Yanks Select Zachary “Slade” Heathcott In 1st Round Of 2009 Draft
Tim Bontemps nailed it this afternoon:
Speaking of both Baseball America and ESPN.com, both are saying the Yankees will select Texas H.S. outfielder Slade Heathcott with the No. 29 pick. BA has Heathcott ranked as the No. 72 overall prospect, while ESPN.com ranks him at No. 51.
Baseball America rings in on it, right away:
That’s one Jim Callis had pegged this morning, and it happened.
Slade Heathcott gets a Josh Hamilton comp from Frank Marcos of the ML Scouting Bureau, which frankly is not too accurate. But he does have major tools, with power from the left side, a big-time arm, and some real makeup issues.
“Makeup issues”? What does that mean, he wears guy-liner?
Nope. Many reports say that the kid’s father is in prison on drug charges and others suggest that his mother is also involved with drugs.
That could mean Slade may be potentially predisposed to being a drug user. Then again, it could mean that he’s seen what it can do to a person and will ensure that he never falls prey to drug use. No one knows, for sure, how that will shake out…at least now.
Me? I would have taken Tim Wheeler over Slade Heathcott with this pick. In time, we’ll see if that was a smarter move than the Yankees choice…the Rockies ended up taking Wheeler with the 32nd overall pick.
Oh, well, at least the Yankees didn’t select Tanner Scheppers. When I saw he was still out there, while the Yankees were picking, I thought “That one sounds like a Brian Cashman Special.” So, it could be worse…
Scheppers is clearly a better talent then Heathcott if hes healthy and since baseball america had him nearly throwing 100 his last start it seems like his injuries are behind him. BTW Cashman doesnt have much to do with the draft its mostly Oppenheimer and co. If you ask me they made a mistake passing him up
what, exactly, is a brian cashman special in a situation where damon oppenheimer runs the draft? so tiresome.
apparently a brain cashman special is a top five talnent who fell becauseof bous demands and the yanks could of gotten at 29
Uh, guys, with all due respect…
Who is Damon Oppenheimer’s boss in the organization?
And, who was granted full autonomy of the Yankees organization in 2005?
Brian Cashman.
Don’t you think, at least for a minute, that Oppenheimer has to run these picks by Cashman for final sign-off before they happen?
Geez, this is so tiresome…asking people to think…and realize that Cashman is in charge of the team…and therefore is the one on the hook, at the end of the day.
on the hook is one thing. if oppenheimer isn’t getting the job done (he is) and cashman does nothing about it, that ultimately reflects on him. but oppenheimer runs the draft. just because cashman is in charge of the team doesn’t mean he makes the draft choices. it’s a fact, he doesn’t. does the boss of every company make every decision for the organization? does every decision get run by them? no, they just need to make sure the decisions of those below them are sound for the organization. we don’t need to think about things that are plain facts. we just know them. part of being a good boss is trusting people who are more knowledgeable on a topic than you are. cashman isn’t out scouting 300 days per year. he doesn’t know kids inside and out. he hasn’t met with them and their families 3-4 times. oppenheimer is. if d-opp runs it by him, what’s he going to say? he’s going to inform opp on these kids that opp knows better than everyone in the organization? if anything, it would be a checks and balances thing to make sure it’s not a pick that is totally out of line. d-opp has proven himself that isn’t going to make a pick that is totally out of line. so therefore he can just run the draft.
Pat F – let me get this clear…
so, you’re saying that the picks of Phil Hughes, Brett Gardner, Joba Chamberlain, Mark Melancon, David Robertson, Andrew Brackman, Austin Romine, Jeremy Bleich, Pat Venditte, Austin Jackson, Zach McAllister, and Dellin Betances were all due to Damon Oppenheimer – because he runs the draft and the boss of every company does not make every decision – and therefore Brian Cashman had nothing to do with these players being in the Yankees organization? Is that what you’re saying? Sure sounds like it. Please confirm.
Steve, the funny thing is, you never say who you would have picked before the draft. You always wait until after the Yankees picked and then invariably list someone else. Wheeler is a guy “short on tools but long on hustle.” Sounds like a Darin Erstad type. He would not have been a bad pick, but that’s aiming a bit low in the first round.
Before we pan the selection, let’s get Heathcott signed and into the system. Then, let’s see how he does in low-A, high-A, AA and AAA. Then let’s get him up to the big leagues. THEN let’s rip on him for being this, that, or the other.
It should take between somewhere in the neighborhood of three years before we know what we have in this kid. His family problems aside (Joba’s family is messed up too, incidentally), there are certainly some skills in Heathcott’s body and the Yanks have a tremendous need for skilled positional prospects.
u are nuts if u dont think oppenheimer runs all the big $ picks by his boss for approval.
if u dont think that way i guess u are the person who gives cashman a total pass for all his pitching failures over the past decade
I’d like to believe that Brian Cashman has a lot to do with the draft. Like Steve said, he is in control of the organization…he has to have every move pertaining to a current or potential player run by him.
MJ wrote:
I know, right?
yagottagotomo1 wrote:
I guess you missed the post I made the day before the draft where I said that I hoped Mike Trout would slip down to 29, and, if so, it would be nice to see the Yankees take him. But, thanks for making up stuff about what I “always do.”
Gee, why are you so negative all the time?
Speaking of Mike Trout, I thought it was really cool that he was in the studio waiting to get picked. Harold Reynolds made a point about how he wished all the other players that could travel were in attendance because it was a special event in their lives.
