Royals Draft-Day 1 Recap

post from Royals Review on 09 June 2009 11:51:00 PM. © Royals Review

With as much up and down as this day has featured, you'd think we had a lot more than 2 picks. But the Royals made those 2 picks count.

The Royals took Aaron Crow at #12 overall. He was ranked #7 by both Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus. I've never been a huge Aaron Crow guy--so I'm a little lukewarm on this pick. I had him ranked #8--so I don't think he's a dud--I just had Green ranked a little higher. But a lot of fans really like it. He's got a very good fastball--with good velocity and excellent movement. His slider is supposed to be his best pitch--but hasn't been quite as good in his limited time in the Independent League. He made up for that showing a vastly improved changeup. The changeup is good to hear about because without that he might be destined for the bullpen. There have been some concerns about Crow's mechanics--the "inverted W" delivery that may or may not have lead to some pitchers getting injured. Crow grew up in Kansas and was/is a big Royals fan.

There were rumors all day that the Royals were going to take Will Myers at #12 and, thankfully, we didn't. There were better players on the board. We did take him at #91--which is a much better place for him. Myers was ranked #31 by BA and #34 by BP. He has been rising up draft boards in recent weeks. He had a workout for the Royals recently and made a very favorable impression. He's a great athlete--with a very good bat, good power, good speed, and a good arm. He's new to catching and opinions are split as to whether he will stay behind the plate but I read that at least one scout thought he could move to CF if C didn't work out.

I'm going to speculate a little bit. Crow is projected top 10--many times Top 5 until the past couple of days when teams are getting scared off by his bonus demands and he drops to us. Will Myers was considered a mid-late 1st round pick but teams backed off in the past couple of days because he was said to want "Top 10" money. Both of those situations sound a little like Tim Melville to me. Teams backed off Melville because they percieved that he wanted a ton of money. In reality, he signed for a healthy bonus with the Royals because there was a good relationship there and we were one of, if not the only, team he wanted to sign with. I wonder if Crow and Myers started throwing out big bonus amounts to scare off other teams because the Royals had worked things out with them and they had a comfort level with the Royals. Crow will probably get $3.5-4 million and Myers close to $2. Just a theory but I think the Royals may be on to a good way to wrap up some talent. I think Crow will sign relatively quickly and go to either Burlington or WIlmington. I think Myers will agree to a contract that will not be announced until closer to the deadline (like Melville and other way above slot later picks) to avoid the full ire of raging Bud.

We shall see what tomorrow holds: if the Royals have any other big signability picks. I think we'll grab some more "up the middle" players and our normal bevy of young pitchers.

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Rockies 3, Brewers 2: Big seventh inning propels
Colorado to sixth straight victory

post from Purple Row on 09 June 2009 11:21:00 PM. © Purple Row

More photos » by Morry Gash - AP

about 3 hours ago: Colorado Rockies center fielder Dexter Fowler (24) catches a ball in front of left fielder Carlos Gonzalez (5) off the bat of Milwaukee Brewers' Craig Counsell during the third inning of a baseball game Tuesday, June 9, 2009, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

Browse more photos »

Three very integral parts of the Rockies' future made major contributions throughout the game, particularly in the seventh inning, to lead Colorado (26-32) to a 3-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.

Dexter Fowler, Troy Tulowitzki, and Carlos Gonzalez each had two hits in the game (both were doubles for Dex and CarGo), and each player was a major part of the late rally. Tulo led off the seventh inning with a double down the left field line, and Gonzalez followed that up with a two-bagger of his own down the right field line to drive in Tulowitzki for the first Rockies run. Later in the inning, Dexter Fowler laced a double into the left-center field gap to plate Gonzalez, which tied the game. In the next at bat, Clint Barmes scorched a sacrifice fly to center field which score Seth Smith, who drew a pinch hit walk two batters earlier.

After allowing a leadoff triple to Craig Counsell (who later scored) in the first inning, Jason Hammel (3-3) settled down and pitched a gem the rest of the way (aside from a home run served up to Mat Gamel) until his departure after six innings. He finished the night allowing only the two runs on five hits and a walk while striking out five. Matt Daley, Manuel Corpas, and Huston Street then came on and provided three literally perfect innings of relief, as no Brewers reached base against the suddenly vaunted trio.

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As Rox Girl said in the comments, it was truly a great night to be a Rockies fan, after their terrific first day of the draft and a tough come-from-behind victory.

RowCall: theoldgrizzlybear, spartymon, TuLoRocks2008, PioneerSkies, AtkinsandTulofan, mkorpal, The Lodo Magic Man, jrockies, WolfMarauder, holly96, TulsaDriller, FooMan, Jabberwocky, moomacher, Chrysicat, Poseidon's Fist, fantasyfencing, nodakroxfan, Narcoleptico, pierzynskirules, Russ, Teekalong, ALrockies, DbacksSkins, MohrPlease, alex colfax, Jester76, pedalpusher, rockies17_4, Rox Girl, BroJB.

