Down on the farm with Wilbur Miller Part 2

Here is part two of our interview with Wilbur Miller.
I have decided to wait until it is all posted to add any thoughts that I have on the interview.

6)The 2008 draft looks so good on paper,do you have any thoughts on why so few of the high risk players have signed?

I’m trying not to think about it much, because I’m going to be bitterly disappointed if they don’t sign a few more of the higher ceiling players. I can think of several reasons why so few have signed. One is simply that the tough signs—which is all the guys they picked who fell due to bonus demands—almost always sign at the last moment. That tendency may be stronger with the Pirates this year because agents and draftees have probably seen the rumors that Coonelly wanted to draft Alvarez specifically to show Pirate fans he’ll go over slot. That might have encouraged the draftees to hold out for more money. Same thing with MLB’s recommendation to the teams to draft based on talent and not slotting.

The thing that worries me the most is the Pirates’ “internal value” system, where they say they generally won’t exceed their calculation of what a player is worth to them. If the idea is that something other than market value is going to govern their negotiations, it could become nothing more than a more sophisticated excuse not to spend money.

7) Of the "at risk" picks,and excluding Alvarez and Scheppers,which do you recommend the Pirates sign the most and why?

Rob Grossman seems to have the highest upside. They sure need some pitching, though. Quinton Miller might be the next best choice.

8)Any concerns on the possible abuse of the arm of Justin Wilson at Fresno State this season?

Yep. The same coach did a number on Scheppers. Hopefully, he got shut down before the abuse could do lasting damage. It doesn’t look like it’s going to matter with Wilson, though, as he appears unlikely to sign. Can’t blame them for that if his expectations got out of hand due to his CWS heroics. He was not one of the players they drafted who would have gone earlier based on talent alone.

9)The Pirates seem to produce soft tossing pitchers and power starved position players,besides poor evaluators,is there any other reason for this?

Bad philosophy. They seemed to think ground balls are better than strikeouts and drafted pitchers accordingly, ignoring the fact that pitchers who don’t miss bats in the minors don’t do well in the majors. So it wasn’t just bad player evaluation, but poor analytical ability. They also seemed to have templates or stereotypes that they used for all players. RHPs had to be 6’4” or above with lean body types. Hitters seemed to be drafted according to how they fit the stereotype for a position, with hitting being a secondary consideration. They also clearly didn’t value plate discipline. Just look at the majors. They didn’t like Doumit because he’s a little short on some of the classic catcher defensive skills. They typecast McLouth as a 4^th outfielder because he doesn’t have sprinter’s speed. Never mind that he’s as good defensively as Nyjer Morgan because he gets better jumps. On the whole, I think they were obsessed with stereotypes and unable to analyze the things that make players productive.

10)Neal Huntington kept much of the scouting staff and minor league coaches intact due to his late hire,do you foresee changes in the off season with more time to hire?

Yeah, it takes time for the changes to reach down that far. I’ve seen that in places where I’ve worked, when upper management changed. No reason baseball would be different.