2006 Season, Uncategorized

The Tigers Draft

27 Comments

As time permits, I’ll update the Tigers draft picks throughout the day. I will caution though that this isn’t my area of expertise. Any opinions or thoughts expressed are those I’ve gleaned from others.

UPDATE: Darn work kept me away from this all day. I’ll get caught up on the picks for the sake of completeness, but for more player detail check out the excellent work compiled by Kurt on Andrew Miller and the rest.

  1. Andrew Miller – LHP 6′ 6″ 210 lbs – North Carolina
    Miller is the highest rate player on Baseball America’s list. He fell to the Tigers due mostly to signability issues. His pitching repertoire is outlined by BA:

    At 6-foot-7 and 210 pounds, Miller has an ideal frame with a clean delivery and easy arm action. His fastball registers consistently in the 93-95 mph range and can touch the upper 90s. Miller also has a major league offering with a mid-80s slider with a sharp bite.

    BA also projects him to be in a major league rotation by 2007.

    It’s nice once again to see the Tigers not scared off by a player’s bonus demands. They are thinking and acting like a big market team. Here’s hoping they sign him quickly, or at let’s hope there are shorter negotiations than Cameron Maybin and Justin Verlanders.

  2. Ronnie Bourquin 3B 6-3 210 L/R 21 Ohio State U. Canton, OH
    Bourquin wasn’t on BA’s top 200 list, so it might seem like a reach. Yet the BA guys liked the pick of the Big Ten Player of the Year

    Tigers Steal Another One
    2:59 p.m.: The Tigers found a nice value when Andrew Miller dropped to them in the first round, and might have landed another gem in the second in Ohio State third baseman Ronnie Bourquin. He led the Big 10 with a .416 average, .612 slugging percentage, .492 on-base percentage and 66 RBIs. He’s the highest-drafted Buckeye since the A’s grabbed Nick Swisher in the first round (16th overall) in 2002.

  3. Brennan Boesch CF 6-6 210 L/L 21 UC-Berkeley Santa Monica, CA
    Two consecutive left handed sluggers for the Tigers. He ranked #125 on BA’s list.
  4. Ryan Strieby 1B 6-5 235 R/R 20 U. of Kentucky Seattle, WA
  5. Scott Sizemore SS 6-0 185 R/R 21 Virginia Commonwealth Chesepeake, VA
  6. Jordan Newton C 5-10 195 R/R 20 Western Kentucky U. Elizabethtown, KY
  7. Jonah Nickerson RHP 6-1 200 R/R 21 Oregon State U. Casper, WY
  8. Chris Cody LHP 6-1 195 L/L 22 Manhattan College Brewster, NY
  9. Zach Piccola LHP 6-4 240 R/L 21 U. of South Alabama Nashua, NH
  10. Lauren Gagnier RHP 6-2 215 R/R 22 Cal St. Fullerton Santa Cruz, CA
  11. Russell Parrott 2B 6-1 195 R/R 18 Desert Mountain HS West Bloomfield, MI
  12. Joseph Bowen C 6-1 190 S/R 18 Vanguard HS Ocala, FL
  13. Angel Castro RHP 5-11 200 R/R 23 Western Oklahoma St. Dominican Republic
  14. Brett Jensen RHP 6-7 190 R/R 22 U. of Nebraska Eagle Grove, IA
  15. Franco Valdes C 5-10 200 S/R 17 Monsignor Edward Pace HS Miami, FL
  16. Jeffrey Gerbe RHP 6-3 200 R/R 21 Michigan State U. Detroit, MI
  17. Ben Petralli C 6-2 175 S/R 20 Sacramento CC Weatherford, TX
    You may remember that the Tigers drafted Petralli in the 15ht round last year.
  18. Deik Scram CF 6-0 170 L/R 20 Oklahoma State U. Arkansas City, KS

27 thoughts on “The Tigers Draft”

  1. I don’t know anything about any of these players, but that sounds like incredible news. Even if he does command 8 figures, it’s a hell of a deal assuming he does fight his way into the rotation in the next year or two.

