Great Draft Read

[love_that_reefer]

A past Draft game of 'what if?' | MLB.com: News

Fantastic stuff from Peter Gammons! A must read

[realmofotalk]

15. We all have read about the 2002 Moneyball Draft. But what if Beane hadn't been forced to try to find affordable, undervalued players? They took Nick Swisher with the 16th pick, one spot before the Phillies took Cole Hamels. At 24, they took Joe Blanton, one spot in front of the Giants taking Matt Cain. At 26 and 30, they took John McCurdy and Ben Fritz, no fixed addresses.

In reality, Beane avoided the high school pitchers not only because they were expensive but because they were less likely to make it to the big leagues. Besides, if money was no object the A's would have taken Jeremy Guthrie from Stanford.

[HollywoodLeo]

I'm surprised Mofo didn't pounce on this.

16. In 2004, what if San Diego's troubled ownership had allowed Kevin Towers to take Jared Weaver, Justin Verlander or Stephen Drew with the first pick in the country? Nope. Had to make Matt Bush.

[realmofotalk]

Also, anybody's who read Moneyball remembers that Beane had a boner for Swisher. It was fun to read that Beane was all pissed off when he learned that Swisher could climb above the A's slot due to Denard Span's botched pre-draft deal with Colorado.

Span fucked us!

[realmofotalk]

I'm surprised Mofo didn't pounce on this.

The Padres still suck, regardless if they take Matt Bush or Justin Verlander.

[HollywoodLeo]

Verlander would have been traded by now anyway.