On June 5th and 6th Major League Baseball conducted their annual first year player draft where five Bruins and five Bruin commits were drafted. As soon as the draft ended, teams and draftees set their sights on August 15, the deadline for players to sign professional contracts. If they failed to sign, players could play in an independent league or college (if they had an eligibility remaining). For most players and unsigned contract means college so with August 15 in our rearview mirror let's take a look at how it all shook out for the Bruins and the Bruin commits.

Bruins:

Tim Murphy, LHP- Murphy, the Bruins' ace last season, was drafted in the third round (89 overall) by the Texas Rangers and signed within days for a $436,000 signing bonus. Murphy led the Bruins with a 3.34 ERA in 2008 and led the conference with 111 strikeouts. After signing, Murphy reported to the Spokane Indians of the Class A Northwest League where he is 3-1 with a 3.03 ERA, .152 batting average against and 40 strikeouts in 30.2 innings pitched.

Brandon Crawford, SS- Crawford was a three year starter for the Bruins and arguably the team's best player over all three years before being drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the fourth round (117 overall). Crawford started all 179 games in his three years at UCLA, batted over .300 in all three seasons and led the Bruins to the postseason each year. Crawford signed with the Giants for a $375,000 signing bonus, well over slot value, but didn't do so until August 13 so he has yet to report to his minor league assignment.

Jermaine Curtis, 3B- Curtis, UCLA's emotional leader for the past three seasons, was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the fifth round (155 overall). Curtis, a three year starter, was named to the All-Pac 10 team in 2007 and was an honorable mention in 2006 and 2008. Curtis signed with the Cardinals on June 10 for a $181,000 bonus and has since reported to the Batavia Muckdogs of the Class A New York-Penn League. With the Muckdogs Curtis is batting .293 with a .373 on-base percentage, two home runs, 14 RBI and four steals.

Alden Carrithers, 2B- Carrithers transferred from UCSB to UCLA prior to his junior year and played two seasons in Westwood before being drafted in the 15th round (463 overall) by the Detroit Tigers. Carrithers batted .364 as a Bruin, sixth highest in program history and earned All-West Region honors as a senior. On July 5 Carrithers signed with the Tigers and reported to Detroit's Rookie League Tigers of the Gulf Coast League. Since  reporting, Carrithers has batted .303 with a .444 on-base percentage and has stolen 12 bases in 13 attempts.

Ryan Babineau, C- The team anchor behind the plate, Babineau was drafted in the 17th round (528 overall) by the Arizona Diamondbacks. Babineau was a three year starter, Freshman All-American and one of the best defensive catchers in the country for the Bruins. Babineau was another Bruins who signed soon after being drafted and he reported to the Yakima Bears of the Class A Northwest League. In Yakima, Babineau is batting .246 with 13 RBI, 6 steals and a .350 batting average with runners in scoring position. 

Commits:

Gerrit Cole, RHP- The gem of John Savage's recruiting class also was the biggest surprise when he bypassed the pros to play for the Bruins as Raisin noted. Cole said early on Friday that he would bypass the pros and be a Bruin, but most assumed the Yankees would never let their first round pick get away and would offer Cole enough money at the last minute that he couldn't turn it down; however, the Yankees came back with another offer after Cole had broken off talked, but Cole's mind was already made up. Cole possesses a plus slider and a plus fastball that touches 97 mph which earned him a #1 ranking among high school prospects by Perfect Game. Cole was drafted in the first round (28 overall) by the New York Yankees, about 20-25 spots lower than his talent would dictate however teams were scared off by his willingness to attend UCLA and his representation (Scott Boras).

Cutter Dykstra, OF- The son of former major leaguer Lenny Dykstra, Cutter was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the second round (54 overall). Dykstra shot up the draft boards late thanks to outstanding athleticism (he received the highest SPARQ score at the 2007 Area Code Games) and excellent bat speed. Dykstra signed with the Brewers three days after the draft for a $737,000 bonus and bypassed what would have been an excellent opportunity to start in center field for the Bruins.