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The Same Old Story: Terrible Defense and a Broken
Bullpen Dethrone the Royals

post from Royals Review on 09 June 2009 11:20:00 PM. © Royals Review

Here's a fun fact, the Indians are 6-4 against the Royals and 20-30 against everyone else.

Aside from some offensive heroics and a nice start from Bannister that were subsequently rendered irrelevant, the story of the game was told in the bottom of the sixth and the seventh:

Here's the sixth:

- J. Carroll walked- V. Martinez singled to center, J. Carroll to third- S. Choo reached on fielder's choice, J. Carroll scored, V. Martinez to second on first baseman B. Butler's throwing error- M. DeRosa singled to left, V. Martinez to third, S. Choo to second- J. Bale relieved B. Bannister- T. Hafner reached on fielder's choice, V. Martinez scored, S. Choo to third, M. DeRosa to second on catcher M. Olivo's fielding error- K. Shoppach hit sacrifice fly to deep right, S. Choo scored, M. DeRosa to third- J. Peralta hit for L. Valbuena- J. Peralta grounded into fielder's choice, M. DeRosa scored, T. Hafner out at second

Here's the seventh:

- J. Cruz relieved J. Bale- B. Francisco singled to shortstop- J. Carroll grounded into fielder's choice, B. Francisco out at second- V. Martinez walked, J. Carroll to second- S. Choo hit by pitch, J. Carroll to third, V. Martinez to second- J. Wright relieved J. Cruz- M. DeRosa homered to deep right, J. Carroll, V. Martinez and S. Choo scored

Jamey Wright turning into a pumpkin has been painful, and it's certainly not helped that Treyball has doggedly stuck with him long past his expiration date. Juan Cruz suddenly losing it, well, that's damn near completely killed the bullpen. Now, all we have is our magical game-changing, culture of losing changing, magical closer who pitches ~~twice~~ once a week.

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Houston Astros finish Day One of Draft by
selecting LF Telvin Nash, 3B Jonathan Meyer

post from The Crawfish Boxes on 09 June 2009 11:09:00 PM. © The Crawfish Boxes

For the record, that's two players selected on the first day who pronounce their surnames the same way. This will be my last post of the evening, so hopefully I've added a little bit to the discussion! Looking forward to seeing everyone's takes and opinions in the morning.

Quick and dirty reports on these two:

Telvin Nash, LF, 6'1" 220 lbs. Griffin HS, GA. Also recruited to play college football. I'm seeing a two sport trend developing...Here is MLB.com's scouting video on Nash.

Jonathan Meyer, 3B, 6'1" 200 lbs. Simi Valley HS, CA. Meyer is a switch hitter. He lists favorite team as "Boston Red Sox". If nothing else, we've reduced Red Sox Nation by one.

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Houston Astros selection in the Supplemental Third Round, 3B Jonathan Meyer

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Red Sox Destroy Yankees 7-0 -- Off to Hottest
Start against NY Since the Great Year of 1912

post from SawxBlog on 09 June 2009 11:02:00 PM. © SawxBlog

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words...(AP Photo)Like I said, sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words, and this one may be worth a thousand more. Great game tonight, the Red Sox played it exactly as predicted earlier, go figure.[...]

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June 9 2009 - Seat Removal Completed

post from Demolition of Yankee Stadium on 09 June 2009 10:54:30 PM. © Demolition of Yankee Stadium

Image Credit: TremanBookmark To:

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I found Trey's flowchart for bullpen decisions.
Very interesting.

post from Royals Review on 09 June 2009 10:53:00 PM. © Royals Review

Hillmanflowchart

I found Trey's flowchart for bullpen decisions. Very interesting.

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http://www.royalsreview.com/2009/6/9/904432/i-found-treys-flowchart-for

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Yankees Shutout in Rout

[...]

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http://bronxbaseballdaily.baby-bombers.com/2009/06/09/yankees-shut-out-in-rout/

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Yankees Shut Out in Rout

For the first time this season, the Yankees were shut out. Josh Beckett and Co. silenced the[...]

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Astros choose RHP Tanner Bushue in Second Round

Here are some tidbits on Mr. Bushue, who was selected with the sixty-ninth pick in the draft:

The Chicago Tribune ranked Bushue as the second best prospect in the state of Illinois
He is a two sport star, he played basketball as well at South Central High School
Bushue committed to an Illinois Junior College. Signability factors in here, I would assume
Throwing in the mid 90s consistently as a high schooler, one source had him as going between the 10th and 20th rounds. After reading that, I'm more sure than ever his signing won't be much of an issue
The enrollment of Bushue's high school in Marissa, IL is 245. My graduating senior class had nearly three times that many people
He has scored more than 1000 points in his high school basketball career. Has no bearing on his ability to play baseball, but it's cool nonetheless

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