Baseball / Slant | 2007 Draft: Creating A Consistent Winner

A lot of baseball fans are in favor of the team that they are homegrown into. When I say homegrown I mean either they live in or near the city in which the baseball team plays their home games or their families have groomed them into becoming a fan of their team. In a lot of cases, it is both. Other baseball fans seem to cling on to a team that shows the desire to win. A team that is known for winning year in and year out. These fans can be understood as bandwagon fans. Nonetheless, they enjoy watching “their” team. In both cases and many others, every baseball fan can come together and understand one common concept. They want their team to win, and they want them to continue winning.

There are 30 teams in major league baseball. Each team has thousands of fans who get disappointed one way or another every year. That is, every team but one. The team that wins the World Series stands alone as the team that made their fans happy. Well, at least most of their fans. But what about seeing the team continue to win?

In the past 7 years, 7 different teams have won the World Series. So it stands to reason that it is anyone’s ballgame. How are teams supposed to go about winning on a more consistent basis? Can baseball have a dynasty? If you look at 1996-2000, the Yankees won the big game 4 out of the 5 years. That could be interpreted as close to being a dynasty that baseball has seen in a very long time. If you are a baseball fan at all, you understand how the Yankees were this fortunate. The Yankees have an owner that is willing to spend money. The money spent garnered great prosperity for this conglomerate. You could say that George Steinbrenner bought his way into contention.

Many owners do not have the same fortunes or do not wish to risk their abundance on this unyielding profession. But they find themselves at a loss when they do not capitalize on their business because their product is not as marketable as they hoped. Those fans that all share the common bond of wanting to see a winner are not spending their fortunes or do not wish to risk their abundance on the unyielding franchises. So it goes hand in hand. The owner does not want to spend money, so he sees his franchise go down in flames because he is not prompting his fans to spend their money either. “If you build it, they will come” (Kevin Costner in Field of Dreams). A quick glimpse at a Kevin Costner movie could remind these owners what baseball is all about.

So what about those teams who have put themselves in contention without spending the money? These are the teams that you have to pay special attention to. If I were not a fan of a certain team and wanted to figure out which one would be worth my while. I would look in the Marlins or Twins direction. The Marlins will draft highly regarded players. Then when said players become solid at the major league level, they go into free agency ready to spend money. They buy players to fill holes. But those players are superstar type talent. The problem is, they can’t afford to keep that superstar talent on the roster for too many years. “You only get one shot do not miss your chance to blow” (Eminem in Lose Yourself). The Marlins gave it their shot in 1997 and won the World Series. That same off-season, they had one of the most profitable firesales in decades. 6 years later, they had drafted some great talent and that talent was ready to go. It was time to spend money again. And spend money they did. Their homegrown talent and recently acquired stars off free agency allotted them another championship. Then came the firesale again.

The Twins on the other hand are a team that can draft with the best of them. They spend virtually no money on free agents and build within. If your owner is not willing to spend money, this is the best way for you to tell whether they are paying attention or not. The scouts need to be the best in the world at their job. You have to have guys who have a keen eye for talent. After that, you have to have the right coaches and managers in the minor leagues willing to groom them for the next level. If your draft is right, you could find yourself the rightful owner of a superstar in his prime and guarantee his playing for your team for the next 6 years. This is why the draft is so important. If your owner is going to build from within, he must have the right guys in the right place to find the right players.

This year, I have taken a look at a lot of the key players coming into the draft. Since I have pointed out the importance of drafting strong players who teams want to eventually be a major player on their roster; I also want to share their many general managers do no see the need to draft a player for a position they are in need of today. For instance, the Reds need a catcher real bad. Wayne Krivsky may not opt to draft a catcher in the first round due to the time it would take to groom said catcher into becoming a player at the major league level. That said, I have attempted a mock draft for our enjoyment over the next few days before the 2008 major league draft. Without further ado, here is my 2008 mock draft:

1. Tampa Bay- David Price, LHP, Vanderbilt *
2. Kansas City- Rick Porcello, RHP, Seton Hall Prep, NJ
3. CH Cubs- Matt Wieters, C, Georgia Tech
4. Pittsburgh- Josh Vitters, 3B, Cypress High, CA
5. Baltimore- Ross Detwiler, LHP, Missouri St.
6. Washington- Daniel Moskos, LHP, Clemson *
7. Milwaukee- Phillipe Aumont, RHP, Ecole Secondary Du Versant, Quebec
8. Colorado- Andrew Brackman, RHP, NC St.
9. Arizona- Jarrod Parker, RHP, Norwell HS, IN
10. San Francisco- Jason Heyward, OF/1B, Henry County HS, GA
11. Seattle- Matt Harvey, RHP, Fitch HS, CT
12. Florida- Michael Burgess, OF, Hillsborough HS Tampa, FL*
13. Cleveland- Matt Dominguez, 3B/SS, Chatsworth HS, CA
14. Atlanta- Michael Main, RHP, Deland HS, FL
15. Cincinnati- Mike Moustakas, 3B/C, Chatsworth HS, CA
16. Toronto- Beau Mills, CIF, Lewis-Clark St.
17. Texas- Madison Bumgarner, LHP, South Cladwell HS, NC
18. St Louis- Julio Borbon, OF, Tennessee
19. Philadelphia- Tim Alderson, RHP, Horizon HS, AR*
20. LA Dodgers- Nick Noonan, SS, Francis Parker HS, CA
21. Toronto- Casey Weathers, RHP, Vanderbilt
22. San Francisco- JP Arencibia, C, Tennessee
23. San Diego- Blake Beaven, RHP, Irving HS, TX
24. Texas- Brett Cecil, LHP, Maryland
25. CH White Sox- Mitch Canham, C, Oregon State
26. Oakland- Matt LaPorta, 1B, Florida
27. Detroit- Matt Mangini, 3B, Oklahoma St.
28. Minnesota- Peter Kozma, SS, Owasso HS, OK
29. San Francisco- Josh Smoker, LHP, LHP, Calhoun (Ga.) High School
30. NY Yankees- Jake Arrieta, RHP, TCU

*Tampa Bay needs to draft a pitcher for once. Their offence is booming with young talent. David Price is such a high commodity because he has great poise with overpowering stuff as the staff ace on the best team in college baseball. He should be of good help to Kazmir really soon.
*Washington finally takes a pitcher. Jim Bowden ought to be shaking in his leather pants when he does so. But if he doesn’t, he could be officially noted as one that does not value his job. The Nats need pitching any way they can get it. And they have a long way to go to build a respectable rotation.
*The Marlins could have gone with Matt Dominguez here as he may be a better player than Burgess. But they have a future locked up in Cabrera at 3B and Ramirez at SS. No need to worry about those positions for a long time. Burgess is a big pick still.
*I have Philadelphia taking Alderson here because he is atop rated pitcher with great deception. Philadelphia has good talent in the starting rotation, but I see Alderson becoming a reliever. He already throws strictly from the stretch and has a deceptive windup. I think this is a plus pick for a possible reliever and best in the class if he does become one.

That is it. That is how my mock draft turns out. Hopefully the scouts can debate strong enough about “their guys” to the general managers in order to get some help for our teams. Because we all know, we want our team to win, and win consistently.

Sections

2007 Draft: Creating A Consistent Winner