MLB Draft: It's a live open forum--Cubs take Vitters

MLB Draft coverage on 1060west...just like Wilken, we have no idea.

Now the guesswork begins for the Cubs and all of us watching. Who will they take?

The draft is available on several media outlets this year. ESPN 2 will have live television coverage. XM Home Plate will have live radio coverage. And of course there will be the world-wide-web coverage:

MLB.com Draft Tracker
Baseball America draft Coverage
The 4 Letter Network
John Sickels' Minor League Baseball Blog
MVN
Baseball Analysts
Follow it with a winning organizations fans at Talking Chop
Lower Hudson Online
PG Cross Checker
Rise Mag

or you sould just stay here for idiotic analysis from yours truly and maybe I can get gm and the others to chime in.

Updates will follow...

1:05 Tampa is on the clock and Karl Ravech, Steve Phillips & Andrew Jackso errrr Peter Gammons and the boys are waxing poetic about nothing. Jim Callis has joined the evil 4-letter network from ESPN Zone in Chicago. If any of you are downtown you should go join him.

1:10 Uncle Bud to the podium, this looks way too NFL like. Now Tampa is on the clock. Zim, or some old baseball guy that looks like him, is sitting at their table. Think we'll get shots of Hendry, Wilken and Fleita in the Cubs warroom? Tampa's on the clock.

1:15 Just think, one day Andy MacPhail will be at the podium. Anyhow. Tampa takes LHP David Price from Vandy. Royals are on the clock and now the guessing begins.

1:20 Uncle Bud to the podium. KC selects Mike Moustakas. CUBS ON THE CLOCK.

1:26 Ohhhh boy. Here it is. It's Vitters

Here is an interview Baseball Analysts Rich Lederer had with Vitters on June 4th. Josh Sickels said this about Vitters on his blog:

Thinking about Josh Vitters

Ranked as the top high school hitter in the class this year by Baseball America, Vitters is a product of Cypress High School in California, and has been a monster on the showcase circuit the last year. I like his size at 6-3, 195 pounds: not too small, but not so large that his strike zone gets unmanageable. He has plus power to all fields, and scouts expect he'll be able to hit for average as well. No one questions his bat; about the only doubt is if he's a 20 homer guy or a 30+ homer guy in the long run. His swing isn't long and he handles both breaking stuff and fastballs well according to scouts.

Physically, his speed is just average. He has a strong arm but has to keep working on his defense at third base; it should be OK in the long run as long as his legs don't get thick. He could end up as a right fielder if hot corner defense becomes an issue.

Trying to think of some comps here....Best Case : Chipper Jones without the steals early in his career.. Medium Case: Mike Cuddyer. Worst Case: hmm....someone who gets injured or tops out as a Triple-A slugger.

Rumor has the Cubs hard on Vitters with the third overall pick. This is logical, considering that the D-Rays and Royals are set at third for the foreseeable future. I very much doubt he'll get past the Pirates at four.

So the Cubs take a H.S. position player with their third pick. Gulp. We just have to hope he turns out better than the last two HS position players they took with that pick.

1:32 Moskos to the Bucs

1:37 Wieters goes to Baltimore with the 5th pick

1:42 Detwiler to Washington. Milwaukee is on the clock.

1:48 Milw. take Matt LaPorta from Florida. I'm checking out now kids. Updates when the Cubs pick later.

48th pick-- the Cubs get that catcher that many wanted. It's not Wieters but Auburn backstop Josh Donaldson. Here is this kids mlb.com scouting report:

Donaldson really helped himself with a strong Cape Cod season last summer, but there are concerns about whether he'll be able to catch up to better velocities with the loop in his swing. He may improve with more experience as a full-time catcher, but his arm is below average and he does not profile as a premium catch-and-throw guy. Some see a switch to the infield -- he's played third in college -- but he may make for a good backup catcher who plays the game the right way.

96th pick--this pick is real interesting. The Cubs selected the 2007 ACC Player of the Year. Junior Tony Thomas, Jr. a second baseman. Here is what he did this season for the Seminoles:

2007: The 2007 Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year...All-ACC First-Team in 2007...named National Player of the Year by Collegiate Baseball...1st team All-American by Collegiate Baseball...one of five finalists for the Golden Spikes Award, semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy...named to the Brooks Wallace mid-season Watch List...named to the ACC All-Tournament team after hitting .500 (6-for-12) with two doubles, a home run and five runs scored...became the first Seminole to register 30 doubles, 100 hits and 30 stolen bases in a single season...his 32 doubles are the third most in a single-season at FSU...leads the ACC in batting average hitting at .442...leads the conference in six other offensive categories (hits/game, run scored/game, doubles/game, total bases/game, on base percentage and slugging percentage)...

127th pick--With this pick Tim Wilken took another college middle infielder. This time he looked west to Oregon State and took Ducks Beavers shortstop Darwin Barney. Barney played short for the Ducks Beavers National Championship team last season.

157th pick--The final selection of the day for the Cubs was another position player and another college player. Outfielder Brandon Guyer from the University of Virginia.

That ended the first day for the Cubs. After selecting Vitters, Wilkin went strictly after college position players. They didn't go after any pitching in the early rounds. I'm not real sure what any of this means. So I'll call it a night.

Thanks to everyone for stopping by, commenting, and special thanks to JD for the new slogan up on top of the page. LOL. That was priceless. Have a great evening everyone. (if you're in Chicago the storms are on the way...)

MLB Draft coverage on 1060west...just like Wilken, we have no idea
A look back on our crappy coverage this week
Tuesday: Cub first round picks through the years
Wednesday: Overall number three picks through the years
This Morning: An inexact science
This Afternoon: It's a live open forum