Tyler Chatwood, RHP/OF- Chatwood is a true two way player who excels on the mound and with the bat. He was drafted in the second round (74 overall) by the Anaheim Angels (yes, they're Anaheim!) as a pitcher and signed soon after for a $547,000 bonus. Once drafted by the Angels it was widely assumed Chatwood would sign considering he was drafted high and grew up an Angels fan. Had he made it to campus, Chatwood would have competed for a starting outfield spot as a freshman and could have stepped into the closer's role.

Clark Murphy, 1B/OF- A big kid with a lot of power, Murphy was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the fifth round (153 overall). During the home run derby at the AFLAC All-American Game last summer, Murphy hit some of the afternoons farthest shots despite hitting with wood bats and has trimmed down since, making him far more athletic. Despite the chance to be the DH for the Bruins as a freshman, Murphy signed with the Rangers with a week to go before the signing deadline for a $200,000 bonus.

Calvin Drummond, RHP- A late bloomer, Drummond was drafted in the 34th round (1,028 overall) by the Milwaukee Brewers. Drummond was a solid pitcher for most of his high school career, but a growth spurt that pushed him to 6'2'' turned him into hot college prospect. Despite being 6'6'', Drummond weighs only 160 pounds and is in serious need of some work in the weight room. Most don't expect Drummond to make a huge contribution early, but scouts believe he can be a very effective pitcher once he fills out. Drummond passed on turning pro and will join the Bruins for the 2009 season.

Conclusions:

There's no doubt the Bruins were hit hard by the draft and signing period, but that wasn't unexpected. The Bruins will have to replace their ace, catcher, second baseman, third baseman and shortstop in 2009. On top of the production the Bruins will be replacing, they will also have to replace the leadership that leaves with the players. UCLA was hoping another commit or two would make it to campus, but that hope went out the window when Dykstra and Chatwood both zoomed up the draft boards late and Murphy got above slot money. The fact that Cole will be a Bruin certainly eases the blow as the Bruins will have the nation's most talented freshman pitcher in the country and very possibly, one of the country's top pitchers in a year or two.

The amount of talent the Bruins lost cannot be underestimated so a strong start, especially with a brutal schedule is likely out of the question; however the team could certainly come together by the time conference play begins and be ready for another postseason run. Whether players like Casey Haerther, Gabe Cohen and a slew of underclassmen step up will determine their fortunes offensively. On the mound Cole will have time to develop because the Bruins will have one of the nation's deepest pitching staffs. Charles Brewer and Gavin Brooks are currently slated to be weekend starters and big things are expected from Rob Rasmussen as a sophomore. Cole, Gerrit Claypool, Matt Drummond, Dan Klein and Matt Grace will all vie for starting spots with the rest joining stud relievers Brendan Lafferty and Jason Novak in the bullpen. With all that depth, Cole will have the opportunity to compete for a starting spot, but will most likely have the luxury of beginning the season in the bullpen before moving to a midweek starter and possible Sunday starter if he performs well.

With most colleges beginning class in the next week or two the summer leagues have come to a conclusion so I will have an update on how all the Bruins did for the respective teams this summer in the next few days. That should be all the major college baseball news and information for a while. After the update on the summer leagues I don't anticipate any more baseball related posts until after the fall when fall practices are complete and the team begins to take shape. That should leave us about two months short of the February 20 opener versus UC Davis. GO BRUINS!!!

UPDATE: The official site has picked up on Cole attending UCLA and here's a few notes from it:

Cole, listed at 6-foot-3 and 195 pounds, becomes the first first-round draft selection out of high school to ever attend UCLA. Additionally, the hard-throwing right-hander is the first such draftee to enter college since 2001, when left-handed pitcher Jeremy Sowers enrolled at Vanderbilt after having been drafted by the Cincinnati Reds (20th overall). Former Bruin standouts Troy Glaus (37th overall, 1994 draft) and Chase Utley(76th overall, 1997) were both second-round draft picks in high school before enrolling at UCLA.

