MachoMachadoMan

Whack job radicals say things such as "groups like ANTIFA" (there is no group. this is something right wing radio creates to scare people) and saying MLB is "anti law and order" is also a radical thing. I've long ignored the fact that Tony is happy to dabble in the further extremes of right wing conspiracy theories in his personal Facebook social media because he's kept it away from OH. Tony's Facebook from 2019 is a winning bingo card of Breitbart levels of right-wing paranoia and grievance.

I've been lurking/posting/paying for this board for 15 years now and I can never remember a time that this board has been "politicized." 99% of posts on this site are related to baseball, Baltimore sports, Baltimore culture, etc. There are probably more posts on this board about the best place in town to get a crab cake than posts about politics. And even the posts about politics are in context of sports. If a post comment or reference here or there to an issue related to politics is enough to ruin this board, it sounds like a need for personal evaluation. And for what it's worth, "politics" in most of these cases are issues that very dearly affect other people's lives. Cable news and social media may turn politics into team sports where we must pick a side and align with it 100%, but those who are involved in this every single day aren't in it to score points and achieve personal glory. They are fighting for something they believe will make a tangible improvement in people's lives. Sorry if that is a bit much.

This is pretty pathetic grandstanding. But cool, Tony. Thank you for everything you've done for this site. I've enjoyed it for a long time. But if somehow you took "Hates Police Officers" as the message of the Black Lives Matter movement, you couldn't have missed the point any more. So long.

Lol, this year? Sports have been central to culture and a vehicle for political messages for a long time. They've also almost always been ahead of their time. Anyway... looking forward to the big announcement.

Fangraphs is updating their list 1) Rutschman 2) Rodriguez 3) Hall 4) Mountcastle 5) Kjerstad 11) Westburg 14) Servideo 17) Mayo 22) Haskin 25) Baumler

He could, I guess. Trumbo played right field. That didn't mean he should. If we're optimistic that Hays, Diaz and Kjerstad are all ML contributors, they are all better defensive outfielders than Mountcastle. Also, none of them are legit ML centerfielders. Hays and Diaz could play CF but both are better suited for the corners. I don't have a problem with Mountcastle playing first base. We don't have another one in the system anywhere near being ML ready. Don't make him learn a new position. Let the kid rake.

I wouldn't put Kjerstad's hit or power tool over Mountcastle, but I may put him ahead of Mountcastle on a rankings list due to position/defensive value alone. Kjerstad has the speed and arm to play corner outfield. Mountcastle's value will be entirely contingent on his bat since he appears destined to play 1st base. 1) AR 2) Rodriguez 3) Kjerstad 4) Mountcastle 5) Hall.

This is going to be one of the most difficult draft classes to evaluate because you lost this past spring and Cape Cod was canceled for the summer. All we're going to have to go on is whatever type of season we get next spring. Hope Sig and Elias have those analytics dialed in because it will be lots of projection based on very little performance data.

I do love this guy's fire. I don't know if that means he is the best pick, but I love attitude he brings. Baseball should be fun and he's fun to watch. I hope he's successful.

You are the expert on doing that here at OH, so you probably have a point.

Also, the comp I saw said he has the athleticism of Zack Greinke, not that he projects. We regularly compare swings, or aspects of swings like leg lifts, or batting stances. None of this is to suggest the players are equivalent in their prospect status. I'm excited for Baumler and hope we can sign him.

I don't think we can say they would LIKELY be among the early favorites to be high picks in 2023, but that is the bet. There are plenty of HS players that opt to go to college and wish they took the money because it didn't pan out. I like the upside, though. The last two picks have made me more optimistic about the draft. I hope we get everyone signed.

I love this hyperbole. If the O's were drafting 7-10 and they took Kjerstad there, we would be very happy to have a guy with big power potential who could mash onto the flag court for the next decade. But we took him underslot so now he's a DH by the time he's 30 and after being just a guy. I'm also disappointed that we didn't take someone who scouting pubs think have a higher ceiling, but Kjerstad isn't a late first round low upside pick. Kjerstad is ranked higher in this draft class than DL Hall or Grayson Rodriguez were in their respective classes and both are now Top 50 prospects who we think could be No. 2 starters with TOR upside. I'd have rather had Martin or Lacy or Veen, but that doesn't diminish Kjerstad's potential.

