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David Cooper taken in 1st round of MLB Draft

Cal 1B David Cooper was taken in the 1st round of today's MLB draft -- 17th overall to the Toronto Blue Jays.  ESPN's Keith Law had this instant evaluation:

Cooper is a polished hitter who should hit for a high average. He's shown home run power with metal but not so much with wood. He's a solid defensive player at first base. I think the draft pool forced a change in direction. The Jays have gone with high school bats in the first round the last two years, but the type of polished high school hitter they like wasn't there for them at No. 17.

A quick look at first base on the Jays major league depth chart

1. Lyle Overbay (who's making almost $7 million annually, btw.  what?  really?)
2. Matt Stairs
3. Brad Wilkerson (the starting right fielder)

I'm not at all familiar with the Jay's minor league system, but I don't see any signifcant roadblocks to Cooper's path to the Show currently on the major league roster.

Yes, Cooper has a year of eligibility left, and it's true that baseball players can be drafted and still return for their senior season.  Still, when you get taken in the first round as a college junior, you're pretty much gone.  Best of luck to David!

0 recs | Comment 6 comments

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Cooper would be crazy to go back to Cal

for one more year. The benefits of doing so definitely outweigh the risks.

And I agree about his path to the show, Overbay will probably be gone before his expensive K is up, so if things go well Cooper should be in the show in 2 years.

P.S. Matt Stairs is not a first baseman. He’s a softball player that can hit major league pitching – he said so himself.

by oaktownmario on Jun 5, 2008 3:27 PM PDT reply reply actions actions   0 recs

I cant believe Stairs is still going. I think I still have his As fridge magnet from the As FanCard dealie they used to have WAY back in the day. Like 99. Does anybody else remember that? Every time you went to a game you swiped the card and could redeem it for awesome stuff. I think I got a Ben Grieve poster out of that, too. Ben Grieve!

www.CaliforniaGoldenBlogs.com

by TwistNHook on Jun 5, 2008 3:33 PM PDT to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

A's just selected Tyson Ross

with the 58th pick (2nd round). Must be pretty cool for the Oakland native. Also, he must be pretty good if Oakland is drafting him as a pitcher (but we already knew he was pretty good) this early. Now if he can work on cutting down his walks . . .

by oaktownmario on Jun 5, 2008 3:54 PM PDT reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Here’s the post where I broke down some of Ross’ late season numbers. His last few starts of the year were, unfortunately, not his best as I had hoped for in that post.

While his late season swoon hurt Cal, it might help the As because he fell to them! Go Bears! Go As!

A few photos.

www.CaliforniaGoldenBlogs.com

by TwistNHook on Jun 5, 2008 4:04 PM PDT to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

just saw that

yeah, compared to where some projections had ross going at the beginning of the year, the A’s got a steal here in the second. He definitely needs some polish, though.

people are worried about his delivery, but i just saw today that Mark Prior is having season-ending surgery (again!), so clearly, perfect mechanics aren’t everything.

So, basically, you gotta Go Bears!

by ragnarok on Jun 5, 2008 4:05 PM PDT to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

Nobody has perfect mechanics

according to Mike Marshall.

Maybe Prior should try Marshall’s pitching school.

by oaktownmario on Jun 5, 2008 5:20 PM PDT to parent up reply reply actions actions   0 recs

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