"I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to get my education and play baseball at UCLA," said Cole, who signed a National Letter of Intent in November 2007 to play in Westwood. "Coach Savage has really established UCLA as one of the nation's top college baseball programs, and that's something I want to be a part of. His knowledge as a pitching coach is only going to help my development, and I'm excited to get started with the Bruins this fall."

Gerrit Cole, star Bruin recruit (photo credit: campus.lhsoc.org)

Bumped. GO BRUINS. -N

The official site got an interview with head baseball coach John Savage. It had some good questions and Savage provided some interesting answers.

Q: If you had to name three reasons for fans to be excited in 2009, which would you choose?

 

A: Our pitching staff is as good as any in the country. We bring back two talented seniors in Brendan Lafferty and Jason Novak. We have several exceptional juniors in Charles Brewer, who won nine games, and Gavin Brooks, who looks to rebound off his sophomore season, and Matt Drummond. We bring back sophomores Dan Klein, Matt Grace and Rob Rasmussen. Erik Goeddel missed last season recovering from an injury and looks to be healthy this fall. Right now, we're holding onto Gerrit Cole, a first-round draft pick by the Yankees. This could be an electric staff, both right and left-handed. We're also very excited about our offense. With the return of Casey Haerther, Gabe Cohen and Cody Decker, and the possibility of Brandon Crawford coming back, you're talking about a very explosive lineup. With Jeff Rapoport, Blair Dunlap, Justin Uribe and the newcomers, our offense can be really good. Our outfield is going to be exceptionally deep with guys such as Blair Dunlap, Brett Krill, Justin Uribe and Gabe Cohen. We think that they are an experienced group who can be very good defensively. Those three reasons -the depth of our pitching staff, the potential for our offense and the strength of our outfielders - give us a lot of excitement heading into the 2009 season. 

That pitching staff could be as good as Savage believes it will be, but there are some questions. There is plenty of depth, but who will be the ace? Brooks was supposed to be the ace last season, but never found his form. Brewer was inconsistent all season and is now struggling in the Cape Cod League. The one guy who may emerge as the ace is Rasmussen who missed a bulk of the season with a broken foot, but has been lights out in the Cape.

Q: Both catchers from the last two seasons will not return in 2009 (Ryan Babineau, signed pro contract; Brent Dean, senior). What options does this team have behind the plate next spring?

 

A: Ryan has been our anchor - he had a remarkable career at UCLA, catching three great pitching staffs the last three seasons. He led our program to three postseason appearances. Brent Dean had a stellar senior season. Both of those guys are going to be missed a ton - from their leadership skills to their toughness to their ability to throw people out. That tandem last season was as good as there was out there. We feel confident that there are guys on the roster who can fill those needs - Chris Giovinazzo, Cody Decker, Gino Aielli and incomer Steven Rodriguez. Those are guys who can step in and hold that down. It could be two catchers, but we don't know who is going to be the everyday starter right now. That is a void, other than Tim Murphy on the pitching and catching landscape, that needs to be looked at. It's going to be competitive between when these guys return to campus in the fall and Opening Day. 

The catcher position will most definitely be the Bruins biggest question mark entering next season. Not a single Bruin has an inning of time behind the plate at the college level and replacing Babineau's on field production will be the easy part. Babineau was also one of the team's leaders and is extremely intelligent, allowing for more detailed scouting reports than most catchers can handle.

Q: Next season, Oregon will resume its baseball program (dropped since 1981), creating a true Pac-10. Aside from that trip to play the Ducks, what can you tell fans about the 2009 schedule?

...So, looking at our 2009 schedule, the road portion is the toughest in the nation. Playing at the Houston College Classic on that second weekend of the season, our players are very excited to go up against Rice, Houston, Baylor and Texas A&M. After that, we play consecutive weekends at Oklahoma and East Carolina before opening Pac-10 play at USC. Other Pac-10 road trips include playing at Washington State, Stanford, Oregon and Arizona State. Those are some big challenges that we'll face next season. We do not want to play a soft schedule, and we don't believe in playing a soft schedule - I think the players will back everything I say about that. They want to play the best teams, and they want to play in the toughest environment. That's how you get better in baseball, and that's how you get better as a program. Our schedule next year will be one of the toughest in the nation, if not the toughest.

