Tartans

Click on the player name for his stats and Bio. Players in bold and marked w/ a * have signed!!

New York Mets

Overall Talent Grade - B

Top Selections - #18 Ike Davis, #22 Reese Havens, #33 Brad Holt,  #68 Javier Rodriguez, #100 Kirk Nieuwenhuis, #134 Sean Ratliff  

Early Selections Overview - Teams shouldn't draft on need, but when that need is simply replenishing the farm system as quickly as possible it's good to grab some polished talent. The Mets couldn't have done a much better job in doing that. Davis and Havens are hitters that they could likely start off in full season ball and Holt could give them a fast rising power arm. Ratliff should not go unnoticed either as he provides a potent power bat that could surprise some people.

Sleepers/Tough Signings - The Mets have to be thrilled that Josh Satin fell to them at the 194th overall pick, as he profiles as a big hitting middle infielder. It was quite a surprise to see him fall that far. Mitch Houck, the 524th overall pick, could surprise some Mets fans with his performance as the left-hander is the owner of a sharp cutter that could give hitters problems at any level.

ROUND 1

• #18 Ike Davis - Arizona State - 1B

Baseball America writes: The son of former big league reliever Ron Davis, Ike was not a scouts' favorite coming into his junior season. A decorated high school career that included a star turn with Team USA's youth national squad and an MVP award at the 2004 Aflac Classic, and his pitching family pedigree, had most scouts regarding him as a pitcher out of high school. He decided to go to Arizona State rather than sign as a Rays 19th-round pick, and he started on the mound and batted cleanup in his first game as a Sun Devil. He struggled with wood in the Alaska League in 2006 and in the Cape in 2007, when he cut his summer short to have right wrist surgery. He returned to the mound as a closer in 2008 and played first base to keep his arm fresh. He also worked to incorporate his lower half more and was having a banner season, leading the Sun Devils in the triple crown categories as well as saves, before missing time with a ribcage injury. Davis has excellent raw power, comparing to former ASU star Jeff Larish, but he's a much better defender with a better swing and better pitch recognition. Davis is above-average at first base and should be able to play an outfield corner as well due to his plus arm; his below-average speed could limit him to left.

Tartans Take: The Mets badly wanted to add some thump to their farm system and Davis helps them in a big way. A polished bat with a track record, they could likely move Davis quickly up the ladder.

• #22 *Reese Havens - South Carolina - SS

Baseball America writes: Coming off a strong showing in the Cape Cod League last summer when he hit .314 with five home runs, Havens positioned himself to be one of the top middle infielders in this draft class. Steady and durable, Havens has been a fixture in the middle of the diamond for the Gamecocks since his freshman year. His consistency in always being in the lineup parallels his consistent improvement offensively and defensively every season since arriving in Columbia. Drafted out of high school by the Rockies in the 29th round, Havens has improved his range, hands and agility and now has the defensive ability and arm strength to stay at shortstop in the professional ranks. He makes up for his lack of foot speed with proper routes to the ball and advanced instincts. At the plate, Havens changed his hand position this season, moving them lower to an unconventional location around the bellybutton. Scouts have split opinions on his new batting style, but he has hit for better power and average and leads off for a strong South Carolina lineup. He has great makeup and is a prototype "baseball player" with all the intangibles.

Tartans Take: It took Havens a couple seasons in college to find his groove, but coming off a nice Cape Cod campaign and now a big junior season, the South Carolina standout is projected as a plus hitting future second baseman. He should move quickly in the depleted Mets' minor league system.

