Live blogging the 2010 MLB Draft

Kevin Jacob, drafted by New York Yankees.
Photo courtesy of AnchorageBucs.com

It's day one of the 2010 MLB draft, and I will be doing what I like to call "more-or-less-live blogging" it. Obviously my primary concern will be former ABL players who are drafted, and I'll do a little analyzing as we go along. I just got into the house and missed picks 1-5, but no ABLers yet. I would be surprised if there weren't a few to go off the board here soon, so here we go!

3:39 PM Day 1: No ABL draft picks yet. Gone through picks 1 through 6. Just waiting for the name James Paxton to be called! I'll make the post as soon as it's official, or if someone else (Kevin Jacob? Logan Darnell?) comes up before him.

4:11 PM: Still waiting. I have to confess that this is the first time I've ever watched the draft live. I have to wonder, is it really necessary for teams to be "on the clock" this long in the first round? I mean, if I were a Major League GM, I would start preparing by making a list of my top draft choices and my very first pick would be the highest ranked player left on my list. It wouldn't take a lot of phone calls and hand-wringing or whatever the heck these clowns are doing. But obviously I'm not a Major League GM so I don't know.

6:42 PM: The first/comp A rounds are complete and none of our top draft picks are anywhere to be seen. I checked a few of the big prospect watchers' draft boards and our guys have slid completely off the first-round radar, and the MLB teams seem to agree with their analysis. I wonder when the last time we went through a first round without any ABL players was? In any event, draft day is only one day out of a player's career, and although I expected to have at least one guy out of our league, and as many as three, drafted by now, the second round should be a lot more action-packed. Stay tuned as we pick up the coverage tomorrow.

8:43 AM, Day 2: Resuming coverage. Still no ABLers picked. Have we been blackballed or something? Hard to believe our guys have slid down this far. But we'll have a mess of them drafted soon I'm sure.

9:35 AM: The Seattle Mariners pick James Paxton (Pilots, 2008) #132 overall in the 4th Round. It's a bummer to have seen him slip so far down, but the important thing now is that he's been drafted by a Major League club, and in the top ten rounds anyone has a good shot at the Majors. This is big for Alaska. Many Alaskans consider Seattle to be the home team. If Pax signs, it'll be good to keep him "close to home". The Mariners are one of the clubs who don't have as many ABL alumni in their system, also, so it's nice to see them stock up one more. Congratulations to James!

9:43 AM: More on Paxton: College Splits, MLB.com scouting video

9:52 AM: Didn't see this one coming so (relatively) high: Jason Martinson (Bucs, 2009), SS out of Texas State. First pick of the fifth round (146th overall) taken by the Washington Nationals. Martinson is a Junior, so it's a little more iffy as to whether he'll sign with the Nats or continue with the Bobcats, but if he signs he'll be entering a pretty good Nationals farm system that should include first-round pick Bryce Harper. Congratulations Jason! Here's his MLB.com scouting video. Photo courtesy of AnchorageBucs.com.

10:45 AM: The Minnesota Twins take LHP Logan Darnell (Pilots, 2009) in the 6th round (195th overall). Darnell was named the sixth-best prospect in the ABL in '09, great lefty with a a three-quarters delivery. He was also a teammate of James Paxton at Kentucky. He's also not a sure thing to sign as a junior, which might explain why he wasn't taken sooner, but whatever his choice I would like to extend a big congrats to Logan for being selected this year. Here's his scouting video.

11:21 AM: The tail end of the 9th round saw both Steve Domecus (Miners, 2008) and Drew Heid (Pilots, 2009) taken. Domecus, the catcher out of Virginia Tech, was taken by the Dodgers at #292 overall; he's a senior and I operate on the assumption that pretty much all seniors taken in the first ten rounds will sign, so congrats to Steve and all the Dodgers' fans for getting a good one! And of course, who could forget Drew Heid, OF for Gonzaga, who was far and away the best hitter in the ABL last year. He was taken by the other team in LA, the Angels, at #294. Way to go LA! Congrats Drew and Steve!

