He was viewed as a defense first guy whose ceiling was an average SS.

You called it!

…even less than Joggin’ Ronny.

After I actually read the article, it’s so cute that Paige thinks Tracy succeeded in Los Angeles.

I was thinking the same thing. I’ve always liked him — not as a top reliever, but as a fairly reliable guy to have around.

The Athletics were jubilant that he was picked because they expected to get what they viewed as the treasure of the draft, Nick Swisher. I’ve read that the Royals choice came down to Fielder and Greinke and they went with the latter.

Fielder was considered the best power hitter in the draft with good secondary hitting skills. The choice by the Brewers was questioned because of Fielder’s weight problems and similarity to his father and because the Brewers had a couple well regarded first base prospects, Corey Hart and Brad Nelson. A common view was that he should have been taken by an American League team.

Law is a pretty smart guy, but a lot of people here don’t like him because he thinks Pedro is hugely overrated, and they translate that into an anti-Pittsburgh bias.

College and indy pitchers: Crow has generally strong stuff, and is very good at locating his fastball – he’s pitched well in indy ball, and in particular has shown good progress with his change. Gibson has four good pitches but no great ones, so he may not have #1 ceiling, but he’s a fairly safe bet to be at least decent. Mike Minor is a pitchable lefty with decent stuff, analogous to Maholm in his best-case scenario. Alex White has good stuff, but is inconsistent, not only game-to-game but even inning-to-inning. Scheppers has apparently gotten most of his stuff back post-surgery, but he’s had some issues with both command and control, and it’s not entirely clear whether he granted us permission to re-draft him or not. Rex Brothers has a killer fastball/slider combo, but his delivery is a little rough, and that makes some people want to waste him in the bullpen. Andy Oliver has a lot of ability but never really got into synch after his dispute with the NCAA. Mike Leake looks like a mid-rotation guy to me. Kyle Heckathorn throws hella hard, but doesn’t really know how to pitch.

If I had my pick of non-Strasburg/Ackley guys at #4, I’d take Shelby Miller, a high school righty from Texas. Heavy mid-90s fastball with life (seriously, it looks like they’re trying to hit a shot put), good curve, and supposedly some feel for the change. Among h.s. pitchers, the Pirates supposedly like Zach Wheeler (Georgia righty, good FB, slurvy breaker) and Matt Hobgood (California righty, good four-pitch mix, some command issues). Other top h.s. arms include Jacob Turner (I don’t like him – FB looks straight, command isn’t great, wants a huge bonus), Tyler Matzek (good-looking California lefty), and Matt Purke (Texas lefty, throws well but I think he’s an injury risk).

Sanchez would be a crap pick at 1, and I don’t love him at 2, though the scouting consensus would make him a good pick there. I don’t think he’s even the best catcher in the draft. Stassi’s better, and so is Myers if you want to use him behind the plate. Honestly, I’d probably rather make an upside play with Murphy or Joseph if we take a catcher at 2 and Stassi/Myers are gone.

Assuming he granted the Pirates permission to re-draft him, I cant imagine he would still be around by the #49 supplemental pick the Pirates have…

He does a good of explaining, without talking down to his audience, why he likes/dislikes a player. Also, his take on a player is often different than the Baseball America-led consensus.

Keith Law is a smart guy. He’s Harvard Grad and got his masters at Carnegie Mellon so I don’t think he hates all things Pittsburgh. He’s definitely not a hack but his opinions due seem to diifer at times frm say a Jim Callis at BA. For what it’s worth, Callis in an ESPN chat addressed the Sanchez issue and said that he has heard from about four people that don’t believe the Pirates will select him t #4.

Again, Vlad’s breakdown of the pitchers is pretty good. The only thing I don’t agree on is his opinion on Turner. His fast touches 98 mph and is supposed to have late sink from most of the scouting reports I’ve read. It reportedly isn’t straight as Vlad has said although I can say that some of the video I saw of him I didn’t notice a whole lot of late sink.

I think our best options are HS pitcher because of the upside. I like Miller 1st – I just love his fastball potential and I think he’ll be able to consistenly hit over 100 mph with excellent movement as he fills out. After him I’m split on Turner and MAtzek with Wheeler close behind. Out of the college/Indy pitchers I like Gibson the best because of his command of 4 above average pitches and the guy just knows how to pitch. Although recent reports of his drop in velocity and sore arm have me a little concerned.

If we go bat I like Grant Green (assuming Ackley is gone). Also been reading a lot on Borchering it appears this kid has a lot of power potential tha could be interesting.

We need Snell to regain his value our we’ll never be able to trade and I wouldn’t want to mess with Karstens or Ohly the way they are throwing. We are not going to win this year and Glavine is going to retire next year so it’s not a good fit. Glavine wouldn’t sign with us anyway. At this point he has nothingleft to prove, he just wants to play for a team that has a chance to win.

We can generally get more from a high-BIP lefty than most teams, thanks to our park and D, but from what I’ve read the stuff just isn’t there anymore.