M’s Tab SS Marcus Littlewood at #67
I talked a lot about him on the draft preview yesterday. It’s another slight overdraft, but opinion on Littlewood is mixed enough that you could find people who thought he was a legitimate first-round pick. The M’s knew they wanted this guy and weren’t going to take any chances with it. He’s a baseball through and through, like a lot of guys the M’s selected last year, so regardless of what you think of his long term potential, he’s a good bet to work hard and come close to maximizing his physical abilities. The floor is a utility player, the ceiling is a defensive-minded third baseman who could hit you about twenty home runs or more as a switch-hitter.
M’s Select RHP Taijuan Walker with #43
The Mariners have built a farm system around Midwest scouting for many years. Ryan Feierabend, Tony Butler, Nate Adcock, the list goes on. When #43 came up, it seemed logical. It seemed like the Mariners were going to pick Ohio right-hander Stetson Allie, widely regarded as a top ten prospect, who had somehow managed to drift all the way to them. And then the Mariners picked California RHP Taijuan Walker.
This wasn’t really what we expected. It wasn’t really what anyone expected, but that doesn’t automatically make it a bad pick. It is a signability pick, however, as Walker has no known college commitments and is likely to be brought in with some ease. He’s certainly not lacking on overall ceiling either, it’s just that he hasn’t had all that much experience to this point.
Walker is roughly 6’5 and 200 lbs, which would project him to around Michael Pineda’s body type in the long term. He throws in the low 90s and can touch 95 on a good day. The arm action is a little whippy and he’ll throw across his body, but the delivery itself is not so damning as his mechanical consistency.
A team that picks Walker is likely to be in love with his athleticism. He’s a two-sport star at his high school and known as a competitive basketball player, which leaves him a little unrefined on the baseball front. Last season, he was even tried out on the infield for a while before they ultimately decided he was uncomfortable out there and better suited to starting on a regular basis.
Unfortunately for Walker, the extra focus on pitching has not helped his performances a great deal. He showed signs of a plus curve in the past, and that went south on him this spring. The slider he developed to compensate has been nothing extraordinary, and the change-up is merely an offering he has, not one that he uses, or demands to be used. A chart climber in summer and fall play for last year, this spring he wasn’t doing a lot to attract scouts on a regular basis.
Like their confidence in his athleticism, the Mariners will also have to be convinced that they can build a consistent motion for him in order for this one to work. This isn’t a bad pick, but it is more long-term than most of us might have hoped, with the potential of giving us some of that high-end pitching that the system so desperately needs at the lower levels.
MLB.com Player Profile
Baseball America Video (via YouTube)
Game 57, Mariners at Rangers
Lee vs Lewis, 5:05 pm.
Scott Feldman was supposed to start for Texas tonight, but he’s been replaced by Colby Lewis, so they can relive the classic that was their last match-up.
Finally fed up, Wak has blown the line-up to shreds, and we get something entirely new tonight. If you needed another sign that the M’s season basically depends on this series, here you go. Carp getting a start is interesting – that he’s hitting fifth directly after coming up from Tacoma is kind of depressing.
Ichiro, RF
Bradley, DH
Gutierrez, CF
Lopez, 3B
Carp, 1B
Josh Wilson, SS
Johnson, C
Saunders, LF
Figgins, 2B
First Round of ’10 Draft, Today
This isn’t nearly as exciting as last year, but I could say that and it could apply to a lot of different things at this point. As you may know, the MLB draft is starting up at 4 pm PDT today, 7 pm EDT, and the teams will make their first and supplemental first round selections and then call it quits until 9 am tomorrow, when they’ll go through round thirty. The Mariners will pick 43rd out of 50 when we get to that point.
After they make that pick, we might have a lot to say about who’s still on the board and where the team might go from here. Until we get there, we’ll have the usual exclamations of “I never expected (player) to go to (team) at (slot)!”, of both the good and bad variety, local product Josh Sale will come off the board, the Yankees and possibly the Red Sox will buy a promising but unpolished prep player out of his college commitment, and the Astros might do something stupid (they’re attached to Sale’s name at the moment, which is decidedly not stupid).
I’ve heard two names attached to the M’s so far, which is surprising given their usually clandestine dealings and how silly it is to project that far out. One of them is another sort of local guy in Langley B.C. catcher Kellin Deglan, who turned eighteen four days ago and I think went to the same high school as former farmhand Tyson Gillies. Deglan hits from the left side and has a good amount of raw power, though given the background, you can emphasize the rawness. He’s also regarded as a guy who’s nearly certain to stay behind the plate, as he has good pop times and his athleticism and arm strength are much praised. Baseball America has mentioned that Deglan worked out with Twins star and fellow Canadian Justin Morneau in the offseason, and his stock is definitely on the rise, but for those of you hoping to uproot Johnson or Moore from behind the plate, he’s more of a long-term option and would almost certainly take a few years to get going.
