A self-evaluation of Dante Bichette Jr.
Posted by: Chad Jennings - Posted in Misc on Jun 18, 2011 
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The Yankees announced today that they’ve signed top draft pick Dante Bichette Jr. For at least the first few years, a draft class is usually defined by its highest pick, and that means Bichette will begin to define the newest group of Yankees. From his draft-day conference call, this is Bichette in his own words:
Can you describe yourself as a player?
“I’m just getting out of high school. I think my dad definitely taught me from a young age to hit as a big leaguer would, behave myself on the field as a big leaguer would and have the strike zone as important as a big leaguer would. I think I’m definitely ahead of the average high school hitter as far as my approach, but there’s always room to improve and I’m going to have to improve and make adjustments the best I can.”
Similar to Dante Bichette Sr.?
“Honestly, I think hitting-wise, I think I’m pretty much the same person. I’m going to hit for average, and I’ll throw in a few power numbers hopefully. We have the same strengths and the same weaknesses. It’s kind of funny, when we watch highlight clips, it’s the same thing going on. Hopefully I’ll be able to learn from him.”
Believe you can stay at third base?
“I know I’m going to have to work my butt off to stay at third base, but I’m going to do everything I can. I’ll try to stay agile, cross train with tennis or something and stay on my toes… Third base is ideal, but the outfield is also a great position.”
Plans to go to college?
“I am committed to go to Georgia, but hopefully we’ll see here that I can pretty rapidly come to a conclusion with the Yankees, and I’d love to be able to start my professional career as soon as possible… I think we’ll be able to reach a conclusion pretty quickly and get out there.”
Where were you when you found out?
“Before the draft I was excited, and I knew that’s where I wanted to go was to New York, and I was hoping I would get to it. I was at my house with my family and friends — only a few closer friends though — and as soon as it happened we were all crazy excited. It couldn’t have been any better.”
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And here’s the official release from the Yankees.
The New York Yankees today announced they have signed third baseman Dante Bichette Jr., the organization’s first selection (51st pick overall in Compensation Round A) in the 2011 First-Year Player Draft.
Bichette, listed at 6-foot-1, 215 pounds out of Orangewood Christian High School in Maitland, Fla., batted a team-high .640 (55-for-86) with 58 runs 14 doubles, 10 home runs and 40 RBI in 30 games as a senior in 2011, as Orangewood Christian fell in the Florida Class-2A state finals. He was named the “All-Central Florida Baseball Player of the Year” by the Orlando Sentinel in each of the last two seasons. Following his junior year, he was selected as an Under Armour “All-American” and named his team’s most valuable player.
He is the son of former Major Leaguer Dante Bichette, who played in 1,704 career games across parts of 14 seasons with California, Milwaukee, Colorado, Cincinnati and Boston, batting .299 with 274 home runs.
“We were excited to be able to draft Dante and are even more excited to get him signed,” said Damon Oppenheimer, Yankees Vice President of Amateur Scouting. “Coming to an agreement this quickly will allow Dante to get a full season under his belt in 2011, and gets him ahead of the curve in many ways.”
The right-handed batter was ranked by Baseball America as the 15th-best overall player out of the state of Florida in this year’s draft. In 2005, Bichette participated in the Little League World Series with his Maitland, Fla. team.
Bichette has reported to Tampa and will join the Gulf Coast League Yankees when their season begins on Monday.
pat,
Didn”t you hear? Gammons accused the Yankees of tampering with Dante Jr.’s life!
________________________________________________________________
He’s so geeked. I wish him a long and happy career.
I hope Dante Jr. gets more walks than his dad.
Repost:
Ghostwriter June 18th, 2011 at 11:48 am
Yankee Trader June 18th, 2011 at 11:37 am
If Boras ends up as Reyes’ agent, and stays healthy this year, he’ll be eclipsing Carl Crawford’s contract.
——————————–
Sometimes, I really do wonder how Boras does it, because he always seems to get these outsized salaries for players. It isn’t th magnitude of the salaries that gets me; it’s the fact that he often seems to get teams to bid against themselves, paying far in excess of what it should take to land a given player.
If Bichette can play anywhere near his father’s ability, hell be a fixture as a corner OF’er for many years.
It would be nice to add a lefty starter and another lefty arm for the bullpen, pitchers who fare well against righties also. Even though he plays in NL, John Lannan of the Nationals might be a good option.
Good luck, Dante Jr. If you want to stay at 3rd, start practicing yoga.
It’s certainly good news to hear that the Yanks signed their top draft pick this year. I’ve got a good feeling about this kid, because I think that he’ll have the benefit of his father’s experience to help him get to the bigs.
