Paris Shewey signs with Houston Astros

Shewey

After the conclusion of the 2011 MLB First-Year Player Draft on Wednesday, the Cougar players not drafted went out looking to sign free agent contracts. Paris Shewey is the first non-drafted Cougar to find one. Today Paris Shewey signed on with the Houston Astros, and will begin his career in Florida.

“I’m extremely blessed to have this humble beginning to my professional baseball career,” Shewey said in a press release. “I’m thankful to everyone who has helped me along the way.”

Cody Bartlett drafted by Toronto Blue Jays

Bartlett

The Toronto Blue Jays, with the 1249th overall pick in this years First-Year Player Draft selected Cougar shortstop Cody Bartlett.


“Thank you to everyone who got me to this point,” Bartlett said in a press release. “From my youth days to everyone at WSU, I am forever grateful.”


I'm swamped at work, so for the interesting facts and in place of his statistics (until later today) here is a chunk of the official email sent out by WSU Sports Information.


A native of Kent, Bartlett started 37 games as a true freshman in 2007 and another 28 as a redshirt-sophomore in 2009. His breakout year came in 2010 when he made 56 starts (all at second base) and batted a team-leading .323 while adding seven home runs and 34 RBI. He added 16 doubles and was 8-for-10 in stolen bases. His two-run home run in the eighth inning provided Washington State an 8-6 victory over Kansas State in the first game of the NCAA Fayetteville Regional. Coupled with his stellar defense in Arkansas, he was named to the all-region team after garnering Pacific-10 Conference honorable mention.


As a fifth-year senior in 2011, Bartlett batted .283 with 12 doubles, two triples, one home run and 25 RBI. He started 51 games (30 at SS, 20 at 2B, 1 as DH). In his career, he made 125 starts as a second baseman and 46 as a shortstop. Toronto selected him as a shortstop.

Day 3 Preview

Today the MLB First-Year Player draft ends with rounds 31-50, round 31 will begin at 9:00 a.m. PST.

I'll be online hopefully most of the afternoon, keeping an eye on the MLB.com draft tracker, looking for any WSU names popping up. If I miss something by more than say, 30 minutes, it means I'm super busy at work so just post the update as a comment in whatever the most recent post is.

Names to look out for today:

• Chad Arnold
• James Wise
• Paris Shewey
• Cody Bartlett

Cougar Baseball Players on Twitter

I've posted a lot today. I figured since I'm on a roll I might as well throw this up too while I have the time. The following WSU baseball players (that I'm aware of, there could be more) are on Twitter. List, with links:

• Trace Tam Sing - @tracetamsing
• JK Dykes - @JKdykes3
• Spencer Jackson - @COspence22
• Adam Conley - @Adamconley29
• James Wise - @WiseII
• Official WSU Baseball Twitter Feed - @Cougbaseball
• Official WSU Sports Info Twitter Feed - @WSUCougars_com
• Little something extra. This is Larry Conley, Adam Conleys father - @bowhunter457

So there you go guys, all the WSU baseball info I know of on Twitter. Of course you can always follow me @brett_gleason and @CougCenter too, we both provide WSU baseball/sports info regularly.

Finally, I'd like to plug two of my friends awesome blogs. If you have time, please check out Kylerancourt.com and Incrediblesources.com. They're both great reads.

MLB Draft: Day 2

Wow. After seeing no Cougar names come off the board yesterday in the first round and first compensatory round, we saw plenty of action today. First off, I'll throw up a list of drafted Cougs and the links to my original post.

• Pick #72: Florida Marlins - Adam Conley, LHP
• Pick #395: Baltimore Orioles - Derek Jones, RF
• Pick #772: Boston Red Sox - Taylor Ard, 1B
• Pick #828: Colorado Rockies - Matt Argyropoulos, 3B

If you're looking for information on these guys, the best thing to do would be to click on the links above. With each draft choice post I included the players 2011 numbers, a quote courtesy of WSU Sports Information and some interesting information about the player.

