EDITOR’S NOTE: Hey, I have no idea how to pick who we will see on the Cape next summer. This post is intended to unleash speculation, guessing and wishful thinking. Please contribute your own ideas!

As the yearly autumnal rains start to fall out here in the Pacific Northwest, the ’07 summer season on the Cape feels very, very far away. But college and CCBL coaches are certainly hard at work this fall preparing rosters for the spring and summer.

Baseball America already is predicting who will return to Omaha’s College World Series next year…who will be drafted next summer (http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/draft/features/262598.html) … and who are the top prospects for next summer’s baseball leagues.

In The Last Best League by Jim Collins, Wareham Gatemen GM John Wylde has his list of prospects for the next season ready for review on Aug. 15th before field manager Cooper Farris returns home. Interestingly, only the Wareham Gatemen team is brave enough to post a likely 2007 roster — http://www.gatemen.org/team.shtml. Others have rosters online but don’t bill them as their current working rosters. See Andrew Wirtanen’s blog as well on this — http://www.andrewwirtanen.com/?cat=8 .

The CCBL recently posted the Perfect Game Crosschecker top prospects http://www.capecodbaseball.org/ but that is a more likely list of who will get drafted than who will play on the Cape next season. Some will and some won’t.

Again, in The Last Best League we follow Chatham’s manager, John Schiffner, as he pledges never to invite back more than two players from the previous season. He found too many were drafted, forcing him to fill in all season. “Schiffner knew he’d gambled coming into the 2002 season. The experiment had been worth it, he said, but he wouldn’t hold spots for that many juniors again.”

CCBL Commissioner Paul A. Galop’s end of season report only whispers about the ’07 season. “The planning has already begun for the 2007 [season] as CCBL officials along with franchise management brainstorm ideas to constantly improve what the CCBL is all about and how we do it.” I, for one, can hardly wait to see what the merchandise management folks dream up. Hopefully they will have a solution to the weak all-star showing in ’06 (see my post, “The League is Going to Hear About This” http://codball.blogspot.com/2006/09/league-is-going-to-hear-about-this.html)

Waiting for Brackman
For me, the most exciting potential for ’07 is the possibility that Andrew Brackman (NC State) might return to pitch in ’07. Brackman was 1-0 with a 1.06 ERA and a .140 BAA in six appearances with the New Orleans Cardinals. Depending on what you read, he is #1 or #2 on the prospects lists for the ’07 draft.

ESPN, Baseball America, The North Carolina sports pages and others have burned up space this fall speculating about whether he will sit out basketball this year to concentrate on baseball. According to ESPN, Brackman is a skilled big man who has averaged 7.6 points and 3.5 rebounds for the NC State Wolfpack. The final decision appears to be that he will sit out basketball and focus on baseball.

If he chooses to return to the Cape next summer it will be to drive up his contract and his place in the pick. More importantly, it will be another opportunity for Cape fans to enjoy budding greatness.

Prospects
According to Baseball America’s John Manuel, here are top 50 prospects for the ’07 draft and some potential hot names on the Cape if they choose to wait it out:

http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/draft/features/262598.html

1. David Price, lhp, Vanderbilt
2. Matt Wieters, c, Georgia Tech
3. Andrew Brackman, rhp, North Carolina State
4. Matt Harvey, rhp, Fitch HS, Groton, Conn.
5. Justin Jackson, ss, Roberson HS, Asheville, N.C.
6. Michael Burgess, of, Hillsborough HS, Tampa
7. Julio Borbon, of, Tennessee
8. Joe Savery, lhp, Rice
9. Daniel Moskos, lhp, Clemson
10. Josh Vitters, 3b, Cypress (Calif.) HS
11. James Adkins, lhp, Tennessee
12. Rick Porcello, rhp, Seton Hall Prep, West Orange, N.J.
13. Matt Dominguez, 3b, Chatsworth (Calif.) HS
14. Michael Main, rhp, Deland (Fla.) HS
15. Matt Mangini, 3b, Oklahoma State
16. Blake Beavan, rhp, Irving (Texas) HS
17. Tim Alderson, rhp, Horizon HS, Scottsdale, Ariz.
18. Jason Heyward, of/1b, Henry County HS, McDonough, Ga.
19. Cole St.Clair, lhp, Rice
20. J.P. Arencibia, c, Tennessee
21. Jake Arrieta, rhp, Texas Christian
22. Neil Ramirez, rhp, Kempsville (Va.) HS
23. Jack McGeary, lhp/1b, Roxbury (Mass.) Latin HS
24. Nick Noonan, ss, Francis Parker HS, San Diego
25. Todd Frazier, ss/of, Rutgers
26. Josh Fields, rhp, Georgia
27. John Tolisano, ss/2b, Estero (Fla.) HS
28. Brett Cecil, lhp, Maryland
29. Eddie Kunz, rhp, Oregon State
30. Jarrod Parker, rhp, Norwell (Ind.) HS
31. Josh Smoker, lhp, Calhoun (Ga.) HS
32. Josh Donaldson, c, Auburn
33. Mitch Canham, c, Oregon State
34. Greg Peavey, rhp, Hudson’s Bay HS, Vancouver, Wash.
35. Josh Horton, ss, North Carolina
36. Ross Detwiler, lhp, Missouri State
37. James Simmons, rhp, UC Riverside
38. Erik Goeddel, rhp, Bellarmine Prep, San Jose
39. Madison Bumgarner, lhp, South Caldwell HS, Hudson, N.C.
40. Tanner Robles, lhp, Cottonwood HS, Salt Lake City
41. Mike Moustakas, 3b/c, Chatsworth (Calif.) HS
42. Nick Schmidt, lhp, Arkansas
43. Charlie Furbush, lhp, Louisiana State
44. Beau Mills, 3b/1b, Lewis-Clark (Idaho) State
45. Kentrail Davis, of, Theodore (Ala.) HS
46. Christian Colon, ss, Canyon HS, Anaheim
47. Sean Doolittle, lhp/1b, Virginia
48. Nolan Gallagher, rhp, Stanford
49. Phillippe Aumont, rhp, Ecole Secondary Du Versant, Gatineau, Quebec
50. Brad Meyers, rhp, Loyola Marymount

Not included in this list are some of TEAM USA’s top prospects –Pedro Alvarez, 3b, Vanderbilt, and Jemile Weeks, 2b, Miami.

Robert Stock is another interesting possibility. According to Baseball America, the 16-year-old catcher/righthander from Westlake Village, Calif., enrolled back in August at Southern California, opting to skip his senior year at Agoura High. Could the Cape be next?

Who do you think we should look for on the Cape in ’07?

PS

Happy anniversary to my sweetie!

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