True or False or BS-Comment by Swisher after yesterdays loss against Doug Davis:
“When you have a guy on the mound that’s not throwing 95, he gets some more calls because the umpire can see the ball better.”
# Ghostwriter June 18th, 2011 at 11:48 am
Yankee Trader June 18th, 2011 at 11:37 am
If Boras ends up as Reyes’ agent, and stays healthy this year, he’ll be eclipsing Carl Crawford’s contract.
——————————–
Sometimes, I really do wonder how Boras does it, because he always seems to get these outsized salaries for players. It isn’t th magnitude of the salaries that gets me; it’s the fact that he often seems to get teams to bid against themselves, paying far in excess of what it should take to land a given player.
——————————————
Sounds like he’s doing a Jedi Mind Trick
Yankee Trader June 18th, 2011 at 12:05 pm
True or False or BS-Comment by Swisher after yesterdays loss against Doug Davis:
“When you have a guy on the mound that’s not throwing 95, he gets some more calls because the umpire can see the ball better.”
==============================
I don’t know. It is a very interesting quote. I doubt that it’s true, and I suspect that it’s just Swisher’s (very understandable) bias at work. However, ,I would be interested to hear what other Major Leaguers would say bout it.
Against All Odds June 18th, 2011 at 12:08 pm
# Ghostwriter June 18th, 2011 at 11:48 am
Yankee Trader June 18th, 2011 at 11:37 am
If Boras ends up as Reyes’ agent, and stays healthy this year, he’ll be eclipsing Carl Crawford’s contract.
——————————–
Sometimes, I really do wonder how Boras does it, because he always seems to get these outsized salaries for players. It isn’t th magnitude of the salaries that gets me; it’s the fact that he often seems to get teams to bid against themselves, paying far in excess of what it should take to land a given player.
——————————————
Sounds like he’s doing a Jedi Mind Trick
———————-
Or drugging the coffee in the conference room
Against All Odds-
I think Scott Boras’ father was Obi Wan Kenobi?
Dante Bichette Jr. seems like a good kid. Seems like a safe pick, nobody seems that excited by him, but if he can make it to the team and contribute that’s fine with me.
Gammons accusation is very serious. If the Yankees didn’t really tamper and Gammons has no proof, the Yankees should consider legal action for slander.
# Ghostwriter June 18th, 2011 at 12:10 pm
Against All Odds June 18th, 2011 at 12:08 pm
# Ghostwriter June 18th, 2011 at 11:48 am
Yankee Trader June 18th, 2011 at 11:37 am
If Boras ends up as Reyes’ agent, and stays healthy this year, he’ll be eclipsing Carl Crawford’s contract.
——————————–
Sometimes, I really do wonder how Boras does it, because he always seems to get these outsized salaries for players. It isn’t th magnitude of the salaries that gets me; it’s the fact that he often seems to get teams to bid against themselves, paying far in excess of what it should take to land a given player.
——————————————
Sounds like he’s doing a Jedi Mind Trick
———————-
Or drugging the coffee in the conference room
——————————
Lol whatever he’s doing it works because his clients get big money from everywhere
Swisher hit the ball hard against Davis, but based on his comment, if the UMPIRE can see the ball better from a slow thrower like Davis, why couldn’t the other HITTERS see the ball better and, well, hit it, against him?
Yankee Trader June 18th, 2011 at 12:11 pm
Against All Odds-
I think Scott Boras’ father was Obi Wan Kenobi?
==============================
He looks more like Yoda. http://angels.ocregister.com/f...../boras.jpg
RSM June 18th, 2011 at 12:12 pm
Gammons accusation is very serious. If the Yankees didn’t really tamper and Gammons has no proof, the Yankees should consider legal action for slander.
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I don’t think you can slander the Yankees organization. “Public figure” stature would probably stop that in its tracks. Who cares? Gammons is part of the Red Sox organization, shouldn’t this be expected?
Was reading an espn magazine yesterday, and if focused mainly on the finances of professional athletes.
Alex, of course, was the professional athlete (and baseball player) with the highest base pay. It was painful to see that $32 followed by all those zeroes!
They talked about how players run out of money and a lot of other stuff, it was an eye opening issue (of course I was held hostage as my daughter was getting her hair cut).
But the funniest thing was a quote from Mo in a piece about how everybody and their grandma comes around with their hands out when you have money.
Mo said that everyone wants to talk to him, they come to the stadium, to his home in Panama. They all have ideas. He stops and listens because listening doesn’t cost you anything. He then takes their business card and prays on it. Most of the time nothing else happens.
