oceanicvoyage

I agree with the sentiment, but I think you forgot Strasburg (and Matusz & Gausman?? ). Other college pitchers in first round that did/doing well - Chris Sale at 13 in '10, Max Scherzer at 11 in '06, Walker Buehler at 24 in '15, Marcus Stroman at 22 in '12, Aaron Nola at 7 in '14, Jered Weaver (before arm fell off) at 12 in '04, Tim Linecum (before arm fell off) at 10 in '06, and maybe Trevor Bauer at 3 in '11. That's not a lot though - college position players have had better outcomes.

Obviously things could change, but how much money could you possibly save by picking (reaching for) Gonzales at 2? Would it be worth it?

There was a thread about a good JUCO/community college coach signing with the O's to be the hitting coach at Aberdeen. Do you think the early success of Rizer (Welk and others as well) has to do with that coach, good drafting, or just being old for the league? Or all of those things?

If the O's take Austin Martin (SS, #3) with their first pick and Casey Martin (SS, #25) as the supplemental pick, the O's would have Richie Martin, Austin Martin, and Casey Martin all competing for the SS position.

It's a rebuilding year. These are just AAAA placeholders until the real acts have proved themselves at the minor venues. No need to rush the talent.

I would hope that Elias has a plan to keep him fresh like playing him at 1B and DH more often giving Sisco more opportunities at C. Sisco could also DH or play another position as others have posted. I also wish Mountcastle could play a little corner outfield to help with the situation. This would calm some of the concerns for people who are complaining that catchers wear out too fast and that's why he shouldn't be the number 1 pick. Also the Astros did seem to be okay with having guys play varying positions (at least earlier on in the rebuild), but that might have been because they had Marwin Gonzalez. Its all still hypothetical at the moment and who knows what could happen.

Looks better and can definitely get even more from the lower half. I said this in my top 20, but I think he's going to have a huge breakout next year due to these changes and mainly from that boost in confidence from being in the launch pad that is Frederick.

He had a bad year, but let's be patient. Catcher is hard and takes longer to adjust. Over the last 15 years, there have only been 25 rookie catchers (also 25 & younger) to have more than 1 war and about 10 over 1.5 war. And those were the mauers and poseys who were much more highly rated. Sisco has a 0.1 war for the year and something weird definitely happened mid season. After being bad to start his demotion, his last 50 AAA at bats got better with a wrc+ of 135. So hopefully he can continue to figure it out and have a fresh start next year.

Here we go: 1. Diaz 2. Mountcastle 3. DL Hall 4. Hays 5. G Rodriguez 6. McKenna 7. Kremer 8. Ortiz 9. Akin 10. Lowther 11. A Hall 12. JC Encarnacion 13. Tate 14. Cumberland 15. Hanifee 16. Carmona 17. Bannon 18. Harvey 19. Wells 20. Rom Things I’m curious/excited to see next year: Baumman: Can he figure out High A to begin the year? Cumberland & Bannon: How will they produce at Bowie now that they will be settled and have had a little seasoning at AA? Greiner & Knight: How will they produce in their first full milb season? Hopefully they are fresher. Rom & maybe Zebron: Curious to see who jumps from GCL to full season. JCE: I think he’s going to benefit greatly from the launch pad that is Fredrick (continue the pattern of break outs starting there like Mancini, DJ Stewart, Mountcastle, and McKenna) Curran: I still like him and is still young. I can see him gaining lots of confidence at Fredrick – see above. Reyes: Can he keep it together after finishing strong? AA is a whole new world with more opportunities to punch walls or something.

No need to add him to this list because Baseball America already has him as the O's top prospect.

Slow-motion of Cadyn Greiner's swing during batting practice at the College World Series: https://twitter.com/jjcoop36/status/1007634384260878338 I'm no expert, but I've seen some say his swing is garbage and I don't see that. I think this swing that is posted is a good foundation. He's not "pushing" and gets some use of the lower half. It's a little long in the back, but stays in the zone decently. I have noticed he does get fooled and off-balance in games, but this swing is a good place to start going forward. Here is Nick Madrigal's (4th overall) in slow motion: https://twitter.com/jjcoop36/status/1007710229310603265 He is much quicker to the zone and stays in longer, but clearly taught similar things.

Thanks. I think my timing is just off because the draft was a week earlier this year.

Is it taking longer to announce the signings than usual? I know there are a few still in the college world series, but short season starts this weekend and we haven't heard much.

I'm kind of surprised you like Hoerner's swing better at the moment. I think Greiner does a much better job of consistently "turning the barrell" than pushing. Hoerner absolutely looks stronger and has the higher ceiling but watching his swing now it is consistently pushing through before his body. I'm pretty sure that is what Stanford teaches, but if he changes that you can absolutely see him coming into his power. I'm not a huge fan of this pick, but i like the glove and he's been a winner. So maybe he'll be a good presence for other guys.

I've also noticed that he has been very pitch efficient this year. He averages 13 pitches an inning. That's the best in all of AA by over a pitch (I set the min at 60 IP). The infield fly balls definitely help, but its interesting that he also ranks highly in swinging strikes.