Donavan Tate Signing: Better Not Be Pulp Fiction

Back in June when Padres vice president of player development, Grady Fuson, made the below statement, the nature of it took me by surprise. Since it was included in an article by Corey Brock yesterday (August 16th) it needed to be revisited:

"We've kind of said, worst-case scenario, maybe a Mike Cameron ... somebody that hits .240, .250, a lot of punch-outs maybe, but big bombs and plays as good a defense as you get. Durable, athletic, steals a lot of bases," Fuson said in June of Tate.

"Best-case scenario, you got the whole ball of wax. You got an Andruw Jones or something in his best years."

Wow! Worst case: Donavan Tate=Mike Cameron.....

In the words of John Travolta's Vincent Vega (when discussing Lance's "product" surpassing the quality of that Amsterdam sh*t): "That's a bold statement."

If Mike Cameron is the basement for young Donavan Tate we better be hearing good news today. A $6 million dollar signing bonus, with the ability to control him for 6 years, would be a bargain for talent like that.

2009 MLB Draft

2:53pm
Padres MLB beat writer Corey Brock speaking with The Coach right now on XX....He says the pick will be Donavan Tate.

Baseball America Mock Draft 4.0 also says Tate.

MLB.com also says Georgia HS outfielder Donavan Tate.

If it's Vanderbilt pitcher Mike Minor I'll implode!!!!

3:15PM
1. Washington Nationals: Stephen Strasburg (P-SDSU)

3:20PM
2. Seattle Mariners: Dustin Ackley (1B-NC)

3:25PM
3. San Diego Padres: Donavan Tate (OF-Cartersville HS, GA)
Harold Reynolds is lauding the pick of the athletic Tate on account of the Padres being THE MOST BORING TEAM in MLB.....I like the Tate pick. I'd have hated to hear the name Minor......I would have been forced to redecorate at that point.

3:30PM
4. Pittsburgh Pirates: Tony Sanchez (C Boston College)

3:34PM
5. Baltimore Orioles: Matthew Hobgood (P Norco HS, CA)

I'm done. We avoided a first baseman and soft tossing lefties who had their arms overused pitching in the South Eastern Conference.

I feel better.

2009 MLB Draft looms large for Padres

It's judgement day......June 9th, 2009.....Major League Baseball's Amateur Draft is upon you Padre fans. For an organization that is unable to pay for big time free agents our only chance at success is to have deep drafts year-in and year-out. So today, while it's important to hit on your #1 pick, it is equally as important to stock pile the farm with future major league talent. But it's the 1st rounders that we covet....those are the can't misses, right? Well just look at how recent 1st rounders are doing in MLB today.....

2008 DRAFT
The D-Backs Daniel Schlereth
Padres select...

It's too early to judge last year's draft but Padre fans have witnessed Schlereth in action this last week at Petco. Our pick was Rancho Bernardo/Wake Forest first basemen, Allan Dykstra. Dykstra comes from a great lineage of Rancho Bernardo first basemen, however he has a degenerative hip and lines up behind Adrian Gonzalez and top prospect Kyle Blanks.....hooray!

2007 DRAFT
David Price, Matt Wieters. Rick Porcello Padres select....

While we're hearing a lot about the prominent three names above we opted for a work horse left hander out of the SEC conference. When a college pitcher is described as a work horse....CLOSE YOUR CHECK BOOK AND RUN!!!!! It means he was OVERUSED!!!!! Schmidt blew out his elbow three starts into his career.

2006 DRAFT
Luke Hochevar, Evan Longoria, Andrew Miller, Clayton Kershaw, Tim Lincecum, Max Scherzer, Ian Kennedy
Padres select....

Look at those names! 20o6 is starting to bear fruit. We opted for a guy who has risen to AAA but can't hit his weight. Antonelli's only impact has been boosting the representation of Italian-Americans who are from Massachusetts and who played hockey in high school. Those traits are not helping the '09 Padres.

2005 DRAFT
Justin Upton, Alex Gordon, Ryan Zimmerman, Ryan Braun, Troy Tulowitzki, Jay Bruce, Jacoby Ellsbury
Padres Select...

WOW!!! Look at those names! Actually Cesar Carillo should be one of those names....I think....but he too blew out his elbow and has slowly worked his way up the ladder to AAA. Who's to say what will happen.

2004.....the touchstone of drafting ineptitude. Enough said.

What does this mean for 2009? Strasburg is going to the Nationals at #1 unless they get courageous. That's right, courageous. The history of #1 college pitchers is so abysmal and at the hi-jacking that Scott Boras is demanding they would be best served to pass on the fella from West Hills HS.

The buzz is that we may take the best college hitter.....Dustin Ackley out of NC, who also happens to play a position we are in great need of.....first base....that was a joke, you can go ahead and laugh.

The word also suggest Donovan Tate who is the finest prep athlete.....five tools and pedigree, with a father who played in the NFL.

Could also be the fella the Nationals couldn't sign last year, Aaron Crowe. He's a pitcher. Petco has proven that mediocre pitchers can excel so why not go for some bats and speed? I could live with it.

This however is where I will blow an absolute HEAD GASKET! The UT reported that the Padres rate this guy more highly than most....

A soft tossing lefty who averaged 134 pitches a start!

Close YOUR CHECKBOOK AND RUN!!!!!!!

I will become an Angels fan if they draft that kid....not really but I'll be pissed.

It should be noted that there are a few guys who are doing alright in our system. Baseball America's Hot Prospect Sheet rates both Mat Latos (P) and James Darnell (3B) in the Top Ten for the week of June 5th.

So we've got that goin' for us...which is nice.

The Bush Era Ends...again

Kevin Towers: "I think he's good?"

This picture says everything you need to know about our success in drafting and developing home grown talent. The Padres have released 2004 #1 overall draft choice Matt Bush, out of Mission Bay HS, due to another off the field incident. This was reported yesterday by the UT.

There are quite a few players who were drafted in the first round of 2004 who have made their respective clubs and contributed mightily. Justin Verlander, Stephen Drew, Jered Weaver, Phillip Hughes and Huston Street are just a few who have exceeded what our monumental bust has achieved. Matt Bush and Ryan Leaf, forever synonyms.

It's all the more painful when you consider that there was an older shortstop out of Arizona State who was still available in the second round of the 2004 MLB Amateur Draft...he's been pretty successful so far.

Favorite quote of all time, which will be paraphrased, as it was uttered roughly two years ago. From the mouth of our General Manager Kevin Towers, who's previous post was as a SCOUT, regarding the prospects of Matt Bush being converted to a Pitcher after failing as an everyday shortstop...

"Well I never saw him play SS in H.S. but when I saw him pitch in the CIF playoffs he could have got major league hitters out."

There you have it.....our General Manager took a guy NUMBER ONE who he never saw play as a Short Stop. (some will say it was a pressure "on the cheap" pick by ownership to which we say: "show some principles and BALLS....resign in protest!")

For more painful reminders of Padre Drafting Ineptitude: Click Here.

EDITOR'S NOTE:
Found original quote from KT in the NC Times. Click excerpt for entire article:

[Padres general manager Kevin Towers never saw Bush play a position at Mission Bay High.

Towers, however, saw Bush light up the radar gun at 98 mph in the 2004 CIF San Diego Section Division III championship game when he pitched the Bucs to the title.

"And I loved his arm," Towers said.]