Tony-OH

Of course they were two years older due to the missed COVID year.

We also have to remember, and this is no a knock on Elias per se, but Elias has not drafted very many high school players so the FCL is made up of almost all international players. Although Elias has made strides in that department, even he will admit that this year's class will be the first class where they are on pretty even footing with the other clubs when it comes to a presence down there. Saying that, in year's past, the GCL was filled with drafted players (due to the 40 round draft and lack of J2 sigings) but very few interesting players. Right now in the FCL, off the top of my head, Acevedo, Deson and Rangel all are pretty interesting as prospects. In the DSL Hernandez, Basallo and Del Los Santos are pretty interesting. There are others of course, but it does show the organization is starting to see some depth from J2 signings and trade acquisitions of J2 signees.

Thanks for adding in the other team stats. I agree that you can't make too much of it, but at 17, you would like to see them putting up some decent numbers there with the expectation the best of them are going to the FCL next year. It's not surprising that several of these guys will wash out pretty quickly because they are so young when these deals are made. it also will not be surprising if a guy given a much less bonus significantly out plays them.

Not awful, but you do see those minor league mistakes here and there. A good example was the Aberdeen game the other night with runners on 1st and second, the hitter lined a ball into leftfield, the third baseman rightfully lined up the cut to home, but Gunnar Henderson did not cover third like he should have. The runner from 1st ended up at 3rd because no one covered the base until it was too late. But, that's kind of what you expect to see once in awhile in he minors. I don't expect it at the major league level.

Buck is definitely a good baseball guy. Good evaluator of talent as well.

Here's how the bonus babies have fared so far offensively: DSL 1: C Sammy Basallo, 16, $1.3 mm .235/.307/.368/.674 3 2B, 2 HR, 7 BB, 16 K in 75 PAs SS Maikol Hernandez, 17, $1.2 mm .175/.321/.270/.590 2 2B, 1 3B, 12 BB, 14 K in 78 PAs RF Wilmer Feliciano, 17, $400 K .211/.348/.281/.629 1 2B, 1 HR, 12 BB, 18K in 69 PAs 3B/SS Anderson de los Santos, 17, $350 k .357/.430/.543/.973 5 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 9 BB, 11 K in 79 PAs DSL 2: C Yasmil Bucce, 16, $300 K .225/.354/.275/.629 2 2B, 5 BB, 12 K in 48 PAs 3B/SS Eruviel Castillo, 17, $350 K .261/.370/.377/.747 6 2B, 1 3B, 8 BB, 22 K, in 81 PAs SS/2B Victor Celedonio, 17, $360 K .100/.182/.100/.282 0 BB, 3K in 11 PAs LF Teudis Cortorreal, 17, $350 K .206/.260/.294/.554 3 2B, 1 HR, 5 BB, 13 K in 73 PAs

After he hit two home runs on July 15th, he missed a week and then returned. After returning he OPS'd .803 over his next 20 games, but only hit one home run so you wonder of something was bothering him a bit. Hopefully he will be healthy by the AFL. He would seem to be a prime suspect to get some PAs there.

I've always been a little lower on McKenna than others because I've questioned his stick, in particular his ability to hit upper velocity. Unfortunately, that showed to be true in his big league time and I think that's going to limit him. Saying that, he's without a doubt a plus major league defender and runner, so he does bring value as a 4th outfielder, especially to a team that has left-handed hitting starters that may be defensively challenged. If he was eligible, I'd have him at 21.

Thanks. Mundy has been on the list for a long time now but is now hurt. As for Dashbach, he's getting most of the reps at 1B because Mundy has a fractured thumb. Dashbach reminds me a bit of Trey Mancini when it comes to athleticism (not very athletic overall) and game, but he just doesn't have a good enough stick to be an everyday first baseman which limits his overall prospect status. Mancini didn't break out until his 2nd full season and although Dashbach is at the same point level/age wise as Macnini was, he's about 500 PAs behind him because of the last COVID season. So, I guess the jury is still out on him, but we'd need to see some sustained power numbers at the AA and AAA levels for him to get onto the scene. I probably like him more than Nevin because he does tap into his power more.