I cannot begin to tell you how difficult next season's schedule will be. East Carolina is one of the tougher places in the nation to play and Oklahoma qualified for a regional last season despite fielding a very young squad. On top of that, playing at the Houston College Classic will be brutal with four very good Texas teams joining us and the Trojans at Minute Maid Park. It's the nation's biggest college baseball tournament so it will be great exposure for the program, but to play there and follow it with trips to Oklahoma and East Carolina is borderline suicide.

Q: Steele Field at Jackie Robinson Stadium has received several upgrades the past three seasons, including over 1,000 chairback seats, a state-of-the-art backstop net and a brand new natural grass field surface. What improvements are in the works this offseason?

 

A: We have quite a few things that we need to accomplish at Jackie Robinson Stadium. We're looking to install about 500 additional seats above the dugouts, replacing the grass slopes currently there, to get the capacity of the ballpark to around 1,700 seats. We're looking to build a new hitting facility - a state-of-the-art facility that will help our hitters. We need cages and space to be able to hit in. We would like to build a new clubhouse. The clubhouse, the hitting facility and the additional seats are a big priority for our program. Those would be the three biggest additions to Jackie Robinson Stadium that we feel can make it one of the nicest facilities in the nation. We have the best school, we have the best conference and we have the best schedule, so there are a lot of pieces in place. Our next move is to upgrade our facility to be one of the best in the country. 

That's some nice talk, but it looks like only the seats above the dugouts will be done for next season and there is no timeline for the rest of the renovations. On top of that, the playing surface that was installed last season should be ripped out and done over after the pathetic installation job left it a far from suitable surface. I've already articulated my thoughts on Jackie Robinson Stadium in an e-mail to Dan Guerrero and while he was nice enough to respond to me, his e-mail far from assured me that the stadium and program would get the necessary renovations done correctly and in a timely fashion.

If you want more from Savage read the whole interview. The deadline for draft picks to sign with their MLB teams is rapidly approaching (August 15) and there are still three players of interest to the Bruins unsigned. SS Brandon Crawford, a fourth round pick of the San Francisco Giants may return for his senior season after seeing his stock drop significantly with a disappointing junior season; however when I spoke to those close to him at the regionals in Fullerton he seemed intent on signing and I still expect him to do so. RHP Gerrit Cole, an extremely talented recruit was taken in the first round by the Yankees and is represented by Scott Boras. Had any other team drafted Cole I'd expect him to make it to Westwood because Boras is notorious for holding steady to his asking price and for Cole that asking price is very high, but there's no way the Yankees let their first round pick get away. Savage sounds mildly optimistic in his interview that Cole could end up on campus but I don't buy it. 1B/OF Clark Murphy is another recruit who went fairly high (5th round to Texas) and remains unsigned. The lefthander with massive power looks like a better than 50/50 shot to play for the Bruins, but signing with the Rangers isn't out of the question. 

One guy the Bruins will certainly have in 2009 is RHP Trevor Bauer. Bauer is one the top pitching prospects for the class of 2009 and would have likely been a high pick in the 2009 MLB Draft, but he has decided that graduate from Newhall Hart High School in December and join the Bruins early. Last season as a junior Bauer went 12-0, 0.79 in 70.2 innings pitched, striking out 106 batters.

I'll have a post as soon as the August 15 signing deadline passes with updates on who has signed and who will be in Westwood next season and I will also have another post detailing how our Bruins fared in their respective summer leagues. Until then I don't expect much baseball news. GO BRUINS!!!

Remember how some questioned whether or not Russ could shoot the ball well enough to score against pros? Others questioned whether he could play the point in the NBA as well. The summer league is far from the level of play that he will see once the regular season kicks off, but Russ got off to a good start in his first summer league game.

