…for a) crossing up Blake Monar and Drew Leininger and b) not adding a rotation to my prediction. I left my brain somewhere outside Wheeling, W. Va., it came overnight this afternoon.

Back home again in Indiana, and it seems that I can see you, ostermanlittle5, taking a dig at my extracurricular athletic activities. That aside, ostermanlittle5 offered the following rotation for the spring:

1) Bashore

2) Monar

3) Carr (*Note that Big Ten rule change cuts off the weekend series at three games now, so teams only need three weekend starters.)

4) Leininger/Arnett

5) Leiendecker

Can’t say I’d argue with that roll call, but for the sake of blogging, let’s try. Follow along, will you? Read the rest of this entry »

Hey folks,

A reader commented on my last post asking for a projected starting lineup for next year. As I was in a car crossing five states for most of yesterday, I had not the time to answer his post. Now, however, I have all the time in the world, so here goes.

I will preface this by saying this is pure opinion — I haven’t spoken to any of the coaches or players this summer, and as I’ve been busy, I haven’t had much time to really follow everyone’s progress in summer leagues. So take this for what it is, a blind but educated guess.

2009 starting lineup

1) LF Chris Hervey — No one on this team can replace the speed Andrew Means brought to the leadoff position, only Evan Crawford comes close. But Hervey bats leadoff over the speedster from Reynoldsburg and here’s why: He had a .463 on-base percentage, second on the team only to Josh Phegley. Further, his .373 average was third behind Phegley and Sabourin, who ought to be the 3-4 combo next spring. Hervey may not have Means’ speed, but he can still get around the bases plenty fast.

2) CF Evan Crawford — I don’t know that Crawford will make the permanent move to the outfield, something Tracy Smith toyed with last year, but he’s got the speed and the arm, if he can learn the position. I like his bat and his speed up here ahead of say Tyler Rogers (for reasons I will explain later) or Alex Dickerson, who is an unproven commodity at this level. Most of the talk around Crawford last year centered on his defensive shortcomings, but lost in all that was his .335 average, 30 RBI, 18 stolen bases and 57 games started. He’s underrated in my opinion and he’s got tons of experience, something the Hoosiers finally have an abundance of.

3) C Josh Phegley — If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Phegley was arguably the offensive player in the Big Ten last year — I know he didn’t win POTY, but you can still make that argument — and a 2009 like 2008 will most certainly make him the heir apparent for that award and almost assuredly a top-five round draft pick.

Read the rest of this entry »

And there’s no new news on Blake Monar. I can’t confirm tonight whether Monar signed with the Yankees — though my last report (see below) indicated that he committed himself to coming to IU.

Unless Monar had some 11th-hour change of heart and decided to put his name on the line — and again I stress no one has reported that as yet — fans will get to see him looking more like this than like this.

Again, I stress that nothing is official, though I promise you Ryan and/or I will do our best to reach Monar tomorrow to get final confirmation that he is indeed Bloomington-bound. Until then, just wanted to stay thanks for sticking with us as this story spun its way to a conclusion, and as always leave your comments and thoughts below. Take it easy, I’m going to bed. Driving back to Indiana from D.C. tomorrow, wish me luck.

A baseball source tells the IDS that word is Blake Monar is not expected to sign with the New York Yankees but will instead opt to enroll at IU and play for Tracy Smith’s Hoosiers. The news comes just hours before the final deadline for Major League teams to sign draft picks.

A left-handed stud prospect, Monar was a consensus 3rd-6th round talent coming out of South Spencer (Ind.) High School. He was taken in the 25th round by the Yankees.

Speculation has suggested that Monar fell so far because of signability concerns — he was adamant about his willingness and even desire to come to IU. Monar joins a pitching staff that already boasts All-Big Ten southpaw Matt Bashore, giving IU arguably the best left-handed tandem in the conference.

Hitting coach Sheldon Watkins has left the IU baseball program, a baseball source confirmed Friday night. Watkins had been in the position for one year.

