Frayed Knot

"All the camo in the world isn't hiding Tony Gwynn these days" I'm not sure one of the tanks our cammo-wearing soldiers ride in could hide Tony Gwynn these days.

I don't see the purpose in this move.

Pelfrey - 3.0 Reyes - 1.8 Wright - 0.9 Sanchez - 0.6 Chavez - 0.2

Nymr83 wrote: Schoenweis does not belong in a game except to get out a lefty in the middle innings. he is atrocious. He's been fine all year and was facing almost all LHBs in last night. The inning didn't cause his bad pitching.

Futher-Mucker!!

Oh yeah, leadoff walk in front of the only guys on this team who can hit. That's a good idea!

Wright's getting 'upper-cutty' again. Surprised Keith hasn't said something.

There was some 3rd baseman drafted today in the 1st round (Brett Wallace - Cardinals) who was built like Heath Bell only with a bigger butt and legs. The blog I was reading held out little hope that he'd stay a 3rd baseman.

Hope they're cleaning the unis before re-issuing.

I'd bet our trying for base hits 'Bunting Average' this year to be around .050 Therefore I wish we'd quit doing it so much.

If nothing else he's learning how to hang in there and fight through things.

I don't get what the rule is there.

Braves beat Marlins again (took 3 of 4) behind Chipper's 400th Those crazy 1st place rivals, Boston & Tampa, started with some words from last night and tonight it boiled over into a large fight. Rays were mad a Coco so they plunked him and he charged the mond and etc, etc. Sox won.

# 18 - Ike Davis, 1B, Arizona State L/L, 6'4" 215, 21 y/o Scouting Report (from BA): The son of former big league reliever Ron Davis, Ike was not a scouts' favorite coming into his junior season. A decorated high school career that included a star turn with Team USA's youth national squad and an MVP award at the 2004 Aflac Classic, and his pitching family pedigree, had most scouts regarding him as a pitcher out of high school. He decided to go to Arizona State rather than sign as a Rays 19th-round pick, and he started on the mound and batted cleanup in his first game as a Sun Devil. He struggled with wood in the Alaska League in 2006 and in the Cape in 2007, when he cut his summer short to have right wrist surgery. He returned to the mound as a closer in 2008 and played first base to keep his arm fresh. He also worked to incorporate his lower half more and was having a banner season, leading the Sun Devils in the triple crown categories as well as saves, before missing time with a ribcage injury. Davis has excellent raw power, comparing to former ASU star Jeff Larish, but he's a much better defender with a better swing and better pitch recognition. Davis is above-average at first base and should be able to play an outfield corner as well due to his plus arm; his below-average speed could limit him to left. #22 - Reese Havens, SS,South Carolina L/R, 6'1" 195, 21 y/o Coming off a strong showing in the Cape Cod League last summer when he hit .314 with five home runs, Havens positioned himself to be one of the top middle infielders in this draft class. Steady and durable, Havens has been a fixture in the middle of the diamond for the Gamecocks since his freshman year. His consistency in always being in the lineup parallels his consistent improvement offensively and defensively every season since arriving in Columbia. Drafted out of high school by the Rockies in the 29th round, Havens has improved his range, hands and agility and now has the defensive ability and arm strength to stay at shortstop in the professional ranks. He makes up for his lack of foot speed with proper routes to the ball and advanced instincts. At the plate, Havens changed his hand position this season, moving them lower to an unconventional location around the bellybutton. Scouts have split opinions on his new batting style, but he he has hit for better power and average and leads off for a strong South Carolina lineup. He has great makeup and is a prototype "baseball player" with all the intangibles. #33 - Brad Holt, RHP, UNC-Wilmington Holt shows consistent arm strength and holds it through his starts as well as any starter in this draft, sitting 93-96 mph every week from his first inning to his last. The velocity is easy; the ball comes out of his arm well and has good downhill plane and some life to it. He pitches almost exclusively off his fastball, throwing offspeed stuff less than 25 percent of the time. His curveball, which has a short downward break and moderately tight rotation, is his best secondary pitch; it could become an average offering, but it�s a one-plane pitch. He has a changeup, but he guides this mediocre offering to the plate. He takes a long stride forward off the mound, holding his velocity even from the stretch when he doesn�t stay over the rubber at all, and has just a little bit of violence at the end when his head snaps slightly. If he had a better changeup or could handle a splitter � his arm slot might be too low for it � he�d have a chance to be a back-end starter. But as a one-and-a-half-pitch pitcher, he�s more likely to work in the bullpen when he reaches the majors." #68 - Javier Rodriguez, OF, Puerto Rico Baseball Academy Rodriguez was one of the top talents in Puerto Rico last month heading into the Excellence Tournament, which attracts a plethora of scouts, crosscheckers and scouting directors. Rodriguez improved his stock there further, showcasing excellent bat speed, athleticism and pure hitting ability to establish himself as the top prospect on the island. #100 - Kirk Nieuwenhuis, OF, Azuza Pacific Univ #134 - Sean Ratliff, OF, Stanford #164 - Dock Doyle, C, Coastal Carolina Univ #165 - Anthony Bass, RHP, Wayne State Univ Not quite sure how we wound up with consecutive picks in round 5 there.

