Welcome back to the Draft, everyone. Last night was fun. I'm enthused about the Robert Stephenson pick and am looking forward to today's portion of the Draft -- rounds 2 through 30.

   I'll post information and comments on all of the Reds picks. I won't post something on every team's pick as I did for the first round and the supplemental round. I will, however, make comments on selected players as they come off the board.

   The picks come rapid fire, so please excuse any typos and the somewhat haphazard method I'll use when posting comments. On Thursday, we'll wrap it up into a cleaner, more in-depth post.

   The Draft begins at noon. Let's start today, however, with a look at what some are saying about the Reds' selection of Stephenson, the big righty from Alhambra HS in Martinez, Calif.

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   Today is the day, the long-awaited time when we find out if the Reds will draft Tyler Anderson, Sean Gilmartin, Kolten Wong, Robert Stephenson or some other player we might or might not have profiled here in the last three weeks.

   The Draft kicks off at 7 p.m. with the first round. Rounds 2 through 30 take place beginning at noon tomorrow. Rounds 31 through 50 begin at noon on Wednesday. I plan to be here for each and every pick, providing some analysis. On Thursday, I plan a wrapup of the draft with more information and comments on each player the Reds select.

   In the meantime, let's use this for today's discussion thread. I'll post updates throughout the day as various final mock drafts are revealed. Feel free to add any  rumors, information and comments you like.

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The Heat are in Dallas to see if they can overcome their amazing fold job the other night and if that's not your thing the MTV Movie Awards are just kicking off. And as always, any topic is welcome, as long as it's interesting. This means no "Dusty should use this lineup", "The entire coaching staff should be stoned to death", "The entire left side of the defense should be replaced by theie Louisville Bats counterparts", etc. 

GO!

  The ever-hyped, much-anticipated time has come for the Turtle to hand his card to the commissioner and hear his pick announced to the world, changing the course of Major League Baseball forever!

   OK, so maybe it’s not quite that earthshattering. Today, though, I’ll reveal whom I think the Reds should select with the 27th overall pick in Monday’s MLB Draft. Keep in mind, No. 27 is way down the list. In real time, I might well like someone else, depending on who slides and who is picked higher than anticipated.

   Before I make the selection, however, let’s review how well the Turtles and Reds have dueled since 2000. Last year, I frowned at the choice of Miami C Yasmani Grandal, preferring Ohio State RHP Alex Wimmers. While the jury remains out, Grandal has performed reasonably well in High-A. Wimmers, on the other hand, faced six batters this spring and walked all of them before being shut down. Wimmers’ inexplicable case of the yips has the Twins wondering if they have a Steve Blass/Rick Ankiel situation without the major league history. Advantage Reds on that one.

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time to break up all the amateur draft fanposts with a little music chatter. its been a while since there has been a music related fanpost. local radio has been playing some interesting songs lately, and a random spin of yankee rose by david lee roth led to a spirited debate in the workplace about who the top ten frontmen of rock history were. 

i was quite certain who the best of all time was. i thought it was a slam dunk, should be unanimous. needless to say it wasnt. no, it wasnt dlr...although id put him in the top ten comfortably. 

so, who do you think are the greatest frontmen in history

   Today we make our second stop in the State of Oregon to check out a LHP in our quest to discern who the Reds will select Monday in the MLB Draft. Earlier, we paid a visit to Oregon State’s Josh Osich. Today, we look at Oregon’s Tyler Anderson.

   Jonathan Mayo’s and Keith Law’s latest mock drafts have the Reds taking Anderson. Rumors abound that Cincinnati is looking for a left-handed college pitcher.

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Hey guys, 

I just finished a wallpaper to commemorate Francisco Cordero's 300th save, and thought some here might like to see it.  

After Joey Votto hit a go-ahead home run on Wednesday day the Reds called on Francisco Cordero to do something he has become very familiar with, something he had done 299 times before, they needed him to get the save.  Cordero came in and sat down the next 3 batters to become the 22nd pitcher in major league history to record his 300 save.  Hopefully Cordero, and the Reds, can carry the momentum over and get out of the slump they have been in lately.  They have fallen behind in the Central, and are now in 3rd.  We will find out soon enough.

Check it out 

   As Draft Day approaches on Monday, we take a look at another prospective Reds selection during a visit to New England where we’ll have a gander at one of the draft’s more interesting youngsters, Lawrence Academy RHP Tyler Beede.

   Beede (6-foot-4, 200 pounds) is from Groton, Mass. Despite poor weather in the Northeast, Beede has put up ridiculous numbers this season, going 7-0 with a 0.32 ERA. In eight games and 44 innings he has allowed eight hits, walked six and struck out 89.

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   The Reds select 27th in the 2011 MLB Draft June 6 and, of course, we all expect Cincinnati to come away with a superstar.

  Yeah, good luck with that.

   History suggests, taking away the last three draft years just to be fair, that the 27th pick in the first round will net a team a major leaguer 61.5 percent of the time. Since 1982, the first year the initial round went 27 picks deep, 16 players picked in that spot have reached the big leagues.

   The odds are skewed a bit, however, by the fact that from 1983 through 1989, every 27th pick made it to the majors. Take away those guys and just nine of 18 made it.

   Supposing our guy makes it, what kind of player can we expect? Well, probably not an all-star. Just two 27th overall picks have made all-star teams and both were Reds at some point – Pete Harnish, selected by Baltimore in 1987, and Todd Jones, taken by Houston in 1989.

   All right, then, can we at least expect a steady player with a solid career? Not necessarily. Just eight No. 27 picks since 1982 played at least five seasons in big leagues. Jones and Mike Fetters (California Angels, 1986) led the way with 16 years apiece. Harnisch played 14 seasons. Calvin Schiraldi (Mets, 1983) put in eight years. Marc Valdes (Marlins, 1993) pitched six seasons. My buddy and former Red Gary Green (Padres, 1984) put in five years, as did Scott Stahoviak (Twins, 1991) and Joey Devine (Braves, 2005).

   Devine is one of three 27th picks still in the majors, joining Rick Porcello (Tigers, 2007) and Sergio Santos (Diamondbacks, 2002).

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   We’ve toured the country in search of the player the Reds will select with the 27th overall pick in the MLB Draft June 6, so let’s stick closer to home this time and take a look at Kent State LHP Andrew Chafin.

   John Sickels of minorleagueball.com predicts Chafin to be Cincinnati’s first-round selection. The rumor mill is hot and heavy with rumblings that the Reds are high on the Golden Flashes star.

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