John Harper of the Daily News has an interesting article up about 2007 first rounder and recent TJ recipient Andrew Brackman.
David Price made the splash of the spring so far, blowing away three straight Yankee hitters the other day with 98- and 99-mph fastballs. Anybody watching had to marvel at Price's ability...
"You saw what David Price did, right?" Cashman was saying Tuesday. "Well, up until April of last year, the question in the industry was who was going to be the No.1 pick, Price or Brackman.
"He wasn't even on our radar until the injury because he was going to go so high," Cashman said. "That allowed us to have a chance, and we knew he'd probably need Tommy John surgery, but we've had a history of success with guys who had it done, and there's a 92% success rate with it throughout baseball, so we decided to go ahead and take him.
From what I've read, Brackman (6'10") has decent mechanics, a 97 mph fastball, an MLB ready knuckle-curve, and a change-up that needs some work. His big problem going forward is avoiding further injuries (duh) and trimming his mechanics so they're more repeatable.