Tony-OH

You sound like you should be his agent. Hey, by all means, have any opinion you want. I see a terrible system and lack of real athletes and dearth of starting pitching prospects. The Orioles aversion to signing international players is certainly part of the issue, but not part of this discussion so we won't get into it, but even the guys you point out have done what for the Orioles? Mancini was a nice pick, but he made major adjustments with the development staff after his Delmarva signing. Gausman was a miss for the 4th overall pick. Hader was a flier on a local kid on the behast of local scout Dean Albany, so let's not act like their was some amazing plan there. Even Albany will tell you he never saw him becoming this good and besides, Albany has basically been set aside by Rajsich so if you wanna give credit to the O's scouting for Hader, realize the scout that found him is no longer has much if any say in amateur scouting now. Mullins, most people still think he;s a 4th outfielder, Sisco? If you like platoon catchers who can't control the running game and without much power then he's your guy. Sure, Hays and Mountcastle look good so far, but both are nothing more than prospects who have some holes in their games, not guaranteed impact players. Where are the shortstop prospects? Who are the pitchers that he's drafted that are legitimate starting pitching prospects? He's had six years and the system doesn't have one sure fire legitimate starting pitching prospect. Even Akin, who I like a bit is seen as a reliever by some scouts. Look, as an Orioles fan, I want to be positive and I want the players to become solid major leaguers, but as an evaluator and guy who talks to many people in the industry, this system is not very good and Rajsich's drafting is part of the problem. It's nothing personal. I don't really know Rajsich. I talked to him after his first and 2nd drafts and after he basically told me every pitcher were three and four pitch guys with plus pitches, I realized he was either throwing my fluff or over evaluates guys terribly. I realized it wasn't really worth my time to dicuss the players anymore so I wait until I see them or guys I know and trust see them before evaluating them.

You can have any opinion you like, but go ahead and tell us about all the impact major league talent Rajsich has drafted. Tell me about all the major league ready starters in the system? Tell me about one everyday shortstop prospect in the system. Out of the three best position prospects in the system, two have unknown positions at the major league level. So besides the lack of legitimate major league starting prospects, any infield prospects, and lack of legitimate impact talent, please let us know why you think Rajsich has done such a great job? As for signing guys, he's done a good job up until this year and I don't have the whole story so I'm not blaming him for the Conlon thing at all. What I am saying is he's had 6 drafts and the system is one of the worse in baseball. His best draft pick so far has been Trey Mancini, and he's a development success story after making adjustments after a terrible Delmarva year.

So much strangeness about all of this. I'd like to give the Orioles the benefit of the doubts but hard to with the way they've been going about things of late.

It's like one of those last drafts a scouting director has before he's let go. The drafting has not been good for years and Rajsich has now had six drafts and the system is one of the worse in baseball. Grant it part of it is the organization's aversion to the international market, but let's face it, the system is not exactly drafting a developing many impact big leaguers.

Something can't be right.

I doubt it. With the new rules, almost everyone knows what they will get and whether they will sign for that number. Since MLB put the new system in place very few 1st round picks haven't signed.

2017 1st round pick: DL Hall - LHP Valdosta (Ga.) HS http://riveraveblues.com/2017/06/2017-draft-d-l-hall-154800/ Video Sickles High Risk, High Reward at the number 21 position. 21. Baltimore Orioles: LHP D.L. Hall, Valdosta (Ga.) HS Callis: I think Hall has the potential to be a great value for the Orioles here at No.21. He's a smaller left-hander who draws comparisons to Scott Kazmir with his low-90s fastball and overpowering curve. Based purely on talent, he could have gone five or so picks higher. Tony's Quick take: This high risk, high reward selection is a bit of a surprised for an organization that is need of pitching talent now. The Orioles have not had much luck drafting and developing high school pitchers with Dylan Bundy (4th overall selection) and Adam Loewen (Yes I know he played one year of JC before the Orioles actually signed him) being the best two. All the scouting reports love the arm and curveball, but he'll need to develop a changeup to reach his ceiling. I think the Orioles were hoping Oregon LHP David Peterson fell to them, but he went a pick before to the Mets. In need of a shortstop of the future, the Orioles passed on North Carolina SS Logan Warmoth who was taken by the Blue Jays with the next pick.

