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Draft Reactions Around the Blogosphere

By Dan Turkenkopf Updated

Tuesday night began the three-day long party known as the baseball first year player draft (or the Rule 4 draft to those in the know).

While I'm sure Erik and others will be around to provide some analysis sooner or later, we thought we'd take a trip around the baseball world and see what others had to say about their team's early returns.

We've tried to reach far and wide for links (we even left SB Nation for some of them), but we know we didn't capture them all. Feel free to add your own link to any quality draft analysis in the comments and we'll collate them for you.

To get everyone started, here are a few general reactions. Team specific recaps start after the jump. And don't forget to vote in our poll at the end.

General

NL West:

Arizona Diamondbacks

  • Diamondbacks Draft Day 2009 - AZ Snakepit
    "I have to think this is kind of a dream scenario for Arizona -- two players they really wanted, at least one of whom looked like he'd go ahead of them in Borchering. I know some teams were looking at moving Pollock to second, like Jason said, and the Cardinals worked him out at shortstop. If he can convert to the infield, he's a top-ten talent." -- Keith Law

Colorado Rockies

  • Wednesday Rockpile: Rockies Win Sixth Straight, Draft Day Aftermath - Purple Row
    The big news for the Rockies yesterday was their stunning pick of Tyler Matzek, a LHP from Capistrano Valley (Ca.) High School. Matzek wants "precedent-setting money" and has committed to Oregon, so it will hardly be an easy sign for the Rockies. The fact that the front office had the...er, gumption to make the pick of a high-upside, expensive high school arm is really the big news here. Get him signed, O'Dowd!

Los Angeles Dodgers

San Diego Padres

  • Draft Day: Padres select Donovan Tate - Gaslamp Ball
  • Scout.com: Padres Draft Blog: Day One/Two
    The main point of contention is his bat. Scouts rave about his bat speed but acknowledge that he needs better pitch selection. He has raw power that should develop in time, especially as his ability to narrow his strike zone develops.
  • Donavan Tate " Another Padres Blog
    If you like comparisons, some guys that make sense to me are Chris Young (Arizona version), Mike Cameron, and maybe a Cameron Maybin. Certainly, he’s a potential high-impact player. Of course, with that comes a pretty decent risk, a decent chance that he’ll flop or won’t live up to expectations.

San Francisco Giants

  • The San Francisco Giants' Draft: Day One Review - McCovey Chronicles
    There are scenarios in which a cheaper Wheeler might have been preferable to a full-priced Matzek: "Gee, we think Matzek is a great prospect, but Wheeler is almost as good, and if the difference is $2M, we can use that money to buy out a college commitment later in the draft. Wheeler + another prospect is a much better deal than just Matzek." Good. "Dang, Matzek is clearly a better prospect, but we need that money for Juan Uribe’s extension. Uh, I guess we’ll take this Wheeler guy." Bad. "Matzek’s good, but we liked Wheeler’s delivery/follow through/ fastball/whatever a lot better, so he was higher on our draft board." Perfectly acceptable.

NL Central

Chicago Cubs

Cincinnati Reds

  • Basement Dwellers: It's Mike Leake!
    As a recent grad of Arizona State (for grad school), I'm delighted with the Reds' first round selection of Mike Leake (pronounced "leak," I think) as the Reds' first overall selection in the 2009 draft.

  • Cincinnati Reds Draft (Day 1) Recap | redsminorleagues.com
    Overall I think that I really like what the Reds have done so far. Leake came in ranked #7 on my overall draft board and while my #3 guy was sitting there, I don’t mind passing over him. Adding perhaps the best athlete in the draft is never a problem for me even if he is raw and is not taken in the first round. We also have two live arms who may need a little time (Boxberger and Joseph) but have plenty of good going for them.

  • 2009 Cincinnati Reds Draft Day 2 Recap | redsminorleagues.com
    The Reds took a few guys who fell down the draft boards that will require over slot money to sign. Deven Marrero, Stephen Perez and Tucker Barnhart lead that group. If the Reds could get two of those guys signed, it would really boost the rating of this draft for them.