This is the most negative we've seen this framed. I don't know what type of leverage Martin thinks he has as a college junior. I'm not opposed to drafting Martin if he's taking slot and then doing our best with the later two picks. If Martin is going to start making the signability of 30 and 39 a question or risk blowing the entire budget, then I may agree with underslot gamble. Of course, this is the first place I've seen this reported in this manner.

My biggest issue with Veen as the #2 pick in this strategy is he's a high schooler. If we go with this strategy, it's likely to target at least one high upside, riskier high schooler at 30 or 39. In this scenario from Jammer we're taking three high school players. I get that Elias reportedly has a long leash, but we were hoping the window for a competitive team starts to open in 2022 when we're hoping Rutschman, Mountcastle, Hall, and Rodriguez are all on the ML roster and beginning to contribute. Gonzalez, Hancock, Kjerstad could all feasibly follow in short order as part of this core. I don't know if we want to come out of this draft with our hopes kicked entirely down to 2024 before we see anyone at OPACY.

Petey Halpin became a stud in my OOTP sim so there is my scientific evaluation for why we should target him at #39

They take Bailey and I wonder how quickly threads pop up about the club looking at moving Rutschman to 1st to save his knees and whether or not his bat plays in the corner infield.

Most fans on this board lived through the Johnny Bench comps for Matt Wieters who by all metrics had a successful major league career despite never reaching "greatest catcher ever" standards and being called a bust.

I'm on board for "Draft Martin and see where things fall after that" strategy instead of getting tricky with an underslot at #2, but I don't like Mookie Betts comps. If Mike Trout never existed, we'd talk about Mookie as the greatest player of his generation. By his age-26 season he's won an MVP, finished top 10 4 times, In just 6 seasons he has the 13th most WAR of any active player, the fewest years of anyone in the Top 50. Martin has been my favorite player in this draft since last summer because of his positional versatility, OBP skills and top-of-the-order potential, but I'm not ready to saddle him with a lofty and likely unachievable comp like that. I'll take Starling Marte or maybe Ender Inciarte with some pop.

I want Austin Martin but am interested in the Gonzales + overslot at No. 30 strategy depending on who they would target at No. 30. Gonzales' numbers at the Cape make me feel better about his obviously NMSU-inflated numbers. Wonder if Elias sees any Altuve comps in another super-hitting second baseman. We don't have many middle infield prospects and he would likely be on the same timeline as Hall, Rodriguez, and Rutschman.

JUCOs are going to be STACKED if baseball returns next spring. We'll see a huge surge in the number of 4-year college players entering the minors, too, because if I'm a college junior who would've gone 6-10, I may as well go back and try again next season instead of signing for $20k.

Yes, this is exaggerating, but I do wonder what the mindset is for many of the guys carrying over when it comes to analytics. We heard Britton rave about what he received in New York, but that was a winning club. It's easier to buy in to a new way of doing your job when the team around you is winning. Even with great data next year, the team is going to stink. I don't think there is any assurance that Davis or any other player leftover is going to immediately embrace analytics. If they don't, they'll be gone quickly. But it still takes time to move them out.

I don't think we have any idea what "we" look for anymore now that we have changed at the top. Fans can have preferences, but it will be very difficult to get into the prediction business with the Elias Administration until we have something to go on other than decisions made by a front office he was part of. That said, there appear to be lots of interesting pieces, we have the first pick, and there are no dreams of a pennant chase, so no stress in using a roster spot.

Encarnacion and Carmona both outside the top 20. Both were considered strong gets at the deadline. Are Tony and Luke just hesitant to rank high on projection-based prospects or did they see something they didn't like?

Feels like he's been around forever, but he's still just 21 years old. At 22 years old in Bowie, he could still jump back into the prospect discussion. It's exciting to see him show some power numbers. Remember reports that he had great raw power, but never translated to game action. If he can get to that, it's a game changer.