Read no futher if you want a lot of news and insight, this is just fodder from my thoughts but if you need to kill time at work by all means read on.

So now that a few days have past.  What are the thoughts on the draft?

I know we would have loved to have Justin Smoak and it was made even worse when he was taken one pick away from ours but until the time machine is up and running we are stuck with the hope the Mark Teixeira has had a life long dream of wanting to play for Oakland and signs with us this off-season.  But until then here are a few thoughts I have had about the draft and some draft related things. 

1. I have invested (wasted) way too much time going through all the draft picks.  When you may not hear from several of them ever again, but the lower they were picked the more I want to know about them, I’m sick in the head I guess.

2.  It seemed like ever player I (and others around AN) wanted the A’s to get was taken just before the A’s picked (damn rangers). 

3.  Like most this draft was pitcher heavy for the A’s (but the same applies for most teams) but if I’m correct the break down goes like this:  20-RHP, 6-LHP, 3-C, 1-1B, 4-2B, 3-SS, 3-3B, 4-OF, 4-CF, AND 1-IF.  And is it a good sign when all your position is listed as IF.  I would start to question my defensive skills but that’s just me (and I know that it means in-field before anyone gets upset. 

4.  Later round picks I hope sign and begin the minor league careers soon are:

Rashun Dixon because he is a young guy with a lot of talent,

David Thomas because of the Wendy’s guy and he went to school in NC,

James Messer because he is from NC, from a small town and could turn out big, Preston Guilmet because he simply produced in college,

Mathieu Leblanc Poirier because his name sound like he should be playing hockey, and Derek Wiley because he was the last player taken and he is the IF prospect. 

5.  If all of the players taken were on lists of players to go after in the draft them the A’s have scouts (or are we supposed to call them statisticians) that spend a lot of time looking for these young guys play.

6. This is just a thought but what if we offered Joe Blanton, Keith Foulke, and any 5 of our drafted pitchers from this year to Texas for Smoak and say another AAA prospect.  That would be right up their alley trying to trade hitting for pitching (with limited success with Josh Hamilton being the exception).  Then in 2-3 years when Texas has not developed any of them we can pick up any that are left and still have what we wanted all along.  It could work.       

and finally this has nothing to do with the draft but

7. With him no long in the AL West (and I get the he has not been there in a while now), I don’t feel bad for writing this but it was really great to see Ken Griffey Jr. go deep yesterday to reach the 600 homer mark.