11:26 AM: Now in the 10th round, Kawika Emsley-Pai (Oilers, 2008) has been taken by the Arizona Diamondbacks at #301. Also a catcher, Emsley-Pai is a junior out of Lewis & Clark State, the powerhouse of the NAIA which has produced a lot of ABLers-turned-pro. Congrats Kawika! 

11:33 AM: The floodgates are wide open. Mario Hollands (Oilers, 2007) has now been taken by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 10th round, #321 overall. Congratulations to Mario! I'm learning a lot about the draft, most importantly that I suck at predictions. Still no Kevin Jacob and we've had quite a few guys picked. Just goes to show you how deep this league is that guys who weren't even on my radar are going in the first ten rounds. It's starting to go fast now; I'm going to go back through my draft prospects list and make sure I haven't missed anyone after the day is over, but please let me know if I do. Also, feel free to leave comments on any of these players. (Photo courtesy of OilersBaseball.com)

11:57 AM: Oilers all over the place! RHP Matt Thomson (Oilers, 2007) out of San Diego taken by the Oakland A's in the 12th round, #365 overall. 

12:16 PM: Gotta go pick a buddy up at the transit center and I'm headed out to the zoo a little later. Updates will be more sporadic throughout the rest of the day, with a few "catch-up" posts here and there. It's now the middle of the 14th round. Check back later for more updates! 

12:52 PM: We've got a pair of 2009 ABLer's taken in the 15th round: UT Arlington senior Jason Mitchell (Pilots, 2009) by Kansas City at #449 overall, and UC irvine junior Ryan Fisher (Oilers, 2009) by Florida at #467 overall. Way to go Jason and Ryan!

1:06 PM: In the sixteenth round, we've got Nate Garcia (Miners, 2007), SR RHP from Santa Clara, taken by Tampa Bay at #491. In Round 17, Drew Gagnier (Bucs, 2008), SR RHP out of Oregon, was taken by Detroit at #523. I'm gonna go to the zoo and enjoy the animals, more updates in a bit!

8:07 PM: Got back to the house and had some dinner. Rounds 1-30 are now complete; we left off at round 17 so I'm going to play catch-up on all the picks I missed. Round 18: Josh Ashenbrenner (Panners, 2007) picked by Detroit #553 overall [First Panner off the draft board, unless I missed someone]...Kevin Jacob (Bucs, 2009) by the Yankees at #565. [My projection on Jacob was way wrong; I thought he was a first-three round kinda guy! Oh well, live and learn]...Round 19: Jonathan Kountis (Panners, 2007) by NY Mets at #572

8:29 PM: Round 20: Michael Hur (Bucs, 2009) by Arizona, #601 overall...Round 21: Owen Dew (Miners, 2009) taken by Cleveland #630...Raoul Torrez (Panners, 2008-09) picked by Arizona #631 [Photo courtesy of Goldpanners.com]...Round 22: Jeremy Erben (Miners, 2008) by Arizona #661 [Arizona took ABLers in three consecutive rounds] ...Mark Tracy (Oilers, 2009) by Colorado #680...Francis Larson (Oilers, 2008) by LA Angels #684

9:15 PM: Round 23: Shane Brown (Miners, 2009) picked by NY Yankees #715... Blake Treinen (Fire, 2010) picked by Florida #707 [He's a senior; Fire fans might watch out, he could sign before the team even makes it up to AK]...Round 24: Christian Bergman (Bucs, 2006-2009) by Colorado, #740 [Yeah Berg! The Bucs' "franchise player", glad to see him picked, I hope he signs and goes far.]...Round 25: Casey Stevenson (Panners, 2008), taken by Yankees #775...Shawn Teufel (Fire, 2008) by Detroit #763.