Watkins’ short tenure with the Hoosiers saw IU land at the top of the Big Ten in hitting with an overall team average of .339. That offense also keyed a Big Ten Tournament run that saw the Hoosiers win four games in a row before being knocked out in the semifinals by Purdue.

Baseball sports information director Matt Brady confirmed Friday that Watkins left IU to return to San Diego, where he was coaching high school baseball just before coming to IU.

The source said Watkins was originally a volunteer assistant, a position that held a one-year commitment. However, the source said he was eventually hired and Tyler Best took his place as a volunteer assistant, working primarily with IU’s hitters and catchers. Best was considered instrumental in the development of IU’s All-American catcher Josh Phegley.

Stay with Inside Pitch and the IDS as this story progresses, and we’ll keep you up to date as it unfolds.

This from Baseball America. Alex Meyer’s name has been thrown around a little bit on this blog, thought y’all might find this of interest.

The Red Sox have offered Greensburg (Ind.) High righthander Alex Meyer a $2 million bonus, but that offer has been pulled from the table and no deal is expected to be reached before tonight’s 11:59 EDT deadline. Meyer, a consensus first-round talent who slipped to the 20th round because teams didn’t believe he could be diverted from a commitment to Kentucky, apparently will become a Wildcat.

If Meyer had signed for $2 million, it would have set a new bonus record for a player drafted after the third round.

Boston, however, is expected to announce the signings of athletic outfielders Pete Hissey (fourth round) and Ryan Westmoreland (fifth) later this evening.

Hey folks,

At present, no news is good news for the IU baseball team, and that’s what I’ve got — no news. I’ve spoken with people inside the program and they aren’t aware of any movement on contract talks. We’ll keep you updated throughout the evening, but I just wanted to check in really fast. Stay with Inside Pitch and we’ll make sure to keep you updated

That’s all the time left for Blake Monar and the Yankees to come to agreement before the deadline for signing draft picks. If Monar doesn’t sign, he’ll be Bloomington-bound.

Now we’ve reported in this space (look one post down) about Monar’s velocity being a concern for the Yanks, but that could easily be attributed to the fact that the kid’s been full go for probably eight months now. He’d get all but shut down whether he came to IU or went into the Yankees farm system anyway — the only difference being he’d throw some rookie league innings before the short season ends.

Neither myself nor Ryan have had any recent contact with Monar, so I can’t tell you specifically where he stands, but I would imagine he’s where he was when all of this began — asking the Yankees to meet what he thinks is a fair price. I’ve said all along that most believe Monar when he says he’d be plenty happy in college, and therefore I could see this thing playing out sans a contract in the next three days and Monar officially joining the Hoosier ranks on Aug. 16.

Stay with Inside Pitch and we’ll let you know either way. Take it easy.

This comes from my favorite Yankee blog (though, admittedly there isn’t much in the way of competition) Nomaas.org/draft. Lane Meyer has an extensive interview with Damon Oppenheimer, the Yankees vice president of scouting.

Blake Monar’s name, latest performance and velocity all came up.

Lane: The draftpick that has made the biggest impression in the interviews we have done at the NoMaas Yankee Draft Blog has been Blake Monar. I know the velocity has been down, but he threw a 2-hit shutout (Wednesday) in the (Connie Mack World Series). What are your thoughts on him?

Oppenheimer: We had two guys at the game last night. The results were good, but the velocity was 79-83, and that’s a flag for us. It isn’t just one game that we scout though, we take into account the whole summer, and he’s someone who we really liked and have put a lot of effort into scouting extensively.

L: So does that low velocity significantly lower his chances?

D: Well…it’s a red flag for us, but yes, it does have an impact. Being where it was it [79-83 mph] does decrease chances.

Red flags mean Crimson uni? Time will tell. The deadline for signing is the Aug. 15.

Lane does a fantastic job with his blog, check it out if you happen to be a Yanks fan.

