and Beane & Company made like Charlie inside Willy Wonka's Garden of Goodies as they grabbed a little bit of everything. Without any compensatory draft picks this year, the A's have only nabbed the standard 6 players total. It's looking like a nice little haul so far. Here's a recap:
1st Round - Jemile Weeks , 2B, University of Miami
Like most moves Beane makes, I initially did not like this pick, and I'm still not completely in love with it, but I can see where Beane is going with Jemile. When I think of Week's potential I immediately think of Chone Figgins. I could see Weeks developing into a Figgins-like player especially with his speed, switch-hittng ability and athleticism that should allow him to play both 2nd base and the outfield in the majors. Like Figgins, Jemile will not hit a lot of homers, but he's got a nice line-drive swing and enough speed to really wreak havoc on the basepaths. He'll take his walks and hit for a high average and therefore get on base a lot. He'll also play adequate 2nd base defense.
Contrary to what some may say, I doubt that "signability" was a reason Beane chose Weeks. I really do think that Beane believes that Weeks is the 12th most valuable player in this draft class.
2nd Round - Tyson Ross , RHP, University of Califoria
I really like this pick, not the least because Ross was born and raised in Oakland proper. But I also really like Ross's upside. His stats, especially from this season, won't jump out at you, but his freshman and sophomore seasons were strong and he dealt with some non-arm-related injury issues earlier this season that probably affected his performance.
Ross is a big, tall righty starter with a three-pitch repertoire: 90-95mph fastball, good slider and changeup. He's incredibly athletic and Baseball America lauded him for sticking with Team USA all summer while guys like Matusz and Crow ditched the team after the first few competitions. His intangibles are strong. He's new to pitching and his mechanics are somewhat concerning, as he doesn't really follow through all that well with his pitching motion. He's relatively new to pitching, so his mechanics could probably be tweaked fairly easily. One assessment I read awhile ago labeled Ross an intriguing prospect as he's "got the upside of a high school arm but with the experience of a polished collegiate product."
3rd Round - Preston (Petey) Paramore , Catcher, ASU
Good, solid catcher. Can't have enough of those around in the system. He won't be a superstar, but as a defense-first catcher that won't embarass you with the lumber and is durable enough to stay behind the dish long-term, he will definitely have a positive impact on the organization.
4th Round - Anthony Capra , LHP, Wichita State University
Don't know much about this guy. I initially though he was a reliever, but after checking his stats, I realized that he was moved into the rotation this season. He's gone 9-0 so far this season with a 2.87 ERA and an 87-30 K-BB ration in 75 innings. Without a real dominant heater (he sits 89-91), he seems fairly average to me, but then again I don't know much about him and the A's might see him as a reliever anyways, where his stuff might play out better.
5th Round - Jason Christian , SS, University of Michigan
Jason seems like a solid little middle infielder, somewhat like last year's pick Josh Horton. He's a right-handed throwing lefty swinger that controls the strikezone well (39/36) BB-K ratio that has put up a nifty 1.012 OPS this season for the Wolverines, with 26 extra base hits in 194 at-bats. Like Horton it seems like Christian might eventually need to move to 2nd base, as he sports a less-than-stellar .938 fielding percentage at short. Unlike Horton, Christian has some speed and good instincts on the basepaths as he's swiped 16 bases in 18 attempts. He also pitched a little bit last season for the Wolverines, but I'm thinking that the A's will be drafting him as a position player as he got absolutely hammered every time he's taken the mound.
6th Round - Tyreace House , OF, College of Canyons
This guy came out of nowhere. He was drafted by the Braves in the late rounds of both the 2006 and 2007 drafts. BA says that the A's might have reached a little bit by picking him in the 6th round this year, but says that he's a former track athlete with a ton of speed. He seems to be a raw product as he was formally highly-recruited high school running back; so I'm guessing that Beane is betting that the kid can develop into a power/speed center field combo guy. Could take awhile to see him in the higher minors and majors as he probably be spending a lot of time in the instructional leagues and rookie-league teams.
So overall, day one has been very interesting. Weeks could be a Rickey Henderson-like exciting leadoff guy and could make it to the majors within a few years, while Ross could develop into a 2/3-type starter with a little tweaking in his mechanics. Posey, Capra and Christian all seem like solid, polished products that could move quickly through the system and become average major leaguers while House looks like a potential 5-tooler. It's quite a mix. Who knows what Beane has up his sleeve for tomorrow!
