wilkerson_rulz-06
06-17-2007, 09:56 AM
According to Buster Olney on his ESPN Insider blog (http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=2902689&name=olney_buster)
And if you don't have Insider, here are the juicy parts, he wrote this after Verlander's no-no.
Imagine a rotation built on the young core of Jake Peavy, Chris Young and Verlander, if only the Padres had used the No. 1 pick in the 2004 draft to take the right-hander from Old Dominion rather than local prep infielder Matt Bush, who just last week was converted into a pitcher because he has struggled so badly, as John Maffei writes (http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/06/10/sports/professional/22_32_206_9_07.txt). Verlander was widely viewed as the consensus No. 1 pick in the draft, and the Padres passed on him because of doubts about whether they could sign him.
The Tigers picked Verlander at No. 2 and paid the price, just as they paid the price in 2006 for Andrew Miller, just as they will pay the price later this summer for Rick Porcello, and Verlander has been incredible. He won the Rookie of the Year last year and pitched in the World Series, and there were stories in the winter filled with concern about whether Verlander would break down this year because of how quickly he had accumulated innings in his career -- 130 in 2005 and then 207 2/3 last year, including the postseason.
[...]
Somewhere this morning, Padres owner John Moores -- who made the financial decision to take the more signable Bush, rather than Verlander or Stephen Drew -- might be wincing, and thinking about what could have been.
Do you think Matt Bush could turn out to be the worst 1st overall pick of the new era?
And if you don't have Insider, here are the juicy parts, he wrote this after Verlander's no-no.
Imagine a rotation built on the young core of Jake Peavy, Chris Young and Verlander, if only the Padres had used the No. 1 pick in the 2004 draft to take the right-hander from Old Dominion rather than local prep infielder Matt Bush, who just last week was converted into a pitcher because he has struggled so badly, as John Maffei writes (http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/06/10/sports/professional/22_32_206_9_07.txt). Verlander was widely viewed as the consensus No. 1 pick in the draft, and the Padres passed on him because of doubts about whether they could sign him.
The Tigers picked Verlander at No. 2 and paid the price, just as they paid the price in 2006 for Andrew Miller, just as they will pay the price later this summer for Rick Porcello, and Verlander has been incredible. He won the Rookie of the Year last year and pitched in the World Series, and there were stories in the winter filled with concern about whether Verlander would break down this year because of how quickly he had accumulated innings in his career -- 130 in 2005 and then 207 2/3 last year, including the postseason.
[...]
Somewhere this morning, Padres owner John Moores -- who made the financial decision to take the more signable Bush, rather than Verlander or Stephen Drew -- might be wincing, and thinking about what could have been.
Do you think Matt Bush could turn out to be the worst 1st overall pick of the new era?