Now, it's basically required I say this: Conley, Jones and Ard are all underclassmen. What this means is that if they are not able to come to terms with a contract with their respective teams, or decide they do not want to take the step to the pros just yet, they still have the option to return to school next year. 

Being picked so high, I don't see Conley coming back*. With Jones and Ard being picked lower in the draft, I would not be surprised to see them back in Crimson next season. Now that is anything but a guarantee they will be back, I would be equally unsurprised to see these two sign with their respective teams. It all comes down to a matter of, are these teams willing to pay them enough to convince them to come out of school early. That or, does the player feel "ready" to take that next step.

*UPDATE: Conley and his fiance just posted a picture on Facebook of the two of them in a sports store. Both are wearing baby blue shirts and Marlins hats. I know it doesn't mean much, but this pretty much solidifies my assumption that Conley will not be back next year. Take this for what it is though, just a picture on FB.

Sidenote: This has nothing to do with WSU, but I'd like to use this space to congratulate my friend, Cody Hebner. Cody was drafted today with the 143rd overall pick by San Diego Padres. I've been going to school with Cody for years and he's a great guy, I wish him all the best. Good luck in making your choice between ASU and the Padres!

Matt Argyropoulos drafted by Colorado Rockies

Argyropoulos

The Colorado Rockies, with the 828th overall pick in this years First-Year Player Draft selected Cougar third baseman Matt Argyropoulos.


“I’m blessed and excited to have this opportunity,” Argyropoulos said in a press release. “Playing professional baseball has been a dream since I began playing at a competitive level.”




For those of you interested, here is the line for Argyropoulos in 2011 at WSU:

Player	AB	H	BB	HR	K	RBI	R	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	P-ISO	ISO	wOBA	BABIP
Matt Argyropoulos	166	47	14	5	42	28	21	.283	.368	.452	.820	.163	.169	.414	.350

Taylor Ard drafted by Boston Red Sox

Ard

The Boston Red Sox, with the 772nd overall pick in this years First-Year Player Draft selected Cougar first baseman Taylor Ard.


“Getting drafted by a pro team is an honor,” Ard said in a press release. “The round didn’t matter to me. It was a relief to hear my name called and we’ll see what happens next.”


Ard played at WSU for his first year in 2011 after transferring from Mt. Hood Community College. Last year, Ard led the stacked Pac-10 Conference in HR (10) and RBI (55). Ard lead the Cougar offense this year in AVG (.337), doubles (17), runs (40) and SLG% (.577). 


For those of you interested, here is the line for Ard in 2011 at WSU:

Player	AB	H	BB	HR	K	RBI	R	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	P-ISO*	ISO	wOBA	BABIP
Taylor Ard	196	66	18	10	25	55	40	.337	.408	.577	.985	.240	.240	.419	.344

*P-ISO is how I will now abbreviate PECOTA ISO. Writing it out will sometimes mess with the sizing of the chart and make it look bad. So just remember, P-ISO = PECOTA ISO.

Derek Jones drafted by Baltimore Orioles

Jones

The Baltimore Orioles, with the 395th overall pick in this years First-Year Player Draft selected Cougar outfielder Derek Jones. Jones was drafted as a right fielder.


“I am proud to be a Cougar,” Jones said in a press release. “I will always be a Cougar. I am happy about what WSU has given to me and what I can give back to the program. I’m excited about the opportunity and the decision ahead.”


The junior right fielder ranks on the WSU all-time lists in: walks, 31 (second); total bases, 91 (T-sixth); HR, 32 (eighth); and SLG%, .450 (10th).


In his time at WSU, Jones was named honorable mention All Pac-10 twice, in 2010 and 2011. 


For those of you interested, here is the line for Jones in 2011 at WSU:

Player	AB	H	BB	HR	K	RBI	R	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	P-ISO*	ISO	wOBA	BABIP
Derek Jones	193	53	22	8	50	33	39	.275	.370	.477	.847	.192	.202	.434	.326

*P-ISO is how I will now abbreviate PECOTA ISO. Writing it out will sometimes mess with the sizing of the chart and make it look bad. So just remember, P-ISO = PECOTA ISO.

