Chase Utley Rumors

Buster Olney of espn.com gave us updates today about the various pitchers that are available and the teams going after them in his latest post.

The most obvious player is the Phillies who were looking for pitching at the start of the month when Chan Ho Park and Jaime Moyer were not pitching well.  Now that Brett Myers needs hip surgery (is this anecdotal, or are we seeing more hip surgeries recently?  Chase Utley, Mike Lowell, A-Rod and now Myers...) the Phillies border on desperate. 

Pedro Martinez doesn't seem to make much sense for Citizens Bank Ballpark and he'd like tax an already overworked bullpen with five and six inning starts. Jake Peavy and Roy Oswalt are options, but both the Padres and Astros are expected to ask for significant compensation something the Phillies might not be able to afford.  Erik Bedard is another option, but the Mariners gave us so much (Adam Jones and Chris Tillman) they may try to ask for something similar in return which might not be worth it. 

That leaves the most logical option and the one that has been frequently mentioned already: Brad Penny of the Red Sox.  Boston is a good match for the Phillies because they're rumored to be interested in shortstop Jason Donald.  The Red Sox have been rumored to be interested in Jack Wilson as well becuase of the difficulty they've had at shortstop this year, but Donald may be more appealing.

Jason Churchill of espn.com compared the 1996 Draft against the 1997 Draft. Unlike last week when he compared the 1994 and 1995 drafts and determined 1995 to be better, Jason doesn't give us his opinion on these two drafts. That means it is up to us. Tell us what do you think.

1996 Draft

No 1 Pick: Kris Benson hasn't been what any team would want out of a #1 draft pick and certainly did not produce for the Pirates. In 2000, Benson had a 3.85 ERA with 184Ks in 217.1 IP but missed all of 2001 with Tommy John surgery.

Best Pick, 1st Round: Gil Meche, #22 Seattle Mariners

Value Pick, Any Round: Roy Oswalt, 23rd round, #684 overall, Houston Astros; Travis Hafner, 31st round, #923 overall, Texas Rangers; Orlando Hudson, 33rd round, #969 overall, Toronto Blue Jays.

Notable Pick: Jimmy Rollins, 2nd round, #46 overall, Philadelphia Phillies

Worst Pick, First Round: Chad Green, #8 Milwaukee Brewers - "In eight minor league seasons, Green hit .252/.310/.389 with 166 stolen bases."

1997 Draft

No 1 Pick: Matt Anderson reached 100 on the radar a number of times over seven major league seasons for the Tigers, but ultimately his production and career was cut short by injuries.

Best Pick, 1st Round: Lance Berkman, #16 Houston Astros

Value Pick, Any Round: Tim Hudson, 6th round, #185 overall, Oakland Athletics; JC Romero, 22nd round, #633 overall, Minnesota Twins; Scot Shields, 38th round, #1,137 overall, Anaheim Angels.

Notable Pick: Chase Utley, 2nd round, Los Angeles Dodgers. Utley went to college instead of signing with the Dodgers and was drafted by the Phillies in 2000 and teamed with Rollins to form the core of the Phillies 2008 championship run.

Worst Pick, First Round: Matt Anderson, #1 Detroit Tigers: When JD Drew, Troy Glaus and Vernon Wells are available, this is a bad pick.