Illinois Gazette -- 2/17/08
The First Round
Tinkers to Evers to Chance -- a poetic threesome from the baseball annals. Illinois GM Brad Sherlag thinks the Chows first round may trump this HOF threesome. "All I can say is Tulowitzi to Johnson to Pena. We are thrilled to fill our three biggest needs in Round 1. Last year when we traded for extra 1st rounders we never dreamed we would feel this good by the end of Round 1. In no mock draft that we completed did we end up with both Tulowitski and Pena. Our line-up is much better than we expected it to be, probably at the expense of our starting pitcing."
Who did the Chows add today:
Troy Tulowitzki -- Tulo is a natural shortstop. His defense is just a notch below that of Everett who Chows fans have become accustomed to seeing in the late innings -- but Tulowitzki also excels at the plate. Last year in the Major Leagues Tulo hit .291 with 24HR and 99 RBI's. He has an outstanding arm and could win a gold glove or twoin the future. Tulowitzki is still just 23 years old and allows Ramirez to concentrate on his hitting as the Chows likely long-term DH. Hanley's days at SS are over and he will probably work on becoming an OF down the road.
Carlos Pena -- Carlos is a run producer who will man 1st base and bat in the heart of the Chows line-up. Last year in the Major Leagues he posted an MVP type season batting .282 with 46 HR and 121 RBI's. He plays a better than average 1B and compared to what Chows fans are used to (with Dunn and Willingham t 1B the last two seasons), Pena will seem like a magician with the glove. He could become the frst Chow Chow to post 100 RBI's and do it in his first season at Illinois. Pena is the oldest of the Chows first rounders and is already 29.
Kelly Johnson -- 25 year-old Johnson is penciled in at the two-hole for Illinois this season batting behind Figgins. He is an on-base guy with a little pop in his bat. Last year in Major League Baseball he had an OBP of .375 while batting .276 with 16 HR. He is patient hitter who can work the count. He is only average defensively and does not have the range we saw with Iguchi, but he should more than make up for it by getting on base.
Second Round Snafu
Chows GM Brad Sherlag made the biggest mistake of his career by clerically marking the wrong D. Youg in the NASBL's somewhat state-of-the art autodraft system. This system, which is designed to speed up the drafting process has a glaring omission in that the players first names are nowhere to be found. Sherlag selected the wrong D. Young (Dimitri instead of Delmon) by carelessly not paying attention to what team the player was being drafted from. The NASBL GM's were generous to Sherlag (probably saving his job) by allowing him to subsequently switch out the pick. Sherlag took Billy Butler a promising young hitter without a postion (don't we already have that in Hanley Ramirez?). He lost out on a great young defensive outfielder with pop.
Filling out the Team
Illinois' later picks include Carlos Marmol who will serve as the set-up man for Nathan in the Chows pen. Illinois then selected Micah Owings, a 25 year-old starting pitcher to fill in the fifth spot in the rotation. Glavine is now the Chows fourth starter since the rotation wasn't addressed until Round 4. The Chows have since added 3B/LF Josh Fields and C Kurt Suzuki -- two more young players they hope to develop.
"We really went younger in this draft than in the past. Not having part-time injured players like Schilling, Harded and Gagne has let us fill in more roster spots with youth. We are also able to go with less platoons this year giving us more flexibility to go young."
The First Round
Tinkers to Evers to Chance -- a poetic threesome from the baseball annals. Illinois GM Brad Sherlag thinks the Chows first round may trump this HOF threesome. "All I can say is Tulowitzi to Johnson to Pena. We are thrilled to fill our three biggest needs in Round 1. Last year when we traded for extra 1st rounders we never dreamed we would feel this good by the end of Round 1. In no mock draft that we completed did we end up with both Tulowitski and Pena. Our line-up is much better than we expected it to be, probably at the expense of our starting pitcing."
Who did the Chows add today:
Troy Tulowitzki -- Tulo is a natural shortstop. His defense is just a notch below that of Everett who Chows fans have become accustomed to seeing in the late innings -- but Tulowitzki also excels at the plate. Last year in the Major Leagues Tulo hit .291 with 24HR and 99 RBI's. He has an outstanding arm and could win a gold glove or twoin the future. Tulowitzki is still just 23 years old and allows Ramirez to concentrate on his hitting as the Chows likely long-term DH. Hanley's days at SS are over and he will probably work on becoming an OF down the road.
Carlos Pena -- Carlos is a run producer who will man 1st base and bat in the heart of the Chows line-up. Last year in the Major Leagues he posted an MVP type season batting .282 with 46 HR and 121 RBI's. He plays a better than average 1B and compared to what Chows fans are used to (with Dunn and Willingham t 1B the last two seasons), Pena will seem like a magician with the glove. He could become the frst Chow Chow to post 100 RBI's and do it in his first season at Illinois. Pena is the oldest of the Chows first rounders and is already 29.
Kelly Johnson -- 25 year-old Johnson is penciled in at the two-hole for Illinois this season batting behind Figgins. He is an on-base guy with a little pop in his bat. Last year in Major League Baseball he had an OBP of .375 while batting .276 with 16 HR. He is patient hitter who can work the count. He is only average defensively and does not have the range we saw with Iguchi, but he should more than make up for it by getting on base.
Second Round Snafu
Chows GM Brad Sherlag made the biggest mistake of his career by clerically marking the wrong D. Youg in the NASBL's somewhat state-of-the art autodraft system. This system, which is designed to speed up the drafting process has a glaring omission in that the players first names are nowhere to be found. Sherlag selected the wrong D. Young (Dimitri instead of Delmon) by carelessly not paying attention to what team the player was being drafted from. The NASBL GM's were generous to Sherlag (probably saving his job) by allowing him to subsequently switch out the pick. Sherlag took Billy Butler a promising young hitter without a postion (don't we already have that in Hanley Ramirez?). He lost out on a great young defensive outfielder with pop.
Filling out the Team
Illinois' later picks include Carlos Marmol who will serve as the set-up man for Nathan in the Chows pen. Illinois then selected Micah Owings, a 25 year-old starting pitcher to fill in the fifth spot in the rotation. Glavine is now the Chows fourth starter since the rotation wasn't addressed until Round 4. The Chows have since added 3B/LF Josh Fields and C Kurt Suzuki -- two more young players they hope to develop.
"We really went younger in this draft than in the past. Not having part-time injured players like Schilling, Harded and Gagne has let us fill in more roster spots with youth. We are also able to go with less platoons this year giving us more flexibility to go young."
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