CSTV: Print Story http://www.cstv.com/library/story/print/print_story.html [ Print | Close ] San Francisco Giants Tab Matador Edwin Quirarte in 5th Round of MLB Draft Quirarte Finished 2008 with Eight Saves and a 2.09 ERA Matador junior Edwin Quirarte's nine career saves ranks fourth in school history. June 6, 2008 NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - The San Francisco Giants selected Cal Sate Northridge junior Edwin Quirarte in the fifth round, 147th overall, of the 2008 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft Thursday afternoon. A 2008 All-Big West Second Team selection, Quirarte finished with eight saves in 2008, one shy of the Northridge record, and sported a 4-4 record and a team-best 2.09 ERA. Quirarte, who joined the Matadors in 2006 following a successful career at Oxnard High School, is the highest draft pick in the Matador baseball program since the Colorado Rockies took Craig Baker in the fourth round of the 2006 draft. He is also t he first Matador taken by the Giants organization since 1997, when the team selected Nathan Price in the 19th round. In addition to the save tally, Quirarte racked up a 4-4 record with 38 strikeouts in 56 innings of work in 2008. He limited opponents to just a .232 batting average and surrendered only six extra-base hits all season. Northridge head coach Steve Rousey was not surprised to see Quirarte go so high in the draft, based on both his baseball abilitie s and his character. "Edwin came into his own this season as a closer," said Rousey. "He had several clutch performance for us and was very consistent throughout the year." "The Giants are not only getting a talented pitcher, but also a great person," added Rousey. "Edwin's character is reflected his work ethic, his fierce competitiveness and the type of quality teammate he has been for his fellow Matadors. We will miss him sorely." Other 2008 highlights for Quirarte include nailing down Northridge's first victory over Cal State Fullerton since 2003, picking up the save in a 4-2 victory over the Titans on April 12. He also earned a two inning save on April 4 in the Matadors' 9-7 v ictory over Cal Poly. The next day, he tossed an additional 2.2 innings of work to earn the win over the Mustangs and help Northridge complete the series sweep. Perhaps his most impressive line of the season was a stretch of 14.1 scoreless innings that end ed on April 20 against Long Beach State. In his first two seasons with Northridge, Quirarte mainly saw time as a starting pitcher, amassing a 6-15 record in 23 starts. His nine career saves ranks fourth in school history. Click Here for a rundown of all the Giants' picks, including a video of Quirarte pitching against St. Joh n's. 1 of 2 6/6/2008 1:53 PM ESPN - Best and worst of the first six rounds - MLB http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/draft2008/insider/columns/story?columni... Updated: June 6, 2008 Comment Email Also See After reviewing the first six rounds of Thursday's draft, I believe we probably will Law's first-round draft analysis see more money spent on signing bonuses in this draft than in any previous draft. Rays make high school SS Beckham top There are at least a half-dozen first-rounders who are going to blow past their draft pick slot recommendations and a large number of tough-sign high school players who could get first-round money or close to it. More MLB Headlines Here's a review of the 202 selections on Day 1: Bonds pleads not guilty to refiled federal charges Best drafts Manny moving on from dugout dustup with Youkilis 1. San Francisco Giants Chipper cracks 400th HR in Braves' win over Marlins Buster Posey falling to them at No. 5 was part luck, but the Giants Tigers put Santiago, Thomas on DL among also had the guts to take him. Posey reportedly is asking for $12 moves million. Sandwich pick Conor Gillaspie should have gone in the first Mets call up infielder Nunez, send down Evans round, and Roger Kieschnick has first-round potential despite mediocre performances. Keep an eye on fifth-rounder Edwin Quirarte, a reliever from Cal State Northridge with big-time sink on his fastball and an improving splitter. 