2016 31st Round Pick - Jake Ring - CF - University of Missouri

5'11" 179 lbs

Sophomore Jake Ring is Missouri?s spark plug.

He knows how to get on base. He?s worked a team-leading 28 walks and his .399 on-base percentage leads the team as well. He knows how to find the gaps. Ring?s 15 doubles are four better than the next best on the team. Perhaps most importantly, Ring has been an exemplary run producer in pressure situations.

?With two outs, RBI situations, he?s money,? Missouri coach Tim Jamieson said. ?He?s balanced and hits the ball hard. He?s very confident hitting in that situation.?

Jamieson said Ring has been great at the plate with two outs all year. During a May 1 game against Ole Miss, Ring came up with a clutch two-out single that proved to be the difference maker in a 4-2 victory.

Ring said he always tries to be aggressive in the box. His crucial hit against Ole Miss came on a three-two, inside pitch. Ring said he was sitting opposite field and was able to connect with the ball and send it onto the outfield grass.

Ring also stroked two doubles during that game, one to either outfield gap. He said he?s been working on hitting for power and has been able to change his approach at the plate and produce solid extra-base hit numbers this year.

?I?ve been able to keep my barrell long through the zone,? Ring said. ?It seems to be working out for me.?

http://www.themaneater.com/stories/2015/5/5/ring-catalyst-missouri-baseball/

31st-rder Jake Ring signs w/@Orioles for $100,000. Missouri OF, has speed, can play CF, touted recruit out of HS

Jim Callis

Pretty big bonus. The O's have been willing to spend money on guys like this the last few years. He's almost 22 so hopefully he can move fast through the system.

Sounds similar to Mullins. Maybe this will be a thing under Rajsich trying annually to snag a cheap future lead-off hitter.

Pretty big bonus. The O's have been willing to spend money on guys like this the last few years. He's almost 22 so hopefully he can move fast through the system.

I mean, it's considered slot value. Not like they're saving elsewhere to sign this guy. Chances are they just want him to be a pretty good org guy.

I mean, it's considered slot value. Not like they're saving elsewhere to sign this guy. Chances are they just want him to be a pretty good org guy.

Is there a site somewhere that lays out what is considered to be slot values for rounds 1-40 (understanding that obviously there is significant variance between picks in the higher rounds)? I tried to search earlier today to see if we had gone overslot for Ring but wasn't able to find anything. Thanks.

If I remember correctly 100k is the max per player after round 10. Anything over 100K goes toward your over slot limit.

Nah! I agree with the other poster. 100K might be the amount you can spend but I don't see the Orioles spending 100K on an "organizational guy". You offer 10K to organizational guys and say "take it or leave it".

$100k is chump change in baseball terms. Totally makes sense to me to give $100k to a good org guy, especially one who's a junior and can play good defense at a premium position. Good org guys, especially guys like Ring who can play a good center field, provide real marginal value, which, under Duquette, has been one of the hallmarks of the Orioles' strategy.

My point isn't that Ring's a bad player, just that he doesn't need to have ML starter upside to be worth $100k. If he turns some doubles into outs and makes opposing pitchers work at the plate, he'll help the development of guys who might have something more in their future. And to a major league team, getting a guy like that in your organization is worth $100k, even if he doesn't turn out to be a major league starter. I mean, maybe he does, but that'd be gravy.

And yeah, every pick after round 10 treats $100k as full "slot value," except any savings doesn't add to the bonus pool, while anything above that number counts against it.

Maybe you're right. To me, 100K to a guy take in the 31st round is surprising. I'm sure you can get some senior CF somewhere to sign for 10K and play good defense if that's the criteria. Do you really think that they are giving 100K to everyone taken after the 10th round? I don't. And if your reasoning is that Ring is more valuable somehow, then why wait until the 31st round to take him?

I agree. But then again I'm no draft expert by far. Most of what I know from the draft is from people like eb45. I'd say we need to make an effort and sign these guys, but we've actually been pretty good about that for years now.

Maybe you're right. To me, 100K to a guy take in the 31st round is surprising. I'm sure you can get some senior CF somewhere to sign for 10K and play good defense if that's the criteria. Do you really think that they are giving 100K to everyone taken after the 10th round? I don't. And if your reasoning is that Ring is more valuable somehow, then why wait until the 31st round to take him?

My guess is they knew Ring was a $100k sign before the draft and waited until the 31st to make sure they saved enough on senior signs to cover his bonus. Or maybe he said before the draft he wanted $300k and dropped it to $100k when he didn't get drafted in the first 30 rounds. And I'm sure there are senior signs who can just come in and play good defense in the GCL or Aberdeen, but ones that can hit enough to make it to Frederick or Bowie are rarer. It is rare for guys taken after round 25 to be anything other than overslot fliers and low-level filler, so usually they don't get $100k, but just because Ring got the max doesn't mean we should get our hopes up for him.

I mean, it's considered slot value. Not like they're saving elsewhere to sign this guy. Chances are they just want him to be a pretty good org guy.

That's not really slot for a 31st rounder, but it's the most they can offer without dipping into their pool money. Most 31st rounders are lucky to get $10K so the Orioles most see some upside here.

Been to a few games this year....This kid Ring plays a real good center field and has been hitting for a high average......I guess he was drafted as a junior out of college...maybe he can move up quickly

Been to a few games this year....This kid Ring plays a real good center field and has been hitting for a high average......I guess he was drafted as a junior out of college...maybe he can move up quickly

Welcome to the board. Sorry for the confusion. Thanks for any input that you may have for us. Good talking to you.

Thanks, glad to be on board......

The guy is hitting .415 with .500 OBP in 13 games so far. Should probably get moved to A ball tbh. He's currently in rookie ball.

Hopefully he can keep hitting well, always nice if you can find gems later in these rounds.