2008 Yankees Draft

[26 to 6]

Anyone have any clue if they're gonna groom Venditte exclusively as a righty or are they gonna let him switch-pitch? They're listing him as a righty but it would be pretty awesome to have a switch-pitcher on the mound haha. The last one I remember was Greg Harris, the former Red Sox (And prior to Alan Embree the last pitcher to pitch for both the Yankees and red Sox in the same year; 1994).

[26 Reasons to Hate Us]

If they were to make Venditte throw with just one arm, wouldn't they make him a lefty?

[jacksonianmarch]

they are grooming him as both.

[Jayhawk Bill]

I would've expected San Francisco to be the first MLB team to have a pitcher that goes both ways, but I'm not surprised that the Yankees are trying to develop one, either.

[a700hitter]

Wow, this is what has Yankee fans interested-- some draftee that is a novelty act. Pathetic.

[26 Reasons to Hate Us]

Originally Posted by a700hitter

Wow, this is what has Yankee fans interested-- some draftee that is a novelty act. Pathetic.

ROFL 700 u totally pwned us!!!1!!!11

[Jayhawk Bill]

Originally Posted by 26 Reasons to Hate Us

ROFL 700 u totally pwned us!!!1!!!11

I credit you for accepting reality.

[26 to 6]

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/ba..._headed-2.html

[Jayhawk Bill]

Originally Posted by 26 to 6

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/ba..._headed-2.html

From your link:

Pat Venditte, the ambidextrous pitcher from Creighton whom the Yankees drafted in the 20th round last week and signed, will get a chance to pitch with both arms when he starts his pro career at Class-A Staten Island.

"We do think he can do both," said Damon Oppenheimer, the Yanks' vice president of amateur scouting. "We'll let (pitching coordinator) Nardi Contreras and those guys decide moving forward, what they think. But he's had success from both sides, so I think we're going to give that a shot."

...

Venditte throws harder from the right side - 86-89 mph and he can touch 90, according to Creighton coach Ed Servais. Lefthanded, Venditte throws 78-82 mph.

I've rarely heard of a pitcher throwing 86-89 mph in college getting drafted, and I've never heard an MLB team seriously discuss using a non-knuckleball pitcher capable of reaching no more than 78-82 mph.

[jacksonianmarch]

20th round. Remember that. They did nab some high end late rounders but this guy screams filler. He did K a ton of hitters this yr. Regardless, he drops down from the left side and throws a mean slider. If he can utilize that, then he'll have a role. His RH side sounds pretty good for a long man, but right now his secondary stuff sans the lefty slider is totally undeveloped.

[Jayhawk Bill]

Here's Boston's 20th pick:

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/m...x.jsp?mc=meyer

18 years old, already 200 lbs, 6' 7", and throwing 90-93 mph with years to develop into an MLB power pitcher.

This guy DOES NOT scream filler. Boston nabbed him in the same round that the Yankees selected Venditte.

[jacksonianmarch]

good luck signing him. We got some high upside guys late as well. You do usually start filling in the roster after pick 10 or so and then nab some guys later who you think could help.

For us, Dwyer is a biggest late round selection, with Lassiter and the catcher committed to Fla a close second

[Jayhawk Bill]

Originally Posted by jacksonianmarch

good luck signing him.

Thanks for the kind words! See, everybody, Yankees fans can have their moments of good sportsmanship!

***

You're missing the point, though. I didn't search for a better pick--I chose the exact same pick as Venditte was for the Yankees, and the difference in projectable talent between Venditte and Meyer is very significant. The Yankees chose a college pitcher to get swifter payback on their draft pick, but they sacrificed peak potential to do that.

Quite seriously, although it's a big draft, I'm not sure that Boston picked any pitcher with an 86-89 mph fastball, let alone a 78-82 mph fastest pitch. Yes, he throws ambidextrously--but it's not as if the hitters can't tell on which hand he's wearing his glove, and most MLB hitters can handle 80 mph pitches easily if they know that a fastball isn't coming (and the 80 mph pitch isn't a knuckleball). Venditte will almost certainly be exclusively a RHP if and when he reaches MLB, and with an 89 mph fastball he'd better have a great variety of breaking stuff as out pitches to survive his first cup of coffee in The Show.

[jacksonianmarch]

JHB, come on now. There are plenty of filler picks in the draft. It is how it is always done. On both sides, you can see picks in the 20s and above where you just know they wont see the light of day in the bigs. What I did like about both of our drafts was how deep the talent pool collectively was from round 10 or so on. The sox with Meyer in the 20th was a solid pick. The Yankees with Dwyer, Monar and the kid they chose in the last round are all high end lefties with good arms and high demands. The point is, you need to be able to fill out your roster AND sign high end talents. A lot of teams dont go for the big bonus kids late because they know they wont sign them. We think we can. Regardless, I dont see Venditte making it past AA. I also dont see the sox signing Meyer. What I do see is venditte selling car insurance in 2011 and meyer being the 1st overall selection out of the U of Kentucky (that wasnt my original idea, I think Callis brought that up).

[Jayhawk Bill]

Originally Posted by jacksonianmarch

JHB, come on now...Regardless, I dont see Venditte making it past AA. What I do see is venditte selling car insurance in 2011...

OK, with you so far.

I also dont see the sox signing Meyer.

We'll see. Meyer is being advised by Boras, and the Red Sox FO appears to have a "special relationship" with Boras at times.