2. Boston Red Sox Boston bet it all on red, taking one high-ceiling player after another. Apparently, they're willing to worry about the signability of these players later on. Casey Kelly is a first-rounder as a pitcher or position player, but his bonus demands and commitment to play quarterback at Tennessee scared off potential suitors. Ryan Westmoreland's bonus demands ($1.6 to $2.1 million) and commitment to Vanderbilt had him viewed as completely unsignable all spring, even though he was a top-40 talent and had performed well over the summer with a wood bat. Bryan Price was totally misused at Rice, and was one of the best reliever-to-starter conversion opportunities in the draft. Derrik Gibson and Pete Hissey are both athletic, projectable tools players with the chance to play in the middle of the field (Gibson as a shortstop/second baseman, Hissey as a center fielder); both also have commitments to strong college programs (North Carolina and Virginia, respectively). Even if the Red Sox don't sign all four of those high school talents, signing Kelly and one of the others would be an impressive haul of talent -- and we know the Sox have the resources to sign more than just two. 3. Kansas City Royals With the Royals apparently poised to sign fourth-rounder Tim Melville, who prior to the draft appeared unsignable outside of the first round, this could be a banner draft for the team. K.C. nabbed three players ranked in my top 40, a figure matched only by the next team on this list. Eric Hosmer is an impact player who should advance quickly, and Michael Montgomery, who offers projection and a clean delivery, was a gut-feel favorite of Sponsored Links mine. The Royals also took high school right-hander Tyler Sample, who had Baseball Ringtones back-of-the-first-round stuff on his better days, ranked 64th on my top 75 list. Download Ringtones to Your Phone. Get Them Now! RingRingMobile.com 4. St. Louis Cardinals St. Louis got several great value picks: Brett Wallace, who might be I Had High Blood Pressure Now it’s down to 120/75. Find out how I did it without drugs the best pure college bat in the draft; Lance Lynn, a solid www.resperate.com mid-rotation guy who's very aggressive with his fastball; and Niko Buy a link here Vasquez, who fell because of the silly notion that shortstops need to be average or better runners. It's a high-probability draft, as Wallace, Lynn and Scott Gorgen Inside MLB are all extremely likely to be big leaguers; Vasquez has a very high chance of becoming an everyday big leaguer relative to most high school hitters. The Cardinals' draft is missing just one thing: upside. They draft conservatively, and this group of players is no exception, although they could certainly address that The pitch that hit In his first full season issue on Day 2. Incidentally, I know the Cardinals are taking a lot of criticism for 2 of 4 6/6/2008 1:51 PM ESPN - Best and worst of the first six rounds - MLB http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/draft2008/insider/columns/story?columni... not drafting Melville, but as mentioned earlier, Melville had indicated to teams that he wanted top-15 pick money, making him unsignable and a potentially wasted pick had the Cardinals selected him in the compensation or second round, when there were talented signable players available such as Lynn and Vasquez. 5. Detroit Tigers Detroit's draft really isn't my kind of draft. With six picks on Day 1, the Tigers took four true college relievers, plus a college starter (Ole Miss' Cody Satterwhite), who projects as a reliever in pro ball. I like this draft because I'm secretly hoping that the Tigers' master plan is to fire nearly all of their relievers and replace them with the five guys they just drafted. It's a nervy strategy, but general manager Dave Dombrowski will never be accused of a lack of nerve. Other observations • In conversations with scouts and execs, San Diego's draft is coming up on the list of "worst" drafts -- but I'm going to defend it for a moment. Allan Dykstra was an overdraft, especially since I don't see him playing third base in the majors, and Jaff Decker is going to have to hit at the right tail of his projections to be able to play every day in that huge park. But they got a potential sleeper in Logan Forsythe, who is a much better hitter than his overall stat line indicates and is a potential convert to catcher (he's caught some before, and one team that worked him out as a catcher predraft said he was a natural fit there). • And if you like the upside-or-death approach, the Phillies decided to do it naturally, taking the toolsiest tools in the draft, landing five from my top 75, but with four of them coming from after the 66th pick. If they can sign Anthony Gose and convince him to pitch, they will have obtained a first-round arm with the 51st overall pick.