6-4-2 — an Angels/Dodgers double play blog

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Longoria Signs, Other Draft Notes

• CSULB 3B Evan Longoria has signed a professional contract with the Devil Rays, and will likely start at high-A Visalia presently. Longoria is the highest draft pick ever to come from Long Beach State, at third overall; he displaces Troy Tulowitzki in that mark, the latter being drafted seventh last year. Long Beach State has had a player taken in the first two rounds every year for the last six years. (And on a related note, thanks to the Angels for buying a banner at the final weekend's games.)
• John Manuel had some interesting comments in his draft-day blog:

  Q: Mike from Vancouver asks:
  I assume the Angels are projecting Hank Conger as something other than a catcher. What position will he eventually end up at?

  A: John Manuel: You assume incorrectly. Everyone I've talked to says he can catch, or at least will have to prove he can't in pro ball. The guy works his heinie off, as Ron Burgundy would say, to stay a catcher and did one-on-one work with Brent Mayne. So get it out of your head that Hank Conger can't catch. Don't let me catch you asking that again, Mike . . .

  ...

  Q: nate purcell from orange county, CA asks:
  what are your thoughts on the Dodger's top 3 selections? How fast can Kershaw and Morris move through the system? Mattingly seems like a suprise, what does his bat project too? Any power potential there?

  A: John Manuel: I've like Morris a lot since last year; I thought he was the top prep RHP in the South, over Chaz Roe and Cody Satterwhite, and I think he'll move quickly. He has power stuff and he's athletic. Mattingly is a surprise in some ways, but it sounds like the Yankees wanted him at 41, and other teams liked him, so a team with extra picks such as the Dodgers could take him, if they don't sign him, they don't sign him. We hear the Dodgers checked in with the Mattingly family to make sure they would have Tyler sign with a team other than the Yankees, and I'd expect he would as the 31st overall pick. He's got a bat that excites a lot of scouts, but his position remains in doubt.

  Q: Greg from LA asks:
  How did the Dodgers do?

  A: John Manuel: Stop me if you've heard this one before . .. Logan White=good scouting director. I'm a fan of the arms the Dodgers took, from Kershaw and Morris to Kyle Smit and 13th-rounder Alex White. We'll see if they can sign White and 12th-rounder Nick Akins, both of whom supposedly come with high price tages. They also got a couple of intriguing college bats in Andy D'Alessio (who has 20 bombs at Clemson) and Justin Fuller, a solid infielder at Lewis-Clark State. Overall, a very solid first day once again for the Dodgers.

  Q: Jay from Chandler, AZ asks:
  The Royals were expected to take Miller with the first pick but went with Hochevar instead. The buzz is that signing bonus concerns dropped Miller to 6th overall. However, I've seen that there has been some concern that Miller has basically only two pitches while Hochevar has three or four major league level pitches. Did the Royals do the right thing by selecting Hochevar?

  A: John Manuel: No, I don't believe they did. I'd take the LHP with two plus-plus pitches. If you want to consider his four-seamer and two-seamer (which is almost his changeup, as it's often in the mid-80s), you could call it his third pitch. Also, changeups can be learned, and he has a feel for spinning a breaking ball. And as for Hochevar . . . I was on his conference call, and was not impressed. I didn't think it was a professional approach to rip Dodgers scouting director Logan White in the conference call. I also think there are some in the industry who don't appreciate the Royals for rewarding the yearlong holdout of a player who turned down nearly $3 million, by making him the No. 1 overall pick the next year. For me, Hochevar isn't that much better than Brad Lincoln or Tim Lincecum, and I'd take Miller over him.

  In very early returns, it looks like the Dodgers have had yet another great draft (an opinion Dayn Perry endorses), while the Angels hasn't been so hot, with not too many real upside surprises.
• Kevin Goldstein on the Angels as part of his AL draft roundup:

  As I stated before, I still don't understand why [Hank] Conger wasn't more in the 15-20 range, and I think a lot of teams who went with a high school position player before him are going to regret it. With no second round pick, the Angels had to sit around for a while before selecting again, and scouting director Eddie Bane stuck with high school players until taking a chance on UCLA outfielder Jarrad Page, who was also selected in the NFL Draft, in the 7th round. Moldenhauer was announced as an outfielder, which means the Angels are betting on his bat. He played mostly infield or catcher in high school, and could move back behind the plate if the Angels think it will help him get to the majors. Fuller is a burner and a lefty bat that the Angels are betting will come around while Herndon is a projectable righty who can touch 95 mph and do little else well. Fish is a nice sixth-round find as an aggressive lefthander with an average fastball, good breaking ball, and potential for an improvement in velocity. Bane favors ceilings over safeness in his picks, and nothing changed this year.

  Best pick after these five: Tenth-round pick Leonardo Calderon has little idea of what he's doing out there, but lefties who can get it into the 93-94 mph range don't grow on trees, and the Angels are betting on his ability to transform from thrower to pitcher.

  Not like they don't have enough of those already in the system... Chris Bootcheck, anyone? (Well, throwers, anyway.)
• Update: Danny Almonte, the subject of a scandal when he was found to be two years older than he said he was when he pitched a perfect game in the 2001 Little League World Series, was not drafted, and so he will start at New Mexico Junior College, this despite a 13-0 record with a 1.00 ERA for James Monroe High School in New York.

  "It's just a stumbling block in life," Almonte said in Spanish. "That's how life is. I'm fine. I want to play my game, like I've always played it and see if things are better next year."

Roster Notes For Veterans

• Rich Harden is back on the DL, and this time, it's for his elbow, and so, yikes.
• Update: Esteban Loiaza replaced him on the 25-man, and pitched very well against the Indians, beating them 4-1.
• Will Carroll has his latest UTK up; he call's Gagné's latest re-injury "potentially devastating"; Game Over is over indefinitely until the team gets some answers.
• Darin Erstad's bone chips "have resurfaced" despite a pair of cortisone injections into the joint; "the chances that Erstad will be able to avoid that surgery--or at least delay it until the off-season--are decreasing."
• Bill Mueller's knee "is not responding well" to surgery, his third. He will seek a second opinion from Vail orthopedic surgeon Dr. William Steadman.
• The Dodgers have signed former Cub Adam Greenberg. Greenberg was hit by a pitch in the head in his only major league plate appearance. He asked for and was given his release from the Cubs; the Dodgers will move the 25-year-old to AA Jacksonville, where he will begin play. He was hitting .179 with AA West Tenn.
• Update 2: Ramon Ortiz has won his last five starts. I know, I didn't think I'd ever write those words, either.

// posted by Rob @ 7:57 PM link  //  4 comments