Meet the NL Central First Round Picks

Here are the first round picks by the NL Central teams in today's MLB Amateur draft and a few words about them:

Chicago Cubs (3)- Josh Vitters, 3B, HS. The Cubs got their guy here. Just about everyone had him and Mike Moutsakas (selected directly above by the Royals) as the 1-2 high school hitters in the draft, with neither one a clear #1.

Pittsburgh Pirates (4)- Daniel Moskos, LHP, Clemson. Big overdraft. The Pirates apparently asked for the money to sign Matt Wieters and were denied by ownership, so instead they drafted a guy that's been mostly a reliever in his college career. With the fourth overall pick. John Sickels listed him as the ninth best pitcher. I'm a Pirate fan. Permit me an, "ugh."

Milwaukee Brewers (7)- Matt LaPorta, LF, UFlorida, pictured above. Maybe a bit of a reach here. Baseball America was surprised by the pick and noted that it's rare for a college senior to be picked this high. He does lead the SEC in OPS this year, though, so how bad can he be?

Cincinnati Reds (15)- Devin Mesocaro, C, HS. He's from Punxatawny. You know, the place with the groundhog and the funny movie. It seems risky to me to take a high school catcher, but I'm a blogger and not a general manager. Also, that Joe Mauer guy worked out OK.

St. Louis Cardinals (18)- Peter Kozma, SS, HS. Baseball America calls him the best middle infielder available, but still a reach at 18. They do seem to think it's more of a need pick for the Cardinals. I can't tell you because he's the only guy on this page that I've never heard of at all before.

The Astros lost their first round pick by signing Carlos Lee.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

6-07-2007 @ 10:10PM

buc paschal said...

It is hard to continue as a Pirate fan when the ownership has no interest in moving the Pirates forward. Get someone in who can afford to run the team properly or shut them down. It is an embarrassment and a stain on the Pirate greats of the past.

6-08-2007 @ 4:23AM

jeeprad said...

I'm also a Pirate fan and am absolutely DISGUSTED with this wasted pick. This Nutbag who owns the team said he was going to loosen the purse strings a little, and this is what we have to show. It's pretty bad when you're limited to what you can afford *in the freakin' draft* for cryin' out loud! The ninth rated PITCHER...not the ninth rated player overall, but the ninth rated pitcher is what we take with the #4 pick! The least we could have done was draft Weiters and then sold his rights to the highest bidder...that may have made some sense.

In response to the previous writer who said we need owners who can afford to run the team...well the Nutbags have more than enough money. But their wallet is closed tighter than a nun's thighs.

At least one good thing is Weiters won't be in the organization to be left unprotected when the real teams make their annual raid on the Pirates.

Our owners really, truly suck and we are the laughingstock of all of baseball because of them.

6-08-2007 @ 4:40AM

My apologies for the misspelling of Matt Wieters in my previous post. No apologies to the player however, as he will be playing for a much better organization in Baltimore than in Penny Pinching Pittsburgh! I truly hope he EXCELS as so many others we have squandered over the years. Good luck to you Matt.

6-08-2007 @ 9:34PM

nicolas said...

hey pat.

what an equally weird pick by the brewers. why the hell do you take a college hitter who will never be anything but a 1B/DH when prince fielder is in his second season???