The Tigers selected high school third baseman Nick Castellanos with the 44th pick in the draft. A few moments later they selected Chance Ruffin, a reliever from Texas.
Castellanos is a trademark Tigers/Chadd/Ilitch pick. A top talent who slides in the draft to where the Tigers are only too happy to snap him up.
Nick Castellanos – MLB.com Scouting Report
Chance Ruffin fits in the Tigers mold of polished college relief pitchers. He breaks the mold in terms of his size and stuff. His fastball is low 90’s and he only stands 6-1.
Chance Ruffin – MLB.com Scouting Report
David Chadd commented on the selections via conference call late Monday night:
- On Castellanos he said that the toolset and package was “impossible to pass up at 44”
- Chadd saw Ruffin twice and he dominated both times and agreed with the comparisons to Huston Street
- Chadd said that Castellanos has plus hittability and he thinks that plus power will develop. His toolset is “polished.” He will move to third base for the Tigers.
- Ruffin could start at a higher level due to advanced pitchability
- Castellanos’ family has ties to Detroit
- Chadd once again talked about the support that he has from Mike Ilitch and Dave Dombrowski to draft the best player available. Chadd woudn’t say where he had Castellanos ranked on his board but said the answer would shock. (Incidentally Baseball America has Castellanos ranked #14).
Photo Credit: LakelandLocal
I just can’t see the Ruffin pick, other then saving money. We owe so much money to players being released and traded, maybe they don’t have the budget for the draft.
Ruffin only gave up 3 runs this year on 31 innings with 10 BBs and 50 Ks in closing situations. And Castellanos was the perfect pick, can’t pass up that much talent slipping so far.
A+ draft for DD, well done!
Soooo excited about the Castellanos pick!
Can’t believe he slid to the Tigers!
Ruffin is a solid pick, even though there was top talent still on the board (Jenkins, who would be picked later, Cole(!), Cabrera, Allie).
But overall, a very good first day!
Check out all these draft projections for Castellanos.
http://macksmets.blogspot.com/2010/02/mets-1st-round-target-3b-nick.html
I never think very highly of college reliever picks. It’s setting the ceiling too low.
Castellanos sounds exciting. It would be terrific if he signed soon and played a bit this year. Probably too much to ask.
Hope the plans for today include a high caliber starter who’s dropping like Paxton.
We can’t win the WS anyhow, no point in rushing his development. Heck only 5 teams in the AL have less wins than us right now. We should be patient until our team is ready to move forward. Plus we need Inge to every chance to raise his trade stock since DD is taking FOREVER to make deals.
I meant that I hope Castellanos plays in Oneota or wherever the Tigers have rookie league teams. He’s 3 years away from the bigs, minimum, I’m sure.
Somehow I think we’d be better off with him in the lineup than Everett. He should be able to already out play him without any development whatsoever. I’d take that gamble any day. So yeah it’s nice to let guys take their time and develop, but that’s only optional, and as far as a minimum, one does not exist in our case of having such a shortage of professional caliber hitters.
At last – something got precedence besides outfielders, 1st basemen and pitchers. Oh wait…
How does an organization with no stellar SS prospects go the 1st 15 rounds without drafting one? I stopped following draft tracker after round 15, but how does DD in good consciense ignore a position that has been a weakness ever since Guillen’s body couldn’t take the demands of the position (in other words for three years). We can’t continue to run shortstops out there who have no power and struggle to hit .260. C’mon Dombrowski, you can only have so many arms in one organization.
Because their philosophy is to take the best player available with a bias towards pitching (particularly power pitching), which is generally a sound strategy. You can always trade pitching to fill other holes.
It also might have been a function of the draft pool, where some positions are thinner than others. It doesn’t make sense to take a SS that you rated 150th on your board over an outfielder that you have rated 75th, even to fill a need.
I would also point out that C is another area that’s thin and they took a bunch of catchers, so I guess you can only fill one hole at time.
You don’t draft for need in baseball. You take the best player on your board that you can sign. The development arc is too long to draft for need.
Uhhh……not one SS in the first 15 rounds? I’m not saying take a SS in the first round come hell or high water, but to ignore that position (generally considered the most important after pitching) entirely is just weird. You’re telling me that no shortstops in the first 15 rounds enticed the Tigers enough to take a flier? As far as the other poster goes (you can only fill one hole at a time in regards to catcher)…………..there are 50 freakin’ rounds. You can draft four position players at each of the eight diamond positions and still take 18 pitchers. In other words, grab 4 or 5 shortstops and let them develop over the next several years. How does not drafting any shortstops help alleviate the problem? Also, the development arc is longer for a SS than a pitcher or a catcher? Sorry, I’m not buying that malarkey.
I haven’t seen the Tigers draft board, but I’d venture a guess and say that when the Tigers made their selections, the available shortstops weren’t at the top of their board.
Why grab 4 or 5 shortstops if you’re not high on any of them? And just because they may draft 50, only half that many will actually sign.
Nobody said that the development arc was longer for shortstops than for other positions. The development arc for baseball players is too long to draft for need.
In 2008 they didn’t set out to draft a bunch of college relievers, but when their picks came up college relievers happened to be at the top of their board. It’s not that difficult of a concept.
when you are drafting high school players just as many as college players there is just no way of knowing. .Plus.like Billfer said the development arc is too long…we are talking 17-18 year old kids….funny even watching the draft because the announcers know nothing about 80 %-90% of the players drafted….or never even, ever, heard of them…it is a crap shoot at best….no way of telling if that player fills your needs unless its a Strausburg or a Porcello