See you in a few years…

Add comment June 4th, 2008

…or with Pittsburgh, Florida or in the Frontier League.  

The 2008 MLB Draft is tomorrow at 1 p.m. and I couldn’t be any less excited. It’s as thrilling as watching a tree grow. Unlike the NBA, NFL, NHL and MLS drafts where you see selections pay off within one to two years, MLB prospects usually take four to six years of development through farm systems before they are even considered for the major leagues. And besides the long wait, the rules and procedures are just too confusing.

True, it’s always great to see the system work in the long run, like with this year’s Tampa Bay Rays(which, once again, has the first overall pick); but usually, highly touted prospects are forgotten about after numerous player-to-be-named-later trades or never make it past Triple-A.

Anyway, here are some projections for the Cubs No. 19 overall pick:

Jake Odorizzi, RHP, Highland HS (Ill.): Scouting director Tim Wilken loves athletes, but many of the Cubs’ top targets are looking like they’ll be unavailable when the draft reaches them. So they may instead go with someone who has been a slow and steady riser, as the Cubs have been in on hard and heavy to see the last few starts by Illinois high school star Jake Odorizzi. He has the kind of velocity, command, and clean mechanics rarely seen from the cold-weather states. Odorizzi has been even better than ever down the stretch, consistently touching 95 mph with his fastball while showing a much-improved breaking ball. He’s not a hometown pick per se; Highland is actually only 35 miles from St. Louis. The Cubs passed on the best Midwest high school arm last year when they opted to take Josh Vitters over Jarrod Parker; they won’t let him go by this time. — SI.com

Casey Kelly, SS/RHP, Sarasota HS (Fla.): The Cubs’ scouting director, Tim Wilken, always has favored multi-sport stars, and Kelly is committed to Tennessee to play quarterback. He also knows Kelly’s dad from their time together in Toronto. But more importantly, Kelly is a top-20 talent, maybe top-15, and offers more upside than anyone left on the board.  — ESPN.com

Zach Collier, OF, Chino Hills HS (Calif.): The Cubs probably would take Kelly or Martin here, but if both are gone, Collier presents an intriguing high school option with a high ceiling. A fluid hitter with an aggressive approach in all phases of the game, Collier’s stock has accelerated this spring. — Yahoo.com/Rivals.com

Tim Melville, Ht/Wt: 6-5/205 lbs, Position:RHP, Drafted From: Wentzville Holt HS (MO) — MyMLBDraft.com