BCB After Dark: Feeling a draft

Welcome back to BCB After Dark: the happening hangout for night owls, early-risers, new parents and Cub fans abroad. Come on in and relax for a while with us. There’s no jacket required. We’ve got a table reserved for you near the front. Bring your own beverage.

BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon.

The All-Star Game was tonight, but I’m on the road and have no idea what happened. In fact, I’m writing this a day ahead of time. If you want to discuss what happened so I won’t have missed anything in the comments, be my guest. The bigger lie you tell, the better.

I asked you a question last night about the Home Run Derby, but I obviously don’t know how you voted. You can go back and check yourself. I had a professor once who, if you asked him a question he didn’t know, he’d say “I don’t know. I could look it up. So could you.” So I’m saying that to you now.

Tuesday night/Wednesday morning is the night that I skip the movie essay. But I always have time for jazz, so those of you who skip that can do so now.

Tonight we’ve got a performance from London in 1966 for BBC Four. It’s saxophonist Stan Getz with vibraphonist Gary Burton playing Bob Brookmeyer’s tune “Jive Hoot.” It also features Roy Haynes on drums and Steve Swallow on bass.

Welcome back to everyone who skips the jazz.

I’ve been spending a lot of time dealing with the MLB Draft lately, in case you haven’t noticed. The draft is over now, although when I’m writing this, there is still Day 3 to go. I’m assuming you’ve seen the Cubs final draft choices by now.

So I’m going to ask you to give the Cubs’ draft a letter grade. Yes, you cannot truly grade a draft for about five years and most of is here really aren’t qualified to offer expert opinions on amateur baseball players. But if we let that bother us, we wouldn’t have any fun now, would we?

So how did the Cubs do? They surprised a lot of us by taking Oklahoma right-hander Cade Horton in the first round, although Horton was expected to go before pick 15 and there was some chatter he’d go in the top 10, as he did to the Cubs. The Cubs also seemed to get a first-round talent in the second round with the savings from Horton in IMG Academy left-handed pitcher Jackson Ferris.

So how did the Cubs do? You can safely assume that the Cubs signed their first 10 picks at least. I’m guessing the grade would change if they drafted a big high schooler who fell to the 11th round because of bonus demands and then signed him, but I don’t know if they did that as I write this and we don’t know if they’ll sign this hypothetical stud for a few weeks.

So grade the Cubs 2022 draft!

So glad you could stop by. I hope we made your evening a little more special. Please tell us if there is anything we can do for you. Tip your waitstaff. And join us again tomorrow night for another edition of BCB After Dark.