LookinUp

I agree with Law. Very small chance to stick. ?

I will point out his walk rate forever. It’s the difference between a #2/3 hitter and a #6/7 on a good team. I’ll take a home grown #6/7 hitter any day and twice on Sunday, but that and his lack of position temper enthusiasm.

I’d nitpick the order, but that would be missing the point. This list is way more talented than in years past. The top 50 will be more interesting than any time I can remember.

And he was promoted.

It is always worth trying to sign live arms, especially if they don’t have to be on the 40 man, which isn’t clear here to me.

Definitely not, but velocity was not his calling card even when it was good.

7 IP, 0 runs, 6 hits, 1 BB, 8 Ks tonight.

Yeah. People forget the double plus movement, location and complimentary double plus change up. Velocity wasn’t Maddux’s Game.

Teams have been working around innings limits for several years now. The goal is to have them continually throw more innings, but also throw over the course of a full season. I'm not saying it will work. I'm saying he was our #1 draft pick and he had a starter profile before injury. Now we're trying to get him back into condition so he can regain his future. In the process, he's put up really good numbers and reports are that his stuff is getting close to where it was before the injury. Why on earth would we stop the plan? I understand changing our player valuation based on his injury and current stuff, but it seems way too early to me to stop his progression considering we're just over 1/2 way through his first real season back being healthy.

Law probably doesn't change his opinions too easily, and typically I'm guessing he shouldn't. What I think people may already forget, or maybe just minimize, is that our organization turned 180 degrees when Elias got here. That means pitchers with one profile last year are getting a totally different look and feedback from the organization right now. Some were bound to blossom. Is Baumann's transition to future #2/3 starter complete? Of course not. Is it out of the question that he's in the middle of just such a transition? I'd say no. Even though you can't project him as a #2/3 starter right now, I do think he's a starter prospect with relief being closer to his floor than his mid-case at this point. At least, I hope that's what I'm hearing.

Everything you're saying is true. I used the term "all things being equal" for a reason though. I believe baseball can be a sport full of power hitting guys with great bat speed and better foot speed. It's really not dissimilar from the evolution of the NBA. Size has always dominated the league. Then it transitioned to a 3-point shooting league. Does that mean size doesn't dominate? Of course not. That size is just learning how to shoot 3 pointers and defend the pick and roll. Kevin Durant isn't going to be an outlier. He's what the future of basketball will look like. There's no doubt in my mind that baseball would evolve similarly with better athletes.

Not sure why you're in a spat with Murph, but I did notice the above bolded line tucked away in one of those posts and I think it's spot on. To me, Sisco can appear to be a valuable ML catcher over a 162 game season just the way he is because the bat matters so much. However, when the games get important and/or the good teams leverage you in every way they can, his defense will be exploited and it will hurt the team. The margins for error against good teams just don't allow for a player that is involved in every single pitch to be sloppy and generally ineffective.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say this isn't true. All things being equal, I'd wager big money that speed is correlated to better results, and that's primarily found on the defensive side of the ball. The problem today (IMO) isn't just that baseball is played in a way that minimizes the value of speed on the basepaths, it's much more a problem that baseball isn't attracting the best athletes in the first place. In America, the better athletes are playing basketball, football, lacrosse and soccer, IMO. I think the biggest problem with baseball is that they're not cultivating talent in the neighborhoods that could really improve the overall state of the game.

I immediately wanted to raise Hardy and lower Aparacio, but that's my age coming into play. There's no doubt that all four of those middle guys were really good contributors. I'd argue Bordick probably belongs at 6, but the other three can all make a case.

The top 3 looks pretty darn strong next year. The pitcher (Hancock) could end up a bona fide ace if things fall right. Torkelson has a huge bat, but not much positional value. Martin looks like he'll be SS/3B with offensive projection. All could fail, of course. That's the benefit of having the #1 slot $$, so we can take more highly rated guys.

Great list. You probably could have stopped at 6. That's where the line of demarcation is. If you did go to 10, Manny would likely be the guy even though his defensive statistics and games played don't shine.

And that's why I wouldn't limit his possibilities right now. I'm under the impression he has a 4 pitch mix and a starter's profile IF HEALTHY. Why take that away while they're building up his innings post-injury?

You can click through this site a bit to get a few days worth. Kremer, Lowther, Wells, Baumann coming up. https://www.milb.com/bowie/scores

The Nats in particular are desperate, and they're also sitting atop the wild card standings. If I were them, I'd consider trying to get a couple of guys from the same team. An offer for Givens and a guy like Fry, or Yacobonis, shouldn't be outside of what they're considering. If adding that extra arm allows us to increment the return, I'd be in favor.

Ehh. I'm not saying stripped down payroll is in any way inconsistent with the Astroball style of rebuild. I agree that it is. What I'm saying is that it's also consistent with preparation for a change of ownership. That doesn't mean that it's happening, but if changing ownership is Angelos' plan, it fits perfectly with the direction he's decided to take this franchise (Astroball rebuild).

What does that accomplish other than shutting off a potentially higher value path to the majors? I agree that bullpen is his most likely path, but I don't see any reason to close our minds to the idea that he can be healthy and effective enough to be a ML starter at some point.

I would certainly take a risk on him if I were another team. There's virtually no risk to bringing a guy like that to spring training. I wonder if the O's are considering protecting him? My guess is they are.

I decided to do some cursory research into this kid. I don't know what his velocity looks like, but he's 6'8". That's tall. I know he has some control challenges, but that's to be expected for a guy that big. He's walking 3.2/9 this year so far, which isn't great by any means but also isn't terrible. You have to wonder if a guy who's this big and starts to harness some kind of control can have a future in the big leagues. Hopefully his stuff is good, because the size could be helpful.

He pitched 83 innings last year and is at 67 this year. I do wonder why he hasn't been sent to Frederick yet given his age and results. It seems like he could throw another 30-40 innings this year if they wanted. I'd like to see him against better competition to start to understand whether he's an old guy tearing up a young league or an actual good prospect. Still, I assume the org has its reasons and they're related to his development, so I'll just have to be patient.

Which, if true, means he won't be traded.