Sergio Romo was the only bright spot of the 2005 June draft. The Giants had forfeited the first three rounds in free agent compensation (Armando Benitez, Mike Matheny, and Omar Vizquel) and didn't get a shot until they selected Ben Copeland with the 132nd pick. The laundry list of nobodies that followed is impressive: Dan Griffin, Brad Cuthbertson, Joseph Dyche, Scotty Bridges, and so on. The 372nd pick netted Joe Martinez and the 462nd pick Alex Hinshaw. But the gem came in the 28th round, the 852nd pick from the Mesa State College Mavericks, Sergio Romo. Just for fun, check out the first-rounders from 2005: Justin Upton, Ryan Zimmerman, Ryan Braun, Troy Tulowitzki, Andrew McCutchen, Jacoby Ellsbury, and the like. Wow.
Speaking of wow, that's what I like about Romo--the "wow" factor. He throws that goddamn impossible pitch I call a "fascist groove thang." I get some funny looks when I yell "throw that fascist groove thang, Sergio!" It looks like a fat one right over the middle until it gets some legs a hairsbreadth in front of the strike zone and whoosh it dives outside by a foot and a half and the poor sucker in the box looks like he's trying to take a shit and coax a butterfly to land on the end of the bat at the same time. (Think Aaron Rowand.) Man, this guy is a beast. In the minors he was 17-3 as a starter before becoming a full-time reliever at San Jose in 2007. He struck out 106 of the 247 batters he faced that season and hasn't slowed down since he debuted in the bigs in 2008. Last year was beyond ridiculous as he whiffed 70 of the 175 guys he faced and only allowed 6 walks and 29 hits. His K/9 rate in the minors was 10.1 and it is 10.8 in The Show. He'll be 29 in March and is arb-eligible for the first time. He's a free agent in 2015. The Giants have closer talent in the setup role--how many teams can say that?
--M.C.
p.s. Take a look. The Angels had the foresight to draft a very promising youngster from Lee County HS in Leesburg, Georgia in the final (50th) round with the 1496th pick. Fortunately the lad--a certain Buster Posey--chose college instead. You see? More proof that kids should go to college.
3 comments:
Sabey Sabes dodged a bullet on the Michael Tucker punt draft pick year of 2004 draft, but got burned hard with the Benitez et al punt draft pick year 2005. FO SHO! Romo is awesome.
If you want some laughs, look at the 1998 draft. You have Golden Spikes winner Pat the Bat 1st overall. You have Warrior Spirit Rowand 35th overall. You have Vogelsong and Huff picked with only 3 players in between in the 5th round. 4th round? Andres Torres baby! End of the 4th? Javy Lopez!
Its not all laughs though, 1998 was the year we loaded up on 5 of the first 41. Tony Torcato, Nate Bump, Aruro McDowell, Chris Jones and Jeff Urban didn't turn out so well.
Prior and Zito were also drafted, didn't sign. And just to stick the knife in a little more, check out the #20 pick of a local Vallejo boy.
Nate Bump was part of the trade that brought Livan Hernandez.
Post a Comment