabue tape to prepare.
3:17–The Marlins draft high school 3rd baseman Matt Dominguez, a player the ESPN guys compare to Ryan Zimmerman. It’s not a good sign when on your draft day you’re being compared to a guy hitting .250.
3:15–Jason Bay goes deep for the Pirates…wait…what? I thought I was watching the draft. ESPN manages to fill 14 more second on airtime. Only 8,000 more to go.
3:10–The Mariners pick Phillippe Aumont, a huge Canadian high school hurler. In his interview, Aumont is a man of few words. He still looks a little unhappy he’s sitting there at the MLB draft and not the NHL draft. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a Happy Gilmore type thing going on with his baseball career.
3:06–Kieth Law like the pick a whole lot more than Steve Phillips, who wasn’t impressed with Bumgarner’s breaking ball command. The question is, is this two knowledgeable guys who have a difference of opinion, or two guys who are reading different scouting reports off the internet.
3:04–With the 10th pick the Giants pick high school lefty Madison Bumgarner, the early favorite for best name in the draft. Bumgarner immediately begins doing some arithmetic in his head hoping to figure out that Barry Bond will have to have retired by the time he reaches the majors.
2:59–The Diamondbacks select pitcher Jarrod Parker, the first high school pitcher chosen in the draft. Karl Ravech asks Parker whether or not he wants to go to college and Parker all but commits to signing by saying “it’s every kid’s dream to play pro ball.” That is unless their agent is Scott Boras. Then the dream is to make their agent as much money as possible.
2:55–The Rockies pick David Price’s teammate Casey Weathers, who is areliever. Weathers is another example of the “Houston Street–Chad Cordero” effect. Since the two of them quickly turned into solid closers teams have jumped at the chance to draft college relievers in the first round. The only problem is that Street and Cordero may have been the exceptions. Since then Joey Devine and Craig Hansen, two can’t miss guys, have taken much longer to get to the major leagues.
2:53–Apparently LaPorta is the first shocking pick of the day, something Steve Phillips says will lead to celebrating by other teams. Keith Law proposed they Brewers might have drafted him so they can trade him in two years. You gotta love the baseball draft–it’s the only place where you pay a guy a $2 million bonus so you can trade him for a 35 year-old reliever in two years.
2:49–With the 7th pick the Brewers select Matt LaPorta, a college first baseman from Florida. This pick excites me only because of the small chance LaPorta will gain 70 pounds and tear up the minors, thereby forcing Prince Fielder to play the outfield. If that happens everybody’s a winner.
2:46– Detwiler is asked if he could have imagined a better situation than a rich team in a great market with a new ballpark—Translation: could you have imagined another team where you’re instantly one of the five best pitchers in the entire organization. Detwiler also reveals he’s been trying to eat five or six meals a day to put on weight, but he can’t do it. If only John Kruk was there I’m sure he could help him out.
2:44–The Nats select a big college lefthander from Missouri State named Ross Detwiler. The best part–he has a knuckle curveball. With Mike Mussina nearing the end of his career is good to know there might be somebody in the majors who will continue his knuckle curve legacy.
2:42–So far the best part of the MLB draft is hearing the ESPN guys discuss how a player could conceivable help their team in 2010. Mel Kiper has it easy—he only has to look five months into the future. Jim Callis as to be an all out soothsayer.
2:38–The Orioles select Matt Wieters, a catcher from Georgia Tech. Wieters looks forward to the day when he can be behind the plate as John Parrish and Danys Baez surrender six runs in the 7th inning.
2:34–The Pirates draft a left handed reliever with the 4th pick. Isn’t that like picking a kicker in the first round?
2:30–The Pirates are now on the clock, and they may have one of the unluckiest recent draft histories in recent memory. From 1998-2003 they drafted six straight pitchers. All of them needed major arm surgeries.
2:26–The Cubs select high school 3rd baseman Josh Vitters, the man the Pirates wanted with the 4th pick. Vitters is interviewed wearing a Cubs hat and Jersey. It’s too bad he won’t be able to wear them again for five more years.
2:22–The Cubs are on the clock. I can already see this moment as the beginning of the NY Jets-like Youtube montage chronicling all the terrible Cubs draft picks.
2:20–The Royals select Mike Moustakas, a high school hitter. ESPN thinks he’s a 1st baseman/3rd baseman while Bud Selig believes he’s a shortstop.
2:15–Sticking to what must be an unwritten rule regarding all drafts, the Devil Rays have 12 months to figure out who to draft, but they still use all five minutes. Not surprisingly, the pick is Price. Price is notable because he calls his own pitches, which probably shows some sort of leadership skills. He’s reminiscent of Andrew Miller, but if I were a Devil Rays fan his Casey Fossum like delivery would cause for concern. You never want to be compared to Casey Fossum.
2:13–Chipper, A-Rod, Griffey, and Joe Mauer were all notable first round picks. What about Jeff King, Brien Taylor, and Matt Anderson? I’m sure they’re notable to somebody.
2:08–Bud Selig shares a few words. I wonder if those in attendance had to sign a contract saying they wouldn’t boo him.
2:05–Peter Gammons touches on the new rule that requires draft picks to sign by August 15th. He points out it could lead to a lot more high schoolers going to college, and he makes sure to quickly point out “that’s not necessarily a bad thing.”
2:03–Our hosts today are Karl “better hair than Kiper” Ravech, Steve “being a GM on ESPN is easier” Phillips, and Peter “I cared about the draft before you” Gammons.
2:00–An opening montage reminds us that shockingly, many of our current Major League stars were once 1st round picks. I would have like to see two clips of J.D. Drew for each time he was drafted.
ESPN undoubtedly needs some help promoting the draft. That’s why I’m here with a couple of catchy slogans.
The MLB Draft
…Where Your First Contract Will Usually Be Your Last
…Where Tools Are A Good Thing
…When Your Time To Take Steroids Officially Comes To An End
…Where You’re Only 50,000 Hours On A Bus Away From Stardom
…The Place Where Manny Ramirez Becomes Your Co-worker
It’s finally time for the 2007 MLB draft…live from Disney World!! It was surely a tough decision, but ESPN chose to preempt some thrilling Skip Bayless commentary on 1st and 10 in order to broadcast the draft for the first time ever. I couldn’t resist the opportunity to chronicle it all in a liveblog, so pull up a chair a watch the draft unfold here on ShakedownSports.
