I am not the scouting director for the Yankees, but since I haven't seen any MOD posts for them, I figure I might as well get things going.  I am going to start by looking at who the Yankees should take with their first pick, #29 overall.  Signability might cause someone like Matt Purke to be available to them at 29, but I imagine he goes before the Yankees pick in the mock draft.  Same goes for Donovan Tate and Jacob Turner, both Boras clients who should prove to be tough signs.  So primarily, for #29, I will be looking at guys who are valued around #29 on the draft board, or in the 20-50 range on John's draft board.  Of these guys, the ones who stick out to me as potentially fitting Yankee needs that could be available at 29 are Tyler Skaggs (projectable high school lefty with a good curve), Jiovanni Mier (top high school shortstop), Tony Sanchez (top college catcher, good defender), James Paxton (underachieving college lefty with plus stuff), Andy Oliver (see Paxton), and Matt Davidson (power-hitting high schooler).  Even though he is lower on most draft boards, I am intrigued by Slade Heathcott's 5-tool potential, and for me he is in the first round conversation, character issues, ACL injury and all.  Vote on who you think the Yankees should pick, and if you vote other, indicate who your choice would be in the comments section.  Don't choose someone like Purke, because he would almost definitely be the pick if he falls.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/prospects/?p=2357

This has to hurt his value somewhat compared to playing catcher, though if he can stick in the middle infield, he should have plenty of bat to be a valuable contributor there.  John Manuel mentions a scout who made a Dan Uggla comp on Lawrie which seems appropriate, though it remains to be seen if Lawrie will hit as well as Uggla does (and be as much of a butcher in the field).

I imagine it's too early to get concerned about Porcello, but this article does not describe as the flamethrowing power pitcher that everybody thinks that he is.

This isn't a flame-throwing, 95(-mph) kid," Matlack said. "He'll touch 95 and touch 96, and most of those are thrown when he's behind in the count, which I find interesting. He's more of a sinker-ball guy at 91-92, and that's not bad. "I'm not so sure that the world hasn't had a misconception about this kid. He was touted as this flame-thrower, but he told me in Oneonta when I first met him last summer, 'I need you to understand that they think I throw harder than I throw.' I said, 'What?' He said, 'Yeah, I can throw hard, but it's usually pretty straight. I don't always get favorable results. I'm a sinker-ball thrower.

Thoughts? Would you still rank Porcello as a top 15-20 prospect if he is throwing mostly 91-92 mph sinkers?  It would explain his low strikeout rates.

http://draft.mlblogs.com/archives/2008/05/tanner_scheppers_injury_update.html

According to Johnathan Mayo, Scheppers has a stress fracture in his shoulder, which will keep him out for 6 weeks.  I'm wondering how much this will hurt his draft stock.  Does this drop him out of the top 10?  Out of the top 20?  Out of the first round altogether?  I don't know much about this kind of injury, but it seems like the type of injury that could cause him to slide.  Bad luck for Scheppers to get injured at this time, but it could be good luck for a team lower in the draft that is willing to take on the risk by drafting him when they wouldn't have had a chance to otherwise..

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080312/SPORTS0104/803120432/1129/SPORTS

LAKELAND, Fla. -- Rick Porcello, the 19-year-old right-hander who is a consensus pick as the Tigers' No. 1 prospect, will begin his minor-league career at high-level Single-A Lakeland rather than at the customary first stop in the Tigers' farm system, West Michigan. "We talked a lot about it," said Dave Dombrowski, Tigers president and general manager. "I think it came down to a couple of factors." Weather was one consideration, Dombrowski said. Warmer weather and more predictable spring climate will enable a pitcher who held his own during big-league camp to make more regular starts in a five-man rotation. Porcello's exceptional talent was the other factor in pushing Porcello to a higher run in the Tigers farm system. "We didn't have anybody (among the Tigers' consultants) think he couldn't handle it," Dombrowski said. Porcello had a 1.59 earned-run average in three games during the Grapefruit League season. He pitched 5 2/3 innings, allowing three hits and two walks, while striking out two. "We like him a great deal," Dombrowski said. "He pitched well. And we think he has a bright future."