YouTube:
Baseball Factory TV, Deglan at Under Armour All-America, Aug. 2009
Baseball America, Deglan hitting at Wood Bat Championships, Oct. 2009
The other name that has come up a few times in the local and national media is Utah prep shortstop Marcus Littlewood. ESPN’s Keith Law claimed that the M’s were expected to take Littlewood with their first pick, which prompted a write-up from Larry Stone earlier in the week. The exact opinion you’ll get on him will vary depending on who it is you’re talking to. Some say that his stock is on the rise, that he possesses some of the best hands in the draft, that he’s a real gamer and a baseball kid through and through, and that he’ll hit at least fifteen home runs as a pro and is likely to stay at short. Others look at him and see the slow footspeed and less than ideal reactions and see him as a defensive-minded third baseman, without the rocket arm or the power to justify staying on. Any team that picks him up would have to be pretty confident in their ability to either get him to stick it out at short, hit for power, or both.
YouTube:
Hitting, 2009 WWBA World Championship
Fielding, 2009 WWBA World Championship
Right-handed at-bat, 2009 Tournament of Stars
Left-handed at-bat, 2009 AFLAC All-American Game
Minor League Wrap (5/31-6/6/10)
I’ve got a draft post coming scheduled for a couple hours from now. Reading, for your Monday morning.
To the jump!
Read more
Carp Up, Sweeney to DL
Per Shannon Drayer and Larry Stone on Twitter, Mike Carp is expected to join the Mariners in Texas on Monday. He will replace Mike Sweeney on the roster, who is expected to be placed on the 15 day disabled list with his chronic back problems.
As much as I’m happy that Wak can’t pencil Sweeney into the cleanup spot anymore, I have to say that Carp is something of an odd choice to fill the roster spot, assuming he’s not going to displace Kotchman as the starting first baseman. He doesn’t really give them much in the way of defensive flexibility, and it’s not like he can fill Sweeney’s role as DH vs LHPs, since he’s a lefty himself. The team didn’t need a backup first baseman, considering that both Tui and Langerhans have experience there. And, seeing as how Langerhans has been basically invisible the last few weeks, it’s hard to imagine that Wak was clamoring for another left-handed bat off the bench.
So, yeah, unless the M’s have decided to give Kotchman a break and are going to insert Carp into the line-up on a daily basis, I don’t really get why he’s the one they called up. But, at this point, it probably doesn’t matter anyway. The M’s season is on the verge of extinction, and so getting worked up about stuff like this seems a bit silly now.
Game 55, Angels at Mariners
Pineiro vs Vargas, 1:10 pm.
News item of the day: Doug Fister goes on the DL, and Luke French is recalled from Tacoma to take his place. I doubt this has as much to do with Fister as it does with the M’s current situation. The last two days have taxed their bullpen pretty heavily, and they head into 100 degree temperatures in Texas tomorrow, where the ball flies in the summer. With Fister a question mark for his Thursday start, and probably unlikely to go deep into the game regardless of whether he made it or not, the M’s were going to be short-handed for the Rangers series, and realistically, those four games could determine the fate of their season. So, they’ll live without Fister for another couple of starts in order to have a chance to gain ground on the Rangers.
That brings us to today’s game. The M’s need a win something fierce, so Vargas needs to really bring it today. Pineiro has pitched much better than his ERA would indicate, so don’t expect a lot of offense (not that you ever do). If the M’s lose today and head into Texas at least eight games out of first place, their season could be just about over. These next five games are huge. They really need to win at least three and preferably four of them. Any less than that, and it’s probably time to punt 2010.
Ichiro, RF
Figgins, 2B
Gutierrez, CF
Lopez, 3B
Bradley, DH
Josh Wilson, SS
Kotchman, 1B
Alfonzo, C
Saunders, LF
Rainiers on TV
With the M’s playing a Saturday afternoon game, there’s no TV today, but you can watch the next best thing something even better – the Rainiers make their television debut tonight. Tune into Comcast Sportsnet (channel 179 on most Comcast Digital Systems, I’m told) at 7 pm for the action. The venerable Mike Curto will be calling the game along with Doug Sisk, who I’ve never heard of, but probably isn’t as awesome as Curto. David Pauley goes for the Rainiers, while Brad Mills pitches for Las Vegas.
Game 55, Angels at Mariners
Santana vs Rowland-Smith, 1:10 pm.
It’s turn back the clock day, so maybe RRS will turn the clock back to last year and pitch well. Would be nice to see, as the Mariners could use an option to replace Ian Snell in the rotation.
Ichiro, RF
Figgins, 2B
Gutierrez, CF
Lopez, 3B
Bradley, DH
Josh Wilson, SS
Kotchman, 1B
Johnson, C
Saunders, LF
Game 54, Angels at Mariners
Saunders vs Snell, 7:10 pm.
What a horrific pitching match-up – veritable FanGraphs contributor Carson Cistulli created the NERD formula to try to quantify just how “watchable” a pitcher is, and Snell and Saunders both rate a 0 out of 10. Yech.
In newsy stuff, Ryan Rowland-Smith will start in place of Doug Fister tomorrow, who is suffering from “dead arm”. His velocity was down in his last start, and it looks like he needs some rest.
Somewhat interesting choice with the line-up tonight. Against a lefty, Sweeney is not playing – Langerhans is in left, Bradley is at DH, and Tui is playing first. I’d imagine we’ll hear something about his back being tight or something. Slump or not, hard to imagine Wak choosing Langerhans over Sweeney against a lefty.
Ichiro, RF
Figgins, 2B
Gutierrez, CF
Lopez, 3B
Bradley, DH
Josh Wilson, SS
Tuiasosopo, 1B
Alfonzo, C
Langerhans, LF