When I Mock-Draft, They Call Me Mock-arena

[Edgy MD]

I just want to point out that, as unimpeachable a name as that is, the Mets also selected "Blade Tidwell" in the second round.



I just hope he was scouted by Razor Shines, and is represented by Bean Stringfellow.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

With Blade and Jett, the Mets might actually have mistakenly thought this was the American Gladiators draft

[Edgy MD]

"And in Round 12, the Mets select .... Ice Cannon!"















"Oh, the crowd, loves this choice Donald! Listen to the pandemonium!"

[Frayed Knot]

Jett, I still can remember those scowling faces

Shouting and screaming that you were too short to draft.

And Jett, we put the scout who chose to sign you on a raft .. Jett

[Edgy MD]

Two caveats about Parada:



(1) This is the second straight year that the Mets grabbed somebody who was supposed to go several picks higher that had prognosticators (and possibly the Mets) surprised he was still on the board. That's probably nothing, but last year's pick worked out the way it worked out.



(2) I need to find out if this is intentional or an error, but some sites list Parada as a leftfielder, despite catching exclusively in his two years at Georgia Tech and his brief summer in the Cape Cod League.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

My interpretation of the little i'd read about this Parada Palooka, is that he's just a hitter who happens to play catcher

[Edgy MD]

That was my guess from seeing the leftfielding references.



We'll find out soon enough, I guess — although though history, a lot of teams don't make the choice about whether to keep a hitting catcher catching until (or even after) he's reached the big leagues.



A leftfielder who can also catch on occasion is certainly a coolish thing to have.

[Benjamin Grimm]

And the Mets now play in a DH league, so there's that.

[Frayed Knot]

Bryce Harper was a C as an amateur but the Nats immediately announced they were drafting him as an OF.

Of course he was virtually the definition of an outlier at that age.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Dale Murphy.

[Edgy MD]

Murphy, like Craig Biggio and Carlos Delgado and Gil Hodges, is a perfect example of a guy they moved shortly after he reached the bigs.



It's often a gun-to-the-head decision. We have a plus hitter. Do we try to get more day-to-day value out of him by putting him at catcher, or do we try to get more games, more health, and a longer run out of them by moving them after they reach the bigs?



Gary Carter, Yogi Berra, and Johnny Bench came very close to ending up in the outfield (or the infield, in Bench's case) when they reached the bigs. Their teams were tempted to get more out of their obviously capable bats by keeping them healthier and in the lineup at a safer situation, but in their cases, saw extra value in the plus defense (or in Bench's case, the plus-plus-plus defense) they also brought to the table.



Murphy was a poor catcher and a poor thrower. He was a poor firstbaseman when they moved him there. That he was Golden Glove centerfielder waiting to happen is pretty incredible, and I hope whoever came up with that idea for the Braves got a bonus.

[Frayed Knot]

One of the first things Torre did with Zeile was to get him out from behind the plate as Torre himself had been moved. But both weren't moved until after their careers had already begun.



Torre's first season of doing no catching was his .361/MVP year, and his first as StL Mgr was Zeile's first as a full time 3B

[The Hot Corner]

Many of the "experts" yesterday were saying Parada is a big time bat that hits for average and power, but needs to work on his catching skills, particularly his throwing (release and accuracy).



Jet Williams was compared to Altuve, but with true shortstop skills. If that comes to fruition, we will all be quite happy with him.

[Edgy MD]

It's fun how you always get the best-case projections. You never get, "Rousseau is getting a lot of attention from scouts, and the name that keeps popping up when they watch him is Brad Emaus."

[Frayed Knot]

#2 overall pick Druw (son of Andruw) Jones, suffers a shoulder injury in his first BP session with Arizona and will miss "significant time".

[Edgy MD]

Gosh.



I imagine that folks have gotten hurt during a batting practice session before, but I can't think of any.