The Delmon Young - Rickie Weeks Pick revisited

by David Bloom on Jan 24, 2008 10:28 PM EST

Knowing what you know today. Lets journey back to 2003. Southern University's hot hitting 2B prospect Rickie Weeks is the highly coveted player expected to be the top overall pick in the 2003 draft. The Devil Rays are on the clock. Everyone expects the Devil Rays to pick Weeks with their strength in the outfield ranks.

The Rays with the projected middle infield of Weeks and Upton are sure to be cornerstones for this franchise for a long long time. But, in recent weeks a high schooler, brother of Dimitri Young has been making the news headlines. Bud Selig walks to the podium to announce the pick.

What would the best pick for the organization been? Did the LaMar regime make the right pick? You decide.

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Re: The Delmon Young - Rickie Weeks Pick revisited

Hard to say - Delmon helped bring back Garza, and Weeks probably would've been moved to the outfield anyhow or else B.J. + Rickie form one of the worst fielding, best hitting combos in recent history.

Of course that's assuming Weeks can hit his batting average up slightly, he's got a nice OBP.

by R.J. Anderson on Jan 24, 2008 10:52 PM EST reply actions

Re: The Delmon Young - Rickie Weeks Pick revisited

i guess you are assuming that everybody that reads this site has followed Weeks career closely and knows his stats off the top of their heads? I know the generalities but I am too lazy to go look up the details.

so I guess I will go with...O LOOK! CAKE!

The Revolution will begin soon...

by Devil Ray Guevara on Jan 25, 2008 12:33 AM EST reply actions

Re: The Delmon Young - Rickie Weeks Pick revisited

Weeks .249/.357/.410
Delmon .293/.319/.419

by R.J. Anderson on Jan 25, 2008 7:59 AM EST up reply actions

Re: The Delmon Young - Rickie Weeks Pick revisited

Delmon. No contest. Look at the numbers and Delmon is close and he's 3 years younger.

by rglass44 on Jan 25, 2008 12:39 AM EST reply actions

Re: The Delmon Young - Rickie Weeks Pick revisited

Weeks has been slowed by injuries, but all the pieces are there for a big offensive breakthrough. His hole is defense and health while Delmon is a hacker with attitude. I say at this point it is still a tossup, but either pick is a win.

by RATW on Jan 25, 2008 8:34 AM EST reply actions

Re: The Delmon Young - Rickie Weeks Pick revisited

You never know what you are getting in the draft. You want numbers, A few weeks ago I compared Weeks numbers to some other 2Bs:

OPS : .(Utley 0.976, Kjohnson 0.831 , Weeks .805)
OPS -PrOPS : (Utley 0.115, Kjohnson 0.33 , Weeks -0.140)
VORP: (Utley 68.8, Kjohnson 33.1 , Weeks 26.1)
GroundBalls:(Utley 170, Kjohnson 177 , Weeks 122)
Fly Balls:(Utley 187, Kjohnson 161 , Weeks 123)
G/F: (Utley 0.91, Kjohnson 1.10 , Weeks 0.99)
Win Shares : (Utley 28, Kjohnson 19, Weeks 15)
PMR(defense) : (Utley 105.95, Kjohnson 97.27, Weeks 93.93)

The question to me is a middle infielder with pop is rare. I guess they call that position scarcity or something. SI is calling for Weeks to break out this season. It seems 2B is an area that we do not have the depth with in the organization. It was kinda risky taking another high schooler #1 overall at the time, the way Hamilton pick worked out. basically, Delmon was high risk, high reward. Where as, Weeks was the safe pick. LaMar going high risk, who knew?

by David Bloom on Jan 25, 2008 9:09 AM EST reply actions

Re: The Delmon Young - Rickie Weeks Pick revisited

2B does seem a bit shallow, maybe we could land Weeks' little brother in the upcoming draft? If not we have Bartlett, Aki, and even Fontaine who could play second in the near future.

by R.J. Anderson on Jan 25, 2008 9:12 AM EST up reply actions

Re: The Delmon Young - Rickie Weeks Pick revisited

On the other hand, I think there is a growing consensus that Weeks will not remain at 2B. (In fact, it seems to me there was a question about his future there even when he was drafted.) If he does move, particularly if it is to a corner, does his performance, even assuming a breakout, still mark him as an elite player? If not, and if Delmon does develop as many expect, I think the Rays made the right choice.

by bobr on Jan 25, 2008 10:11 AM EST up reply actions

Re: The Delmon Young - Rickie Weeks Pick revisited

We would not have been able to get Garza or another pitcher of his caliber for Weeks, I don't think. While there is the scarcity argument, Weeks' defense hurts his value and, as was said earlier, may switch positions.

by rglass44 on Jan 25, 2008 1:47 PM EST reply actions

Podium?

There's no podium in the major league draft, or at least there wasn't back then....

At this point I'd say Delmon was the better pick. In retrospect, Nick Markakis would have been the best pick, although he was considered second tier at that point (and most people thought of him as a pitcher). What a crappy draft after the top 2 picks though. Next 4 picks were Kyle Sleeth (injured the whole time, probably will never make the majors), Chris Lubanski (Royals recently passed him through waivers and nobody claimed him), Tim Stauffer (whose arm was dead before he even signed) and Ryan Harvey (now a non-prospect in A ball).

by Brickhaus on Jan 25, 2008 2:08 PM EST reply actions

Re: Podium?

.. and Ryan Harvey would have been our choice if not for Young and Weeks.

http://www.sptimes.com/2003/05/30/Rays/Harvey_muscles_into_d.shtml

"The first thing that strikes you is not only his raw athleticism, and especially his power, but it's his makeup," Rays general manager Chuck LaMar said.

by RATW on Jan 25, 2008 3:00 PM EST up reply actions

Re: The Delmon Young - Rickie Weeks Pick revisited

by rglass44 on Jan 25, 2008 2:23 PM EST reply actions

Re: The Delmon Young - Rickie Weeks Pick revisited

That has ended up being one of the worst drafts of the last several years, but the steal of that draft was one Mr. Jonathan Papelbon in the 4th round.

by raidersumpire on Jan 27, 2008 10:07 AM EST reply actions