In honor of the Yankees recent selection of Dante Bichette Jr. with the 51st pick in the draft, The Yankee Analysts highlights some other notable 51st overall picks, and, probably intentionally, how random and arbitrary the draft can be. Granted, the 51st pick isn't the 1st pick....but then again, considering how hyped the first pick is, shouldn't the number of Hall of Famers outnumber the spectacular flame outs over the past 40+ years? I don't think they do, and that's why I really can't get that excited about draft day in baseball.
It's About The Money takes a look at what's wrong with Ivan Nova, but I don't think anything's really wrong. Nova is nobody's idea of an ace, but he wasn't supposed to be, and no rational person ever asked him to be. He's a fifth starter average about 5.1 innings per start, and a little over a third of the way through the season he's on pace for a 1.5 to 2.0 WAR season. Then again, this is the same kind of "failure" that doomed Joba Chamberlain to the bullpen....
Sometimes it's better to say nothing about the trade deadline than it is to spout utter nonsense. Remember what the Yankees did for starting pitching help the past few trade deadlines? Nothing. Despite all the rumors, the Yankees only pursued the best of the best (Cliff Lee and Dan Haren), so unless Felix Hernandez or Josh Johnson find their way onto the market this July, we can probably safely ignore whatever starting pitching rumors we hear in July.
In other news, a college freshman-aged young man did something that was in poor taste. I'm surprised, shocked, and appalled!
