LookinUp

This dude will move quickly, I'd imagine.

That's a big boy.

There's a young international guy or two that has some hype, IIRC. But as Tony pointed out elsewhere, we actually did draft a fair number of pitchers in rounds 11-20 in 2019 and it looks like that strategy is playing out again today. So it's not like we don't have the bodies. The question is whether Elias' targeting strategy will work out.

If it's true that we have a deal or two and are ready to pull the trigger, the question is just when. For the O's, they might be targeting a couple of "still available" guys and then pull the trigger on the guys they have deals with. To me, this looks like a bit of an over slot pick. Not massive, but the transfer portal stuff tells me this guy thinks he has a little leverage.

Transfer portal is interesting. I'd guess that means he's hoping to get plucked by a D-1 school to improve his draft status next year, that is unless a team made a good enough offer now.

Oh. That does make things much more interesting. Sounds like they used 1-10 to get good players while still having a deal or two in place with some over slot guys for 11-20.

My understanding is casting is when you straighten your arms at load. It adds length to the swing. You'd prefer a more compact load and then go straight to the ball. But again, I hear this stuff kind of second hand, so I may not be precisely accurate. If you google it, there are a ton of videos for how to fix it.

My understanding (which may be outdated) is that the draft pool for rounds 1-10 is disconnected from 11+. By that, I mean that we don't get to allot savings in 1-10 to guys in 11+. That means if you're not drafted in the top 10 rounds, you're not getting any savings netted from any under slot guys at the top. If true, I doubt there's a significant over slot guy that we plan to draft and sign. Maybe a slightly over slot guy or two, but nothing significant in terms of dollars.

We've been waiting a few years for this to be true. Hopefully we don't have to wait another 1+ years to start the fun part of this process.

The thing is that the savings at 1:1 and 1:2 for under slot guys is potentially very significantly more than the savings at 1:5. As you've noted, the O's didn't take some kid rated around 20. They took a guy that many had right near their slot. I doubt the savings will be massive. I think the "O's went under slot" narrative is mistaken, at least on scale.

I see a long but powerful swing. I'm not hitting coach, but it looks like he casts to me. Easy fix to shorten the swing. Get this kid to the barrel and he'll do damage for sure.

I actually agree that it’s not a great strategy on its face, but I know that there’s a ton I don’t know and give the benefit of the doubt that he has a plan.

This post is 100% true. Everything good in Houston was because of other people. Everything bad was because of Elias. It’s fact.

Probably means this guy will stink tbh

Yeah. Might be a couple of those for sure.

Agreed. Also will likely be the rare case of a guy who can become more athletic. Doesn't look all that fit. Does look toolsy though.

Great name.

And this is where you and Elias disagree. You're saying he's wrong and that he's drafting a bunch of Stowers types. I doubt he agrees. As an aside, Stowers' prospect status is still rising. Athletic, powerful. Needs to diminish the k's. I don't love him as a prospect, but it's possible he breaks through.

He isn't filling rosters with picks in the 3-5 rounds.

I wrote it earlier, but Shepherd and Faleris were going back and forth on twitter yesterday saying they didn't think Cowser was an under slot guy. Sounds like the kid from Kentucky might not be either. My guess is Elias thinks he got his Jordan Westburg in one of these 3-5 round guys. By that, I mean athletic guy who's just scratching the surface on what he can be.

You might be right, but I tend to think that Elias disagrees. We'll get the orange colored perspective on all of these guys fed to us over the next hours/days. We'll begin to better understand what they think they got and why they took them. The general consensus will become more favorable. I'm certain that Elias isn't picking guys because he thinks they're dime a dozen guys though. That's not how this works.

Gotta figure this is the O's perspective on him. I bet they love the spin and potential for unlocking velocity. Hope it's true.

Kinda stinks when the write-up doesn't mention his stuff. Good results. Is he a pitchability guy?

w/o scouts on the ground, maybe they just don't have enough "data" on high school guys?

They'll spend it, but I don't think some massive over slot is coming. I think they think more highly of the guys we drafted than the rankers do. Hopefully 1 good over slot guy though.