COVERITLIVE.COM

1:57

Hi everyone! We are starting a few minutes early since three full days of the draft won't be nearly enough to discuss everything we want to discuss.

As many of you know, OaklandClubhouse.com has run a LiveBlog of the MLB Draft for the past five years now. We are going hi-tech with Cover It Live this year, so now you have the option of sending comments or questions, if you'd like. Given that the draft is lengthy (to say the least) and that the A's have only two picks on the first day, I am happy to respond to questions related not only to the draft, but to the A's minor league system in general. We will have separate LiveBlog events for each day of the draft.

Hope you enjoy it!

2:02	[Comment From TROY] thank u

2:03

It has been a long time since the A's went down to the signing deadline with a draft pick (Mark Mulder is the last one I can think of; Brett Hunter was a deadline day sign, but it was more of an evaluation situation than a contenious negotiation), but if the A's do go after a tough-sign pick today, it looks like they'll have two more days to sign that pick.

Jon Heyman of SI.com is reporting that MLB has sent letters to every team informing them that the signing deadline will be Monday, August 17 at 12:59pm rather than Saturday, August 15. Given some of the expected negotiations with players like Stephen Strasburg, that should be a very interesting weekend in baseball.

2:03	[Comment From TROY] we have the pitchers now we need position players bad 3b and ss

2:06

Agreed. Unfortunately, this may not be the draft to add a top-flight 3B/SS in the first round. Grant Green of USC is a possibility at SS and Bobby Borchering (a FL HS player) is a viable 3B option, but those are the only two who really stand out in the first round at those two positions. And both could be gone by pick 13.

2:07	[Comment From jDizzle] What do you think of the "rumor" that the Pirates have an agreement in place with Sanchez at #4? That would seem to add a player to the top 10, and bump everyone down a notch. Perhaps Green or Tate slip enough?

2:09

That is certainly possible. In some ways, Jason Castro did the same thing to the 2008 top-10 and that landed Justin Smoak with Texas (and oh, so close to the A's), so it could do the same. Donovan Tate probably doesn't get past the Giants if he isn't taken by San Diego, but if he is available, I could see the A's taking him. I think that the A's have been very happy with the development of two-sport star Rashun Dixon, who is sort of similar to Tate.

2:10	If I'm Pittsburgh, I'd avoid going for the signability pick given the McLouth deal, but they may be saving all of their money for the International Signing Day on July 2nd, so who knows?

2:10	[Comment From TROY] what pitcher do u like them to take

2:13

A lot of mock drafts have the A's taking Mike Leake and I definitely believe that the team is interested in Leake. He was a seventh round pick of the A's in 2006 and the team wasn't able to sign him (interesting fact, he played against Trevor Cahill in high school), so they have liked him for a long time. Aaron Crow is another wildcard. He could move quickly (although the A's don't need immediate help), and it appears his bonus demands are taking him out of the top 10 (I have a tough time believing they'll take him out of the first round entirely, but who knows). The A's have some money to spend with this pick. They don't have any supplemental picks or second rounders, so if a Jacob Turner or Tyler Matzek is hanging out there, they could be a temptation for Oakland.

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