MLB Draft Today on ESPN2

Finally the Major League Draft hits the big time. ESPN2 will televise the opening round of the 2007 MLB Draft today from 2pm to 6pm. This will be a more fast-paced affair then the NFL Draft. I've listened to previous broadcasts of the draft from the Internet and it is a rapid fire affair. It will be interesting to see the presentation and how it compares to the NFL and NBA Drafts.

Heck even the WNBA and Indoor Lacrosse televise their Drafts nowadays, so it's good to see baseball take a step forward.

The Devil Rays, as usual hold the first pick and they are apparently sweating over LHP David Price of Vanderbilt, Matt Wieters a 6-5, 230 lb switch hitting C from Georgia Tech who has been compared favorably to Joe Mauer and Josh Vitters a 6-3, 195 lb prep 3B.

Given that they have Evan Longoria from last year's draft as the heir apparent at 3B and they spent a significant (for the D-Rays) on a Japanese player at 3B last year, I think we can eliminate the prep 3B. The Rays really have to go for Price here.

I know Devil Rays fans and personnel are more used to seeing guys who throw like this, but they just have to get more top of the line pitchers who are near major league ready.


Further on in the first round, my Giants have a boatload of early draft-picks, courtesy of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement. They seemed focused on Beau Mills, a power hitting 3B from Lewis & Clark College, an NAIA powerhouse that has been kind to the Giants in the draft historically. Mills may have hurt those hopes by bashing three homers to lead his team to a title and elevate his draft stock.

That may leave the G-men to fall-back to Todd Frazier 3B from Rutgers of late and Toms River Little League many years ago. TRLL was the Beast from the East from the 1999 Little League World Series. Hope Frazier turns out better than Sean Burroughs did.

Locally, our attention is fixed on Kaneland (IL) High School's Casey Crosby, who has seemingly been rocketing up the charts. Crosby began the season as a possible 3-5 round possibility and is slated to go to Illinois if things don't work out. But it seems like the Illini will have to wait as Mr. Crosby may elevate into the "sandwich" , or compensation round, between the first and second rounds.

Casey's a 6-4, 205 lb. left-handed, power pitcher with great athleticism and seemingly room to get bigger and better in the future. You can never have too many good, young LHP's so I would love to see the Giants grab him with one of their compensation picks.

It's a day for dreams to come true for a lot of young players who have been working toward this goal seemingly all their young lives. Good Luck to all.



Crosby's Scouting Report from MLB.com
Biographical Data

Player Name:
Casey Crosby

Position:
Starting Pitcher

School:
Kaneland HS, Maple Park, Ill.

School Type:
High School

Academic Class:
Senior

Birthdate:
09/17/88

Height:
6'5"

Weight:
190 lbs.

Bats:
Right

Throws:
Left

Report Date(s):
04/18/07

Game(s):
Rochelle HS

Focus Area
Comments

Fastball:
On a cold day, Crosby didn't show as much arm strength as he had in the past, sitting at 86-88 mph and touching 91 mph. He'd been clocked as high as 94 in the past.

FB Movement:
Especially for a lefty, Crosby's fastball showed below-average life.

Curve:
Crosby threw his curve in the 68-71 mph range and it was with loose rotation.

Changeup:
Crosby has a change, sitting at 74-76 mph, but he slows his arm down when throwing it.

Control:
Crosby's command was below average in this start. He walked six in the outing.

Poise:
Crosby showed good poise and mound presence. He competed very well in a tight game. After walking the first two batters of the game, he promptly picked both of them off.

Physical Description:
Crosby is a tall, athletic lefty with plenty of room for growth.

Medical Update:
Healthy.

Strengths:
Crosby showed excellent poise and competitiveness, a good pickoff move and did show glimpses of a good breaking ball late in the game.

Weaknesses:
His delivery is too rigid and will need refinement. Even if his fastball improved, his secondary offerings need a lot of improvement.

Summary:
This is a deep year for high school lefties, and scouts were swarming to the Midwest to see how Crosby looked as the weather warmed up. Early on, he wasn't showing the arm strength some had seen in the past and his other pitches were below average. There's room for growth, though, and some refinement to his delivery could go a long way for the southpaw.