Tony-OH

I'm not sure how many times we have to say this before it sinks in with some people.

Get used to it. Everyone under Elias really are not going to say too much and even Elias really doesn't give it a ton of information. They really believe everything they do is secretive including giving any information out about their minor leaguers. At the end of the day, they have not drafted one pitcher that we can say absolutely looks like a big leaguer. That's probably because they don't start drafting them mostly until after the 10th round. While teams like the Angels and Dodgers have loaded up on pitching, the Orioles are attempting to do the opposite. Time will tell who is right.

I don't think he's special enough from the mound to do that. He was topping 94 in the video I saw of him on the mound and the command was pretty bad. This young man was drafted for his bat potential. I have some arm action concerns with him catching, but that's from limited videos I saw. He moves well around the plate and seems to stick pitches so that bodes well with him staying there for a bit.

The writing on the wall is not complete, but yes, it does not look like we even got one impact players back in that deal. Then again, it was a two and half month rental and those costs have come way down the last five years of so for the most part. Either way, it's hard to argue that the deal has not worked out well for the Orioles so far. I'm not ready to give up on Kremer just yet though a move to the bullpen may be in his future to see if he can find more consistently there.

It's hard to find too much to like about Diaz overall. He can't stay on the field and when he's on the field, he looks like a guy who is always rusty. Is he rusty or just not very good? If you recall, Diaz has been a guy I haven't been very high on after I saw him after the trade. I just didn't see the upside, although I did see the raw power at times. I really want to see him have a whole healthy season before fully evaluating him but he's certainly lost what little shine he had.

He's been hitting better of late but I'm still not sure what he is at the major league level outside of a utility guy. I don't think he'll ever have enough pop or hit for a high enough average against upper level pitching to warrant an everyday spot. The strikeout rate for a guy with very limited power is a big concern. Defensively he's best at 2B, but can be shaky there at times as well. I just see a tweener guy who can be overmatched by good pitching.

Markakis could be a decent comp for Cowser's ceiling unless he decides to try and hit for more power at the expense of average. Markakis made the Orioles a a 2--year old so Cowser would definitely need to produce at a high level once he signs to have that consideration. The way Elias does things, it's doubtful he'll have the opportunity regardless, but it's not out of question he could make the team in 2023.

I haven't noticed a ton of soft contact actually. He dos just miss on some pitches and flies out pretty deep, and he can roll over occasionally for a weak 4-3, but overall I think he's made good contact this year.

He's been living off his cutter for the most part but he's got decent WHIF% on his curveball. His well below average fastball will make it tough for him to have continued success, but he's a nice little story. Do I think he's here for the long-term, I do not, but he's earned more starts in this rotation.

I believe this as well. It's not that I don't think they don't have some eyes on guys, but I think they are very connected to their analytcis that determines the best probability to gain WAR at the major league level.

From what I saw from the selections in the first round, opinions varied greatly but also that the talent difference was not very big this year. I do think Elias went with the "safer" college bat picks, but I think he went with the picks that he liked the best. From what I understand, it doesn't appear he really went underslot on guys, just he thought those guys were the BPA. Of course, BPA is the player's who talent and risk profile combined makes him the selection. It appears that Elias didn't go for the high risk, high reward player in this draft, and he certainly eschewed away from pitchers in the first ten rounds once again. I don't have a strong opinion on the drafted players because I certainly have not done enough scouting on these guys to tell Elias and company they were wrong for making any selection. But what is clear from the video scouting and reading I've done so far is that they leaned heavily towards production at the college level. It's a very moneyball-esque approach except they've added statcast type metrics leaning toward high EV players and guys with good spin rates. They've also took guys who profile well defensively until those guys were basically gone then they went with bat upside guys. Overall, I would have liked to have seen a few more high schoolers from the 5th round on but I don't know who was available, their signability and so forth. With COVID limitations this was still a little bit of crapshoot more than a normal year so I think that's another reason they went very college heavy.

I'd go with 91-94 which is what he was throwing in the Draft League. I'm not even sure where the 94-96 came from which is why i said, "reportedly".

He'll be somewhere between 3-5.

Heid was ranked the 17th best pitcher in the league. "37/5 K/BB; 109 Hop+ score, 91-94 mph, elite extension (avg. 7 ft), 21.7" IVB, 43.7% Whiff.

I don't scout these guys until after they are drafted so I really can't make an educated opinion. They seem to have some upside and I'll take a guy throwing 94-96 in the 11th than a McLarty-like guy throwing 89-91 in the 8th round. People can have any opinion they want on these drafts, but the reality is most of these guys will never play in the major leagues. I'll wait until I see how the bonuses shake out before having any real opinion on the overall draft besides pointing out the obvious that Elias goes bats first then takes arms on day 3.

If i can get a pitcher who throws 94-96 who shows four pitches and has an extreme success of K'ing guys at any level in the 11 round I'm going to think they are interesting.

Why wouldn't it? At this point, these are lottery tickets. We are talking about 11th-20th draft picks. If a guy has played against questionable talent then gets against decent talent and dominates, why wouldn't that affect a decision on a player? Everytime a guy goes to a new level you have to evaluate them against that competition. The high they get with success, the better chance they have of success at the next level. Personally I think you are on a schtick now and just bashing to bash. It's silly, but feel free to do so. So far I think they've made some interesting picks in the 11th - 13th round so far.

There was little doubt he was going to go pitching heavy in Day 3 after his first two days. This draft looks a lot like 2019.

Who are the guy you are talking about? The people here are passing on information they found which is exactly what people should be doing. It's then up to you to bitch about an 11th round pick who throws 94-96 with success against likely draft picks this year.

Not if he was throwing 94-96 in the MLB draft league.

I think we are going to see a lot of college seniors this year being drafted because of the short 5 round draft last year, most went back for their senior years. It's not going to be your typical Senior draftees.

23-years old.. RHP Big K numbers in DIV II Competition https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=heid--000dyl 93-94, nice overhand curve (, showed a slider (83-84), change (80). Not a ton of command in the video but flashed some ok stuff. Prep Baseball report said: "37/5 K/BB; 109 Hop+ score, 91-94 mph, elite extension (avg. 7 ft), 21.7" IVB, 43.7% Whiff." Heid tossed 18 innings in the MLB Draft League, striking out 35 and allowing just one earned run."

There was no reason for Ripken to make the AAA team in the first place. He's only played six times in the last month and he's a first baseman, not an outfielder. But yes, he could be released at any point.

Add in Cespedes and none of them are prospects, just guys.

Agreed, we will have to see how it works. Most importantly they have to pick the right hitters and that is still in question so far as none of college hitter selections minus Adley have really dominated. Stowers has been the best of the lot so far, though obviously Mundy the free agent signee last year has looked good in A-ball. As for this draft, I think both Cowser and Norby look like pretty safe bets to be solid big league contributors that should get there quickly.