btdart20

A few players I'm interested in how they do: Ivan Melendez (Texas), Cooper Hjerpe (Oregon State), Jonathan Cannon (Georgia - eliminated already), Jud Fabian (Florida). Cannon and Hjerpe are both usually mocked in the 1st/early second round. Both could be there for our comp A and 2nd round picks. Ivan Melendez leads D1 in HRs and OPS. Most have him mocked in the 4th-6th range. Came across this link as well: Top Draft Prospects in the NCAA Regionals (prospects1500.com) FYI - Maryland plays UConn tonight at 7 pm in a regional elimination game.

Independent ball depends. Most are MiLB washouts and a few hanger-ons. Every year there's a few former MLBers on the York Revolution (5 this year). Plus, many AAA washouts and a handful of others. Probably somewhere between AA-AAA. York Revolution: Roster

Not me. A step further, as analytically driven the FO is, I bet they have a lot more research and data on that than the vast majority (likely all) of us. I said not to change just to change, so the likely answer is that they don't either.

Seriously though... Constant improvement, always question your assumptions and techniques. Legit feedback loops and an inquisitive mind are important. Don't change just to change because history has weeded out a lot of junk practices. However, that shouldn't stop us from questioning the standard while recognizing that there's a limit to our knowledge on 'why' or 'how' these types of things happen.

ZGLOBEX spray - Zglobex I just so happen to be a licensed distributor...

No disagreement, especially on the odds of moving him away from SS. But he just logged the most games at SS in Red Sox history. (But yeah, context is key.)

Nice! Agree with others hoping for additional moves.

Thanks for bumping this thread. I knew his first start was coming up soon and it looks like he just had it. Kumar Rocker has promising first start for Tri-City ValleyCats (calltothepen.com) He lasted for four innings, striking out six while allowing two runs on three hits. After holding Trois-Rivieres Aigles scoreless over the first three innings, he began to tire, allowing a two run homer to former Braves farmhand Carlos Martinez. However, the outing could be considered an overall positive for Rocker. His fastball sat between 95 and 97 MPH, reaching as high as 99 MPH on the radar gun. His slider showed plenty of life and was in the mid to upper 80s. It was as strong an outing as could have been hoped for. Kumar Rocker impressive in debut as ValleyCats win (timesunion.com) Pitching in front of scouts from at least 20 big league teams, Rocker left the game behind 2-0 before the ValleyCats routed the Trois-Rivieres pitching staff. "I thought he pitched great," Incaviglia said. "For a guy that hadn't pitched in a year, he had good command and I think he made one mistake. He threw a 3-2 slider (to Martinez). Everything else was really good.

Whoever chose sticking with Trey and trading Christian Walker made the right choice.

Hoping they don’t stick to the 90 pitches threshold after rehab. One or two starts to make sure he’s healthy is fine IMO.

When do the Cobb, Davis, Trumbo etc. payments stop?

I'm ok trading anyone. Especially the usual suspects: Mancini, Santander, Lyles, Mullins, Bautista, and Lopez should have some type of value (however minimal). But if we're "buying" for 2023, then Mullins and one of Bautista/Lopez stays. Guys I would say are keepers: Rutschman, Grayson, Gunnar, Hall, Hays, Westburg. Guys I would say are more valuable to the O's than elsewhere: Mateo, Akin, Tate, and would probably put underperforming/injured MiLB guys in here (Kjerstad, Baumler, Cowser, Mayo, Pinto...). Means probably falls here too because no one's buying an injured SP. Lyles could fall here if we're building for 2023, but trade him if we're looking beyond 2023. Mountcastle probably falls here. I put Mateo here because I like his athleticism and positional flexibility. MiLB guys I'm fine with trading/shopping: Stowers, Norby, Rhodes, Haskin, Rom, Bradish. Honestly, I'm not as well educated, but was really just looking at org position depth (OF and 2B depth) compared to the 2023 FA class (lots of SPs and SS). Stowers gives me the Gallo-vibes. Haskin seem solid, but empty. On the fence still with Rhodes. I do like Norby a lot, but Prieto/Westburg/Vavra/Hernaiz... Bradish could be really good, but if we're buying for 2023 then we likely have signed a FA #1 SP to go with Lyles/Grayson/Zimmermann (or have traded Lyles and can spending a #2 SP FA). 2023 would have: SP - FA #1 (Manaea? Musgrove?), Lyles, Grayson, Zimmermann, scab until Means/Hall. RP - Akin, Tate, and Bautista C - AR 1B - Mounty 2B - Urias and Westburg at some point. SS - FA 3B - Scab until Gunnar CF - Hays, Mateo OF - Scab FA (decent cheap lefty options), Mateo, McKenna, Diaz and Neustrom - obviously the OF would shift from being a relative offensive strength, to a relative weakness. But we'd be gaining elsewhere, even defensively. 2023 could be a wildcard contender adding $50-55m payroll. Adding $70-75m would get a 2 TOR SPs and a top SS. Payroll would stay under $100m (I think). Plus, drafting Jones at 1.1. And I wouldn't be shy about drafting multiple injured arms either. Especially if they are first round talents that have fallen much later. It's a crap shoot beyond pick 30 anyway, so why not go with an upside gamble that the arm recovers.

