230 replies to this topic

[BSLSteveBirrer]

Two things.

1. What Mackus said.
2. As for quality it's kinda like beauty. And I am talking quality at the ML level.

Now I guess I must include Bradish. Clearly he's quality. To be very specific I am talking about Elias' lack in this area when they became a competitive team last year. Nothing last summer and Burnes only this winter....and they knew our rotation had significant risk.

And to go a step further. For me, quality in regards to the rotation is a #3 or better. I mean shoot every pro baseball player has some "quality". They are pros after all.

[BSLMikeLowe]

2. As for quality it's kinda like beauty. And I am talking quality at the ML level.

 

I guess where you're losing me is that you bring this up in the Draft thread, where the objective is to find yourself a promising developmental prospect. So if you are talking strictly about quality major leaguers they have acquired then ok, you can probably start the conversation with Burnes, end it with Kimbrel, with little to nothing in between. But that to me is a different discussion than what they have done holistically in terms of acquiring pitching, where I feel you have to mention not just Bradish, but Povich, Cano and probably some other names BaltBird listed.

[BSLSteveBirrer]

Mike, probably my bad for putting this in the draft thread. It started as a point that they don't draft pitching and I havent gotten confidence that they will do the other things to get that pitching. As for quality like I said it's kind of like beauty. I am ok with Cano there....barely. Would not include Povich....yet anyway.

[BaltBird 24]

So if you are talking strictly about quality major leaguers they have acquired then ok, you can probably start the conversation with Burnes, end it with Kimbrel, with little to nothing in between.

Even then we could speak of Gibson, Coulombe, Webb, Lyles, Perez... not at the level of Burnes, but guys who served a purpose.

[TwentyThirtyFive]

Popped a HS kid in the 6th round. Dont know if hes a big overlot guy or not. College players otherwise. Took pitching in the 4th and 7th rounds.

[BSLMikeLowe]

Even then we could speak of Gibson, Coulombe, Webb, Lyles, Perez... not at the level of Burnes, but guys who served a purpose.

 

Sure. Like Steve said, quality is in the eye of the beholder, but looking at the context in which they acquired those guys - the means by which they got them, the role they were expected to fill, the overall team objective at the time - every one of those guys was arguably worth it.

 

But just back to my main point....while they are completely eschewing acquiring pitching via early picks and big signing bonuses, they are acquiring pitching by other means to fill the organization, and I'd say a fair amount of it would be what I'd consider decent quality in context.

 

Has it been enough? At the ML level, no, I don't think so. They should have done better than Flaherty at least season's deadline (and that's even before we knew how bad he'd end up being), and they should have gotten a better insurance policy for Bradish/Means before this season started, and they needed one more reliable reliever to pair with Kimbrel. But when it comes to enough, I'd wager you'd be hard pressed to find a fan of any of the 30 teams who would tell you they have enough quality pitching right now. Supply <<<<<<< demand.

[BaltBird 24]

Strong emphasis on guys with elite speed lately between Bradfield, Honeycutt, and Overn.

[TwentyThirtyFive]

Overn is a draft eligible sophomore and is being called one of the best athletes in the draft. Maybe an overslot here.

[BSLMikeLowe]

Popped a HS kid in the 6th round. Dont know if hes a big overlot guy or not. College players otherwise. Took pitching in the 4th and 7th rounds.

 

Not counting 2020 when there were only 5 rounds total, I think that's only the 5th HS player they've taken with a Top 10-Rd pick (Gunnar, Hernaiz, Holliday and Creed Willems are the others that come to mind).

[mikezpen]

One pitcher so far, and he's nothing to write home about.

[BSLMikeLowe]

One pitcher so far, and he's nothing to write home about.

 

Two. 4th and 7th rounds. The 4th Rd guy sounds like he's already destined for the bullpen. I know nothing of the 7th Rd pick other than he played at Florida St, which is a very good program.

[BSLSteveBirrer]

My last comment here. Yes I agree I am pretty sure you'd be hard pressed to find a team whose fans think they have enough quality pitching. Demand is certainly higher than the supply.

But you'd also be hard pressed to find a team that has the trade chips and payroll flexibility near that of the O's.

[Mackus]

One pitcher so far, and he's nothing to write home about.

Which 3rd-10th round picks do we write home about?

[Nigel Tufnel]

Dear Mom,

 

Christian Rodriguez, the 10th round pick, is apparently pitching for the Frederick Keys this summer in the poor man's Cape Cod league.

 

Rodriguez’s Complete Game Leads to Series Opening Win Over Scrappers | Frederick Keys (mlbdraftleague.com)

 

Love,

 

Nigel

[BSLMikeLowe]

P.S. Send money.

[BaltBird 24]

Which 3rd-10th round picks do we write home about?

All of them.

[Mackus]

Doubt it means much, but only the 3rd and 5th round pick were in the MLB top-250.  97th pick was ranked 131st and 160th pick was ranked 175th.  Rest of the top 10 were unranked.

 

Not dissimilar to past years.  Picks looked more in line with MLB rankings last year and in '22 and '20, but pretty divergent in '21 and '19.  

 

I'll be curious to see bonuses when guys start signing.  The 9th and 10th round picks were both 4-year seniors, so might be underslot guys or even punts (guys who sign for almost nothing) to generate a bit of cash to go overslot elsewhere.

[RichardZ]

Strong emphasis on guys with elite speed lately between Bradfield, Honeycutt, and Overn.

Josenberger also. And Horvath and Etzel with plus speed from last year.

[dude]

I'll be curious to see bonuses when guys start signing.  The 9th and 10th round picks were both 4-year seniors, so might be underslot guys or even punts (guys who sign for almost nothing) to generate a bit of cash to go overslot elsewhere.

 

Looks like they'll put together at least 1M from 4-10.  Top 4 picks should all be slot.

 

There is a kid to throw some money at with the 11th pick.

 

4-127: Chase Allsup will probably be signed cheap but be given every opportunity to speed to the MLB bullpen.  Big kid, throws hard and likes technology and used it to elevate his control (destroyed his walk rate in one year).

[dude]

Obviously I'm good with this draft and would be regardless...

 

...but I don't really get the value of the fringe catchers they keep drafting.  It doesn't feel like there's any projection from guys like Stafford (5-160) and Tuft (8-249).  Last year they didn't but in 2022 Silas Ardoin (4-107), in 2021 they had Pavolony (7-197), none in the shortened 2020, but in 2019 Handley (6-168) and Cannon (10-288).  Willems was an upside play (1M bonus) in 2021, so that one is obvious.

 

Are we just trying to have some catching in the system?  Are targeting guys as part of the pitching development?  Something else?  Seems like a really easy place (Organizational catching) to find/pay whoever you want, whenever you want...I'm not over-valuing these 4-10 round picks in terms of who they could get (maybe some better arms than they get 11-20) but not sure about the purpose of using these picks for these type players.  This is like the only part of the draft that doesn't seem so obvious.