Over at John Sickels’ site, they had a mock draft going for the first 5 rounds. A frequent poster here who goes by the moniker of fewgoodcards was the “scouting director” for the Cardinals, here’s how it shook out.
18. Kevin Ahrens, 3B, Texas HS
36. Peter Kozma, SS, Oklahoma HS
71. Nathan Vineyard, LHP, Georgia HS (click on link and check out the dude’s photo for a good laugh.)
82. Wes Roemer, RHP, Cal State Fullerton
112. Eric Sogard, 2B, Arizona State
142. Dan Schlereth, LHRP, Arizona (Son of Mark “Stink” Schlereth, ex-NFL lineman for the Broncos and Redskins, also NFL analyst for ESPN.)
172. D.J. Jones, OF, Alabama HS
I’d have to say I’d be rather pleased with that draft overall. Especially love those first two picks, I think Kozma was a steal at 36.
Filed under: 2007 Draft
erik
azruavatar
fewgoodcards
roarke49
theredbaaron
i was pretty pleased with the draft. one thing that i would like to say is that sickels went a little dictatorish in that 4th round and “assigned” me schlereth. my real pick was Marc Rzepcynski, but the guy picking 2 picks before me picked a guy that had already been selected and even though he quickly switched it, sickels made the pick for him. unfortunately, i had already made my pick and it was the guy he chose, so he said i also drafted someone that had already been selected and made that pick for me.
anyway, i had a tough choice at 18 between ahrens and michael main. they were so close in talent, but i decided to go with the bat and took ahrens, but main was a tough guy to pass on.
after the first round, i wrote down the 6 guys in order i would take at 36. nick schmidt was the first guy on my list, and he promptly went 31st. however, i was very fortunate as my 2nd guy, pete kozma, lasted all the way to 36. i was eyeing the high school middle infielders at that spot and the order i had them ranked was justin jackson, nick noonan, pete kozma. jackson and noonan both went in the first, but there is nothing to complain about with kozma.
i think i got an absolute steal with vineyard at 71. baseball america ranks him as the 51st best prospect in the draft, and i have read several articles mentioning him as a candidate for some teams in the first round. he has a solid frame at 6′3″ 200 lbs. and is said to have an easy delivery. baseball america says his 88-91 mph fastball jumps out of his hand and he has a plus slider. they also say some project him to add more velocity. a high school lefty with a fastball that can get into the 90’s and a plus breaking ball is a fantastic value in the 2nd round.
after grabbing 3 high schoolers, i went with one of the safest college pitchers in the draft in wes roemer. he may not have much upside, but he is another value pick as he is ranked as the 65th best prospect by baseball america and is projected by many as a supplemental first rounder. his fastball is merely average as he usually pitches in the 88-91 range, but he has outstanding control and a pretty good slider. he can also throw his change for strikes and he pitches with a fire. he should be a 4th starter in the bigs and it should happen rather quickly.
my third round pick might have been a bit of a reach as i was targetting him in the 4th round, but middle infielders were flying off the board and i really wanted to get sogard. he can flat out hit and is a good defender. he is said to have better tools that dustin pedroia including better power and a better arm and he hits from the left side. he showed that his bat was for real when he hit .347 in a wood bat summer league last year.
i was looking for a college lefty in round 4 b/c it seemed like there was a lot of quality left at that position. i identified marc rzepcynski as my top guy ahead of guys like david newmann, brad mills, charlie furbush, and tony watson. luckily enough, my top guy lasted until my pick. he is a senior, but he is still only 21. he put up the best numbers of any of the guys i had on my list, and i also thought he had the best stuff. he has a fastball that sits 88-91 and can touch 93. he also has a power curve and slider and can throw a change for strikes. like vineyard, he is solidly built at 6′3″ 205 lbs., and lefties that can throw 4 pitches for strikes are hard to come by.
with my last pick, i went for the tools. jones may not be signable in this round, but he was by far the best athlete still on the board. i have compared him to rasmus in the past due to the fact that he is from alabama and is a 6′1″ L/L 5 tool centerfielder. he set the alabama state record for triples, and also showed off some pop by knocking 16 homeruns. as evidenced by the triples record, he has some wheels recording one of the fastest 60 times in the draft.
fgc,
I thought it was awesome you were able to land ahrens and kozma, that was some haul to start out with. then vineyard to top it off, that was some catch. roemer was an alright grab, he may not have a lot of upside but at worst he could be a very solid reliever. sogard was actually one i was going to put on one of my future mocks. never heard of dj jones until just now, but sounds like he has a nice upside. weird how they pushed schlereth on you, maybe sickels knows luhnow too well and wanted to push a collegiate on you. anyway, very nice job!
I personally would have went with Main, but Ahrens was still a good pick.
I think with the supplemental pick I would have went with Burgess but again Kozmo was still a good pick.
I agree with you on Vineyard.
I actually liked the Roemer pick, he SO almost 10 per 9 and walked under 2 per 9 this year. Can’t always have great stuff.
Kinda suprised Chance Chapman and Adam Mills didn’t get drafted.
Also suprised no one took a chance on Mitch Harris just for the hell of it but he is expected to go back to school.
I have to compliment you on this draft class. Not only do I like the haul but the only spot I wouldn’t have made the same pick is the last round, only because I would have gone with a personal favorite in Tyler Mach, however he may slip further. Roemer was a guy I was targeting, we could use someone who can move fast and throw strikes, someone who can come up and do what Thompson did for us in ‘05: not Superman, but trustworthy. You helped solidify our needs on the left side of the infield, although I would have loved if Dominguez had fallen.
Very nice job.
mateo, i actually think thompson is a pretty comparable pitcher to roemer. i think i have said in the past that i think roemer is brad thompson with a better slider. they both throw high 80’s sinkers with good control and they both are fierce competitors. i think at worst he is a good 7th inning guy and he has a pretty good chance of being a back of the rotation starter.