ROUND 1 Supplemental

• #33 Brad Holt - North Carolina-Wilmington - RHP

• R2 #68 Javier Rodriguez - Puerto Rico Baseball Academy HS - OF
• R3 #100 Kirk Nieuwenhuis - Azusa Pacific University - OF/RHP
• R4 #134 Sean Ratliff - Stanford University - OF
• R5 #164 Dock Doyle  - Coastal Carolina University - C
• R6 #194 *Josh Satin - University of California - 2B
• R7 #224 *Mike Hebert - Saugus (Calif.) HS - RHP
• R8 #254 *Eric Campbell - Boston College - 3B
• R9 #284 Eric Beaulac - Le Moyne College - RHP
• R10 #314 Brian Valenzuela - Vista Murrieta HS, Murrieta, Calif. - LHP
• R11 #344 Jeff Kaplan - Cal State Fullerton - RHP
• R12 #374 *Mark Cohoon - North Central Texas JC - LHP
• R13 #404 Scott Shaw - University of Illinois - RHP
• R14 #434 Brandon Moore - Indiana Wesleyan - RHP
• R15 #464 Jamie Bruno - Mandeville (La.) HS - 1B
• R16 #494 *Travis Babin - Sonoma State (Calif.) - RHP
• R17 #524 *Mitchell Houck - Central Florida - LHP
• R18 #554 *Collin McHugh - Berry (Ga.) College - RHP
• R19 #584 *Zachary Rosenbaum - Charlotte - RHP
• R20 #614 *Michael Moras - New Haven (Conn.) - C
• R21 #644 James Fuller - Southern Connecticut State Univ.  - LHP
• R22 #674 *Christopher Schwinden  - Fresno Pacific University - RHP
• R23 #704 Evan LeBlanc - Santa Clara University - OF
• R24 #734 *Kyle Allen - The Pendleton School HS (FL)  -RHP
• R25 #764 *Erik Turgeon - University of Connecticut - RHP
• R26 #794 *John Servidio - Barry University (FL) - OF
• R27 #824 *Jeffrey Flagg - Mississippi State University - 1B
• R28 #854 James Johnson - Biola University (CA) - LHP
• R29 #884 Michael Giuffre - Tottenville HS (NY) - 2B
• R30 #914 Mike Lynn - College of Charleston (SC) - RHP
• R31 #944 Michael Powers - University of Michigan - RHP
• R32 #974 Mark Grbavac - Oregon State University - RHP
• R33 #1004 Neil Medchill - Oklahoma State University - OF
• R34 #1034 *Justin Garber - Shippensburg University - OF
• R35 #1064 Kyle Suire - University of Louisana-Monroe - 2B
• R36 #1094 Evan Goldberg - College of Charleston (SC) - RHP
• R37 #1124 *Tim Erickson - Lamar University - LHP
• R38 #1154 Chris Hilliard - Itawamba Junior College - LHP
• R39 #1184 Charles Hinojosa - Don Antonio HS (CA) - C
• R40 #1214 Seth Williams - University of North Carolina - OF
• R41 #1244 Tyler Howe - University of Kentucky - C
• R42 #1274 *Tim Smith - Catawba College - RHP
• R43 #1304 Mark McGonigle - University of New Orleans - OF
• R44 #1334 Jean-Francois Ricard - Ahuntsic College (Montreal) - LHP
• R45 #1362 David Phillips - Texarkana Comm. College (TX) - 1B
• R46 #1389 Brian Gump - UC-Santa Barbara (CA) - OF
• R47 #1416 Matt Bischoff - Purdue University (IN) - RHP 
• R48 #1443 Tyler Baisley - Gateway Comm. College (AZ) - OF 
• R49 #1470 Douglas McNulty - University of Akron (OH) - 1B 
• R50 #1497 Kameron Brunty - Gulf Breeze HS (FL) - OF

I wanted to do some grades now that we are 1/3 of the way through the baseball season. Regular letter grades are pretty boring, though, so I decided to lean on comedian, Mitch Hedberg. Sadly, he passed away in March 2005 but I hear that some previously unreleased recordings are coming out soon. If you aren’t familiar with him, this post probably won’t be very funny for you because a lot of his humor is in his delivery. But you should definitely check him out.

AL East:

1. Red Sox - I got into an argument with a girlfriend inside of a tent. That’s a bad place for an argument, because I tried to walk out and slammed the flap. How are you supposed to express your anger in this situation? Zipper it up really quick? Might be a stretch, but how pissed do the Red Sox have to be that they are 1.5 games ahead of the Rays?  
2. Rays - I used to do drugs. I still do, but I used to too. In what world are we 1/3 of the way through the season and the Rays are on top of the vaunted AL East? I feel like I’m on drugs.
3. Blue Jays - An escalator can never break: it can only become stairs. You would never see an Escalator Temporarily Out Of Order sign, just Escalator Temporarily Stairs. Sorry for the convenience. Sorry for the convenience, Blue Jays fans. Your broke-down escalator of a team is somehow getting it done.
4. Yankees - If you had a friend who was a tightrope walker, and you were walking down a sidewalk and he fell…that would be completely unacceptable. If you had a team that had a $209 million payroll and they were 4th in the AL East by 6 1/2 games, that would be completely unacceptable.
5. Orioles - I like cinnamon rolls, but I don’t always have time to make a pan. That’s why I wish they would sell cinnamon roll incense. After all I’d rather light a stick and have my roommate wake up with false hopes. Sorry your team started off strong and gave you some false hopes, Orioles fans.