It's a slow time for prospect news, so I thought I would start some conversation about 2 of the minors' brightest young prospects.  No, I'm not going to compare Villalona to everybody's favorite Messiah, though I'm sure there are some Giant fans who would take Big V over the "son of God" in a heartbeat.  Instead, I wanted to compare the 2 biggest (by bonus, and probably by size) signings of 2006.  Villalona received a 2.1 million dollar bonus, and Montero 1.6. One of them, Villalona is in the top 40 of our community list, and will likely receive a B+ grade from John.  Montero received a C+ from John, though is on the border of a B-, and will likely be on the back end of the top 100 if he makes it at all.

Scouting-wise, both are projected to have huge power, with Montero's supposedly at 80 on the scouting scale and Villalona is probably similar.  Villalona is probably projected to be a better hitter for average, though I cannot say that with any degree of certainty.  Defensively, neither are supposed to be great defenders at their current positions, though they are improving, and neither of them is likely to be moved next season.

Now, let's take a look at the stats at the same level:
Villalona: .285/.344/.450 in 200 AB in the AZL, with 15 walks against 42 strikeouts (I'm going to ignore his mediocre numbers in the NWL because it was a 12 at bat sample).

Montero:  .280/.366/.421 in 107 AB's (he missed the first part of the season with an ankle injury, hence the limited at bats).  He drew 12 walks against 18 strikeouts.

Both put up very similar numbers in rookie ball, showing the ability to hit for average, walk, and hit for power.  Villalona showed a little more power, but Montero demonstrated superior plate discipline (by virtue of the k:bb ratios and his # of walks).

Important factors that have not been mentioned yet are age and position.  Age certainly favors Villalona, who was 8 months younger than Montero.  Position favors Montero, who was playing catcher, and was impressing scouts who previously didn't think he would stay at the position.  His stats for a catcher were more impressive than Villalona's stats were for a 3rd baseman.

Don't get me wrong, I think Villalona's going to be great, but I guess I'm wondering why everybody sees him as far superior to Montero, a prospect with similar (though maybe not equivalent) hype when he was signed, similar numbers (with Montero's at a much more important position).  While I'm sure many of you are still operating under the impression that Montero is a 1st baseman waiting to happen, as is Villalona, recent reports speak very favorably of Jesus's improving skills behind the dish, and the Yankees rave about his work ethic.

I'm going to make a poll, and I'd like you to vote for your belief on how Villalona and Montero should be compared.  I guess these could be thoughts of how to compare prospects without long track records, and think about the relative importance of position, ARL, bonus size and scouting.  Feel free to discuss your votes or other options if I didn't address them.  I would advise you to avoid the joke answers, as I put them on there just for fun.

According to WFAN, the Orioles and Dodgers are discussing a deal involving Jonathan Broxton and Matt Kemp in exchange for Erik Bedard.  This seems like a reasonable deal for both teams, but it makes you wonder if this type of package would be enough to get Santana from the Twins.  It certainly seems superior or at least comparable to the Red Sox's current offer to the Twins.

Thoughts?

According to Peter Abraham (http://yankees.lohudblogs.com/)

UPDATE, 3:37 p.m.: * * * BRACKMAN SIGNS WITH YANKEES * * *

"Word is that the Yankees and Scott Boras have agreed on a deal that would pay the right-hander a minimum of $4.6 million and possibly as much as $13.8 million based on service time and whether he gives up basketball."

What a baller.  5 IP, 2 hits, 3 walks, 8 strikeouts and no runs.  Looks like he could be seeing San Francisco sooner rather than later.  Very impressive first AAA outing.  If he keeps this up, he could force his way into the Giants rotation.  So far, looking like the class of the draft.  Anyone see him?  How did his stuff look?

How about a switch-pitcher.  The New York Times has  a cool article about the only switch-pitcher in D1 baseball (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/06/sports/baseball/06pitcher.html?_r=1&oref=slogin)

He's probably not much of a prospect, but is intriguing enough that he could get drafted.  Thoughts?