Houston Astros

Milwaukee Brewers

  • Draft Thread: First Day Recap/Second Day Discussion - Brew Crew Ball
    A lot of exaggerations and rumors can get spread this time of year—and we weren’t present at the workout—we’ve been told that during his workout in Anaheim, Walla was thrown 60 balls during a BP session and put 38 of them in the seats for home runs. His coach said that at a workout for some scouts this spring, they wanted to see him take 25 swings with a metal bat and then 25 with wood. He hit 18 home runs with the metal, switched to wood and hit 18 more over the fence. Instant fan-favorite, am I right?

Pittsburgh Pirates

  • Day 1 Draft Review - We've heard this song before
    After last year's draft, several people wrote that it was a refreshing change to be able to recap the Pirates' draft by writing things like, "Signability issues" instead of "reach" or "overdraft" again and again. And they were right, it was a big departure from how things were done in the past and it brought a much-needed infusion of talent into the Pirates' system. That being said, guess which words I'd use to describe three of the four Pirate picks on Day 1 of the 2009 draft?

St. Louis Cardinals

  • Player Development and the 2009 Draft | Future Redbirds
    "I feel like this was the year we could take some younger kids and some higher risks," Luhnow said. "And let our system and our own people do what they do best — which is to take raw material that has a really high upside and turn it into a finished product."
  • Drafting a Masterpiece - Viva El Birdos
    I do, however, have quite a bit to say about the draft, and what the direction the Cardinals took may mean in the long run.

NL East

Atlanta Braves

  • Braves select Vanderbuilt left-handed pitcher Mike Minor with their first pick - Talking Chop
    I give this pick a grade of B+. That's kind of how you could describe Minor. He's polished, but not flashy.
  • Braves select Princeton right-handed pitcher David Hale with their second pick - Talking Chop
    I guess the trend so far this year is that the Braves are picking polished college pitchers from elite private universities. When was the last time the Braves selected two college pitchers with their top two picks?
  • Recapping the Braves 2009 Draft: Day 2, Part 1 - Talking Chop
    There are definitely some trends here, as there usually are in Braves drafts. The team is doign a good job of picking up some middle infield talent, and they are of course picking tons of pitchers. Many of the guys they've picked are surprises to have gone this early and are were unranked guys on the Baseball America lists (which is what I used to glean the rankings listed in the descriptions below). Another interesting trend you will notice is the amount of college players as opposed to the lack of high school prospects. This is a departure from some other drafts that were rich in high school talent.
  • Recapping the Braves 2009 Draft: Day 2, Part 2 - Talking Chop
    This next group of draftees (16-30) will include a lot of summer follows. These are guys who are participating in the various prep summer leagues. They will be allowed to pitch in these leagues, and then evaluated before the Braves decide whether or not to sign them. Only about half of these players, at most, will likely be signed.

Florida Marlins

  • Florida Marlins selection: Chad James in the 1st round - FishStripes
    If you read the other articles about James they will say how he has a great change up but, his curve ball could use some work, most of this was reported by BA on draft day and I think they got a little confused. James has a good curve ball but the change needs some work. But really all of that doesn't matter, the organization will soon learn everything there is to know about his pitches.

New York Mets

Philadelphia Phillies

  • Some quick day one thoughts " Phuture Phillies
    Not having a first round pick, and more specifically, not having a boatload of picks in the first 3 rounds like last year, I wasn’t expecting a bonanza with this draft. My hope was that we’d look to add guys with qualities that our system doesn’t currently possess. Those are, in my opinion; guys with plus raw power, middle infield prospects, and corner infield prospects. I was also interested in prep lefties, since we’re seemingly stacked with interesting RHP prospects.

Washington Nationals

  • Federal Baseball Talks Stephen Strasburg With Sports Illustrated Writer Lee Jenkins. - Federal Baseball
    If you're like me, you spent the days leading up to last night's MLB Draft reading article after article about all the top pitching prospects who never lived up to their potential, and how the Nationals' No. 1 pick Stephen Strasburg was going to have overcome tremendous odds to live up the hype that preceded his selection by the Washington Nationals last night.
  • FJB: Strasburg, then Signability
    On the first day of the draft, the Nationals made the choice that everyone knew they'd make with the top pick, and then appear to have gone right for signability picks down the line.