Good points all around Rick. I can't tell you whether the Orioles make more fundamental mistakes than other teams, but it does seem that they make more than their opponents. Too often you said bad cuts set up with outfielders not knowing who to throw to and simple pop ups around the infield seems to be a challenge. Defensively we may not make a ton of errors, but like you said, those lack of double plays certainly hurt and our catching has been brutally bad defensively this year, particularly in framing where Severino, Sisco and Wynns have combined for an amazing -14 runs added back there.

wOBA in my opinion is the best way to understand the effectiveness of a hitter with current stats/metrics. OPS is the easiest and quickest way to have a general idea of how good a hitter is, but as it's been pointed out, it's no where near perfect. I love looking at Baseball Savant and use the expected stats in order to get an idea of how hard and what angles the hitter is consistently hitting the ball at along with EV and barrel%. Then it's onto their stats against different pitches to see if they are struggling against high velocity, off-speed or both.

I think Hyde is a good baseball and company guy. Saying that, I have not seen one of his teams look like it's particularly well skilled in the fundamentals, but I don't know whether it's the lack of quality players or a lack of consequences when players don't do things fundamentally sound.

I agree. I wonder if they will consider keeping it like this in the future. In April everyone is still motivated by their teams but by this time, most of us are focused on the minors. Plus, with the draft pushed back, this would give the new draftees a longer first season. Maybe not into October, but I think having all of the season running until the end of September is a good thing.

Outside of Mullins, there has been very little improvements from any of our hitters and most have regressed. Same with the pitching. As you stated, this team has a lack of fundamentals and it shows up often. So while I won't blame the coaching staff for the Orioles woes because there is a lack of talent on this roster, I certainly don't see any bright spots with the current group to include Hyde that makes me think they are part of a winning future coaching staff. If there are two things this season has shown me its, Holt has no magic pixie dust to make pitchers better, and Elias/Sig's system does not have some magic pixie dust that allows them to find major league ready diamonds in the rough from other organizations. It remains to be seen whether their system for identifying players in the draft, international scene or with trades works or not.

Yep. This is the first year i did this and it appears people are enjoying the power rankings so I'll probably keep doing them next year. But, as you said, I haven't dug into the stats in details or had discussions with baseball people and scouts yet, so these are preliminary, particularly the newly drafted players. I do enjoy the questions/back and forth with people so happy to give my thoughts when asked.

I do like Vavra's bat and I think he can stick at 2B and may improve enough to be a solid defender there. Basically Willems is where he's at based off his potential and bonus. His one million dollar bonus puts him around the same (a little below) as the two international bonus babies which is why he's right behind them. Both Trimble and Rhodes have some upside as starting outfielders so for now they get the nod ahead of others that may end up platoon guys or 4th outfielders. I like Pinto, but size and command are concerns, so I'd like to see him have success at AA before getting too high on him. Pinto probably would be a 5th round talent if drafted and I don't even have Tavera (5th round) on the list year yet although he could break in once I get a better look at him. He did reportedly hit 95 MPH in his one inning of work.

He's be 15 months out from surgery next February so I expect he should be a full rehab go by spring training. they'll probably limit his innings next year to around 75 total I'd imagine so they could either slow start him or pitch him 2 to 3 innings at first.

Well at least I know people read us here! lol I bitch about a lack of information on a player, and the very next day, MASN reports with wrong with him. Maybe that's the way we can get some information around here! lol

Updated as of today... A couple new prospects on the top 50 scene.

Wastequip??

The pitching quality I've seen in AAA this year is down a bit. Haven't seem them face too many studs there this year which makes that jump to the big league very big for the hitters this year.

He also is not facing 94+ mph heat like the kind he was dominated by at the major league level.

You do have to wonder if this is Jones' audition to stay on the 40-man. He really has had a poor year in AAA this year.

Yep, really strange promotion. Bannon has been white hot and I'd rather see him than a struggling Jones and a never will be like Gutierrez.