Tony-OH

I wonder why they think so. The academies are what improves these players so I don't see why they think they would suddenly stop funding them. Maybe MLB should just take over the funding of these academies that teams would just provide the staff for. The team gets to know these players closely and give them a better understanding of who to draft.

I gotta wonder why the union is opposed to this? Right now, the Latin American market is saturated with corruption and most of the high ranking players reach verbal agreements at 14 years old with teams. The buscones still peddle these players at very young ages and take from what I've heard is large portions of their signing bonuses. A draft would get rid of these verbal agreements and underhanded dealings between the buscones and scouts and allow the teams with the best scouts to have the best chances of getting good players. They can institute a bonus pool of money for teams and put value on slots just like the amateur draft. I don't understand why the union even has a say on this since none of these players are in the union anyways until they are put on a 40-man roster.

Gotta agree with you here. Making anything based on "voting" is ridiculous.

Who do you replace though?

Nieman was actually on the list until he was beaten out by outfielders who just put up much more WAR over their times with the Orioles like Merv Rettenmund who put up 17 WAR as an Orioles compared to the 9.1 Nieman put up. It appears, at least according to Baseball Reference dWAR, Nieman's defense was not good.

Absolutely. Melewski gave a nice little piece for the casual fan to know some names that they may not know. All I was saying that it was probably not a useful exercise to start debating the rankings.

Nice job posting these all to one place. Thanks @wildcard

Luarila is really worried about having "one swing" vs "multiple swings". I think what that hitting coach was talking about was a hitter having a "grooved swing". A guy with a grooved swing is a guy who swing in the same path every time. DJ Stewart is a good example of that kind of hitter. It's a strange question to ask a 20-year old because 99.9% of hitters are going to tell you they have "one swing".

This was interesting:

Who knows? Honestly, I'm just saying that no one should get upset over someone being ranked over someone else since most of these guys haven't played a full season of minor league league baseball.

They really should come to some kind of agreement that allows players on the 40-man to play in the minors as long as they have an option.

https://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2022/03/orioles-minor-league-camps-ready-to-ramp-up.html Nice to hear that the exit velocity is back. That tells me he's physically ready.

Sounds like he's on track to start the season. Hopefully he will start off at Delmarva this year.

Melewski does a great job of writing about the minors, but wouldn't put any credence into this list. He's got the names right for the most part, but he's never seen any of these players and really, no one can accurately rank these guys at this point. It's all for fun though. At this point, he could be right or could be wrong, but at the end of the day, he's got people talking and with nothing else going on, why not?

You guys need to know a bit about Mr. Garfield. I gave him $500 as a down payment for services to be rendered in 2020 when he said he didn't have enough money to eat, then COVID hit and he couldn't do anything. No big deal, I figured he would just come back in 2021 but apparently, without telling me or giving me a reason, he left the site for another. So I help the guy when he's down and he turns around and runs to a different site for whatever reason without returning the money I gave him for services he never rendered. Sure, he does a good job of getting video, but he's a total fanboy when it comes to any kind of analysis. I know everyone is hungry for anything Orioles baseball wise, so if you guys wanna keep posting his stuff and discussing, feel free. Just remember who he is and what's he's good for. If you want raw video of things happening down there, he's the guy. Analysis? Everyone will be doing great and is the next super star especially if they talk to him and make him feel special. About the only thing he didn't do was create a message board then email Hangouters and try and get them to come over. I really didn't want to put this out publicly but in the end, it's the truth. Very few people that I gave a chance to screwed me over. He's on that short list. That's all I have to say about this situation.

You spit out your coffee easily, don't you? The first three years can certainly be looked at as a high paid internship at a Law form. The MiLB portion would be the schooling phase, the first three years where they will make over $1.8 million dollars is the internship, and they hopefully make partner after that. But yeah, I don't know know how they would ever be able to survive on that? The horros of making $650k a year the first year with incremental numbs the next two must be too much to bear for those poor indentured servents. Meanwhile, the player unions real goal is to put the luxary tax higher and higher so the big market teams can try and outspend each other. lol I would say it's sad how easily manipulated people can be by PR and media, but then again, just gotta look at where we are right now as a country and world. I refuse to argue anymore. You have your right to your opinion. Power to the peasant players!!!! See, I'm coming around.

