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Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Another 2009 MLB Draft Projection

Project Prospect has their pre-season 2009 MLB Draft Board up on their site.
  1. Steven Strasburg RHP
  2. Dustin Ackley OF
  3. Grant Green SS
  4. Andrew Oliver LHP
  5. Donavan Tate CF
  6. Tyler Matzek LHP
  7. Josh Phegley C
  8. Matt Davidson 3B
  9. Alex White RHP
  10. Matt Purke LHP

The top position prospects are Dustin Ackley, Grant Green, Donavan Tate, Josh Phegley, and Matt Davidson. The author says that the second tier goes from the 2nd pick to the 11th pick. "There are as many as 10 guys vying for the second overall selection in this draft."

I've gone over this before, so readers should be aware of Ackley, Green and Tate. Phegley and Davidson are new names added to the mix. Phegley, being a C, most probably would not be selected given that Matt Davidson is a 3B and we already have Posey. Here is the description for Matt Davidson: "David Wright starter kit, beautiful right handed stroke should hit for power and AVG". Sounds like a great description to me. The only problem, if this is a problem, is that he's a high school student and would probably take longer to make the majors, when we could use him in 2-3 years, if not immediately.

Here is a report on him from Perfect Games, plus other info:

Matt Davidson is a 2009 3B/RHP with a 6'3'', 205 lb. frame from Yucaipa, CA who attends Yucaipa. Tall strong build, highest-level prospect, extremely strong, very good bat speed, stays inside the ball, patient hitting approach, stays back, goes to the oppposite field very well, deep opposite field HR during game, huge raw power potential, relaxed, short clean arm action on the mound, feel for change-up, low effort, works quick, strong student, potential early-round draft pick.

Through Google, I got a glimpse of what Baseball America said about through the paid Prospects Plus service:

"... strong, pro-ready body fuels his raw power..."

I'm begining to like him a lot as a choice for our pick, though still behind Grant Green, because we probably need a SS prospect more than a 3B one and Green should be ready soon, since he's in college and Davidson is in high school. Still, Green most probably will not be available when we select, and I think Like Davidson more than Ackley or Tate now, though the author notes on Tate: "... upside rivals Strasburg...".

Of course, all of this is way too early, prospects rise, prospects fall, but still, it's good to know who we should be keeping an eye out for this season.

5 comments:

  1. I'm hoping Tate falls to #6, but you've got me excited about Davidson now too. I'm not sold on Rowand being the G's CF for the next 4 years.

    I'm kind of hoping the team craps the bed this season and we can get one more top 10 pick. Maybe we could find a power 1B.

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  2. I do love Dustin Ackley. I'm hoping we pick him up, although he might be a bit of an injury risk. Close to perfect CF, worked great at 1B too, and 25+ homer power, 20+ sb speed. Yes please. I'd rather us stay away from Donovan Tate, seeing as he might opt to play at UNC. He's proven to be a little flakey on his decisions; he declared last year that he wouldn't play football and that baseball was his sport, but he changed his mind when football season started. He also has a commitment to UNC. I'd rather us pick an equally good guy we know will sign with us.

    I'm hoping Green can somehow drop to us, although that's probably unlikely. I wouldn't say for sure, though, because it's kinda hard to predict with certainty what the draft order will be; remember how Brandon Crawford was set up to be a 1st rounder?

    Also, I wouldn't say we need a SS prospect more than a 3B. Who do we have at that position? Do you really think Sandoval will hold it down? And are you confidant he will be able to do that for a long time? At least we have Crawford, Adrianza, and Burriss at SS; we have absolutely nothing in the minors at 3B. I like Davidson, too, but I'd much rather us pick a near MLB-ready college player. Anywho, I'm hoping we pick Ackley or Green, if he's somehow available.

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  3. Power 1B? Angel Villalona!

    I am thinking that Gillaspie could be doable at 3B for us, a la Bill Mueller, plus I still have some hope maybe Villalona can still play there if he can get his body into shape for it. He's still taking balls to 3B, so he clearly is motivated to play there if he can. Plus Rohlinger did pretty well offensively in 2008.

    Meanwhile, there is a reason Crawford fell from 1st round to 4th round, Burriss I'm not sold as a SS, and Adrianza hasn't even made it out of rookie ball yet.

    But yeah, I would prefer Green, but I think the odds are against us there, particularly for Green (and if he does as poorly as Crawford, then clearly we'll have to go with someone else).

    Leaving us Tate or Davidson, or perhaps Ackley. Boonitez, you make Ackley sound pretty good, so I can go with your thinking that he would be better to get than Davidson. How good would that be to have a 1B caliber offense in CF? But given that, then, how likely is he to fall to us then? Double-edge sword there...

    Still, that description of Davidson is pretty appealing too...

    I wonder how good their defense is and whether they stick at CF and 3B.

    Fun to think about....

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