Moose Milligan

It sure isn't a healthy weight. I'm betting he doesn't have much of his career earnings left. Anyway, he'd probably be our best starter behind Means right now. I bet he could put up Harvey numbers, at least.

Pat Connaughton's Bucks are tied 2-2 in the NBA Finals.

I'm wondering if they bring up AR with an eye towards next year and rookie eligibility. Now I think it'd be dumb for them to do this, but I don't think they'd waste his rookie eligibility this year with half a season left, too far behind to rack up stats to win ROY. I do believe they think about things like this...Mountcastle fell a few ABs short last year, I think they'd have sat him so he'd have a chance at it this year. I think there's a decent chance AR gets 100 at bats or so in Baltimore later this summer.

All very reasonable, IMO.

What do you want to see in the 2nd half? (Aside from trades you'd like to see) Performances, call ups, etc.

I'm glad Jesus told him to come to the Orioles. We need all the help we can get.

Been wanting to post this all day.

Thats a big hammer curve, 12-6. Here's hoping this guy can help soon. I like that he's big, too. IMO, someone who's 6'8" isn't afraid of much. I think it's a psychological thing, this guy probably won't be nibbling around the plate. We see that with Tyler Wells, he's not afraid.

Great post, I agree.

Any quotes about how they'll be old enough to rent cars to make the trip from Norfolk/Bowie to Baltimore by the time they're ready to be called up in a year or two?

I wonder what they'll give us for Severino, Valaika, Franco and Stewart.

Sure there's a right way to build a team...and that's always to be competitive. Being able to sustain a winning ML product and having consistent talent coming through the pipeline. How teams achieve that with the resources they have will vary. Obviously the Rays can do it, they've been doing it for years. The Cardinals are almost always good. I'm assuming those two organizations have very different resources and methods in which they go about achieving winning results. And yet, they're always in the thick of it come September/October. The Braves are another organization that comes to mind. The more we plod along here, the more I watch the Rays win 90+ games a year I think the whole talk of having a "window" is complete bull****. The Rays window is always open, has been for years. The notion that the Orioles will have a 3-4 year "window" to compete doesn't have to be a reality if Elias does things correctly. I would like nothing more than this organization to be able to bring up consistent GOOD pitching talent to the majors like the Rays have been able to do. I would hope that's something Elias is looking to do.

Or people know what they're talking about and have different views on the strategy.

I'd be absolutely floored if the Orioles were ever considered trendsetting in something else other than sucking. It'd be cool if you're correct. But I'm nitpicking here, Molitor struck out more than he walked (but not by a huge amount). Gwynn walked more than he struck out but certainly wasn't a walk machine. Brett wasn't a walk machine, either, but still walked more than he struck out (but again, not by much). Those guys all high for high averages though, something I wouldn't be opposed to. While batting average is an antiquated stat, IMO it can still tell you a lot about the player.

Wow, the grades are all over the place.

Here's a question I'll pose to you: Do you think that teams look at these things in a binary way? Does Cleveland approach team building in the way you just outlined it? Anyway, to answer your questions, I'd pick the Rays method. Ton of depth. But Tampa has the #1 ranked system, they have talent that will wow you. Maybe they're not household names yet, but they're still very, very good. Let's not pretend that they've got a bunch of Kremers and Akins and are somehow making it work.

In regards to age, I see that as obvious. Elias appears to think that the mid/upper levels need stocking. He needs guys that can contribute in Baltimore maybe as soon as next summer. He knows he can't wait. He also seems very risk adverse. Unless the HS talent is undeniable, he's taking college players all day with a preference to college bats over college arms. The organization needs pitching. We've got G-Rod and Hall...after that there are some intriguing names and guys having good seasons this year but we need more top flight pitching. I don't know where he expects to acquire it but his drafts are leaving a lot to be desired from a pitching perspective.

I agree with Froberto Duran. I don't mind the Cowser pick and Norby picks, I'm also not in love with them either. To borrow @Sports Guy's terminology, they're safe picks I don't mind a safe pick, especially during a rebuild that's off to a slow start. If you're trying to stock the mid to upper minors, I get it. Hopefully these two can advance quickly. I'd have rather seen more upside/overslot pitching on Day 2. While there are a couple of arms that were selected on Day 3 that are kind of interesting, I'm underwhelmed by the initial reports on these guys. Drafting a bunch of senior signs, IMO, not very exciting and intriguing. Yes, I know Covid played into that, some of these are guys that might have come out last year. But that doesn't mean that there wasn't any younger, higher upside talent. I posted this in the other thread: Wouldn't have minded to see us do what the Angels did. The Angels know what their problem is, they addressed it. At first glance it looks like taking an M-16 to a mosquito, but that's perfectly fine. If we're looking at this as a lottery ticket game, give me 20 scratchers for uncovering good pitching prospects all day, every day. Could have done without the glut of outfielders. More pitchers, more HS/upside talent.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, I know, I know...we won't be able to grade this draft until a few years from now to see who panned out and who didn't. I agree. But that doesn't mean we can't react to it now. Some of you seem to hate this draft, others seem to think there are intriguing players here. Use this thread to vote a draft grade and quibble on whether or not Elias & Co. did a good job. Is Cowser significantly underslot? What do you make of the lack of HS talent? Do you like the strategy here? Or what strategy?

It's only over slot if we go after a sexy HS talent with big upside. It can't be over slot if it's a college player, that's just not as exciting.

That's a big MFer. I'm assuming that's him in the picture. Anyway, looks like he throws hard. Grad student? Anyone out there draft eligible for their PHD? Get 'em, Elias!

Gotta be careful doing that, he might pull a hamstring and land on the IL.

https://www.thestate.com/sports/college/university-of-south-carolina/usc-baseball/article248928839.html

That's fine, I understand where you're coming from.