Vandy

Splurged and bought club level seats for opening day. Right after the last out my fiancee and I were attempting to leave and got stuck in fan traffic as Rubenstein himself was walking back into his suite. I ended up making a comment to a then random gentleman about how cool the last 24 hours have been with new ownership taking over. As it turns out, the man is the father of Rubenstein's son-in-law. He invited us into the suite for a picture, and Rubenstein, who was understandably drained, still took a few moments to chat. I'd say opening day went about as well as it could have.

The case for Armbruster, Young, and Gillies being bubble guys will obviously depend on their 2024 seasons, nothing earth shattering there. Like CaptainRedbeard said, I could even see a couple of those guys making an appearance this year if guys like Tate, Baumann, Baker etc prove to be unreliable. I would consider Alex Pham in that mix too. Another interesting name to watch is Juan Nunez who should be eligible as a 2019 int'l signing.

In general I'd be shocked if Willems was in the top 10 as I think he should profile closer to back end of the top 20. Injuries did not help but he crashed hard offensively at ABD and the bat is going to have to carry his prospect status. Fun, easy to root for guy but 100 productive ABs at Delmarva at age 19 aren't enough to place him at the top of the tier which includes guys like Beavers, Norby, McDermott, Povich, Horvath, Seth Johnson, Wagner, Fabian, and perhaps 1-2 of the toolsy international players who played well in the FCL. Speaking of international players, guys like Tavera, Leandro Arias, Luis Almeyda, and Josh Liranzo will be fun to track and with their tools and current prospect graduations could vault themselves into the back end of the top ten next year. As it stands now I think #10 would be a little too cute for Tavera as there are too many guys with the combination of performance and upside in the upper minors I'd prefer at this point. Plus I think arguments could be made for Bradfield in the 6-8 range which leaves me out on option 2. Norby had a solid year and really came on later in the season. I believe in the bat but Horvath also comes with a solid offensive package and the athleticism to likely not be a burden at 2nd/3rd/OF. That puts him ahead of Norby for me, so unless one of Ortiz/Cowser/Bradfield/Beavers aren't in the top 10 that eliminates the last option. On my personal list I'd go with #9 Horvath and #10 McDermott, but ultimately think arguments could be made for Horvath, Norby, McDermott, and Povich in any order in the 9-12 range so I'll go with option 4 as it's closest to my preference.

Should be in the ballpark of what the Mariners had last year with their 1st round pick (#22), PPI Pick (#29), and the CBA Pick (#30). Their bonus pool was nearly $13.2m which was good for 7th in MLB despite not having a top end selection.

Snippets from the 2021 and 2022 Baseball America draft rankings: "A righthanded hitter and lefthanded thrower, Fabian should have no issues handling center field and playing it at a high level defensively at the next level. He’s an above-average runner but what makes him a special defender are his defensive instincts, first step, reads off the bat, athleticism and arm strength. He’s at least a plus defender in the outfield and some scouts have gone as far as putting double-plus grades on his glove, making him one of the best defensive center fielders in the 2021 draft class." "Defensively, Fabian is one of the better center fielders in the class, with solid speed, athleticism and instincts to stick at the position and be an impact defender. " Less glowing in '22 than the year prior but I'd bet he'd work out just fine in CF/LF. Hit tool will be the limiting factor but even if it ends up as below average he can profile as a Ryan McKenna type with more pop.

This is going to be a very long offseason if we're only allowed to discuss items sports guy deems worthy of consideration. Looking forward to it.

I think there’s something to be salvaged here, but he was truly bad offensively this year and his body language showed he was mentally finished at Vandy. Really good defensive SS who at times let his poor offense affect him in the field. Ended up being replaced by a true freshman towards the end of the year, and it’ll be interesting to see if he can even win a spot at LSU given their crowded infield next year. A change of scenery, whether it’s with the Os or LSU should do him a world of good though.

I would assume the front office has plenty of data on Whisenhunt given their scouting of Connor Norby last year at ECU. As far as college pitchers go, I'd be pleased with any of Whisenhunt (LHP ECU), Tidwell (RHP Tenn), Gabriel Hughes (RHP Gonzaga), Cade Horton (RHP OU), or Justin Campbell (RHP Ok St) as well as any of Pallette, Prielipp, or Rocker. The lack of pitching depth might prevent most of them from getting to 33 or 42 though. Peyton Graham is interesting and like RZNJ mentioned has been linked to us in several different mocks. He strikes me as a toolsy Westburg type and I could see him being the pick at 33 if he drops that far. I'm biased but I'd also love Spencer Jones at 33/42. Not many guys look like him physically which can be a pro or con depending on your viewpoint, but having watched a couple hundred of his ABs over the years he's a guy the uses the entire field, flashes plus power, and should play a fine RF. Ryan Cermak's scouting report reminds me of an Austin Hays type so he should be interesting to follow as well. Players that seem to fit with Elias/Sig's mold in the 2nd/2nd comp round include Cayden Wallace (3rd/OF Arky) and Cade Doughty (IF LSU). Jud Fabian's stock may be trending downward enough to get to the third round, but based on his last two years of SEC data I would be disappointed if we took him any earlier than that. I know next to nothing about the HS arms that could go in this range, but Owen Murphy's name has been tossed around and the reports on him sound promising.

Somehow I have a feeling you'll be concerned either way

Unless our HS draft picks are showcased in FL while they ramp things up this will be the most disappoint GCL O's team I can remember. Checking the boxscores for the GCL and DSL are dreadful. One positive today of note is Brenan Hanifee made his return today. He's a long shot but it's nice to see him back after a long three years.

Something can be factual but also not hold a ton of water as a valid criticism. Since Elias arrived, no drafted player has made an all star team for any organization and only one international signing has earned that distinction (Yusei Kikuchi at 30 years old from the NPB). I guess someone could argue that he failed to trade mediocre assets on the roster for an all star caliber player since he took over, but I'm not going to fault him for failing to turn water into wine.

Starting off this thread by misspelling his name is probably a bad omen for us.

The point of the post is pretty clear unless you choose to take everything as a personal insult. Based on the information that gets back to us fans it seems clear that Jones has to be the guy. I'm not really convinced that the secondary candidates like Lee, Johnson, or Green are close to being interchangeable like Rutschman or Witt where at the time. I'm not well versed enough in the depth of the high school class, but based on Elias' last few years he should still have the capital to snag a few guys in the Westburg/Stowers/Norby mold after 1-1. It'll be interesting to see how guys like Jud Fabian, Peyton Graham, Zach Neto, Brock Jones, and Cayden Wallace trend as we get closer to July because a number of those guys seem likely to fall in the 25-40 range.

Not that I think he'll end up on campus, but barring a crazy change in draft date Lawler will be a draft eligible sophomore in 2023. It's not clear what the NLI market looks like for college baseball but maybe he thinks he can make enough money in college to justify the risk of gunning for a bonus worth more than 7m in two years.

Acevedo, Ortiz, or Gonzales are all interesting picks if they can make the jump to the GCL this year, but I'll go with a wildcard in Raul Rangel. Here's a snippet from BA last summer: "The Orioles added a promising mix of arms in their 2019 international signing class, including Rangel, a 6-foot-4, 155-pound righthander from Venezuela. It's a tall, extremely thin frame that should hold another 50 or more pounds and allow him to add significant velocity once that happens. He already throws relatively hard for 17, reaching 93 mph with the potential to throw in the mid-to-upper 90s eventually. He shows feel for a curveball and changeup as well, giving him the building blocks to be a starting pitcher."