He has a family issue to be there for. He should be back soon.

Give them 10-12 starts at Frederick and assess. If they are ready, challenge them at Bowie. They will learn more in AA because of the jump in talent level with the hitters and really know what they need to work on.

According to Brooks Baseball Miguel Castro has thrown 678 pitches that have been tracked by the PITCHf/x system between 2015 and 2017, including pitches thrown in the MLB Regular Season and Spring Training. In 2017, he has relied primarily on his Fourseam Fastball (97mph), also mixing in a Slider (85mph). He also rarely throws a Sinker (97mph).BETA Feature:Basic description of 2017 pitches compared to other RHP:His fourseam fastball generates an extremely high number of swings & misses compared to other pitchers' fourseamers, has heavy sinking action, has an obvious tail, is blazing fast and results in somewhat more flyballs compared to other pitchers' fourseamers. His slider (take this with a grain of salt because he's only thrown 7 of them in 2017) generates an extremely high number of swings & misses compared to other pitchers' sliders, is an extreme flyball pitch compared to other pitchers' sliders, has primarily 12-6 movement and has some two-plane movement. His sinker (take this with a grain of salt because he's only thrown 1 of them in 2017) has heavy sinking action, is basically never swung at and missed compared to other pitchers' sinkers, is thrown at a speed that's borderline unfair, is an extreme flyball pitch compared to other pitchers' sinkers and has slight armside run.

DD can never have enough pitching depth. Basically he replaced Alvarez and Gunkle with two pitchers who may be able to help the Orioles this year. It was clear how fast Gunkle was sent to the minor league camp that his future with the club was in doubt.

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He's slashed .233/.282/.392/.674 over 2019 PAs, in AA and below over his career. He needs to be a game changing defender at catcher to have any chance in the big leagues as a position player.

If he can't catch, then you try to convert him to pitcher. he doesn't have the bat to move anywhere else.

Kapstein only started one game in the minor leagues as a catcher and that was in the first year after he was drafted. He's a 44th round draft pick who's been a light hitting organizational outfielder for his entire career basically.

Sisco is literally the only guy on this list you make a spot for. Perez is a AAAA guy, If Wynn is better than he'll beat out O'Connor, but I wouldn't mind seeing them split time at Bowie.

By my count the team has 38 players on the 40-man roster and that includes at least 5 guys they could DFA and no one would claim them. Why not? Worse case scenario is you DFA him if you need a spot.

Tampa just designated former #1 pick and top prospect Catcher Justin O'Conner. Seems like the kind of guy Duquette likes to take a flier on. Seems to have a rocket arm but definitely can't hit. He's coming off back surgery as well. Here's what MLB Trade Rumors had to say: The Rays announced on Monday that minor league catcher Justin O’Conner has been designated for assignment. His spot on the 40-man roster will go to Wilson Ramos, whose two-year deal with Tampa Bay is now official. O’Conner, 25 in March, was drafted with the No. 31 overall pick by the Rays in 2010 and rated as one of the organization’s top 30 prospects (per Baseball America) each year since. Prior to the 2015 season, BA rated him as highly as No. 3 on Tampa Bay’s top 30, and MLB.com entered the season with O’Conner ranked 61st overall among MLB prospects that same season. That ranking came on the heels of a very solid .278/.316/.466 batting line compiled between Class-A Advanced and Double-A, but O’Conner limped to a .231/.255/.371 performance in 2015 — his first full season at Double-A. Injuries have been an issue for O’Conner, though, and the Rays announced today that he’s undergone a pair of back surgeries after being limited to just 20 games in 2016. He also underwent a pair of hip surgeries early in his career, so durability concerns aren’t exactly a new phenomenon for O’Conner. Last winter, O’Conner rated 13th among Rays farmhands, per BA, though their scouting reported questioned his ability to hit breaking pitches and changeups while also raising questions about his “decision-making on defense and aptitude for game management.” BA does note that he’s gotten 80 grades on his throwing arm — O’Conner has halted 46 percent of stolen bases attempted against him in his career — and has above-average raw power."