Long Beach Press-Telegram - #1 pick of the 2002 Draft

[jcrmoon42]

The Long Beach Surfers selected slugging first baseman Alberto Guzman with the #1 overall pick of the 2002 draft. Guzman was a three time high school Outstanding Hitter of the Year with the IBM Pros. He holds several career records for hitters in the young High School All-Star League and is easily the best hitter in the 4 year history of the league. The quiet 20 year old is nicknamed "Pop," reflecting the respect with which he is held by teammates. He doesn't bring much to the table by way of defense or baserunning, but who cares with a bat like that? The only concern the club had with Guzman was that he has quite a bit of developing to do before he will be big league ready. It is difficult at this point to project a major league start date. However, he has already communicated that he loves the Long Beach team and is excited to sign with them. The club is equally excited to have him in the organization as he is already well-known and liked by fans, and they will give him all the time he needs to grow as they look to him as the heir apparent for long-time fan favorite, Ted Sale.

With all that said, the club did think long and hard about the pick. College pitcher Crusher Murray looked awfully good to team management and is going to make whoever picks him very happy. In the end, Long Beach decided that his projected movement had the potential to make him less than the #1 pitcher he would have to be to beat out Guzman for the pick.

[robster49]

Great pick. I'll trade you Dr. Focus rivera for him.....

[recte44]

Wasn't Dr. Focus an original pick of Long Beach, but failed to sign?

[robster49]

Yep.

[jcrmoon42]

Indeed! And another reason I picked Guzman. He is an easy sign. Murray was going to be extremely hard.

[TimB]

Unfortunately everyone's extremely hard for the Sox

[jcrmoon42]

Unfortunately everyone's extremely hard for the Sox

That's what she said.

Too obvious...my apologies.

[recte44]

Struggling in his rookie league debut so far.

[jcrmoon42]

Struggling in his rookie league debut so far.

Yeah...his actuals were pretty low, but there has been a little positive movement.

[blake]

The walk totals are high which is a great sign. The power is certain to come around eventually if the walks are showing already. It's a wiser pick because hes the top HS talent and theres higher upside on him. More risk, higher upside is better than low risk, lower upside guys like Murray.

[recte44]

As a general rule, though, wouldn't you like to see a college guy who just DOMINATED his league perform well at the lowest minor league level? Maybe he needs to be challenged more???

[LambeauLeap]

Unfortunately everyone's extremely hard for the Sox

Dang I had "That's what she said" already but Moon beat me to it.