Adam Conley drafted by Florida Marlins

Conley

The Florida Marlins, with the 72nd overall pick in this years First-Year Player Draft selected Cougar lefty Adam Conley.

"I didn't have any expectations about what team or what round I would go in so it was a relief to hear my name called," Conley said in a press release. "I immediately started thinking about Florida and its organization and I am really excited and feel blessed to have an opportunity with the Marlins."

The pick in the second round made Conley the seventh-highest Cougar drafted in the June Amateur Draft, right behind Don Long who was drafted 70th overall by the San Francisco Giants in the 1983 draft.

For those of you interested, here is the line for Conley in 2011 at WSU:

Player	IP	BF	H	HR	K	BB	HBP	ER	ERA	WHIP	FIP	K/9	BB/9	HR/9	Opp AVG
Adam Conley	108.0	408	113	3	83	27	15	42	3.50	1.30	3.71	6.92	2.25	0.25	.277

Still waiting to possibly hear their names called are Taylor Ard, Derek Jones, and Chad Arnold, who are in my opinion the other Cougar players likely to get drafted this year. Keep in mind, for those players that are underclassmen (Conley, Jones and Ard), being drafted does not necessarily mean they will sign with the team. Last season, Chad Arnold was drafted but could not come to terms on a contract, returning to school for his final season. 

I'll update here and on Twitter if anything new comes across regarding WSU players drafted.

MLB Draft: Day 1

UCLA saw two pitchers, Gerrit Cole and Trevor Bauer, get taken in the top three picks of todays 2011 MLB First-Year Player Draft. Sandwiched in between these two picks was one surprising pick made by the Seattle Mariners, taking the southpaw starter Danny* Hultzen from Virginia.

*Not going to lie, I wanted to get Rendon here so bad that instead of typing Danny the first time through, I typed "Anthony Hultzen." Sigh... Oh well, Hultzen will be an electric pitcher.

Conley

Many were expecting (hoping?) to see Cougar starter Adam Conley go late in todays action, most likely during the compensatory picks immediately following the 1st Round. Conley did not go, however. I would expect to see Adam get his name called early tomorrow when the second round kicks off. Tomorrow will be rounds 2-30, for those of you wondering.

I'll be at work all day tomorrow, but will be following the action as much as my workload will allow. That being said, I'll throw something up as soon as possible once Conley is picked up.

Derek Jones and Taylor Ard are also two possible Cougar draft picks, although I'd expect them to go late tomorrow or Wednesday, if they go at all.

Conley is a great guy, and I'd love if we could show him some support. You can give him a shoutout on Twitter @Adamconley29. Let Conley know he's got Cougar nation behind him!

2010 to 2011 Player Comparisons (Part 1)

 When thinking of offseason posts to make, my first idea was to examine the differences in performances for players that were on both the 2010 and 2011 teams. Instead of making one massive post, I'm going to break this up into two very long posts. This first part will examine the nine seven hitters who saw playing time on both teams.

Obviously, 2010 saw much more success for the team than 2011 so I expected to see significant declines in all offensive metrics for players who were on both teams. Just discussing the fact that these players "regressed" hard and fast isn't enough though, I'm going to attempt to find reasons for the bad season we just endured. 

When reading these breakdowns, please refer to this spreadsheet for all my numbers. I'll link each stat the first time it is mentioned to a page describing it, for those of you who may not fully understand everything.

Be you warned, since this is college baseball we're talking about the sample sizes will be smaller than we'd prefer and the translation of stats from MLB to this level might not be satisfactory (minus FIP in my next post, which I specially tailored to the Pac-12). However, they can still tell us interesting things and we should all be open to what they have to say.

After the jump, a breakdown of each player and some commentary on what might have been at play this season. Let's go!