Pirates Take Moskos in First Round
Think Oliver Perez and his nasty slider that made wimps out of pure hitters like Pujols, Bonds, and Helton.. think Matt Capps who touches 97 mph.. think Mike Gonzalez without the elbow problems.
Put them together and you get Daniel Moskos, the Pirates first round pick in the 2007 draft.
Bucco Blog had Vitters #1 on the Pirates board and Moskos #2 and it played out just as we expected as the Cubs took Vitters with the 3rd pick.
Moskos is a safe pick for the Pirates for several reasons -- one, he can be in Pittsburgh in a hurry - as early as 2008; two, Moskos is a leader, not a follower - his makeup is A++; three, he fills an immediate dire need for the Bucs; and four, he had one of the best arms in the draft.
He features an electric fastball with late movement that some scouts believe might eventually touch 100 with some mechanical work, a deceptive slider some scouts liken to Francisco Liriano's, and an average change up and curve.
Every player has question marks and the scouts I talked to all wonder about his shoulder holding up (labrum type problems), but nearly every one of them agreed that if he was conditioned and kept as a closer, and the Pirates kept him from overthrowing as he has a tendency to do, he'll probably be fine.
Truth be told, I didn't expect the Pirates to go after Weiters because of some makeup issues and Porcello had all but came out and said he'd attend college rather than go to a 'bottom-rung' team. I was secretly hoping the Pirates would take Michael Main because I see him as a healthier Prior in 5 years.
Moskos was a good pick for the Bucs, albeit by the email I'm receiving few believe it. I've read all your rumors like Moskos' velocity had dropped recently, that he'll have arm problems, that we needed a bat, etc, etc, etc.. Throw all that out the door - I've talked to some A++ sources about him and there's nothing wrong with this kid's arm.
You don't put together a small market farm drafting bats in the top round - you go after pitching and the Pirates took the best arm available that can get to Pittsburgh the quickest. That's what I expect as a fan.
Good job Dave.
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Second round action saw the Bucs taking Duke Welker, no doubt from old Yankee scout Dave Jorn's advice.
He is a 6' 7", 220 lb, right-hand pitcher out of the University of Arkansas who doesn't have great control, nor does he have any true plus pitches.
He's known as an innings eater who nibbles, throws a low 90's fastball on a downward plane, has a McCutchen-like Christian background, and has already undergone one labrum surgery.
One of the concerns that has been expressed was his 118 pitch outing against Florida back in mid-April. Welker pitched a great game striking out 7, allowing just 1 run and 5 hits with 3 of the 5 coming in the 9th, and even held first round pick Matt LaPorta to just a 9th inning single.
But Welker tanked hard after that start and didn't pick it up again until his stock rose significantly a couple of weeks ago when he pitched a seven-hit game against South Carolina in the SEC tourney and then came back a week later to strikeout seven while throwing six shutout innings against Albany (which had about an hour delay in the 3rd from rain).
Still, some feel he will get better and better as time goes by but question if he might already be toast.
Look for him to go to the GCL and then shoot to Hickory where we'll have John Setzler keep us informed.
| Year | Innings | ERA | K/9 | BB/9 | HR/9 | H/9 |
| 2007 | 91.2 | 3.83 | 7.2 | 3.6 | 0.3 | 7.8 |
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The Bucs took Brian Friday in the third round, a Rice shortstop who has a cannon arm and little else defensively. With a bat Friday is said to be a line drive gap hitter but I think I see more of a Jack Wilson fly ball hitting machine in him.
This was a Creech pick to be sure - he loves the middle of the diamond players and it's a need that has to be addressed in each draft.
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The fourth round pick was Frederick Latimore, a high school centerfield speed product who reminds me a lot of Rajai Davis. Poor route running, popgun arm, quick bat speed, and plus speed.
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I won't be covering anymore picks since the toolsy players are now gone. Anybody taken from now on has to be developed into something which isn't the Pirates best game.
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By the way, the Pirates won today with a very sweet performance by Ian Snell and home runs from Sanchez and Bay.
Do you see the Pirates keeping Moskos as a reliever or using him as a starter as he also has shown he's capable of?
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I suppose I'm being greedy by wanting him to be used as a closer and rushed up. Almost everyone I spoke to in the biz said that's where he needs to stay.. and he'll do an exceedingly good job.
But this is the Pirates - no telling what they plan to do. I'm sitting on pins and needles waiting for their announcement - but I expect him to be the team's closer as soon as possible.
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Please name your sources. This isn't a situation where we are protecting info because of a trade. Name the source that says this kid is OK. You won't, I'm sure...because it's unlikely that you have any.
