Well, the 2004 June Amateur Draft is complete. The Brewers took 50 players, highlighted by #5 overall pick Mark Rogers. He has been heaped with praise from scouts, but I’m uncomfortable investing so much in a high school pitcher who has thrown only 38 innings this season against marginal competition. Still, the reputation of Scouting Director Jack Zdurencik is outstanding and Rogers’ makeup is unquestionably good. The Brewers also picked up some excellent late round picks that might turn out to be the jewels of the draft. It’s impossible to accurately evaluate the quality of a draft class until at least five years later, but my initial reaction to this year’s crop of new Brewers is pretty positive.

On a related note, I think the draft coverage we put together at brewerfan.net was absolutely phenomenal. Patrick’s pre-draft profiles, mock drafts, and news updates were unmatched by any other provider of free coverage, and probably even by just about every pay site. During the draft, we kept an up-to-date draft board with article links and updated scouting reports from Patrick. Toby ran the draft forum and the rest of us chipped in with research on the selections as they were made. If you were interested in the Brewers’ picks or the draft as a whole, there was really no better place to be than brewerfan.net. That’s pretty cool.