In his first professional game, No. 4 overall pick Russell Westbrook made his presence felt on Monday as Oklahoma City opened the Orlando Pro Summer League with a 95-78 loss to the Indiana Pacers. Westbrook started at point guard and played 31 minutes, scoring 18 points, handing out five assists and grabbing four rebounds.

“It was good to get out there again,” Westbrook said, “and I felt comfortable right away.”

Russ got some positive reviews from Oklahoma City star Kevin Durant too.

“Watching Russell out there was fun,“ Durant said. “He’s good and very athletic. He’s going to help us, and I’m anxious to watch him to see how he does for the remainder of the week.”

Hmmm, so maybe Bruins can succeed at the next level?

Bumped. GO BRUINS. -N

After reading N’s post about the home and home series with Kansas in ’09-’10, I remembered a post by M from a while back about football rivalries that aren’t, but should be. This got me wondering, what basketball rivalries are out there that aren’t but should be? I’m going to take it a little farther than that and not only limit it to rivalries, but home and home series as well. Here’s how M set the table for his post.

Nevertheless, just for fun, I wonder what rivalries make the "most sense," if all these factors disappeared and we had it to do it all over again.  What if we just looked at the universities, their students and their recent pasts, and spun a new set of traditions out of whole cloth?  What are the "natural" rivalries?  Or, in other words, what rivalries that aren't, but should be?  

So we’ll change it up a bit and explore what basketball rivalries/games aren’t, but should be. They can be ones you’d like to see UCLA take part in or ones between any two teams in the country. Here are 5 I’d like to see UCLA participate in, in no particular order.

1. UCLA vs. Notre Dame- The two programs have played recently and will play again this year at Pauley (which should be a fun match-up of two top 10 teams), but this needs to be taken a step farther and made an annual game. There’s too much history between these two programs, from record streaks ending in upsets to epic games on the way to titles for it not to be played every year. This would also match two of the country’s top academic institutions where excellence is expected in the classroom and on the court.

2. UCLA vs. North Carolina- In the past three seasons the two programs have been among the nation’s elite. Not only could the two schools battle in the Final Four in the near future, but they’re already battling for recruits (Kevin Love, Alex Stephenson, Larry Drew). The history between the two programs would be tough to match as well with 82 NCAA tournament appearances, 35 Final Fours and 15 national titles between the two. Then just to make it better, the games would be played at the Dean Smith Center and on John and Nell Wooden Court.

3. UCLA vs. Gonzaga- The established national power that rules the west coast versus the little guys who have taken the college basketball world by storm in the past decade. Gonzaga’s ascent in the college basketball world has been nothing short of extraordinary and despite playing in the lowly WCC the Zags have made a name for themselves by finding their way into the top 25 on a regular basis. We saw this match-up only three seasons ago in the NCAA tournament when UCLA’s 17 point comeback sent the Bruins to the Elite 8 and eventually the National Championship game. Ever since that night, I’ve wanted to see the two programs square off again.

4. UCLA vs. Georgetown- The best team in the northeast plays the best team in the southwest. Both teams like to pound and bang, making this one of the more physical and entertaining match-ups you could get. People say that Ben Howland brought a Big East mentality out west so how about we take the Big East mentality to the Big East and show them how toughness and defense is really done. And again, two of the nation’s better academic institutions.

5. UCLA vs. Purdue- I don’t want to see this game just to play Purdue. I want to see this game as a season opener when the newly renovated Pauley Pavilion opens. The beautiful new area opens, John and Nell Wooden Court is rededicated and the team Coach led to 10 national titles plays the team Coach played his collegiate ball for. I can’t think of a better team to reopen Pauley Pavilion against.

Also there are three games I’d like to see that don’t include UCLA. More after the jump ...

Continue reading this post »

Bumped. GO BRUINS. -N

The UCLA basketball program has released their tentative 2008-2009 schedule. The schedule features 29 regular season games with two more possible should UCLA advance to the semi-final round of the 2K Sports Classic. One of the regular season games' opponent is still to be determined, as is one of the two exhibition games. The Bruins face off with Texas as part of the Pac 10/Big XII Hardwood Series, host Notre Dame the week of the USC game and take on DePaul in the John R. Wooden Classic. The other teams participating in the 2K Classic have not been announced, however Duke and Michigan will join UCLA in the tournament. The fourth team has yet to be decided, but Mississippi State, Southern Illinois and Nebraska are possibilities.

