LookinUp

Law is not a dummy. That doesn't mean we break Gray Rod down and rebuild him, but I'm guessing Law's specific points are fairly accurate.

What is the scouting report on this guy? It has been implied several places by different people that his bat has legit potential. On the other hand, I feel like Luke (maybe??) thinks he's more likely a good org guy without really profiling as a ML bat. I don't mean it as a direct comp, but does Daschbach profile as a Christain Walker/Trey Mancini type who doesn't have a ton of positional value but whose bat could carry him to the majors anyway? If so, I'll take that in the 11th round any day of the week.

Detroit is almost as bad as us. I think we're lucky we have a 6.5 game "lead" on them for the first pick. They're terrible.

I agree. Definitely worth watching.

It would be awesome if he can be average defensively in LF. I'm under the impression that he's more athletic than Mancini. I just don't know how athletic he actually is.

Hmmm. I can't decide if I agree or not. I was assuming next year would be targeted as a Delmarva/Frederick year. But I think you're right. If it's Frederick/Bowie next year, he would be catching Rodriguez, Rom and maybe Hall, depending on how fast he moves. I'd like to think those batteries will progress to the majors at about the same time.

I don't think any of those numbers reflect the type of player he can be. Last year his performance had an inflection point when he came to Bowie. It's like they ordered him to stop with the good approach. This year he's battled two injuries, I think. With that said, I want to see more than 1-2 more weeks of sustained success before promoting him. I'm in no hurry. If he turns into what we hope, he's a clear starter in our outfield by the second half of next year.

Agree. Looks like his plate coverage is below average. The easy cheat for this is to move closer to the plate. That doesn't fix the fundamental balance/tempo issue he might be having though, and it'll likely create a new problem on the inner half.

He’s not Dietz. I just hope he’s not injured. He’s better than this. He didn’t jump from Delmarva to the World Series against the Dodgers.

You're either missing my point or something else. I'm saying that to trade Mancini, Elias will need to find under the radar talent. If you don't like Rom, how about Hanifee? The name doesn't matter, it's the type of target that Elias would have to have in mind because teams aren't going to trade their versions of Hall, Mountcastle, etc., for Mancini.

Yeah, maybe so. I'm not sure how high everyone was on Hall and Rom at this point last year though. That's what I was trying to identify, underappreciated talent.

If his trade value is negligible, he won't be traded. If it's great, he will be traded. I assume it's in between. The question is whether Elias can identify young guys who aren't yet on BA/BP types of prospect lists but have the potential to grow into valuable pieces. In that case, maybe we can get 1 guy like a Diaz (maybe single A version) and then a couple of below the radar guys like Adam Hall and Rom were last year.

I'd wager this is a blip on the radar screen, not a sign of his prospect status ending. I'm not saying he'll be a Verlander, but I'm very happy he's a prospect in our system. With a couple of profile improvements, he could turn into a really nice SP for the O's.

The international system favors the rich first and foremost. The reform with caps make it such that the small market teams can compete. All of these market-based scenarios in this thread make a lot of sense on paper until you realize that this is about sustainability of a league that is set up as anti-competitive. The more power you give to the player to make the most money he can, the more power you give to the Yankees. I cannot create a Waldorf Orioles that can be promoted to the major leagues. It's impossible. None of this is market based or fair in the grand scheme of things. An international draft would level the playing field within the league. They could structure it in a way to incent the same amount of spending and try to promote as many kids into a system as they do now. It isn't rocket science and it is a way to allow poorer teams to compete on another level, which ultimately helps the sustainability of the league as it's currently constructed. But, no, it's not best for the international players.

Oh snap. Frobby and Drungo head-to-head in message board theater. Frobby got the tko on this one. I look forward to the rematch. lol.

With Gunnar and AR signed, I'm content. Anything else is icing on the cake, IMO. I do like both cake and icing.

Looks like he's about 7th in BA and 21st in OPS in the league. That includes a few SSS guys. So that's a little better than I expected. 6 of the OPS guys above him are about his age or younger.

I think this is a bit of an overstatement. I like the kid, but his bat isn't 'great' yet.

Kremer, Diaz and Pop probably have the most potential from the trades. Bannon still has a shot too. He didn't have a good May but has an .873 OPS in June so far (.772 for the full season). Interesting split is he's hitting much worse in Bowie than away. Probably a SSS issue (just a guess). Bruce Zimmermann has a 2.49 ERA and is striking out 9.2/9 innings in AA. The Schoop trade got us Villar and a kid named Jean Carmona. Who knows what he can become, but he's a young SS with decent tools, so there's a chance. So there's still potential for those trades to really help us over time.

Kremer's line in Bowie on 7/11 was: 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K’s. He pitched again on the 16th and gave up 4 runs in 6 innings, but he also had 9 K's and 0 BBs. Going again tomorrow, I believe.

I don't believe the Orioles have a prototypical CF of the future in our system unless McKenna or Mullins learn to hit much better. Hays is probably the best suited CF coming from our list of hitters, but that's far from ideal.

If losing Yefry is Elias' worst move, he will become the best GM in the history of baseball.

Speaking for myself, Hall's walk rate does look like a problem, but one I see a lot of pitching prospects go through. However, if it persists over time, he looks more like a Chris Tillman type than a lock down #1/2 starter. So it's definitely a concern to some degree, and that's why it's even plausible that Mountcastle is a better prospect. After all, if Hall's BB rate and ERA were like last year's, we'd be looking at a top 20 guy. That's what we're all hoping for, but it hasn't panned out yet this year. Those concerns are largely independent of Mountcastle's walk rate issues. They should no doubt dampen our projections. I don't point it out to be negative. I point it out to try to put the proper expectation on a player as best as I can from an internet message board.

I definitely look forward to learning more about him.

Good for him. Hopefully everyone is happy and healthy, and Yusniel comes back and has a big 2nd half.