  2. Is he projected as a starter? Considering he has 2 pitches and they expect him to be in the bigs by next season, I’m assuming he’s destined for the bullpen.

  3. Wow! This is really exciting. Once again we went out and got one of the highest-ranked guys. We wouldn’t have picked him if we didn’t think we could sign him, right? Right?

    Is he a Boras client?

  5. What is the fascination with three pitches? Brandon Webb basically only has one pitch and makes it work pretty well.

  6. Pingback: Mack Avenue Tigers » Blog Archive » Tigers take UNC LHSP first

  7. I saw Miller pitch earlier this year. He is very long and thin, yet his delivery is pretty smooth and easy. He pitches very free and easy, looks like he’s just tossing the ball and zang. 95 mph stuff. His slider was freezing good hitters (NC State). Apparently he doesn’t have a change up woth mentioning yet but he may not need one. Seemed to have good command and poise on the mound. Not intimidating because of his string bean look but very relaxed and in charge.

    They say he didn’t dominate but 12-2, 2.26 ERA in 15 starts, 108 Ks in 103 IP is pretty good. Against excellent competition with aluminum bats.

    The Tigers have had difficult negotiations with their top pick the last two years and got it done both years. Miller supposedly wants a ML contract (which he will get) and 5-6 mil bonus. The bonus,however, contemplated him going #1 overall. He didn’t. They should get it done. Awesome pick!

  8. Didn’t the last two picks approach a point where the Tigers said the negotiations were over, only to have an agreement reached within days after that. I wonder if this will be the same way.

  9. As a student at OSU, I’ve gotten to see Detroit’s second round pick Ronnie Bourquin play a number of times. He’s a fantastic hitter and I’m thrilled to have him in a Tigers uni.

  10. if he’s gonna get here next year, they need to sign him asap and get him in the system before winter ball / AFL.

    and i’ve seen somewhere that he’s expecting 10M+, not sure if that’s the bonus or the total deal though.

  11. if he’s gonna get here next year, they need to sign him asap and get him in the system before winter ball / AFL.

    Nah, we don’t need him next year; it’s just that some people think he could get here that fast. Let him take his time and rest that arm. If he’s that good, he’ll get here. If it takes a little longer, that’s fine too.

  12. Three cheers for Double-D, David Chadd, and Mr. I. Hopefully, they will lock up Miller immediately. In everything I had read up to the draft it didn’t seem possible that the Tigers could get Miller. Obviously, with the team’s history of Matt Wheatland’s, Kenny Baugh’s and Matt Anderson’s you still have to hold a measure of caution in your optimism. That being said, I feel very lucky that the Tigers were
    able to draft a player of this caliber.

    The potential of the arms that this organization is stockpiling makes me shiver!

  13. Webb actually does throw three pitches.

    As for the current demand that starters have three pitches, I’m not sure when that began. But if the current staff is slotting Zumaya in the pen because he doesn’t have a third pitch, I think it’s safe to assume they would be inclined to do the same with a rookie who doesn’t have a full season of professional experience under his belt.

  14. We’ll get a look at Miller sooner than later. From the UNC web site:

    North Carolina and Alabama will open the 2006 NCAA Tuscaloosa Super Regional at 7 p.m. Eastern Friday on ESPN, the NCAA announced Tuesday. The Tar Heels (48-13) and Crimson Tide (44-19) will also play at 7 p.m. Saturday on ESPN2/ESPNU, and game three, if needed, will start at 4 p.m. Sunday on ESPN/ESPNU.

  16. So when will baseball wise up and put a cap on rookie salaries and signing bonuses? No unproven player should ever make $ in the millions.

  17. Great first pick. This is the second straight year a great player slipped to them because of signability issues. Last year, Maybin was the consensus #2 or #3 and they got him at #10. Things are finally going right for this organization.