Tentative 2008-2009 UCLA Basketball Schedule

Tues., Nov. 4 Humboldt State (Exhibition)

Fri., Nov. 7 TBA (Exhibition)

Wed.,, Nov. 12 Coaches vs. Cancer First Round (at Pauley Pavilion)

Thurs., Nov. 13 Coaches vs. Cancer Second Round (at Pauley Pavilion)

Thurs., Nov. 20 Coaches vs. Cancer Semifinals (at Madison Square Garden)

Fri.., Nov. 21 Coaches vs. Cancer Final (at Madison Square Garden)

Sat., Nov. 29 Florida International

Thurs., Dec. 4 at Texas #

Sun., Dec. 7 Cal State Northridge

Sat., Dec. 13 DePaul $

Wed., Dec. 17 TBA

Sat., Dec. 20 Mercer

Tues., Dec. 23 Wyoming

Sun., Dec. 28 Louisiana Tech

Fri., Jan. 2 at Oregon State*

Sun., Jan. 4 at Oregon*

Sat., Jan. 10 at USC*

Thurs., Jan. 15 Arizona State*

Sat., Jan. 17 Arizona*

Thurs., Jan. 22 at Washington State*

Sat., Jan. 24 at Washington*

Thurs., Jan. 29 California*

Sat., Jan. 31 Stanford*

Wed., Feb. 4 USC*

Sat., Feb. 7 Notre Dame

Thurs., Feb. 12 at Arizona*

Sat., Feb. 14 at Arizona State*

Thurs., Feb. 19 Washington*

Sat., Feb. 21 Washington State*

Thurs., Feb. 26 at Stanford*

Sat., Feb. 28 at California*

Thurs., Mar. 5 Oregon*

Sat., Mar. 7 Oregon State*

Mar. 11-14 Pac-10 Tournament (at Staples Center)

#- Pac 10/Big XII Hardwood Series

$- Wooden Classic, Anaheim, Calif. (Honda Center)

*- Pac 10 Game

Bumped. GO BRUINS. -N

UCLA has a reputation for severely underpaying its coaches and being unwilling to invest in its athletics. So with Howland signing his fifth contract extension in five years Jeff Eisenberg took a look at how Howland's contract compares with those of some of the other top coaches in the country.

- Billy Donovan (Florida), $3.5 million
- Thad Matta (Ohio State), $2.5 million
- John Calipari (Memphis), $2.35 million
- Billy Gillispie (Kentucky), $2.3 million
- Tom Crean (Indiana), $2.3 million
- Ben Howland (UCLA), $1.97 million
- Roy Williams (North Carolina), $1.8 million
- Tubby Smith (Minnesota), $1.8 million
- Tom Izzo (Michigan State), $1.7 million
- Rick Pitino (Louisville), $1.65 million
- Bill Self (Kansas) $1.4 million (Expected to renegotiate this offseason)

Not bad for an athletic department that has a history of underpaying coaches. It's clear the attitude of the Morgan Center has changed since DG took over and coaches who perform are rewarded. Just check out the numbers of how Howland's salary has gone up in the past five years (again from Jeff Eisenberg).

Howland's annual salary
2003-04: $900,000 (11-17, 7th in Pac-10)
2004-05: $900,000 (18-11, lost to Texas Tech in NCAA first round)
2005-06: $900,000 (32-7, lost to Florida in NCAA title game)
2006-07: $1.15 million (30-6, lost to Florida in Final Four)
2007-08: $1.5 million (35-4, lost to Memphis in Final Four)
2008-09: $1.97 million (???)

I don't think anybody would argue that Howland has deserved each and every one of those raises. Maybe we'll see him get another raise after next season deserving for a coach who brought home banner #12?