Daily Archives: June 7, 2007

Posted by Steve

Less than an hour away now, and there are a couple shifts once again.  Baseball America is reporting that the Royals have switched off of Vitters and will take Moustakas with the second pick.  The Cubs will then take Vitters.  Darn.

Also a name we’re all of a sudden seeing associated with the Brewers is high school catcher Devin Mesoraco.  I’m still thinking they’ll take Parker or Aumont, and I’d prefer Parker.

One very interesting take is in Keith Law’s mock draft (no link, ESPN Insider).  He actually has the Brewers taking high-profile Boras client Matt Wieters.  I’d be very, very surprised if this happened, but it would be exciting.

To give you an idea of what the Brewers would be dealing with if they took Wieters, Moustakas or Porcello, here’s a very interesting article by John Heyman of Sports Illustrated about Scott Boras and the amazing impact he’s had on the draft.

Posted by Steve

The draft is less than 24 hours away, and apparently there has been an interesting development that could drastically change the shape of the first round.  Jonathan Mayo reports in his draft blog that the Royals will likely not select high school pitcher Rick Porcello with the second pick after all.  Apparently the Boras factor has turned the Royals off of Porcello.  It will be interesting to see how far he falls, and whether a team decides to meet his demands and dissuade him from his commitment to North Carolina.

Mayo says that the Royals are now deciding between high school sluggers Josh Vitters and Mike Moustakas.  If they decide to take Vitters it could throw a wrench in a lot of teams’ plans.

Before the Royals switched off of Porcello, the Cubs appeared set to take Vitters.  With him gone, it’s hard to say what they’ll do.  The Pirates were hoping the Cubs would take Wieters so they could select Vitters.  Both the Cubs and Pirates are now big question marks in this draft.

Furthermore, both the Orioles and Nationals have said to be interested in Aumont, but likely as a second or third choice.  If that happens there’s a good chance that Moustakas or Wieters will fall to the Brewers.  I’m imagining something like this:

1. Devil Rays: David Price

2. Royals: Josh Vitters

3. Cubs: Jarrod Parker (with the ownership change the Cubs may have to pass on Wieters)

4. Pirates: Beau Mills

5. Orioles: Ross Detwiler

6. Nationals: Rick Porcello

7. Brewers: Mike Moustakas

In this scenario both Moustakas and Aumont are available to the Brewers.  I would be pretty disappointed if the Brewers selected Aumont when Moustakas or even Wieters was available.  Also in this scenario Wieters would be available.  It will be interesting to see how far their affiliation with Lord Boras drops them.

One thing that I didn’t mention in yesterday’s overview:  MLB moved up the signing deadline to August 15, which will have a huge impact on how teams draft.  Prior to this rule teams had nearly a year to negotiate with draft picks before they re-entered the draft.  With only about two months, it gives Boras less leverage.  It’s why, unlike years past, I wouldn’t rule out the Brewers selecting a Boras client.  I also think the Brewers would take Wieters before Porcello, simply because Porcello can use college as leverage.  Wieters has used up all four years of eligibility and would need to play independent ball for a year if he held out.

I’m getting pretty pumped for the draft with all of this late goings-on, and I’m hoping the Brewers don’t let me down.  In case you didn’t know, the draft is live tomorrow on ESPN 2 at 1:00 central.

Image of Lord Boras taken from jonathanblazon.com