This is a team starving for offense and you think this is a good pick. You are out of your mind. This was just about the worst possible pick, but you keep going guy. Slam the team like no tomorrow and then praise the stupidest possible move they could make. You and your journalistic integrity are just piling up points here. I know you don't care to debate this becuase you don't like dissension against your holy and sacred and super-knowledgable sources, but almost everyone....rewally guy...everyone...thinks you are dead wrong on this.
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"Slam the team like no tomorrow and then praise the stupidest possible move they could make"
huh? I slam where I think the org should be slammed, not where you think they should be slammed or this would be called M-n-M's Bucco Blog. hehehe
"You and your journalistic integrity.. "
huh? journal-WHAT?? This isn't the New York Times dude, this is a blog. LoL
"everyone...thinks you are dead wrong on this."
sure - they also thought I was dead wrong about Perez going to the Mets, LaRoche still coming to the Pirates in December, that Kotchman was better than LaRoche, and my Vitters/Moskos #1/#2 picks (which nobody else anywhere - even BA and BP - had).
So what? When the Post-Gazette can pull strings out of a hat as good as I have, then maybe you can come blast me but I think my track record feeling the heartbeat of this org has been pretty darn good, to be honest with you. But I get some wrong too - Snell is a perfect example.
Look - I'm a fan who writes about his passion. I think you need to get your mind set to understand that first and foremost. When you do, then you'll walk away with a better expectation.
;)
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When you get your mindset to the mindset of this ownership group, you'll understand perfectly. They don't care about the quality of the team in the field. They care about the quality of thr profitability of this team...only. Nothing else. They don't care about the fans or attendance or much of anything as long as those MLB welfare dollars keep hitting their bankbooks. Nothing else matters to them. Base all of your predictions on that and you'll almost always be correct. Anyone who thinks this ownership group cares about winning is just deluded. They prove it every day.
And BTW...I can't let it go Sunny. You've been wrong almost everytime on everything. Stop blowing your horn. Your timing on LaRoche was all wrong. Everyone knew the Bucs coveted him. Kotchman is not better than LaRoche...at least for now. The Pirates would never have taken Vitters due to the economic issues. You were wrong about that too. There were quite a few people writing about Moskos. Please don't insult our intelligence by saying you "broke" this story. That's just wrong and you know it. You can go ahead and edit or delete my comments as usual now...:)
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Jake and Mand have good points. Except for the Pirates are starving in every area thanks to the poor scouting of Ed Creech and scouting department being a big **** hole. Look at what Marlins are doing with 1/2 of the Pirates money they have a competitive squad with good to great arms. Because they know how to scout and get the cream of the crop when it comes to players instead of over working guys and taking them out of roles where they should be. Pirates need a closer Moskos was the guy hence it being an area of need who knows what Matt Capps role is maybe it's the 8th inning maybe its Damaso Martes role right now who knows.
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"Your timing on LaRoche was all wrong."
hehehee - go ask Dejan who broke the story. ;)
"You've been wrong almost everytime on everything."
And I guess that's why you keep coming back here, huh?
LoL
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Sunny, any chance were the other Jake who had a question answered by DL in his Q&A on the Pirates website?
I don't know, I still can't decide whether it was DL or the Nuttings who decided to pass on Wieters. What I do know, is that this team needs position prospects. No way they make him a starter, because we alredy have 8 "competent" young arms who should be fighting for 5 spots over the next few years. I have a problem with drafting a relief pitcher/closer with the #4 overall pick, when by almost all accounts there is a franchise player on the board who can actually hit. Then they go and take a pitcher in the second round, who has already had surgery! Where are our position prospects going to come from if we can't even bring ourselves to draft them until the third round?!
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no - wasn't me in the Q&A gangrl. I'm of the old school belief that hitters can be had for pitching prospects, but hitting prospects are very hard to deal for quality arms. The team with the arms is the one in control.
In a perfect world Weiters should have been their pick and the multiple reports we have heard that ownership denied Littlefield's request to fund the Weiters pick may well be true. But they may not be either.
I'm hearing both reports used the same source which might have been a West Virginia guy who has a motive to talk against the current front office. But in the end it doesn't matter - they didn't take him.. nor did the Cubs.. or the Royals, for that matter.
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I'm looking forward to seeing some new arms in Hickory. After tonight's fiasco, which I'll be writing up shortly, we need all the help on the hill we can get :)
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The coverage here is second to none Jake. Why you don't work for the team is beyond me.
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Some harsh words flying around here.
Arms or bats? Which are more important to build a team? I guess in the next couple years, we are going to find out if the Brewers, who draft bats, or the Pirates, who draft arms, have the better blue print of drafting a winner.
I don't see a problem with drafting Moskos. He's close to the majors and he has the potential to help a weak area of the current team. If we plug in Weiters or Moskos (assuming they fill their potential) into today's team, I think Moskos would have helped win us more games.
Might be a good study to look into.
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