# Yankee Trader June 18th, 2011 at 12:11 pm
Against All Odds-
I think Scott Boras’ father was Obi Wan Kenobi?
—————————————–
Use the force Scott
RSM June 18th, 2011 at 12:12 pm
Gammons accusation is very serious. If the Yankees didn’t really tamper and Gammons has no proof, the Yankees should consider legal action for slander.
———————————
No way. Gammons’ position in the press gives him a great deal of latitude. Besides, the burden of proof in a slander case would be impossibly high for remarks about a public figure or a well-known institution/corporation. They are routinely slandered and libeled without any repercussions.
Ghostwriter-
The Swisher quote was from Chad’s postgame post. If that’s true, maybe the “zone evaluation” system used to monitor umps correctness in calls would be able to discern whether they make more correct calls with pitchers with velocity < 90??
Yankees invade Chicago!!! Love it. (although I would love it more if I had thought to go to any of these places last night)
http://tiny.cc/2ducy
m-
Did the article say what Rivera does with the business card after he prays on it???
Trash? Recycled?
Yankee Trader June 18th, 2011 at 12:17 pm
Ghostwriter-
The Swisher quote was from Chad’s postgame post. If that’s true, maybe the “zone evaluation” system used to monitor umps correctness in calls would be able to discern whether they make more correct calls with pitchers with velocity < 90??
—————————
Yeah. This is purely an empirical question a strong correlation between velocity and the size of the strike zone. I wonder if they collect data on velocity as well as location. It would also be interesting to see if they collect data on how the umpire positions himself before each pitch, and to examine the correlations on strike calls in differing parts of the zone, relative to where the ump positioned himself.
Erin–
This will make your day along with a Yankees win that you’ll witness live:
new Muppets movie with Amy Adams and Jason Siegel:
http://www.popeater.com/2011/0.....s-trailer/
Maybe he has a shrine built out of business cards.
There was one really sad story about Corey Jenkins, drafted by the Red Sox years ago. 2 South Carolina guys swindled all his money and damaged his credit. He tried the football thing, but after trying baseball for 5 years, he was behind the curve. I mean part of it was his fault. Who signs a power of attorney over to your agent? But it was sad to see people taken advantage of like that.
Ghostwriter June 18th, 2011 at 12:17 pm
RSM June 18th, 2011 at 12:12 pm
Gammons accusation is very serious. If the Yankees didn’t really tamper and Gammons has no proof, the Yankees should consider legal action for slander.
———————————
No way. Gammons’ position in the press gives him a great deal of latitude. Besides, the burden of proof in a slander case would be impossibly high for remarks about a public figure or a well-known institution/corporation. They are routinely slandered and libeled without any repercussions.
———————————
However, despite the problems associated with legal redress of the potential slander/libel, Gammons rep could take a big hit if Gammons can’t come across with a legitimate offer of proof, substantiating his allegations. I’ve always liked and respected Gammons (despite his apparent loyalties) as a professional baseball commentator, and I never will look at him the same way if these charges turn out to be false.
Thanks for the link Yankee Trader! I seriously cannot wait for that movie. I’ve already warned my parents that I might leave right after Thanksgiving dinner to head to the movie theater.
Gotta go. Have a great day all.
There’s no point in “bringing suit” against Gammons if it proves false. About the only way that can be proven is if Miller and his agent publically deny it. It’s highly unlikely that will happen without reprisals against Miller. However, if it does prove false, Cashman and the yankees need to publically humiliate Gammons by demanding a public apology.
Gardner 7, Granderson 8, Teixeira 3, ARod 5, Cano 4, Swisher 9, Martin 2, Nunez 6, Burnett 1
Tom in N.J. June 18th, 2011 at 12:39 pm
Gardner 7, Granderson 8, Teixeira 3, ARod 5, Cano 4, Swisher 9, Martin 2, Nunez 6, Burnett 1
______________
Let’s all be sure to dump on the line up so they score a lot of runs today.
WHAT?! Is Girardi trying to LOSE?! Why not take the day off and forfeit the game?!
BoJo June 18th, 2011 at 12:43 pm
Tom in N.J. June 18th, 2011 at 12:39 pm
Gardner 7, Granderson 8, Teixeira 3, ARod 5, Cano 4, Swisher 9, Martin 2, Nunez 6, Burnett 1
______________
Let’s all be sure to dump on the line up so they score a lot of runs today.
WHAT?! Is Girardi trying to LOSE?! Why not take the day off and forfeit the game.
_____
(For the cause) WHAT? Nicky batting 6th vs. a righty. We may as well mail it in.