Draft Day

[cubfan33]

The baseball draft came and went today - well, actually it finishes out tomorrow - but the Mike Piazza's and Travis Harper's that somehow crawl out of the late round ooze are few and far between. Some teams did well, some teams ... well, who knows. There's clearly no Mark Prior in this bunch. Some players slid on signability concerns and some players may be steals at their slots. I think the Mets have to be happy with Scott Kazmir, who many figured to go #3 and the Cubs seem to be happy to get Bobby Brownlie at #21 when he was figured to be #1 pre-season. Oakland loaded up on college players as Beane reloads, while Montreal had an interesting draft while not knowing if anyone would sign with them or whether it would help to draft a Canadian. Like spring training, the draft is full of hope and faith. Each pick could be a star or a bust and few if any know which will be which. For what it's worth, I finished second to Jim Callis of Baseball America in a pick contest (130-127). It still doesn't make me an expert. Someone needs to sell the rights to the draft for TV, get Jim or Will Lingo or Allan Simpson to play the part of Mel Kiper Jr and actually MARKET baseball. Imagine!

I was all set to talk about the relatability of conditions - how a player can injure one part which can cause an injury to another part - when I found out that none of it really was true regarding KEVIN BROWN. Brown, as well-reported elsewhere, is currently hospitalized with what was described to be as "debilitating back pain." Our anonymous source related that there is serious concern about Brown's back and that the injury is similar but not identical to what felled IVAN RODRIGUEZ. The treatment will be similar - Brown has in fact already received the first epidural injection. It is too soon to tell how it has worked, especially since Brown is on some heavy duty painkillers as well. If this injection fails to offer relief, another will be performed before surgery looms. As always, UTK will keep you updated. By the way, Brown was injured when he lunged to catch his son that was falling off a bed.

RICH "MIRACLE MAN" AURILIA is scheduled to return tonight, according to the Giants. Yes, he made it back just fifteen days after surgery on his elbow. Aurilia reports that his swing is vastly improved. If he's available in your league, Aurilia may be worth a look.

LUIS RIVAS was activated today and is in the lineup for the Twins tonight. So far, he's 2-3. JAY CANIZARO is designated for assignment and I'm not sure of his option situation.

JOSH BECKETT could only go three (solid) innings before his blister reared its ugly head again. This chronic condition is doing two things - killing the Fish pen and keeping Beckett's innings down at a tender age. How you look at it depends entirely on perspective. It is too early to know if he'll have to go to the DL again, but early indications are that he shouldn't.

MARK PRIOR versus ICHIRO on Friday. It's KILLING me that this isn't on national TV. C'mon Fox! This is almost as good as that dream involving me and SARAH MICHELLE GELLAR ...

MARCUS GILES ... hold on. Still coming down from the dream ... ok, MARCUS GILES is on schedule to return June 14 from that nasty ankle sprain. He's working out with the team and is out of his protective boot. He's lucky, as bad as it looked initially. The Braves are going to miss Dave Pursley.

GARRETT STEPHENSON is on the DL. What's new? Well, this time, the Cards say its a hamstring. No word on who will replace him in the rotation at this time. Indications are it won't be ANDY BENES who is leaning towards retirement again ... if he can negotiate a nice injury settlement.

IVAN RODRIGUEZ caught nine innings and picked some poor, innocent A-baller off of first base. Welcome to the minor leagues, kid! Ivan should be back with the Rangers on Friday.

The Rangers are all askitter. CARL EVERETT has a bad hamstring (again) and FRANK CATALANOTTO may not be ready to return on Friday. John Hart has indicated that he does not want to play short-handed and may drop Everett on the DL and bring up KEVIN MENCH. Who knows with this team?

KYLE FARNSWORTH was activated tonight and should help shore up the Cubs relievers. FLASH GORDON will rejoin the Cubs on June 10th to throw on the side in Houston. It is expected that he may be activated shortly thereafter. The Cubs evidently don't want to waste any time on a rehab assignment with Gordon.

It's the closing days of the slogan contest, but there's still time to head over to Netshrine.com and give me your best idea. Who wouldn't want a free UTK T-shirt? (For those that have asked, yes, you will be able to get a UTK T-shirt of your very own once the UTK website launches.) Once you've given your best slogan, stick around Netshrine for some of the most intelligent, profanity free baseball banter anywhere on the Net.

[Craig S.]

What's this talk about a slogan? Did I miss something?

[hmrsf]

Originally posted by Craig S.
What's this talk about a slogan? Did I miss something?

http://www.netshrine.com/vbulletin2/...&threadid=4127

Try here. Come up with a good slogan and Will gives you a t-shirt.
Good luck!