Official 2009 MLB draft thread (day two)

[redsmetz]

When does Rookie ball open?

Both the GCL Reds and Billings start on June 23rd.

[redsmetz]

Here's a story on Del Pino from the Spartansburg SC newspaper about Del Pino:

Here's a little more on Del Pino

http://www.goupstate.com/article/200.../1088/PSPORTS#

Even del Pino’s coach said he was surprised.

“What round? Twenty-seven?” Dorman head coach Ben Waddle said. “That kind of blows my mind.”

Del Pino was 5-4 with a 2.23 ERA this season. In 44 innings, he allowed 44 hits, struck out 67 and walked 17.

“He’s a skinny kid who throws in the upper 80s. And he’s left-handed,” Waddle said. “I thought he had a chance to go in the late rounds. But they see some potential and took that chance. We’re excited for him. That’s pretty neat.”

Del Pino’s stock may have risen late in the scouting process.

“For the past month or so, I’ve been doing a lot of tryouts and throwing in front of cross-checkers,” he said. “I felt like I was doing pretty well. The Reds seemed to have the most interest in me.”

He said he will decide in the coming days about whether to sign with the Reds and start his minor league career or go on to Coastal Carolina.

“I can’t really say as of now,” del Pino said. “I can say that I want to go to Coastal. I can say that.”

He admitted wrestling with the idea even before becoming such a high pick.

[redsmetz]

Seems like a good mid-draft pickup. He threw out 36% of the runners that tried to steal on him.

Slugged .540 and had a .360 OBP (walking 12 times in 148 plate appearances).

I'm still trying to catch some tidbits on some of the draftees. This from the Columbus (GA) Ledger-Enquirer:

Trey Manz’s bags are packed and ready to go where ever the Cincinnati Reds want to send him.

In fact, they’ve been packed since Monday.

Manz didn’t pack this past weekend to prepare for the upcoming Major League Baseball draft but was glad he didn’t unpack when the Reds picked him 779th overall in the 26th round Wednesday.

Manz returned home Monday from the University of South Florida in Tampa, Fla., where he had been playing baseball for the past two years.

Before becoming a Bull, the 2005 Shaw graduate went to Chipola College in Marianna, Fla., for two years.

Manz, a catcher, had a .293 batting average his senior year at USF with 24 runs scored, six home runs and 24 RBIs.

“I’d just been sitting around the computer all day when coach called,” Manz said. “He said Cincinnati was going to take me in a couple of rounds. So knowing earlier, knowing it was coming was nice.”

The Reds’ scout called soon after.

“They said they’d let me know (Thursday) whether I’d go to Montana or Florida,” he said.

As of press time, the Reds had not called Manz. Cincinnati’s rookie-league team is in Billings, Montana. Its extended spring training team is in Sarasota, Fla.

“I’m going to go out and try to work as much as I can,” he said. “It’s a job now; it’s my work. I want to see what I can do out there.”

[*BaseClogger*]

How did Diego Seastrunk go in the 31st round? He was my fifth pick in the RZ mock draft...

[Benihana]

How did Diego Seastrunk go in the 31st round? He was my fifth pick in the RZ mock draft...

Uhhh, what?

[*BaseClogger*]

Uhhh, what?

It was just a random thought that popped into my head. He's a good player. He catches. How did he slip down the 31st round?

[camisadelgolf]

It was just a random thought that popped into my head. He's a good player. He catches. How did he slip down the 31st round?

That has happened to me a few times in the past. It usually means signability concerns.