Wednesday evening thoughts: Dukes, Caps, Draft

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that Elijah Dukes is not stupid enough to go to jail for not paying child support. It will be taken care of, ESPN will add it to his list of "transgressions" and we'll be done with it. That's all I have to say. 

If you care to hear an informed person's opinion, check out FJB's take on the media-created "mess" that is Elijah Dukes' past. For those who don't feel like taking that extra click, or for those of you who are Jim Bowden and refuse to visit FJB, here is his two cents:

"Whenever these stories get written, I wonder why the media is so bent on casting Dukes in the worst possible light. Why go so far out of your way to omit mitigating circumstances? Why present information in a way that it implies more than actually happened? Why is the word "JAIL" screaming in every headline when he obviously isn't going to jail? It's slanted, sensationalistic journalism."

Well said, Steven.

Next in the order of business is the Caps. Since they made ESPN's front page with their win over Pittsburgh, I figured it necessitated at least a blurb. I went to Tuesday night's game (if you can even call it that, a pathetic 5-2 loss to the Oilers). Tonight's game was much more impressive-we still have issues, but they beat the Penguins, and that's all that matters. A nice game by Ovechkin and Tomas "Fire Ant" Fleischmann now has goals in his last 2 games. One other note-we're sick of the Ovechkin-Crosby "rivalry." Just because they're the two best players in the world doesn't mean they are rivals. I'm so sick of the attempted storylines both there and with the Crosby-Semin deal. And I'm sick of Evgeni Malkin because he looks like a horse. A very very ugly horse.

Last, I randomly came across some 2009 MLB Mock Drafts. Here are some guys the Nats could grab:

#1 Pick-Stephen Strasburg. No debate here. If Strasburg's stock falls dramatically (presumably only if a major injury occured), the Nats would probably choose between Southern Cal SS Grant Green, HS LHP Matt Purke, UNC 1B/OF Dustin Ackley or UNC RHP Alex White. If any of these guys slip to #10, we've hit the lottery.

#10 Pick-popular names have been Independent League RHP Tanner Scheppers, HS OF Donovan Tate, Mizzou RHP Kyle Gibson, Miami SS Ryan Jackson, HS LHP Tyler Matzek, Tennessee OF Kentrail Davis and Oklahoma State LHP Andy Oliver. Of these guys, I would say we need to absolutely stay away from Tate-he has bust written all over him. Scheppers has injury concerns (the only reason he wasn't taken in the top 10 last year), so I'd avoid him until the second round at the earliest. Out of these guys, I like Gibson a lot...but then you're drafting a Mizzou RHP with the pick the team gets from not signing a Mizzou RHP last year. Whatever works.

I won't go into the 2nd/3rd rounds because that's just too far along to project. One prospect to watch who is usually near the end of the compensation rounds/beginning of the 2nd round in mock drafts, though, is SS Deven Marrero, the cousin of Nats' top prospect Chris Marrero. I would be very happy if he fell to us.

Thanks a lot to DC Pro Sports Report for their MLB Mock Draft Database. Only 4 2009 mock drafts up so far, but most don't start going up until the high school/college seasons have at least begun. Also thanks to Orioles Hangout and BrewerFan.net, from which I linked most of the scouting reports.