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

A thread for draft day chatter... looks like Jim Callis is six-for-six so far, while Kevin Goldstein missed with the Pirates' pick of Jorge Sanchez at #4.

The Reds at #9 bust Callis' streak by taking RHP Michael Leake.

Stevphen Strasburg is driving up to Scott Boras' Newport Beach offices from his mother's house in San Diego for a press conference.

Nothing ever changes in Bucco-land:

Kevin Goldstein (3:34:55 PM PT): The Pirates go with their late decision of Tony Sanchez. This is not a good pick, but it's too early to call this a bad draft, as they want to spend big internationally and look to slot bust later.

The Pirates hope he can be a Molina-esque shut down defender with the ability to hit 15-18 home runs a year. If it doesn't work out, he's at least a backup. Tons of way better talent on the board, but Pittsburgh hopes some of will still be around when they pick again.

The Rockies take RHP Tyler Matzek from Capo Valley HS at #11. Jon Manuel calls him "special" with velocity clocked in the high 90's. He went as high as #2 overall in some drafts.

#24,25: The Angels take LF Randal Grichuk and CF Michael Trout. Trout goes on MLB.com with a big smile on his face. Goldstein:

Kevin Goldstein (5:14:12 PM PT): My girlfriend, Margaret, notes that Mike Trout has "good skin." That's the kind of hardcore analysis you're not going to find anywhere else.

John Manuel:

We’d heard word that Randall Grichuk was going to go in the second half of the first round, but he’d been pegged to St. Louis and Houston, not the Angels. He’s one of the better prep hitters available in the draft, and while some scouts weren’t sold on the rest of his tools, he’s fairly athletic and is an average runner presently. Still, he’s getting drafted this high for his bat. He is the first player drafted who wasn’t on our last revised Top 50.

Again:

Mike Trout, come on down. He’s finally off the board, and falling no longer. Trout is on hand this year in Secaucus, and he looks pretty excited. It’s hard to believe that this is the third year of the draft on TV, and the last two years, only one player has shown up.

Aaron Hicks came last year. Mike Trout came this year. Trout had to wait a bit longer, 11 more picks than Hicks did.

The Angels have gone hard after hitters with a pair of outfielders with Randall Grichuk and Mike Trout now.

#36 (1st supplemental round): The Dodgers take LHP Aaron Miller, a two-way player from Baylor.

Update: From the Dodgers' press release:

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers today selected Baylor University left-handed pitcher Aaron Miller with their first pick (36th overall) of the 2009 First-Year Player Draft. Assistant General Manager, Scouting Logan White made the announcement.

Miller, who captained the Baylor baseball team in 2009, was taken in the sandwich round (between the first and second rounds) as a compensation for the loss of free-agent pitcher Derek Lowe. The Dodgers did not have a first-round selection due to the signing of free-agent second baseman Orlando Hudson.

“Aaron is a physical athlete who has had a limited amount of time on the mound,” said White. “With the help of our player development staff, we see a bright future for him as a left-handed pitcher in the Erik Bedard mold. He is a terrific competitor and a first-class person with great makeup.”

Miller went 3-3 with a 5.12 ERA in 13 games (six starts) during his junior season at Baylor in 2009. He struck out 65 in his 51.0 innings of work. The 21-year-old played right field when not on the mound, and batted .310 with 12 homers and 47 RBI in 56 games overall. He also logged a .415 on-base percentage and a .548 slugging percentage en route to earning Second-Team All-Big 12 Conference honors.

Miller, a 6-foot-3, 200-pounder, did not pitch during his freshman season in 2007 and made just six appearances (two starts) on the mound as a sophomore in 2008.

Miller entered the 2009 campaign as a Baseball America Third-Team All-American. He played in 13 games with Chatham of the Cape Cod League last summer, but his season was cut short after undergoing surgery on his right (non-throwing) shoulder.

Miller in 2009 also earned First-Team All-Academic Big 12 honors, as well as Second-Team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American accolades. He graduated from Channelview (TX) High School as a salutatorian in 2006. Miller was originally selected by the Colorado Rockies in the 11th round of the 2006 First-Year Player Draft.

In three seasons at Baylor, Miller batted .301 with 28 homers and 127 RBI in 153 games. He entered the draft as the eighth-best left-handed pitcher among draft-eligible prospects according Baseball America.

The Dodgers have selected a pitcher with their first pick in each of the last seven seasons:

2003 Chad Billingsley (24th overall)
2004 Scott Elbert (17th overall)
2005 Luke Hochevar (sixth overall)
2006 Clayton Kershaw (seventh overall)
2007 Chris Withrow (20th overall)
2008 Ethan Martin (15th overall)
2009 Aaron Miller (36th overall)

#42 (1st supplemental round): The Angels draft RHP Garrett Richards... stupid MLB DraftCaster is broken, so using BA's tool is much more sensible ...

#67: Interesting coda on the Robert Stock story:

Bryan Smith (6:52:28 PM PT): The Robert Stock story continues, as he goes 67 to the Cardinals. Stock left high school a year earlier to get a jump start on USC. People are going to really question if it was in his best interest, as he probably would have been a first rounder after his senior high school season. I like Stock a lot better as a pitcher than a catcher, as he has really not progressed with the bat in 3 years. But the Cardinals announced him as a catcher, so they're going down that road first.

Labels: draft, live blogging