LookinUp

For what it's worth, I posted his age because I had absolutely no idea how old he was before I looked it up. He could have been 19 for all I knew. I was a bit surprised he was 21.663 years old, so I figured it added to the thread.

I actually completely disagree with this. Playoff baseball is a different animal at any level. The quality of competition is higher. The attention to detail better. The preparation much more thorough. I actually think it's very valuable to put guys in those situations. I'll say it: I'd rather have Diaz playing in the playoffs in Bowie than getting meaningless at bats when our pitching just gave up 16 runs in Norfolk.

What can I say? I saw 21 and 242 days and didn't do the math. Only on this board would someone call you out for something so minor.

Yep. Get many live arms and good player development guys and some are bound to exceed their scouting reports.

Almost 22 years old, FYI.

I'm choosing to believe last year's write-ups over this season's opinions when it comes to this guy. It sounds like his stuff is just now returning to form. I'd still have him high on our prospect list.

I'm pleased for a few reasons, in no particular order: 1. International commitment: Elias is talking it up and apparently backing up his talk with action. Odds are this will add good players over time. 2. Improved performance from guys already here: You're always going to have fluctuations. I think of Mancini, Givens and Diaz as guys like that. I'm more impressed by Means, Baumann, Rom, Sisco. Santander and really a lot of guys up and down our organization. Pitchers across the board pretty much have improved K rates. Many of our hitting prospects are faring well, aside from injuries. We have a few affiliates currently in first place in their leagues. I just get the sense that we have guys that are being put into a better position to succeed throughout the organization. We knew that player development was a big issue since the old Oriole Way, and there are encouraging signs that this is tremendously improved in a relatively short period of time. 3. Decent acquisitions: Nunez, Alberto, Severino, Smith, Wojciecowski (sp?) and a few other guys have been decent, cheap, additions. There have been duds of course too, but we now have a few assets that we didn't have before, so I'm pleased/content with this. 4. Draft: I'm pleased/content with this too. Rutschman is a great get even though any GM could have pulled that trigger. The rest, I'm not so sure yet. There's reason for optimism, but I think most of it is a little premature. It would be a boon if the pitching from this draft turns into real prospects, considering we didn't take any in the first 200ish picks of the draft.

The depth of that list fails badly after about 6-7 guys. They clearly haven't updated their projections for guys like Dietz and Baumann, for example.

The Twins likely have a short window. I'd be willing to go big at the deadline if I were them. That may or may not include Givens. Just think they should go for it while it looks like it could be their year.

Maybe they're planning to trade Mancini and just leave Mountcastle at 1B. ?

I think you're slightly off in your characterization. If a guy is sitting in Low A ball at that age for a while, I think the odds are lower. However, I'd wager that many recently drafted prospects go through Low A. If they're not promoted, say at the beginning of or early next year, it doesn't really bode well.

Does anyone have any insight on why Eastern League is such a pitcher's league this year? Is that different than year's past? Is it because most of the talent is on the pitching side, baseball differences, just consistent with history? I just don't recall this ever being the case and I'm not sure how it suddenly did become the case. I wonder if that minor league ball is even more dead than year's before?

Does any pitcher who profiles as a #4/5 starter rank higher than a reliever with a more electric arm? I think you can definitely make the case that Sedlock should be ranked higher unless you don't think he profiles as a #4/5 starter. If you think he profiles as a reliever, than I think Tate's reportedly superior arm talent could rank him higher. My read from some of Luke's posts is that he's not sold on Sedlock's pure stuff, so his probability of sticking as a starter is relatively low.

Much more defensive value than those two.

This is the reason I'm personally down on Smith. Not because of 150 PAs. I'd wager his bat could be serviceable on some teams, but his glove being so bad makes him beyond replaceable.

Every season was Sports Guy season, but the trade deadlines were a special time for that guy. Of course, if he were running things there wouldn't have been any players left by the deadline. He'd have traded them all off in May. He truly was a special internet talent. I really enjoyed him most of the time, but he'd lead the whole site down rabbit holes that had (often) no basis in reality.

My impression was that sports contract insurance is way down, and likely peaks at 20-30% for most players. Of the three we have, Trumbo's is the most likely to kick in with insurance. I'd imagine Cobb's could, but think that's really unlikely unless his injuries are career threatening. That part is speculation by me though.

The whole point is they're like 13 games over .500 over the last 50ish games. (estimates, but close enough) They were terrible, but they've now sustained success. They still have the HoF headline pitcher and they have the HoF manager in his last year. Their talent isn't great, but I actually think they should go for it, even if their odds aren't good. I don't think anyone would want to play them in the playoffs.

Fully agree. He's been with like 9 teams, right? I'm not getting my hopes up, but it's fun for now. If nothing else, he does seem like he could be a useful bullpen arm when the rotation fills up, but his ceiling is neat to think about.

Definitely agree. My only point is that he's in his development arc. There's no guarantee that he continues to develop, but there's also no guarantee that he'll stop where he is now. I look at middle relief as his floor, if healthy.

Do you have a cite for this? What do you mean by most?

That's why I said this...

Luckily, I didn't. He wasn't 4th OF quality the day I saw him. That's how lost he was at the plate. It's one day though. In the grand scheme of things, it's 100% meaningless.

You understand that this all makes him more valuable, not less valuable, right? If you hold Nunez, you're betting on him. That's fine if that's what they think.

I understand the assessments that he profiles as a back-end reliever more than a starter. All I'm saying is that a great end to this year and an off season where he's able to make his change an average pitch and now he's more like a #3 pitcher than a relief profile.