Imagine what could have been

[Griff83]

2005 mlb amatuer draft

#5 overall pick Ryan Braun
#6 overall pick Ricardo Romero
#7 overall pick Troy Tulowitzki

[OldNo7]

Why, why bring this up? We've been through enough.

[Griff83]

Why, why bring this up? We've been through enough.

Haha its good for a laugh.

Both Braun and Tulo look to be future cornerstone franchise type players and I cant remeber the last time I even heard of Romero doing anything great at the minor league level.

Imagine a Tulowitzki/Hill infield

[OldNo7]

I have half the mind to lock this just because its too painful to talk about.

[Griff83]

any updates on Romero? has he shown anything in the minors for people to think he will make a impact at the major league anytime soon?

[Michael Bradley]

2005 mlb amatuer draft

#5 overall pick Ryan Braun
#6 overall pick Ricardo Romero
#7 overall pick Troy Tulowitzki

#9 Mike Pelfrey
#10 Cameron Maybin

I don't know which one was worse, Romero or Adams. It's neck and neck on a depressing level.

[SmallTownJournalist303]

There's no point in mulling over this now; what's done is done.
Unless you've got the mandatory Toronto sports fan self-inflicted pain fetish, in which case this almost deserves to be stickied.

[Griff83]

There's no point in mulling over this now; what's done is done.
Unless you've got the mandatory Toronto sports fan self-inflicted pain fetish, in which case this almost deserves to be stickied.

I dont understand, Ive hardly at all ever seen this topic brought up anywhere on these boards, its not like its some beaten to death subject. The guy who took Romero over Tulo/Maybin is the same persons who's running this current team.

Can we get some updates on Romero? Id like to hear at least something positive seeing every time I turn on the televison Tulowitzki is hitting a home run or making a great defensive play.

[Holmes]

I'm more interested in how the Padres feel. Selecting SS Matt Bush 1st overall in 2004 over Verlander, Humber, Bailey, Weaver, Butler, Drew, Fields, and Hughes. Other than Humber, the rest all have established themselves as starters already in the majors.

Bush? Hit .204 in high A 2007. He was so brutal offensively in his 3+ seasons in A ball that they gave up on him in mid season as a positional player and converted him to a pitcher in Rookie Ball in 2007.

Signability? Sure it was a factor. But you couldn't have screwed up this badly.

But who am I to make fun of. Padres are in the playoff hunt. While our recent lack of quality depth can be attributed to poor drafting by the Jays.

As for Romero... His 2007 stats in AA speak for themselves. 3-6, 4.89 ERA, 1.69 WHIP. The only plus is his strikeout per nine, especially for a guy who lacks power and relies on finesse.



Oh yeah...I should mention that after 7 relief apperences, Matt Bush blows out his elbow, needs Tommy John surgery, and won't be back till 2009.

You can't make this stuff up.

[jalenrose#5]

I don't know what's wrong with you all. Pitchers are known to take longer to develop than regular position players because for the most part they pitch 5-7 IP every 5th day meanwhile, other positional palyers get 400+ AB's throughout the year.

Romero has struggled through injuries the first two years in the Jays organization and I felt by the end of the year he was starting to get back on track.

Look at McGowan....how long did it take for him to develop into the pitcher he is today...it was at least 5 years.

How do the Giants feel when they dealt for AJ Pierzynski....they did lose Boof Bonser, Joe Nathan and Fransisco Liriano....they dealt their pitching prospects too soon.

[whiterasta80]

Man Holmes are you gonna look stupid when Bush pulls a reverse Roy Hobbs. *sarcasm

Jalen, I have no problem with Romero as a prospect (you're right that we need to give him waaaay longer than we have to evaluate him). The bigger problem is that nobody ever saw Romero as a top prospect, and we are slowly realizing that some of those scouts who said he was a #4 starter while Maybin was a 5 tool cleanup guy may have been right! Even if he does turn reach his ceiling he is probably not in Maybin, or Tulo's league. If we had Romero, and the guys around him turned out to be Matt Bush's then Riccardi would have been validated. Unfortunately its just more ammo for those of us who want him canned.

[Griff83]

I don't know what's wrong with you all. Pitchers are known to take longer to develop than regular position players because for the most part they pitch 5-7 IP every 5th day meanwhile, other positional palyers get 400+ AB's throughout the year.

Romero has struggled through injuries the first two years in the Jays organization and I felt by the end of the year he was starting to get back on track.