AL Central:

1. White Sox - It takes forever to cook a baked potato in a conventional oven. Sometimes I’ll just throw one in there even if I don’t want one. Because by the time it’s done…who knows? They got off to a pretty rough start, but a couple blow-up dolls later and KA-POW: baked potato.
2. Twins - I like vending machines cause snacks are better when they fall. If I buy a candy bar at a store, oftentimes I will drop it so that it achieves it’s maximum flavor potential. The Twins are only a half-game out of first. They might actually be past their maximum flavor potential. But good on them.
3. Indians - Sometimes I wave to people I don’t know. It’s very dangerous to wave to someone you don’t know because what if they don’t have a hand? They’ll think you’re cocky. “Look what I got motherf^ck^r! This thing is useful. I’m gonna go pick something up.” The Indians just can’t get it together. They are missing an arm in Carmona. The highest BA on their team is .287 and the most RBIs is 37. They’re 5 1/2 games out of 1st place; the Twins and White Sox are waving at the handless Indians.
4. Tigers - I had a velco wallet in a casino. That sound annoyed the hell out of me. Whenever I lost money and I opened the wallet, it was like the sound of my addiction. 2nd highest payroll. 11 games under .500.
5. Royals - I saw a human pyramid once. It was very unnecessary. It did not need to exist. Does anybody really need this one explained?

AL West:

1. Angels - The depressing thing about tennis is that no matter how good I get, I’ll never be as good as a wall. I played a wall once. They’re f^ck!n’ relentless. 4th-best record in baseball. They just keep quietly winning. Also, tennis is boring and so are the Angels.
2. Athletics - I got my hair highlighted, because I felt some strands were more important than others. Nothin’ crazy, but not too shabby. Also seemed like a good quote for the Bay area.
3. Rangers - I opened up a yogurt and underneath the lid it said, “Please try again” because they were having a contest that I was unaware of. I thought maybe I had opened the yogurt wrong. Or maybe Yoplait was trying to inspire me. “C’mon Mitchell! Don’t give up!” An inspirational message from your friends at Yoplait. Fruit on the bottom, hope on top! Hey, you guys started off in the cellar but now you’re almost a .500 team! Don’t give up, Rangers!
4. Mariners - I bought a seven dollar pen because I always lose pens and I got sick of not caring. 9th-highest payroll, next-to-last record. Apparently they just got sick of not caring.

NL East:

1. Phillies - Alcoholism is a disease, but it’s the only disease that you can get yelled at for having. “Dammit Otto, you’re an alcoholic.” “Dammit Otto, you have Lupus.” One of those two doesn’t sound right. Even though the Phillies lead the NL East…even though they are 10 games over .500…somehow I still think they will find something to b!tch about.
2. Marlins - I saw some two-dollar bills today. They were for sale for eight dollars. Something went severely wrong there. What happened? It spun out of control. Now it’s worth eight, still says “two”. Lowest payroll. But not just the lowest. They have HALF of the 29th-place team at $21 million dollars. That’s less than the Top 3 salaried players (guess which team they play for?). They’re 32-27 record is worth a helluva lot more than that, my friends.
3. Mets - I think pickles are cucumbers that sold out. They sold their soul to the devil, and the devil is dill… They leap-frogged over Boston for the 3rd-highest payroll. I always felt like the Mets were the scrappy lovable NY team. Not anymore.
4. Braves - I tried to walk into Target, but I missed. Baseball Prospectus had them picked as 2nd in the NL East, with a couple voters picking them to win it. They’re over .500, but tied for 3rd. Close, Braves.
5. Nationals - My friend asked me if I wanted a frozen banana, and I said “No, but I want a regular banana later, so … yeah”. One of the youngest teams out there, the Nationals fans just need to be patient. There’s potential there.