AL West

Los Angeles Angels

  • Angels Take Randal Grichuk As Their #1 Pick, 24th Overall - Halos Heaven
    Grichuk put himself on the map as a little leaguer, hitting four home runs in the junior-junior circuit's world series. He also projects to hit for average from the right side, despite some pull tendencies, so his game's not just about going deep. Defense has not been his strong point, so he'll likely be limited to left field. The front office has clearly listened to fans' demands for more power.
  • Angels make some gambles on day two of the draft - Halos Heaven
    On day one, commentators speculated that the Halos might not be committing the type of financial resources necessary to fully exploit their advantageous draft position. I was among said detractors. I take it all back now, because it's becoming clear that the Angels have not yet finished sniffing around for top shelf talent, and appear able and willing to pay for it.

Oakland Athletics

  • Keith Law Gives Quick Thoughts on A's Draft - Athletics Nation
    If (Grant) Green stays at short, they did very, very well; his bat absolutely plays there, and he does have the athleticism for it. I just think he needs a lot of work there and could end up in center. (Justin) Marks threw well down the stretch but I think every fifth day he'll probably have a fringe-average fastball and no plus pitch. He did really perform this year, though.

Seattle Mariners

  • Welcome To Seattle, Dustin | U.S.S. Mariner
    The M’s needed a guy like this, and while he’s not as sexy as Strasburg, we should be thrilled that the team had the opportunity to add Dustin Ackley to the organization. He’s probably going to be a USSM favorite for a long time.

Texas Rangers

AL Central

Chicago White Sox

Cleveland Indians

Detroit Tigers

  • Detroit Tigers: Draft Day Analysis - Bless You Boys
    I don't like this pick as much as I want to. Turner is a good player- heck of a fastball and very projectable. He's a Chadd guy all right. What I don't like is that his breaking pitches lag behind his fastball, and he's got command issues and delivery flaws. It's really hard to fix delivery problems (see Dontrelle Willis), and any player that keeps fastballs up in the zone is going to be punished eventually.

Kansas City Royals

  • Royals Draft-Day 1 Recap - Royals Review
    Royals Review looks at the Royals first day draft picks, Aaron Crow and Will Myers.
  • Rany on the Royals
    As those of you who follow me on Twitter (@jazayerli) know, my initial reaction to the Aaron Crow was, shall we say, less than enthusiastic. This wasn’t a reflection on Crow so much as it was a reflection on Grant Green, who thanks to the Pirates’ late decision to go cheap yet again and select Boston College catcher Tony Sanchez – probably the 20th-best player in the draft – at #4, the tumblers fell into place for Green to be available at #12.

Minnesota Twins

AL East

Baltimore Orioles

  • Orioles First Round Draft Pick: Matt Hobgood | Birds Watcher | A Baltimore Orioles Blog
    Overall, Hobgood probably has the biggest upside in the draft. He already has two good pitches and with a few small changes in his mechanics they will become even better. When he learns to successfully throw a slider a changeup he will become a very dangerous pitcher. He has a real possibility to join the young rotation in the majors in three to five years. This is a really good pick and the scouts did an excellent job scouting.

Boston Red Sox

New York Yankees

  • 2009 Draft: Yankees First Round Pick | River Avenue Blues
    I like the pick. You can’t complain about taking a high ceiling up-the-middle athlete in the first round, and Heathcott certainly has that kind of ability. The off-the-field issues are a concern, because with that kind of upbringing you do have to worry about the kid’s ability to discern right from wrong, but I’m confident that the Yanks will do everything possible to help him transition to life in professional baseball.
  • The LoHud Yankees Blog - Discussion with Yankees First Rounder Slade Heathcott
    First round a surprise? "It was somewhat of a surprise. I had a feeling it might happen to a degree. But nothing was final. So it was still a pretty big surprise. I had (talked to the Yankees) quite a bit. I think it’ll be an excellent fit."

Tampa Bay Rays

Toronto Blue Jays

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