Major League Portion:
The Pirates picked 4th, and chose LHP Donald (Donnie) Veal from the Cubs. Veal is a 24-year-old from Mississippi, 6' 4", 215 lb. He's been a starter in the Cubs' organization, steadily working his way up the ladder, with Rookie and Low A levels in 2005, A and A+ in 2006, then stuck at AA Tennessee for the 2007 and 2008 seasons. In those two years, he accumulated a 13-20 record and a 4.77 ERA. He pitched 130.1 innings in 2007 and 145.1 innings in 2008. He had 5 walks/9 innings in both season, with 9 strikeouts/9 innings in '07 and 7.6 strikeouts/9 innings in '08. Veal continued to have control issues in the Arizona Fall League, as a reliever for the Mesa Solar Sox. He made 10 appearances, for a total of 9 innings, but did not earn any wins, losses, or saves. He gave up 12 runs (10 earned) on 9 hits, with 13 walks, and 9 strikeouts. Veal also had tough stuff to deal with off the field, with the deaths of both his parents.
The Pirates, and specifically Neal Huntington, are clearly aware of Veal's control issues. He will be hooked up very closely with pitching coach Joe Kerrigan and minor league pitching coordinator Troy Buckley in Spring Training, and maybe in January's mini-camp also. The idea is that he'll be a reliever for the Pirates, and if it works out, great -- and if it doesn't, well, it was a good try.
05년 컵스 2라운드(전체 68번)로 지명된 다니엘(도니) 빌을 벅스가 룰 5 드레프트로 데려왔다. 그는 컵스 조직에서 점점 더 그의 가치를 증명하고 있었다. 작년과 올해 그는 도합 13승 20패 4.77ERA를 기록했으며, 07년에는 130.1이닝, 08년에는 145.1이닝을 투구했다. 그는 이 두 시즌동안 9이닝당 볼넷 허용이 5였다. 9이닝당 삼진율은 07년도에는 9였지만, 올해는 7.6으로 감소했다. 빌은 AFL에서 컨트롤에 문제점을 들었냈고, 비단 AFL에서만의 문제가 아니었다. AFL에서 그는 스타터가 아닌 릴리퍼로만 뛰었고 9이닝동안 9피안타 12실점을 허용했다.
벅스와 닐 헌팅턴 단장은 빌의 컨트롤적인 문제를 이미 알고 있으며, 그는 조 케리건 투수코치와 마이너 피칭 코디네이터인 트로이 버클리와 스프링캠프와 1월에 열리는 미니캠프에서 그 문제점(컨트롤)을 다룰 것이다. 만약 빌의 컨트롤이 잘 잡히거나, 문제점을 들어나지 않는다면 그는 좋은 릴리프가 될 것이다.
일각에서는 그는 잘되면 빅리그 2선발이고 못되면 아서 로즈(Arthur Rhodes)형의 릴리프가 되리라고 예상했으며, 룰 5 드레프트 이전에 루머에 따르면 그는 패전처리용이 될 것이라는 루머도 있었습니다만, 지금으로썬 조 케리건을 믿을 수밖에 없네요.
The Pirates lost LHP Kyle Bloom to the Tigers, as the #8 overall pick. Bloom, a 25-year old, was the Pirates' 5th round pick in the 2004 draft. His progression up in the organization has been slow, having spent half of 2005, all of 2006, and all but two games of 2007 in A+ Lynchburg. Bloom was a member of the AA Altoona club for all of 2008, where he made 22 starts and 6 relief appearances. He pitched a total of 109.2 innings, allowing 103 hits and 57 runs (51 earned). He walked 55 (4.5 BB/9IP) and struck out 93 (7.6 K/9IP), and batters hit .244 against him. He finished with a 5-8 record and a 4.19 ERA. The good news about those numbers is that he was improving the whole time. His ERA dropped from 8.15 in April to 3.63 in June, 2.45 in July, and 3.86 in August. His walk rate was cut in half in July and August, as his strikeout rate increased a bit. All 5 of his wins came in July and August.
Then he went to the Hawaiian Winter League and blew them away. In 7 starts, 30 innings, he worked a 2-0 record and a 1.50 ERA, allowing 5 earned runs on 15 hits and 11 walks, with 32 strikeouts. Batters could only manage a .144 against him. Working above his level? Yes, but that is probably not the whole story either. Bloom credited his success, along with his improvement during the latter part of the regular season to better mechanics and better command of his fast ball, both contributing to more confidence in himself.