Trout was never going to get to the Yankees. If I had written that I hoped Strasburg dropped, that is not a prediction. Point is, we didn’t hear anything about Wheeler from you until after the fact. Same with Gillaspie. It just strikes me a strange, with all the draft stuff flying around the last few days, and plenty of indications that the Yankees were on Slade, that you dont mention it or your alternative until after the pick.
yagottagotomo1 wrote:
Really? The Yankees picked at 29 and Trout went on the 25th pick. Sounds close to me.
@ Steve Lombardi:
There was not one mock draft that had him dropping to 29. The consensus was that he would never get past the Angels, and he did not.
Really? The Yankees picked at 29 and Trout went on the 25th pick. Sounds close to me.
——–
Two separate mock drafts had the Angels taking Trout at 24/25, before the Yanks picked at 29:
http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/draft/mock-draft/2009/268312.html
http://proxy.espn.go.com/mlb/draft2009/insider/news/story?id=4245401
There was not one mock draft that had him dropping to 29. The consensus was that he would never get past the Angels, and he did not.
———-
My damn comment is awaiting moderation (stupid spam filter) but I agree completely. Both Keith Law (ESPN) and Jim Callis (Baseball America) had Mike Trout going to Anaheim when they picked at 24/25.
Yeah, guys, and every mock draft had Tanner Scheppers going in the top ten – and where did he go?
@ Steve Lombardi:
Please, Steve, do your research. Most final mocks had him out of the first round, and they were right.
How about Max Stassi? Most had him going in the 1st or 2nd round. He’s still out there today. Look, these mock drafts are not FACT. It’s not a reach to say that maybe Trout would have been available with the 29th pick. But, that’s my opinion. Yours may be different. And, neither option is more right than the other.
Steve Lombardi wrote:
Listen, no one said they were fact. But opinions are generally based on data and information. Most of the data pointed in a particular direction, meaning one opinion was better founded than the other. While you say that neither opinion is more right, that is a popular thought about opinions that is false. An opinion can be wrong, or more wrong than another opinion.
yagottagotomo1 wrote:
Please take some time and read our Community Standards here.
Disagreement, debate, and strong opinions are encouraged at here. But, certain topics evoke strong passions, and WasWatching.com aims to provide a safe place for the free expression of those passions and differing views. Members must provide respect to other values, opinions, and ideas even if they strongly disagree with those ideas.
– - thanks.
@ Steve Lombardi:
Seriously? What did I say that evoked that? I respect your opinion. I just think that an opinion can be wrong.
yagottagotomo1 wrote:
“Members must provide respect to other…opinions”
Saying that someone’s opinion is “wrong” is not respecting it.
Steve Lombardi wrote:
very good, steve. that’s exactly what i’m saying. i think oppenheimer is far more responsible than cashman for who is selected and who is not. does it get run by cashman or someone else for money purposes or to make sure it’s not a completely wild pick? perhaps, i don’t know. but i think oppenheimer is responsbible for the picks, good or bad. i happen to be a huge oppenheimer fan, and think he is doing an excellent job with the draft. so i give credit to cashman for putting a person of his caliber in charge of getting players like the ones you listed in the organization. likewise, if i thought opp was not getting the job done, i’d put that squarely on cashman’s shoulders for not having someone better doing that job, as it is a very important job.
Pat F wrote:
that would lead me to believe it all gets run by cashman
Steve Lombardi wrote:
So basically there can be no disagreement? If I think you are wrong, I cant say it?
yagottagotomo1 wrote:
No and yes.
You can disagree. You can state your opinion, share that it’s different and respectfully say that you do not agree with someone else’s opinion – without telling them that their opinion is wrong. If you can’t handle that, then do not read this blog or post comments on it.
Again, this pertains to OPINIONS. As there are no right or wrongs on OPINIONS.
If someone says “Thurm Munson was on deck when Chambliss homered in the ACLS” and you want to say “That’s wrong. It was Sandy Alomar.” – that’s fine. Those are incorrect statements and factual statements.
But, if someone wants to say “I think that Nick Swisher is a losing player” or “I thought before the draft that so-and-so might fall to the Yankees,” those are opinions – and a person commenting here has the right to express them without being told that they are wrong.
Moshe – I’m pretty sure that you’re just pushing my buttons with this stuff. And, I’m kicking myself now for not following up on my promise to ignore comments where people are pushing buttons. So, this will be my last comment on this one.
If you can’t handle the Community Standards here, move on to another blog…comment on your own blog. It is interesting that you spend so much time on this one when you have your own. I’m not sure if I should be flattered by that or worried about it.
Steve, a few things.
First, why am I the only reader not afforded anonymity? using my name is inappropriate, especially considering I have never mentioned it, only mentioned my blog once.
Second, let’s deconstruct what happened, because I am not trying to push your buttons. We have no inside info, so we need to depend on insiders. You said you thought Trout might fall, but none of the insiders thought that. Therefore, your opinion was just a blind guess, and I called you on it. Go back and read the comments. I never said your opinion was wrong, just that an opinion can be wrong.
Finally, I spend plenty of time at my blog, but I didn’t know I wasn’t allowed anywhere else.
I come to this blog to read and discuss the Yankees with insightful people, not to disect Steve’s Community Standards. Would it be to much to ask to take this whole “opinion debate” somewhere else?
@ yagottagotomo1:
whats ur blog? If you hadn’t mentioned that he said your name, I wouldn’t have noticed lol…I figured he spelt yagottagotomo wrong lol
Corey, I guess the cat is out of the bag. It is theyankeeuniverse.com.
mm ill check it out sometime
yagottagotomo1 wrote:
I will check it out too.
Steve Lombardi wrote:
Calling someone’s opinion wrong has little to do with respect.