9:48 PM: Round 26: Kevin Rath (Oilers, 2009) picked by Chicago White Sox at #788 [Great pick! Love Rath, hope the White Sox love him too. Congrats and good luck!]... Round 27: Bryan Harper (Pilots, 2009) taken by Chicago Cubs at #820 [Missed him in my draft eligible list, probably because he's a JUCO guy, even though I knew all along he was draft eligible. Anyway, congrats to the big Harper brother.]...Round 29: Mykal Stokes (Panners 2010 *RECRUIT*) by San Diego #874 [Glad to see Stokes' draft stock rising. He's a JUCO sophomore, could go DI next season. One of the biggest upsides in junior college who isn't named Harper. I doubt he'll sign but congratulations Mykal nonetheless. Photo courtesy of Goldpanners.com]...Jonathan Jones (Pilots, 2008) by Toronto #875...John "Red" Patterson (Bucs, 2008) by Dodgers #892...Round 30: Kellen Kiilsgard (Bucs, 2009) by Houston #903 [This isn't too far off where I expected him to be drafted; at least I got one player right. He's a junior so there's no pressure to sign but he could take the deal. Either way, big day for Kellen so congratulations are in order.]

10:22 PM: That's all she wrote for rounds 1-30. There's still more to go. I had a lot of fun live blogging the first part and it seems like people enjoyed that, so I may do it again for the first few rounds. But it's also kind of consuming and I've got some stuff planned for "real life" tomorrow so it will mostly be more of these bigger multi-round blocks, if not just an outright wrap-up. But regardless, we'll have some sort of draft coverage, and I'm hoping to catch the first regular season game audio tomorrow. Thanks for following and congratulations to all the players drafted.

8:30 AM Wednesday: Picking up where we left off in round 30 this morning. I'll probably blog the first couple hours of the draft before I'm forced to go to Rich's Cigar Shop. I missed the 31st round while I was rolling out of bed, and during that round Adam Gaylord (Panners, 2008) was picked by Baltimore at #928. Finally the O's pick an ABL guy; I was just asking Jordan at OriolesProspects when they were going to come around and see the light. In Round 32, Philadelphia picked Carlos Alonso (Pilots, 2009) at #981 overall. 

9:04 AM: We've got some picks in round 34: Justin Schafer (Panners, 2009), picked by the Mets at #1022 overall, Tyler Whitney (Pilots, 2008) taken by the Mariners at #1032, and Kevin Rodland (Miners, 2008) by Texas at #1036. I picked Schafer to go anywhere from round 10-20...man, I was way off again! These GMs must be reading my blog and colluding against me. Anyway, congrats to Schafer and Whitney.


9:27 AM: The Seattle Mariners have picked RHP Forrest Snow (Bucs, 2009) in the 36th round, #1092 overall. Glad to see the M's pick another ABLer; like I said when they took Paxton, if Snow signs it'll be good to have him "close to home" since a lot of Alaskans consider Seattle to be the home team. 

9:31 AM: In the 37th round, we've got Seth Harvey (Oilers, 2008) taken by Milwaukee at #1119.  Harvey was a very solid reliever for the Oilers that year, posting a 1.38 ERA and a .191 BAA. The Brew Crew picked a good one. Photo courtesy of OilersBaseball.com.


9:51 AM: We've got a pick in the 39th! Alex Rivers (Miners, 2007) picked by KC at #1169 overall. 

9:59 AM: Ryan Wooley (Fire, 2009) is the next to be drafted! Ryan went in the 39th, #1186 overall, picked by the Texas Rangers. He's a former Braves draft pick, and he seems like he's faced a lot of adversity and still keeps on going. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it works out for him. He's got a lot of raw talent but just needs to put it all together, great second-half pick by the Rangers.  

10:10 AM: The next ABL pick went in the 40th round...Dustin Emmons (Pilots, 2008) was taken by the Marlins at #1217. Dustin is a junior this year, so he'll have to decide whether to sign, or go back for a senior year at UC Riverside. Whatever he chooses, good luck to Dustin and congratulations.

10:15 AM: Boston takes Luke Yoder (Pilots, 2007-08)! 40th round, #1223. Yoder is a great late-round flier, he's a little bit older and he's definitely not an uber-prospect, but he'll move through the system fast and could make an impact at a high level in a relatively short amount of time. He's almost "AAAA" material right now, I think. Plus he's got a cool name. Congrats to Luke!

10:33 AM: We're taking a break after the 40th round. I'm gonna bounce outta here so you guys will be on your own for the second half. Of course, I'll recap the picks later tonight, and I'm hoping I'll make it into the house for the Oilers at Bucs game tonight...first league game of the year, don't miss it!