04년 피츠버그 5라운드(전체 142번)에 지명되었던 블럼은 벅스 지역언론들의 염려속에 결국 타팀에 지명되었습니다. 성장속도는 느리지만 꾸준히 발전해왔다. 08시즌 더블 A인 앨투나에서 22번의 선발과 6번의 릴리프로 109.2이닝동안 103피안타와 51자책점을 허용했으며, 9이닝당 볼넷 허용율은 4.5이고 9이닝당 삼진율은 7.6이다. 그의 자책점은 4월에 좋지 않았지만, 정상괘도로 돌아왔다.
그는 HWB에서 7선발 30이닝동안 1.50ERA를 기록했고, 11볼넷 32삼진을 기록했다. 아마 HWB의 성공은 정규시즌보다 더 좋은 커맨드와 페스트볼이 그에게 자신감을 불어넣었다고 본다.
사실 메인 언론(예를 들어 BA)에 거론되지않았지만, 헌팅턴이 단장 부임이후 첫번째 과오가 아닐까 싶을 정도입니다. 메이저리그에 좌완투수들이 많아서 좌완인 카일 블럼을 40인에 넣지않았다고 한다면 이해하겠지만, 룰 5에서 뽑은 선수도 좌완인거 보면 어떤 철학이 정립이 되지않은거 같아보입니다.
AAA Portion:
The Pirates don't appear to have lost any players in this round, but they picked up three:
SS Andres Santos from the Yankees
INF Rafael Quintero from the Indians
RHP Gerardo Esparza from the Mariners
Both Santos and Quintero are listed as pitchers by the MiLB site, and their records show they spent 2008 in the Dominican Summer League. Esparza is listed as a pitcher, and he pitched in the Venezuelan Summer League in 2008. This is not at all clear to me. I'll get back to you if I find out something that explains this.
UPDATE:
OK, they are all pitchers, according to the Pirates' site. Santos is a lefty, and Quintero and Esparza are right-handers.
Andres Santos is a 22-year old Dominican native. He pitched for the Yankees' Dominican Summer League team in 2008, making 13 appearances (9 starts). His final record was 3-2 with a 1.85 ERA. That split out to a 2-0 record and a 2.31 ERA as a reliever, and a 1-2 record with a 1.70 ERA as a starter. He pitched a total of 48.2 innings, allowing 29 hits, 16 walks, and 49 strikeouts, and opposing batters hit .173 against him. Santos did not allow an earned run in his last 5 appearances, which spanned 22.2 innings, and included 20 strikeouts.
Rafael Quintero just turned 21 years old. The Venezuelan native made 23 relief appearances for the Cleveland Indians' DSL team in 2008. He earned 5 wins, one loss, and one save, with a 1.36 ERA. He gave up 44 hits and 12 runs (7 earned) in 46.1 innings, with only 5 walks, and 48 strikeouts. He must have really liked pitching on the road -- his road record was 4-0, and his road ERA was 0.50, while his ERA at home was (a whopping) 1.91.
Gerardo Esparza is another Venezuelan native, and he also just turned 21. Esparza spent most of his 2008 as a starter for the Mariners' Venezuelan Summer League team. He made 13 starts and 2 relief appearances, working a 4-5 record (all as a starter), and a 1.81 ERA, plus one save. Batters hit .198 against Esparza. He pitched 69.2 innings, and gave up 50 hits and 22 walks, and struck out 59 batters. The early part of the season was better for him -- he had an ERA of 0.64 in May, 1.20 in June, and 3.16 in July. Of his 14 earned runs over the season, 8 of them came in July.
이 세 명의 선수를 왜 지명했는지 정말 헌팅턴에게 묻고 싶네요. 이 세명은 전부 루키레벨에서 올 시즌을 뛰었고, 그 레벨에서 나이가 많은 축에 해당되는 선수입니다. 즉, 기량이 부족하거나, 부상이라는 문제로 상위레벨로 진출하지못했을 가능성이 높습니다. 그런 루키레벨의 선수를 5단계나 뛰어넘는 트리플 A팀에 배치할만큼 가치있는 선수인지도 모르겠네요.
OK, they are all pitchers, according to the Pirates' site.
이 부분을 보더라도 기자조차도 이들에게 무관심하고 임펙트 없는 선수라는것이 드러나는군요.