And the sides of the bases are bigger by 3 inches, which reduces the distance from 1st to 2nd/2nd to 3rd by 6 inches. It wasn't unintended. It was purposeful because they want more SBs in the game. It's an exciting play.

Where did they rank Ezequiel Tovar? They've been neck-and-neck stat-wise this year.

Agree in that it's likely a multitude of variables and appreciate the power lifter comparison. It's not a natural motion and pitchers push that to the limits every pitch. IIRC, it's part of why the O's limited guys like Arrieta and Gausman from throwing their best pitches (after the Bundy arm issues). I do think there's something to the 'build up arm strength' approach though. But think build arm strength is more about a lifetime of throwing (i.e. young kids on daily/weekly pitch counts) that limits the ligament/tendon adherence/muscle strength. But instead of professional pitchers blowing out arms, we would see kids building those characteristics and/or blowing out arms.

Assuming it's a grade 2/muscle pull, then I think he'll get a few more innings this year. But there's a part of me that thinks you may be right...

Mayo needs to at least pretend to not be fishing for an audience! "No inside information" yet switches to chalk after going with conspiracy earlier? This is my third mock, and I had yet to put the best player in the top spot. That changes now as I do think it's quite possible the Orioles just take the best player on the board in Jones. With absolutely no inside information on this, I get a bit of a feel that the top pick will be Jones MLB Draft Combine 2022 details - more helium after 6/14-6/20.

I believe the team/he was trying to tap into some extra power to expand his ceiling while trusting his bat-to-ball hit tool to do the rest. Times of change always has a risk of failure. Per Meoli above, it sounds like Cowser's tossing those adjustments and basically admitting defeat in applying those changes. (I wonder if it's a club decision or a player decision?) Expecting/hoping to see less K's and more hits over the ROS.

Where did Tovar land?

If we are a .500 team for the rest of the season, we're still 77-85. We would have to be a .600 team for ROS, to get to 88-74. So, the most likely 2022 ceiling is still missing the playoffs. So, in general, I'm still in the stacking talent mindset with an eye to compete in 2023 and consistently beyond. Lyles and his team option should have decent value. I do see the value of keeping him to stabilize the rotation for 2023 as well, but next year's FA SP is pretty solid too. Lopez and Bautista are at peek market value this year, so trade them. We should keep Tate and Akin. I would trade Mullins or Hays, not both. Lean toward trading Mullins. Mancini and Santander can be traded. Stowers is ready for OF and Nottingham is knocking for DH. Mateo may have some market value, but I'd be fine holding him as well. His position flexibility (SS/OF) leaves the door open to trade an OFer and/or sign a FA SS heading into 2023. Interesting tilt to the poll responses. And interesting non-responders considering the chatter as well.

And what positions are we buying/selling?

Proverbial 'pitching backwards' is his key. Not getting ambushed on a first pitch FB by throwing strikes with a breaking ball.

Grayson has been ready all year. But the service time rules are part of the game players and owners agreed to. Neither side was on the side of more competition.

“Manipulation, for lack of a better word, is good.” Think that was Gordon Gecko’s multiverse baseball GM.

It’s funny that the pitching mindset is that it’s ok to give up solo HRs but the hitting approach seems to mostly about hitting solo HR. Weird spot in the industry trends.