Draft Open Thread Day 1 - 2

Hes number one on Sickels mock draft for the twins.  I dont see his name on the drafttracker.  Is there a reason he didnt get drafted.  Smoak syndrome?

128 OAK Chad Lee, RHP, Barton Co JC, OK

The 6-4 right-hander went 5-2 with 5 saves for the Cougars, posting a 4.52 ERA. He struck out 50 batters in just 41 innings of work for Barton. He did struggle with control at time, walking 21 and hitting 4 batters. But opponents hit just .241 off him and of the 38 hits he surrendered, 29 were singles.

http://www.barton.cc.ks.us/sports/baseball/bb05-06/newsreleases05-06/AllWest.htm

2nd round:
Trevor Cahill: Got sick, lost 6mph on his fastball, other teams ran away, got healthy, Billy drafts him.

3rd round: Matt Sulentic, filthy numbers but has a small frame and iffy fielding so other teams stand off - Oakland has a DH spot, Billy drafts him.

4th round: Huge CC prospect, blows his knee out, other teams flee, gets healthy and throws deccently, Billy drafts him.

This is Moneyball, folks. Spotting the undervalued commodity and grabbing it. I think what we're seeing here is three guys, two of which might flop, but one of which will be a superstar stud.

And that's a pretty good result from a 2nd, 3rd and 4th round pick.

So he's fast. There's something.

http://www.nashuapride.com/promotions/index.php?promid=23

http://www.puertorico-herald.org/issues2/2005/vol09n14/PRSportsBeat0914-en.shtml

When John Kruk uttered his now famous phrase: "Lady, we're not athletes, we're baseball players," he hadn't yet met the 2005 graduating class of the Puerto Rico Baseball Academy High School. Four of the school's outfielders, all of whom will be heavily scouted for their hitting and fielding talents this month at the 2005 Excellence Tournament, set a new Puerto Rican high school record this past weekend at the island championships, winning the boy's 4x100-meter relay in 42:78.

Not bad for a quartet that never ran track prior to entering the specialized high school in Caguas, Puerto Rico. The team, coached by Alfonso Petters, and made up of seniors Brian Carreras, Juan Parra, Nicolas Figueroa and junior Angel Sierra, were to have earned a free trip to the Penn Relays at the end of the month in Philadelphia, Pa. However, PRBAHS principal Edwin Correa, a former Texas Rangers pitcher, turned down the honor.

"The Excellence Tournament is our World Series," said Correa. "That's where all the scouts will be and that's their chance of getting drafted."

"A native of Duluth, Minn., finished the season with an overall record of 10-5 with an ERA of 1.90. He started 13 games with nine complete games and three shutouts. Jukich set the school record with 144 strikeouts in 94.2 innings of work, while walking just 15 batters. Batters hit just .214 against Jukich on the season. He also set the single game record by striking out 17 batters in a single game.

About half of these players had injuries last season that they had to come back from, which backed other scouts away.

The other half of them are from high school or obscure colleges where nobody spends much time scouting.

In a draft class where there are few stars and we didn't have a pick before #66, it's an interesting tactic. Definitely finding value in odd places.