Look at McGowan....how long did it take for him to develop into the pitcher he is today...it was at least 5 years.

How do the Giants feel when they dealt for AJ Pierzynski....they did lose Boof Bonser, Joe Nathan and Fransisco Liriano....they dealt their pitching prospects too soon.

Have you seen how good Tulowitzki is? Romero would basically have to turn into a #1 frontline pitcher to ease the pain of passing on a talent like Tulo. That guy is going to be one of the 2 best SS's in the NL very soon and one of the better players in the entire league in a few years. Has Romero even shown star potential in the minors when healthy? because from what Ive heard even when he was healthy he wasnt showing top end potential.

[Michael Bradley]

I don't know what's wrong with you all. Pitchers are known to take longer to develop than regular position players because for the most part they pitch 5-7 IP every 5th day meanwhile, other positional palyers get 400+ AB's throughout the year.

Romero has struggled through injuries the first two years in the Jays organization and I felt by the end of the year he was starting to get back on track.

Look at McGowan....how long did it take for him to develop into the pitcher he is today...it was at least 5 years.

McGowan always had frontline stuff (plus he was drafted out of high school and lost a year to TJ Surgery). Romero is/was projected as a mid-tier starter at best.

That was a bad pick. Romero would have to turn into a #2 starter to justify it.

[Holmes]

I don't know what's wrong with you all. Pitchers are known to take longer to develop than regular position players because for the most part they pitch 5-7 IP every 5th day meanwhile, other positional palyers get 400+ AB's throughout the year.

Romero has struggled through injuries the first two years in the Jays organization and I felt by the end of the year he was starting to get back on track.

Look at McGowan....how long did it take for him to develop into the pitcher he is today...it was at least 5 years.

How do the Giants feel when they dealt for AJ Pierzynski....they did lose Boof Bonser, Joe Nathan and Fransisco Liriano....they dealt their pitching prospects too soon.

I think most people would be more lenient on giving Romero more time to develop had it not been for the fact that Romero was a seen as a prospect who could rise quickly in the system. We supposedly drafted him as a polished prospect after 3 years at the college level under his belt who we could bring up quickly into our rotation. But the complete opposite happened and he's having a problem finding success in Double AA.

Should we all accept the fact that Romero might need more time to develop? Sure. But the difference with Romero and McGowan was McGowan had raw talent from the get go, whereas, Romero's key attribute was poise and not talent. It's easier to be optimistic about a guy with so much talent because you'd know he'd be awesome once everything comes together (there's a reason Baltimore continue to trot out Daniel Cabrera). On the other hand, you look at Romero, a guy where it's been no secret since he was drafted that his upside was at most a #3. For a guy who's best attributes was polish and poise he's made little strides in working with what he's got.

[Tha Cynic]

Why does it always seem like everyone JP drafts ends up being an average player at best. I have no confidence that this guy can ever draft a star quality player.

[Griff83]

Why does it always seem like everyone JP drafts ends up being an average player at best. I have no confidence that this guy can ever draft a star quality player.

Well i'd say his best chance with that is Travis Snyder, so we'll see how that turns out.

[asif9t9]

It's so painful watching baseball in September. Everything the Jays do is a waste of time. JP needs to go. Gibbons needs to go. And if Godfrey doesn't have the stones to take care of it, then he needs to go, too. All GM's like to talk about 5 yr plans. JP hasn't improved the team since he got here.

[evilRyu]

-= original quote snipped =-

Both Braun and Tulo look to be future cornerstone franchise type players and I cant remeber the last time I even heard of Romero doing anything great at the minor league level.

Imagine a Tulowitzki/Hill infield

I know what you're trying to imply, but can the term "franchise players" be used in baseball? But I guess that's another discussion on its' own.

[The-Insider]

"Two Jays scouts visited my house," Tulowitzki, the Colorado Rockies shortstop, said in the Coors Field clubhouse the other day. "On draft day it was apparent they wanted pitching."

"The larger part of our group wanted Tulowitzki over Romero," said one former Jays scout. "The GM was adamant. Russ Adams could play short. We didn't need a shortstop."

Dating back to 1983 when Gillick was running the show, and thought Clemens was the best player available, but still selected Matt Stark. It seems that the organization has a fine history in drafting by need rather than taking the best available talent.

The Tulowitzki case is vintage Riccardi.

[arrpy]

This topic hurts to even read, why put us Jays fans through so much bad memories...Our draft picks haven't been so good for the past years.