21 - Tigers - Ryan Perry, RHP (Arizona) 'nother reliever 22 - Mets - Reese Havens - SS (Univ South Carolina) Lefty hitter - rumors have had teams liking him with catching in mind I know the BoSox liked him 23 - Padres - Allan Dykstra - 1B (Wake Forest) No, not Lenny's kid, although he (Cutter Dykstra) is eligible for this draft and might be 4th round or so 24 - Phils - Anthony Hewitt - SS/OF (Conn - HS) "Off the chart tools" but VERY raw" is what I've read. One place said he's, at the same time, the most likely to become a ML super-star or flunk out of A-Ball. 25 - Rockies - Christian Friedrich, LHP, Eastern Kentucky U The BP mafia are surprised he didn't go higher. 26 - Dbacks 27 - Twins 28 - Yanks 29 - Indians 30 - Red Sox 31 - Twins 32 - Brewers 33 - Mets

16 - Brewers - Brett Lawrie, C (Canada) 17 - Blue Jays - David Cooper, 1B (Cal St Fullerton) 18 - Mets - Ike Davis, 1B/OF (Arizona St) Well, we got our 1st sacker. Can also pitch and father Ron was MLB reliever "lots of power, lots of Ks, but a good approach" says BP's Kevin Goldstein 19 - Cubs - Andrew Cashner, RHP (TCU) There's the 1st reliever 20 - Mariners - Josh Fields, RHP (U Georgia) 21 - Tigers 22 - Mets 23 - Padres 24 - Phils 25 - Rockies

]Am I reaching here? Of course you are, but I like the thought 11 - Rangers - Justin Smoak, 1B (Univ South Carolina) 12 - A's - Jemile Weeks, 2B (U Miami) Rickie's baby bro and a reported NYM target 13 - Cardinals - Brett Wallace, 3B (Ariz St) 14 - Twins - Aaron Hicks - RHP (California HS) A product of the MLB Academy in Compton California 15 - Dodgers - Ethan Martin, RHP/3B (HS - Georgia) Sorry Vlad 16 - Brewers 17 - Blue Jays 18 - Mets 19 - Cubs 20 - Mariners

6 - Marlins - Kyle Skipworth, C (California HS) 7 - Reds - Yonder Alonso, 1B (Miami U) Supposedly the "most ML ready" of all 1B prospects goes to the team with Joey Votto already sitting there 8 - White Sox - Gordon Beckham, SS (Univ of Georgia) No relation to pick #1 9 - Nationals - Aaron Crow, RHP (U Missouri) 10 - Astros - Jason Castro, C (Stanford) There goes the 3rd catcher, Depth reportedly falls WAY off after this 11 - Rangers 12 - A's 13 - Cardinals 14 - Twins 15 - Dodgers

