First,the good news as Donald Veal was the Pirates selection from the
Chicago Cubs.I love this pick!
I know Veal has struggled through command and control issues for the last two seasons in AA and was awfully wild in Arizona in AFL action,but Veal has a plus fastball and curve and reportedly a developing changeup.
Power armed lefty's are rare to find and to pick one up for 50,000 could be quite a find for Neal Huntington and company.
Veal finished at 5-10 with 4.52 ERA at AA Tennessee over 145 innings and started in all 29 of his appearances.
Two numbers stand out,19 homers allowed and 81 walks.
I can live with the homer numbers (although,obviously I would like to see them decrease),but the walks are a concern.
New pitching coach Joe Kerrigan will be tested early with Veal as there are issues that could be fixed with some work on Veal's mechanics..
Veal's AFL numbers were worse as he allowed 10 earned runs and walked 13 in a 9 inning fall stint and that likely was the final straw for the Cubs as far as protecting him on their 40 man roster.
This is not a sure thing,but I would much rather gamble on a potential impact arm than an average journeyman to eat garbage innings.
Sometimes players with talent just need the proverbial change of scenery and that becomes their salvation in a new organization where the expectations aren't as high and attention isn't as constant.
Overall,I more than approve of this selection.
Take a look at Veal warming up here.
The Pirates lost Kyle Bloom to the Detroit Tigers and even though Bloom had a disappointing career up to May of last season,his performance there and in Hawaii made him a valuable selection to the Tigers.
Bloom was Altoona's best starter last season and was downright dominant in Hawaii as he held hitters to a .144 average against the lefty.
Bloom is far from a guarantee for Detroit though,he really has had just the chunk of 2008 as strong performance and he will turn 26 before the season starts,so he is not a slam dunk.
Reports are that Bloom could compete for the 5th spot in the Motor City rotation.
Hindsight is 20/20,but an argument could be made today that Bloom should have been protected and Dave Davidson exposed to the draft.
I would bet that Davidson would not have been selected.......
The Pirates added two players in the AAA phase of the draft.
In the AAA portion,the Pirates are paying for the player and do not have to keep him at a certain level (unlike the major league version).
Pittsburgh took lefthanded pitcher Andres Santos from the Yankees with their first pick.
Santos numbers in the Dominican league look great,but remember he was almost 22 and pitching against teenagers.
I am not bashing the guy,just trying to put the numbers in perspective....
The second pick was a player from the same league in Cleveland's Rafael Quintero.
Quintero must be built like a rail at 6'1 and 145 pounds!
Same warnings on Quintero,great numbers but remember where he did it and was a bit old for the league.....
The Pirates neither selected or lost anyone in the AA phase of the draft.
Bullpen Notes
The Washington Nationals took Terrell Young with the first pick of the draft.
Young split his season between Low A Dayton and the Reds High A squad in Sarasota last year.
Another year in the Rule 5 draft,where I missed on the top pick as our projected top pick,Eduardo Morlan lasted until pick 16,where the Brewers snapped him up.
Morlan and the Brewers hope that he can do what our miss last year did in St.Louis in Brian Barton.
Three players that have signed cards for us went in the draft as well.
Derek Rodriguez went from the White Sox to Tampa Bay in the MLB draft,while Luis Perdomo was taken by the Giants from the Cardinals.
Jason Rice changed his socks from White to Red in the AAA version and best of luck to Jason,one of the nicer guys that I have met thus far.....
Back tomorrow with more!
Photo Credit
Veal:Tony Farrow-MLB.com
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