Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Blogger's Note

Sorry gang. I'm exhausted and am pressed for time. I'll post a complete rundown of the draft when I am rested and have more time. Short take: The Giants got tremendous value on day 2. I'm totally stoked they took my man Ricky Oropesa in round 3.

Catch you all later.

DrB.

7 comments:

  1. Hope you get rest and feel better!

    What a second day, right? I'm so much more excited about Day 2's draft picks, though I do feel pretty good about Panik and Crick, but to get Susac, Oropesa and Osich, wow, basically we got three late first round picks, as Susac, Osich, and Panik were considered to be value around our pick, depending on the source. Some mocks even had the Giants picking Osich with #29.

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  2. Looking forward to your take on the draft Doc.

    Man, the 1st round was brutal. It was all fun and games watching the Dodgers seriously reach with Chris Reed. Then we take Panik. What do I know, right? But I couldn't find Panik in anyone's first round or supplemental. Guy starts showing up late in the 2nd or 3rd rounds on draft lists. Hope the Giants know something. Tell me why we passed on Mahtook?

    But, then, Crick seemed pretty good at 49.

    But then, wow, Susac, Oropesa & Osich feel real good. Really good.

    No rush, of course, but looking forward to your comments Doc.

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  3. Drb, Hope you rest and feel better. Thanks for your great work on posting draft info.. Great stuff.. I'm very happy with their picks.. Can't believe they got Susac, Orepesa, and Osich and some hard throwing relievers! Look forward to your review.. How special is that with you working with Ricky Orepesa's mom and Ricky gets drafted by your favorite team! I remember Orepesa putting on an impressive power display 2 years ago when USC played Hawaii here.

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  4. i just wanna know what they are doing and who are the coaches in extended

    someone there tweaked crawford's stance...and the kid can actually hit

    and someone put something in simmon's wheaties...cuz the guy never hit the way he is now

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  5. I would have been happy with Mahtook, but he must have fallen for a reason. Some of the scouting reports I read on him were somewhat less than enthusiastic. Some of the draft sites that seem to be more in the know had Panik's stock skyrocketing late. We'll just have to see. It seems the main knock on Panik is he won't stick at SS. Barr says he thinks he can stick, but even if he doesn't, It's not like there were any first round quality SS's available at #29 either. Wong didn't even play SS in college and a lot of Giants fans had him targeted at #29, including me. I think the Panik pick is fine for now. We just have to wait and see how it turns out. The Giants have had an incredible run with first round picks. It won't last forever.

    Yes, the Giants seem to be doing better at working with hitting prospects.

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  6. Have to think the Giants video training system had a hand in any tweak, that seems to be their tool du jour right now with hitters (Belt, Noonan).

    But yeah, Crawford looks a lot different now in the majors, even in his short minors this season he did not seem that changed, could have took time to adjust and so forth, it took Torres over a year to digest and incorporate all his changes.

    I think the reason Panik was not highly rated by anybody is because he does not have much projection, he is what he is, tools-wise, and he seems to really only have one plus tool, his hitting, but he's making the most of his abilities. That don't excite the draftniks, as the draft is usually about potential and tools.

    Also, apparently, as DrB noted, he had a spurt at the end that made him rise upward. In the BA pre-season ranking, he was slotted roughly at the back end of the supplemental first round and he did not seem to move away much from there in the rankings I saw, which jives with what Kelly observed.

    I think the disappointment jibes with what I've seen the first round represent for most people: trying to draft for that star player. Panik, despite leading his league (or among leaders) in almost every offensive category, is what he is, whereas George Springer, who he outhit in the same league, has 5-tool specialness and projection, who needs to harness and develop his tools.

    But, frankly, the Giants are at the point now that solid players with high probability of making majors, just not necessarily starring, like what Panik looks like he could be, is a great pick because they already have Sandoval and Posey in the middle, and Belt looks good for filling middle of lineup, and Brown looks good for leadoff. Panik would slot in nicely in that lineup batting a solid #2, an OBP machine who puts the ball into play instead of striking out a lot, and who could put up some average power if he can develop a little further. Throw in Schierholtz in RF batting 6/7, Crawford at SS batting 7/8, then we only need a LF (or 1B or 3B) to fill in lineup (Oropesa, Dominguez, Parker, Peguero). Or maybe move Posey to open spot and slot in Susac at catcher.

    Panik don't make sense for Giants if we didn't already have pieces set for Top 5 in lineup, but makes a lot of sense now that we do, since he's more of sure thing than most of what was available at #29 and we are looking for the final complementary parts of the lineup for the next 5-8 seasons. If he signs as quickly as quoted by Baggarly, he could be ready to start as early as mid-2012 and as late as start of 2013 (when, coincidentally, Sanchez's contract is over at 2B).

    And Sanchez could probably move off 2B to 3B to accommodate Panik - he played well there defensively previously, had best hitting years there too - which of course would move Panda to 1B and Belt to LF, if necessary or desired. Or Sanchez could be traded, Sabean has done that to vets in their last season here, Durham, Tucker, Molina.

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  7. I hear what you're saying Obsessive. And it makes sense regarding Panik and the Giants. (BTW, I did see that John Sickels had Panik in the middle of the supplemental, so I found someone who had Panik that high). And yeah, I guess I am one of those yahoos who want to roll the dice a little in the 1st Round. Especially late in the 1st.

    We did get burned on Renteria (WS aside) and Tejada, and I think the Giants might be reacting to that.

    Full disclaimer: I was really disappointed in the Gary Brown selection...so really, what do I know?

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