One of the few downsides of running this quaint little one man operation is the occasional embarrassing misidentification of a prospect’s draft year. I had a big swing and a miss this year with a personal favorite of mine (though admittedly not as much of a favorite of the consistently excellent John Klima), Oregon’s Jack Marder. The draft-eligible sophomore went in the 16th round to Seattle, and can now been seen (not literally now, as he’s currently on the disabled list…and also not literally now because it is 5:30 AM local time in High Desert and, as wonderful a work ethic as I’m sure Marder has, I doubt he’s in the cage at this very moment) hitting an impressive .320/.382/.460 through 50 High A at bats for the High Desert Mavericks. He’s also apparently one of the ten Jewish ballplayers selected in the 2011 draft, as defined by the fine people of Jewish Baseball News. Feel free to use that fun fact to impress guests at your next soiree, free of charge. I’m in the process of eliminating 2011 draft guys from my 2012 college follow lists, so consider this Marder’s last stand here on the Baseball Draft Report. Pretend I was smart enough to publish my notes on him before the draft, please. I bet they would have looked exactly like this:

SO 2B Jack Marder (2012): average runner; legit plus bat speed; very instinctual, high energy, just a fun player to watch; plus defender at 1B, one of the best I’ve seen at college level; has experience playing every position on diamond; with time should be above-average at either second, third, or an outfield corner, as well as average at shortstop; strong arm; will be tried at C this spring (5/11 update: soft hands, plus mobility, well above-average pop times, natural footwork, accurate arm, positive reports on feel for pitch sequencing and leadership of staff); great line drive producing swing, textbook front shoulder rotation that I love; above-average athleticism; easy top ten round guy, could go as high as round five; 6-0, 180 pounds; R/R

Good luck in pro ball, Jack.