1984 Amateur Draft Discussion

[Sully]

Homer was a great pick.

[Whale]

Pick is in to start the day... RF Bao-Qing Yang. I hope he comes with an interpreter.

[Jistic]

Pick is in to start the day... RF Bao-Qing Yang. I hope he comes with an interpreter.

Hate you, hate you, hate you.

Ok I gotta make a tough decision here. Won't take me too long.

[Clay]

Pick is in to start the day... RF Bao-Qing Yang. I hope he comes with an interpreter.

Spending 1st Rounders on guys with strange names has always worked well for me...

[BradleyB]

Pick is in to start the day... RF Bao-Qing Yang. I hope he comes with an interpreter.

isn't he canadian? they speak english up there eh?

[Clay]

AP - (Williamsburg, VA) -- The Virginia Colonials held a brief press conference this morning to officially announce the signing of their first of two 1st Round draft picks from the 1984 draft - 18 year old Arlen Spencer. Colonial's Owner/President/General Manager/Anthem Singer/Hot Dog Vendor Clay T. Shaver, made a brief statement to the gathered local media:

"The Colonials are proud to announce that we have finalized a deal with Arlen Spencer after drafting him 5th overall last night in the first day of the BLB Amateur Draft for 1984. Spencer is a good kid. We love his passion. His discipline. And we love that he's a good old American with an easy to pronounce name... not like that Dutch Bitch I took a couple year's back."

Mr. Shaver's lawyer briefly interrupted his statement and the two had an off microphone conversation that appeared to get heated before the Rodeo Clown turned maverick millionaire owner directed his legal counsel to "shut his talk hole and speak when spoken to."

"As I was saying... this kid is an Air Force kid who knows how to work hard. He throws strikes. He gets outs. That's what we need around here. And no more of those damn foreigners. No questions."

Spencer will be the first of two first rounders who will join the Single A affiliate in Blacksburg after he finishes high school. A local rep from Baseball America praised the choice of Spencer and sighted the Colonials need of quality young arms... specifically right handed starters... after the team loaded up with LHP's in the last two drafts. In fact, many believe the Blacksburg Virginians will start the Single A season with an exceptionally rare 6-man rotation that features all left-handed pitchers.

The Colonials pick again at #15 and while many believe Shaver will target an Outfielder or 1B, another SP is not out of the question.

[Whale]

isn't he canadian? they speak english up there eh?

I don't think Canadians make sense to any Americans, so yes, it's well needed.

[Clay]

The further you get from the border, the less intelligible it becomes. All my buddies in Windsor... besides an "aboot" or "duller" every once in awhile, we're good to go. You get too far north and you might as well be speaking Polar Bear. Now, in his case, Nova Scotia... sure... it's technically not far from Maine... but it's kind of precariously hanging out in the ocean like that... it could break off at any second so... they live their lives in perpertual fear and, thus, speak a combination of English, French, Pig Latin and Jive.

[Jistic]

That was painstaking. Too many guys that I wanted to pick. And with my guy going one pick before me I had to re-evaluate. Overall just had to Toiguchi. Even though we're infielder heavy, I figure they're harder to come by usually. He's got good contact, fantastic power and even gap power. On top of that, he could also be a great base stealer.

[Clay]

That was painstaking. Too many guys that I wanted to pick. And with my guy going one pick before me I had to re-evaluate. Overall just had to Toiguchi. Even though we're middle infielder heavy, I figure they're harder to come by usually. He's got good contact, fantastic power and even gap power. On top of that, he could also be a great base stealer.

Toiguchi scored a very respectable 7.02 on my "Shaver-metrics" evaluation - a score that would have been higher without a few small question marks (Plate Discipline, Might spec out to a 1B by the time he's BLB ready, etc.). Overall, a solid pick. High on my list.

[Clay]

Like the Clown's pick of Kris Clark. Another safe, safe pick for an organization that I really, really like. Clark was Top 12 by all my scouts as has great upside potential. Good solid pick.

***

The Dallas pick seems like the first real reach of the draft. Dallas is an organization that, historically, drafts really well (unfortunate bad luck in injuries and FA hurt the team) so he gets the benefit of the doubt on this one. Seems like there were a couple closers very similar that would have been there in the later rounds and even some MR with better potential that could be converted. Props for addressing a need though.

[Andrew]

Just taking a last look at my draft list. My pick will be up in a few minutes.

[Z]

Like the Clown's pick of Kris Clark. Another safe, safe pick for an organization that I really, really like. Clark was Top 12 by all my scouts as has great upside potential. Good solid pick.

***

The Dallas pick seems like the first real reach of the draft. Dallas is an organization that, historically, drafts really well (unfortunate bad luck in injuries and FA hurt the team) so he gets the benefit of the doubt on this one. Seems like there were a couple closers very similar that would have been there in the later rounds and even some MR with better potential that could be converted. Props for addressing a need though.

Clark is barely old enough to drive. Talented but not exactly a safe pick.

[Whale]

Like the Clown's pick of Kris Clark. Another safe, safe pick for an organization that I really, really like. Clark was Top 12 by all my scouts as has great upside potential. Good solid pick.

***

The Dallas pick seems like the first real reach of the draft. Dallas is an organization that, historically, drafts really well (unfortunate bad luck in injuries and FA hurt the team) so he gets the benefit of the doubt on this one. Seems like there were a couple closers very similar that would have been there in the later rounds and even some MR with better potential that could be converted. Props for addressing a need though.

Agreed. We had talked turkey for a bit, so I'm curious if the guy he really wanted was gone, or if this is who he wanted all along. All my scouts had at least one CL rated better than him.

I personally was torn between Clark and Yang. I think Clark is going to end up being a very solid pitcher and was rated even higher than one or two of the SP's that went in the early picks in my book.

[Jistic]

We liked Clark. Even toyed with picking him for a minute.