LookinUp

I assume this is because not every organization provides the data, so there isn't equal access inside baseball? Am I making that up or am I pulling a useful memory?

I do think it shows the pecking order in AA, at least the top of it. That's Kremer. Everyone else is behind, for various reasons. My guess is Baumann's also looking to leap frog some more guys before it's all said and done. [Edit: I forgot Zimmerman was already promoted. Maybe it really just shows where guys' experience and 40-man status is moving them.]

I'm on the fence. I see value in a AA pennant race and I see value in moving up. It also matters that Kremer is on the 40 next year, I think. In the end, it's pretty subjective and up to Elias. He sees more value in getting Kremer some experience that will help the actual Orioles sooner. That's fine with me, but so would be the alternative.

I'd wager no, but you never know. The old regime would probably already have him in the rotation. These guys seem to want to help him learn to pitch at all levels first. My guess is next year he'll focus on a 3rd pitch and all of the other stuff (in/out, eye levels, throwing 2/3 best pitches in batter's counts) while at AAA.

We are technically only 1 GB right now. Over the next week, the O's get the Red Sox and Royals. The Tigers get the Rays and the Astros. Hard to see us making up any ground in that stretch. After that, the Tigers get the Twins so it's hard to find wins there either. Never know, I guess.

He's got the best arm of the group. Not sure that equates with most ML ready, but he'll get away with a few more mistakes, I'd guess.

And another article responding to an OH thread. Beautiful.

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Maybe you could elaborate?

I don't understand your goal here. Is it to end the Davis debacle? Just cut him. Is it to save money? He'd have to agree to such a deal, accounting for time value of money, etc. Is it to buy pay him more so he leaves "voluntarily?" That's how it's worded, but there's no reason to do that.

I just remember him having essentially a perfect head of hair at fan fest. He should be a model.

Betts' year last year was incredible, but he's on a great 5 year run. I decided to look it up. Then I looked up Trout for grins and jollies. His worst WAR was 7.2. It's because WAR is a counting stat and he only played 114 games. His OPS that year was 1.071. Dude is incredible. (I know I know, breaking news)

I love the theory, but it's hard to see Baltimore outbidding the Red Sox and the rest of the majors for a premier talent like Betts.

Maybe not, but they don't dismiss him either. He's a legit talent evaluator. At least I think so. That doesn't mean he's always right. Sometimes I do think evaluators conflate current performance with ceiling though. A guy like Hall is a perfect example. I think his ceiling is a #1. Great athlete. Electric stuff. If it comes together, he could be special. I'd probably project him as a #2 at this point though because of the command/control (not that I'm qualified). Even that requires some growth. Others might not even go that high.

Not sure, but I think this is a bit of a cop out. I just think the standard for a #1/2 is very high. That said, before Law came out and questioned whether Grayson could hold his velocity, I think most evaluators would have said his ceiling is a #2. People listen to that guy. I'm not saying he's right, but he's no dummy regardless of what every fan base in baseball thinks of him. lol.

This is an appropriate question. I can imagine the O's wanting a steadier player than Martin. I can also imagine them wanting a toolsier player than McCoy. In the end, they'll look to upgrade over both. How fast can Gunnar move? lol

I get that it's a pitcher's league, but it's AA, not the majors, and it's a .705 OPS, not .805. He's not projecting as a starting SS for a good team. Maybe a bench guy is my best guess. That's not terrible. It's certainly better than what was expected last year, but tempered enthusiasm is probably warranted.

I loved the story earlier this year as much as anyone, but when you look at the full AA stats, it's hard to get that excited over a AA short stop with average defense and a .705 OPS over 387 PAs.

I had never heard of Gio Urshela before this year. Now he's like the best player I've ever seen. So I looked him up. Many years in the minors. Usually in the .600s or .700s OPS. One year at .825. This year with the NYY he's at .940. I can't find him on any team's top 30 prospect list. Seriously. What are they doing to these guys? They have 4 guys with over a .900 OPS this year. I had never heard of two of them. The other two are Cameron Maybin and DJ LeMahieu. The mighty Luke Voight's OPS is .885. Maybin has been in the MLB for decades it seems like. He hasn't achieved a .700 OPS in 7 years. He's at .921. Mike Tauchman did have an awesome OPS in the PCL once, but I cannot find him on any Rockies top 30 prospect list for MLB pipeline. He's at .960 in almost 200 ABs. LeMahieu had a great 2016 in Colorado, but has been under .800 every other year of his career, including in the minors absent a 33 game stint the year he was called up. This is madness. We need to hire away their batting coach and performance enhancement drug specialists.

I thought the same thing.

Oh, and Mountcastle did it before he won this award and is highly likely to do it after. Reyes maintaining a hot streak would be newsworthy.

Luke already sort of addressed your point... I doubt the O's promote him to the majors if they doubt his health. On talent alone, an even less effective Akin probably still has a place on expanded rosters in September.

Thanks Tony/Luke. Really helps me understand what to expect from Akin in terms of what's possible.

Just curious, in scouting, do you guard against a recency bias or otherwise try to account for it? I ask because it seems like you're saying his early 2019 stuff was higher caliber and you're projecting based on his more current stuff. I'm genuinely asking how to weigh these factors. As a fan, I want to believe that his April stuff is the real guy moving forward, and he's just going through something like a dead arm period now. As an evaluator, I have no idea what I'd think, lol.

Agree. I suspect this is pretty consistently true across the system, though I imagine there are variations in an individual's development plan.