1 - Rays - Tim Beckman, SS (HS) 2 - Pirates - Pedro Alvarez, 3B Vanderbilt Univ (via Washington Heights, NYC) Pittsburgh has had both a rash of bad decisions with the draft in recent years plus a bunch of shit luck with injuries so they've got a lot riding on this guy 3 - Royals - Eric Hosmer, 1B (Fla - HS) He was a "high-ceiling" guy who some thought might drop on account of Boras-fueled bonus demands but KC grabs him ahead of all the college 1Bmen 4 - Orioles - Brian Matusz - LHP, Univ of San Diego 5 - Giants - Buster Posey, C, Fla St 6 - Marlins 7 - Reds 8 - White Sox 9 - Nationals 10 - Astros

Centerfield wrote: Which of those picks is compensation for Glavine? I would love if whoever we pick became a major Brave-Killer for us in the coming years... #18 was originally the Braves pick that we get instead on account of the signing and #33 is the extra pick, ie. one that we gain but they don't lose. #22 is our own pick.

I checked the TV listings earlier and ESPN2 has set aside 4 hours of programming time and, I believe, are just doing to 1st round plus supplementals -- 46 picks at about 1 pick per 5 minutes. That puts our early picks at approx 3:30, 3:45 and 4:40 In the pre-TV days they'd go through 46 picks in about 20 minutes. But it became apparent last year that not only is it a 5 minute max but it's a 5 minute minimum so the team execs get to sit around so the folks at Bristol Clown College can justify the salaries they're paying to all the talking heads. 1 - Rays: "Souces say" they've settled on Georgia HS SS Tim Beckman 2 - Pirates 3 - Royals 4 - Orioles 5 - Giants 6 - Marlins 7 - Reds 8 - White Sox 9 - Nationals 10 - Astros 11 - Rangers 12 - A's 13 - Cardinals 14 - Twins 15 - Dodgers 16 - Brewers 17 - Blue Jays 18 - Mets 19 - Cubs 20 - Mariners 21 - Tigers 22 - Mets 23 - Padres 24 - Phils 25 - Rockies 26 - Dbacks 27 - Twins 28 - Yanks 29 - Indians 30 - Red Sox 31 - Twins 32 - Brewers 33 - Mets 68 - Mets 100 - Mets

The mock draft at Baseball Prospectus has Mets looking at Missouri High School hurler Tim Melville (I think he'll be a whale of a pick) at #18: - [RHP] Melville began the season as one of the top high school pitchers available, but he disappointed observers throughout much of the season before returning to form down the stretch. He wants to be paid the way his pre-season status dictated, and the Mets have deep pockets. - while hoping that U of Miami 2B Jemile Weeks (brother of Rickie) is still available come pick #22; "one of the top college athletes available" -- with Tulane RHP Shooter Hunt (I'd take him for the name alone) as a fallback - early in the season the Tulane ace looked like he might be one the first ten selections, but he ran out of gas by the end of the year, and was rarely more than ordinary. [but if you] believe in the early-season showings, Shooter would be a steal here NYDN's Adam Rubin quotes MLB writer Jonathan Mayo as thinking the Mets are after Weeks, Arizona State 1B Ike Davis (son of former NYY reliever Ron) or Arizona reliever Ryan Perry - He has more velocity than any of the other college bullpen arms, but some scouts are concerned about the straightness of his pitch, and his overall numbers are hardly dominating I know, another (ugh!) college reliever - although it's hadly just us, 4 or 5 of them are listed in the projected top 30 picks.

Maine - 3.8 Reyes - 2.6 Wagner - 0.9 Sanchez - 0.5 Beltran - 1.6 Delgado - 0.4

A Reyes error (would have ended the inning) and a coupla singles leads to a run

Florida wins 6-4