With the anticipation growing for Tuesday's MLB 2009 Draft (not really), it will be interesting to see which way the Cleveland Indians go.
The consensus can't-miss, once-in-a-lifetime stud $50 million Scott Boras client, San Diego State pitcher Stephen Strasburg, will be going No. 1 to the Washington Nationals.
After that (as always) the draft is a crapshoot, basically revolving on projections, signability concerns, and internal organizational strengths.
I have narrowed the Indians choices down to five possible picks at their slot at No. 15, and am almost positive I will be wrong.
Four college pitchers and one high school hurler round out the list, mainly because the Indians are in desperate need for polished young arms that can move through the system quickly (hence the college choices).
Most of them have mid-90s fastballs which is also important because the bulk of their current farm talent are location guys. Finally, some of these guys project to be relievers, a position that is definitely a gaping hole of a problem in the Cleveland system.
After pouring over hours of college and high school film, ripping up seven mock drafts, and downing a case of Red Bull, I have slimmed the Tribe's choices down to this collection of arms. Here goes, the Fab Five for 2009 of players most people have never heard of.
Drew Storen: (pictured above) High character citizen, current Stanford Cardinal closer. Indians have a tendency to draft guys from his school (Francisco, Garko, Guthrie). Could move through the system quickly. Scouts and Coaches alike have raved about him...
"That kid is everything that is right about college baseball," Georgia coach David Perno said shortly after his Bulldogs faced Storen in last year's College World Series. "He handles himself the right way, he's a great student and he throws bullets. Those are the guys you build programs around."
Because of Storen's advanced age (he turned 21 in September), the Indiana native is a rare draft-eligible sophomore. So when scouts got a gander of his early-season numbers, he rocketed to the top of most midseason draft-projection lists as the best reliever available, outdistancing Arizona's much-hyped Jason Stoffel.
"Storen could be in the big leagues by the end of the season," one MLB scout said. "His fastball was always good, but now it's popping. His curve may even be better than his fastball, but more importantly, he's learned how to use the two together. He's a pitcher now."
An informal poll of big league talent personnel produces as much praise for how well Storen carries himself off the mound as how he hurls pitches from it, a longtime trademark of Marquess-coached players.
But with Storen, the mixture of brain and brawn is particularly attractive. There are plenty of smart players and there are plenty of guys with a closer's death-to-the-hitter mentality. Rarely do the two come in the same package.
Storen has the stuff to be a starter, and it's not unheard of f
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