Makes sense. This has always been about allowing the big market teams to spend as much as possible. While there are some who have bought in hook, line and sinker to the player propaganda, at the end of the day, this was always about trying to get rid of the luxury tax so the Dodgers, Yankees and Angels can spend ungodly amounts of money to offset their poor decisions and still get them into the playoffs every year. This entire thing is nothing but a money grab by the players and owners who will drag this out as long as possible because they don't car about April and May baseball. Neither side gives two squats about the fans. They all are greedy POSs.

We see eye to eye on this for sure. The fact that people are concerned over a guy who makes ten times the amount of the average worker is beyond me. No one is really supposed to be able to retire for life at 30 years old. Most professional players, and even a lot of middle of the road major league players know they will eventually have to work again. But then again, that's the way it's supposed to be.

Remember though, the "AAA Orioles" were a means to end so that they can be competitive again in the near future. I would be in 100% agreement with you if I thought the Orioles did not want to put a competitive team on the market and it was not part of a plan. Whether you agree with this is route or not, it's obviously what the Orioles decided to do.

Scherzer is a mercenary who has made over $250 million in his career and will pitch for his 5th team for another ungodly amount of money this year if they actually play. He, along with Clark and Manfred are part of the problem. Greedy rich elite men who could all care less about anything but making the absolute most money for themselves. They have no care for the fan at all. Look, you wanna love the players and feel they are poor indentured servants, you have every right to feel that way. I really don't care about any of them or really anyone's opinion about this situation anymore. I'm on no ones side other than the fans, and some of you aren't even on your own side.

Plenty of people on here are acting like the players are some poor indentured servants who are getting scraps from the owners. I work for a Corporation (away from the Hangout). I get a raise every year. What I don't do is sit around and worry how much the corporation made. The owners are dbags, and if it were true that they tried to slide a bunch of stuff in at the last second, then they truly have to own this, but the players have a pretty good thing going and they're just being greedy trying to get more and more when they already have so much. I want baseball back. There are no good guys in this situation and the only thing that annoys me is when people try to cry poor for them. If you don't think so, go back and read the posts. This is not 1973 when Charlie Finley was trying to give Reggie Jackson a $1000 raise after he was an MVP candidate and the team won another World Series. Pre Free agency players were 100% right in what they wanted. Now they are ready and willing to get a work stoppage when they are being paid very, very well.

They should start a Gofundme so you guys can help those poor suffering players who may have to get a real job. Maybe Scherzer will kick in a $100 out of his $36 million he made last year.

Seriously. With the horrors they have to endure like 1st class hotels, chartered flights, and playing on world classed fields and stadiums, I don't why anyone would want to do this for $650,000 a year. But hey, people will tell you they are treated unfairly. lol... I wish I was treated that unfairly.

You can make yourself feel better using any analogy you like. Honestly, I really don't care. I have zero problems with players making the money they do. If someone feels they are worth that money, who am I to tell them they shouldn't take it? I have problems when they are screaming poor when they're not. Look at the first three years of MLB like an internship. A very well paid internship. After that, the life changing paydays are there! Players are not indentured servants and get paid very well even during the period they have little control. If they are good, they will score an even bigger paycheck that will be based off their worth. If they are excellent, they can get to the Scherzer level and enjoy their rich, elite status where they can pretend to care about the little guys again to make themselves feel better. lol

I don't remember Wieters ever getting a scouting report that his defense was weak, especially his arm which was plus-plus. Game calling was always Wieters downfall but modern catchers don't really have that issue because they now have cards to tell them what to call in almost every situation. In 2011 and 2012, Wieters had 5.2 and 4.1 seasons and had only one more season where he was worth more than 1.2 (2016 at 1.9 WAR) so I could buy Wieters was a Franchise two player for two years, but overall he was more of an average major league catcher. Not bad, but not what I think we expect for a 1-1 pick like Rutschman. I will tell you now that Rutschman is better defensively than Wieters was though he may not have the raw arm strength that Wieters had. Wieters won two GG and rightfully so because he was outstanding in 2011 and 2012, but his defense fell off by the time he hit 27 years old. You said you would be happy if Rutschamn repeat's Wieters best years but even over those two great years, Wieters slashed .255/.329/.443/.771. I think those numbers would be a disappointment for Rutschaman after his rookie year. I don't think Wieters was a failure as a 1st round pick, but I had to grade his Orioles career based off his draft status and minor league numbers, I'd say C to C-.