Cardinals considering HS OF Randal Grichuk for draft
Posted by erik in 2009 MLB Draft, tags: randal grichukI don’t know about you, but I’m getting excited for the draft. Expect things to get a little crazy here, as so far it’s looking more and more like I’m going to be able to liveblog the draft, as my second child is enjoying the tropical weather and all you can eat buffet in my wife’s womb.
If we hear a rumor, we’ll blog it, and today there’s a pretty juicy one out there. dgoold tweets
Confirmed: Randal Grichuk was the kid cranking home runs at Busch Stadium on Saturday. Had folks talking. High school OF from Texas.
KLaw says the same thing:
The mystery team on Lamar Consolidated HS outfielder Randal Grichuk is the St. Louis Cardinals, who had him in for a second workout today. It’s still not a lock that they’ll take him, but he’s clearly in consideration for their pick.
Unclebuck44 took him in the 2nd round yesterday in the mock draft John Sickels held at his blog, so there’s one indication that he’s not necessarily a 1st round talent. In fact, Baseball America ranked him the 58th overall draft talent. A few thoughts here: The team brought in Aaron Hicks last year and ended up drafting Brett Wallace, so nothing is certain. Grichuk is more of a 2nd round talent and perhaps the team is hoping he’ll be there when the 67th pick comes available.
If they do take him in the first round, expect them to be signing Wagner Mateo, because Grichuk will come at slot or possibly even below.
As for the player himself, Grichuk has all sorts of thunder in his bat, but he’s not fast, he doesn’t have a great arm therefore he is expected to be limited to left field. Some scouts have the idea of moving him to 2nd base where his bat would play better, and leave it to the Cardinals to share such a notion.
Here’s some video of him in the High School Power Showcase.
And here’s a non-highlight video
He’s pretty quick with the bat and has a nice looking swing from my view, power is definitely of the pull variety. If they’re looking for upside, they can find it elsewhere, but I can’t say I don’t like the bat. I’m not crazy about defensively limited players. What say you?
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If they did go with him at 19 that could leave $$ available to pay above slot for players later that have fallen due to signability issues. The Red Sox have been very successful in signing these type players (Lars Anderson and Ryan Westmoreland, to name a few).
And he even comes with the unkempt moptop that is so popular among the younger generation these days.
I’m not buying this Wagner Mateo stuff, even if I see this guy as the 19th overall pick on Tuesday.
I hate to be such a pessimist, but this wreaks of pre-draft, below slot signing to save money.
Now if that money goes for something else, like taking a player who falls b/c of demands, then I apologize and that is ideal and smart.
But where is the recent track record that says cost cutting moves are anything other then a way to save Dewitt money?
When you cry wolf so many times, its hard to give the benefit of the doubt when money is involved.
To be perfectly honest, if its a choice between this kid and Rex Brothers, James Paxton, or Andy Oliver. I would much rather see them draft the power laiden high school slugger.
I just hope thats not the actual choice.
Looks great another small OF 6-0 190.
I see you tweeted what I was already thinking — he’s no Matt Purke.
The video looks great lets see him hit 475 ft shots with a wood bat?
I’d be extremely disappointed with him as a 1st-round pick. If there’s a chance he’s there with the 2nd pick, go for it in the 2nd round.
He’s a beast! and to say he’s not fast and doesn’t have that great of an arm is very dissapointing to me. Ive seen him throw guys out tagging from 3rd to home plenty of times. He does have the arm and he is fast! He will be a first rounder for sure.
Seems to me he’ll have problems on pitches on the outer half without making adjustments to his swing. I’m not sure I’d like him taken at #19–second round perhaps. I’d like to see a strong emphasis on trying to acquire starting pitching that projects to top of the rotation.
he’s one of my favorites, but for the 2nd round not the first. i do love the bat though, and i have read that he ran the 60 in 6.9 which isn’t blazing, but its not slow. he has amazing power, and pgcrosschecker.com says he hits the ball harder than any other high school player in the draft. swing wise he reminds me of a right handed colby rasmus as both had quick bats with a lot of power and both were dead pull hitters in high school, but rasmus also had plus speed, arm strength, and defense in center.
that said, i think he is a big reach at 19.
are you a subscriber to pg, few?
nope, but that was in a free article on the top offensive talents in the draft. i believe they have him ranked #7 among all the hitters in the draft.
I just took him in the 2nd round of the Project Prospect draft, just for the heck of it. It was between him, Matt Bashore and Angelo Songco.
like i said, he just makes so much sense in the 2nd round, but i don’t think he is a first round talent. you better really believe that he is going to turn into a middle of the order run producer if you are going to take him that high.
pgcrosschecker also ranked his offensive potential above other possible 1st rounders, including wil myers, aj pollock and rich poythress. they added “he might hit the ball harder than anyone in the 2009 prep class”. trying to find some positives here.
but they also ranked mike trout ahead of him, and i would too. trout also has big power, but he also has plus speed, a good arm, and plays center. both players are said to have great makeup. trout is also universally considered a first round pick. i don’t think any of us would be complaining if this story was about him. there are questions about how much trout will hit, but if grichuk was a sure bet to hit for average he would be ranked a lot higher with the kind of power he has.
I would not complain one bit if Trout is the pick Tues.
Not the greatest of vids but here is a link of him facing Matthew Purke.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVuoiH886L0
Grichuk’s been one of my faves in this draft for a while, but just like everyone else, as a second rounder, not a first. He’s got the kind of bat speed you just can’t teach, but his spot on the defensive spectrum is full of guys who can hit.
Slippery Rock’s Matt Adma worked out for the Cardinals:
http://www.altoonamirror.com/page/content.detail/id/519770.html?nav=751
sorry that’s matt adams…..late night
Matt Davidson has worked out for the Cards:
http://baseballanalysts.com/
Can’t see him being picked at #19 and he’s almost certainly long gone by the second round.
he’s better than Grichuk.
I was right when I said Grichuk would go first round! I bet it surprised the hell out of yall huh? So much for 2nd round! ha
hes a beast a great kid and can play with anyone and any team!!!!! definitly a first rounder. diamond in the rough!!!!!!!!!!!