2009 Draft

Picking back to back with the 24th and 25th picks, the Angels take a pair of high school outfielders. At #24 it's Randal Grichuk from Texas, and at #25 Michael Trout from New Jersey. I don't know anything about either, but I like the names and the idea. The Angels haven't taken an outfielder in the first round since Darin Erstad in 1995. The result is that they've had to spend the big free agent bucks on outfielders. Sometimes it works (Guerrero, Hunter, Abreu) and sometimes it doesn't (Finley, Matthews). I like the idea of taking position players here, as most teams went after pitching, and pitchers can be such a crapshoot anyway. With 7 more picks in the first 5 rounds, the Angels will have their chances to add some arms anyway.

As for the names, they both bring back memories of Angel greats from the past. Grichuk will probably have to answer to "Bobby" at some point, and Trout will be known as the "little fish".