  18. In a chat from yesterday, BA said that the Tigers had one of the best drafts out there. Miller could have gone #1. Add him with Verlander, Bonderman, and maybe Zumaya and Detroit has one heck of a rotation for the future.

    If Maybin gets healthy and progresses as expected, he and Curtis will form two-thirds of an outstanding OF for years. Could be like Lou and Tram next to each other all over again.

  19. So when will baseball wise up and put a cap on rookie salaries and signing bonuses? No unproven player should ever make $ in the millions.

    That’s my question: From a cost/benefit standpoint, can you justify giving any newly-drafted player a $10 million contract?

  20. I don’t think baseball rookie contacts are really all that out of line. You’ve got a guy like Justin Verlander, #2 pick overall, earning about 1 million a year. In the NBA, Darko earned what, about 3.5M? Mario Williams is guaranteed 26.5M from the Texans over the first two years of his contract. And well, I don’t follow hockey.

    And then you end up with situations like Barry Zito earning the Cy Young award a few years back and making $300k that year, or players tied to the team that drafted them through several years of arbitration.

    The obvious difference is rookies seem to be a bit more of a dart toss in the MLB than in other leagues, but they’re not really guaranteed anywhere.

    And Miller appears to be asking for around 10.5M/5 year deal. That ain’t chump change, but it’s really nothing that’s going to break a team either. In comparison to the rest of the sports, I don’t look at that and flinch. I see a first-round bargain.

    If the Tigers think they got a real star in the making — and who knows at this point? — 2M a year is going to sound cheap years from now. Thank goodness teams like KC passed on him.

    And thank goodness the Tigers are no longer a team like KC.

  21. And Miller appears to be asking for around 10.5M/5 year deal. That ain’t chump change, but it’s really nothing that’s going to break a team either.

    Exactly. If the hype is reasonable and he can contribute within the first couple years, we’ll have an above average arm for a few mill a year. Shit, JJ made that much and I think he’s making even more now.

  22. I agree with Kurt, at least as far as Miller’s concerned. He’s a pitcher who should be ready for the big leagues within 12-18 months, that’s a very low risk – high reward contract (see Jason Johnson’s contracts – makes twice as much for half as much). I don’t like the contracts for guys like Maybin as much, since they’re years away from producing in the big leagues, and you have to pay them not to go play basketball in college, according to the agents. I’d like to see contacts based more on performance incentives, so they can come in at a reasonable price, and if they produce, they get paid like pros.

  23. I agree, with all the college guys, I forgot you sometimes are paying a kid out of high school millions to play in the minors for three years. That’s different than a player in the other sports leagues being able to immediately get a shot at playing time.

  24. I’m a free market kind of guy. Pro sports are a weird type of monopoly, so you need some sort of salary cap/luxury tax, but other than that, the market should sort these things out. Guys are drafted based on the on their current skills and the projections/probability of improvement. They get paid in roughly the same order as they were drafted, so it seems like it’s working to me.

    Obviously, there’s less risk with college players, so they tend to go closer to the top, but there are always a few high schoolers that show so much potential that teams decide that the higher risk is justified. If a team is sold on a kid’s upside, why shouldn’t he get paid for it? It really just comes down to whether or not you’re a team that wants to pay for skills or potential.

    Free market ideals aside, it’s still insane money for a playing a frickin game, but that’s just jealousy speaking. 🙂

  25. Good point jeff, but remember that in a true free market, the teams have the ability to bid for any player out there…you’d end up with 20 teams bidding for guys like miller and hochevar, while other guys get no attention. It used to be the teams had all the leverage because they were the only ones bidding, but now the roles are reversed, because the players believe they can survive a year and get drafted again, while teams know they can’t afford to blow a 1st rounder at today’s free-agent prices.

  26. Ronnie Bourquin, what is the name of his team and how do I get his jersey and rookie card? I am from Ohio, so am thinking he’s gotta b a distant cousin.

Comments are closed.