joelala

Will we protect him? I tend to think most likely not. Haven’t seen him pitch though, can anyone give a report on how the stuff looks?

We’re saving him for our pennant run.

Would he be more valuable than Richie Martin if we were to call him up today?

There wouldn’t be much justification. But he won’t have that slash line.

Fun times.

That’s perhaps the only problem I see with his proposal, but it’s a huge one.

I’d take Jon Gray.

Right. If the negative scouting report about Westburg’s range and arm are true, it may come to that. Hope not though, I also had hopes for him on the right side of the infield.

Any chance we try him at second a la LeMehieu?

Yea, spiral fracture is what happened to Tony Saunders, I think. I don’t recall Loewen having that, either.

Very impressive extension. Any chance he’ll sneak into a top 100 list or two next season? Looks the part.

He’s gotta be a candidate for most impressive looking swing in the system. Very excited to see how he’ll develop. How’s the hit tool? Does he stick at 3rd or move to RF?

I remember that, and to me it looks like Grayson has ironed that hitch out, actually.

Yeah that’s what we call a sweet swing.

That’s actually pretty staggering. Albeit he did have consistently high picks. Also how much of that credit goes to player dev? Maybe the narrative that our player dev was inept is a false one. Pitching development, maybe, but those WAR numbers are pretty shocking.

He’s got nothing to lose.

Yea I like Kiley’s takes usually.

Kiley McDaniel’s take on our draft: Orioles 1 (5): Colton Cowser, CF, Sam Houston State 2 (41): Connor Norby, 2B, East Carolina CB-B (65): Reed Trimble, OF, Southern Miss 3 76): John Rhodes, OF, Kentucky 4 (106): Donta' Williams, OF, Arizona 5 (137): Carlos Tavera, RHP, University of Texas - Arlington The O's did another Mike Elias special here with what will surely be a healthy underslot deal in the top five picks. Cowser is roughly a 10th-overall talent (12th on my board) with an advanced hit tool, center-field fit and emerging power, and the main issues being his overall ceiling and that he faced mid-major competition at Sam Houston. It's a fine decision, but not one I would've made with my top overall prospect, shortstop Jordan Lawlar, and my No. 5, Kahlil Watson, still on the board. It all comes down to how those savings were spent, and this crop of prospects isn't awe-inspiring. Norby is one of the surest bats in the college class, Trimble is a later-blooming college tools bet, and Rhodes is a solid value with an unlucky BABIP season. I like bat-first ninth-rounder Ryan Higgins out of Fresno State and data-friendly 11th-rounder RHP Dylan Heid out of Pitt-Johnstown, but it seems like this solid class is missing the big upside swing that balances out the Cowser savings.

I’d absolutely take that.

He’s got more power, less hit than Nick I believe. I think Cowser might profile more like Markakis, minus the howitzer for an arm.

Nice, thanks.

I understand wanting to maintain a level of secrecy so other FOs can’t predict how there going to behave, but this comment was straight up patronizing. And yup, very curious to see how this all plays out. I do think he might feel these older arms are being undervalued in the market.

Yea that’s the most generic, lip service statement I’ve read all day.

C for confusion. I’m personally disappointed because I wanted some shiny, high upside guys to follow, but it’s clear that there was a plan and that plan was stuck to. What the plan was, none of us save the FO knows. We got lots of players who have track records and I’m wondering if we determined the market undervalued them because of their advanced age and we took advantage of that accordingly.

#Growthmindset