Blake Monar, Hoosier recruit and Yankee draftee, threw a complete game 2-hitter in the Connie Mack World Series last night. Great news for Blake with the deadline for the Yankees to offer him a deal quickly approaching.

The Daily Times in Farmington, NM has the story.

Monar quiets Finest bats, tosses two-hitter

By G. Jeff Golden The Daily Times

Article Launched: 08/07/2008 01:52:48 AM MDT

FARMINGTON — After accruing 17 hits the previous afternoon, the Arizona Finest bats were silenced Wednesday by Midland (Ohio) Redskins pitcher Blake Monar. The (left)-hander racked up seven strikeouts and allowed just two hits in a complete-game shutout, helping the Redskins to a 5-0 win that eliminated the Finest from the Connie Mack World Series.

Monar, who recently recovered from strep throat, carried a no-hitter into the fourth inning until Arizona shortstop Vinnie Barreda smacked a hard-rolling single up the middle on a full count.

“A no-hitter would have been icing on the cake, but it’s not a big deal to me as long as we get the W’,” Monar said.

Arizona’s only other hit came in the fifth when catcher C.J. Cron singled with one out. Cron took second base, and later third, on a pair of wild pitches. Monar got the next two batters to fly out to end the inning.

“It was the last start of the year, so I just came out here and I was giving it everything I possibly had because I have all winter to rest,” Monar said.

The game was close for most of the afternoon. Midland center fielder Josh Richmond’s solo home run in the third inning was the only score of the contest before the Redskins broke the game open in the top of the sixth. Arizona pitcher Danny Victorio had been stellar, allowing four hits and one run over five innings, but appeared to run out of gas.

“I thought maybe we went a couple hitters too long with our starter. By the time we got our relief in, they had a couple more base hits and three runs,” said Finest coach Brent Foshie.

Richmond opened the top of the sixth by lofting a lazy flyball to Arizona second baseman Shaun Cooper. T.J. Jones put himself into scoring position with a double and Hosmer was intentionally walked. Batting fourth, Zack Cox knocked a single to right field — but Finest outfielder Chris Lopez showcased his arm strength by clipping Jones as he tried to come home from second base.

The elation of Arizona supporters was short-lived. Cory Farris launched a two-out, two-run double that plated Hosmer and Cox. Brent Warren brought home Farris with a single, and Warren was driven in two batters later by James McCann.

“I’d been struggling the first two games a little bit. For me to come back and focus a little bit harder on the ball … it felt pretty good,” Farris said.

Arizona relief pitcher Jake Morales struck out designated hitter Thor Meeks to stop the rally.

The Finest mounted one major threat. With one out in the third inning, Monar walked two consecutive batters. Aaron Foshie and Cron, who combined for six hits and seven RBIs the night before, were due at the plate. Foshie hit an innocent grounder to short and Cron struck out to end the inning.

Excellent defense supported the pitching performances of both starters. Arizona first baseman Derek McCawley caught a flyball nearly inside the Redskins’ dugout. Midland shortstop Devin Marrero fist-pumped after making a diving stop and gunning out Mark Anderson at first base. At the time, Marrero’s play preserved the no-hitter.

“(Midland’s) defense may be overshadowed by the other things that they do well, but they made plays today in key situations that I think were a little tougher than they looked. I was impressed with their defense,” Brent Foshie said.

Midland manager Joe Hayden agreed.

“All in all, it was a good defensive game and we had tremendous pitching. That’s the difference,” Hayden said. “When a player goes out there and pitches a two-hit shutout, and is in command all the way, he’s the story of the game.

“And (Victorio) wasn’t too bad, either, by the way,” he added.

The Redskins advance to play the Connecticut Bombers. That game will either be at 5:15 or 7:30 p.m. depending on the winner of the East Cobb (Ga.) Yankees-Connecticut contest at noon.

“You’re concerned every day about every game. All you can do is take them one at a time,” Hayden said.