[HokieRed]

Because I'm a Reds fan I hope the 2006 draft does turn out better than those of 2004 and 2005, and the 2007 one much better than all of the above--because if those things happen, we'll be good. But I really don't see how the 2006 draft can even be estimated yet as the players who seem strongest from that draft are only doing exactly what one would expect from them, given the relatively low levels at which they're playing. There's one exception, and he's actually starting to give me more hope in the 2006 draft than I had--and that's Dorn, who's hitting the ball hard at Sarasota. Watson had tremendous K-BB numbers at Dayton and is very promising. Let's see what he does at Sarasota. Valaika's success at Dayton really doesn't indicate a whole lot, Stubbs' struggles there mean a whole lot more (and, again, I hope Stubbs straightens it out and becomes an All-Star CF). On O'Brien's drafts, there's also danger in underestimating Craig Tatum, who has really started to hit, and it's worth pointing out that Travis Wood is pitching at Sarasota (and last night, I believe, pitching d--- well) two years out of high school (that's high school, not college). Don't forget such other O'Brien signees as Carlos Fisher and Johnny Cueto, and I for one certainly wish we had Zach Ward back (check out his ground outs to fly outs ratio) as well as Justin Germano, picked up of course by Dan. Just think how much sense it would have made last year to keep Germano and Ward, let the Twins pay 4 million to Lohse and the Phillies 2+ to Rheal Cormier.