Jump to content

BA Fiirst Mock Draft


Recommended Posts

Keep in mind, this is how they would draft and not what they think or have heard will happen.

4. ORIOLES (John): When he was the manager in Arizona and later Texas, Buck Showalter got involved in the draft decision-making process, reportedly steering the Rangers to take John Mayberry Jr. instead of Travis Buck in 2005. If Showalter has any influence in Baltimore's draft room, it likely will involve getting polished talent to help the Orioles quickly, while they have some veterans and are trying to end their 13-year streak of losing seasons. Baltimore doesn't pick again until No. 64, so getting this pick right is imperative. While there have been rumors that he may be tough to sign, Danny Hultzen is the best choice for the Orioles. Another lefthander to team with Brian Matusz and Zach Britton is the smart choice, too.

Rendon to Pittsburgh, Cole to Seattle, Bradley to Arizona.

Link

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Things could certainly shake out this way, though if ARI wants to go college lefty I assume they'd just select Hultzen again. Top members of that organization love him.

If that left us with Bradley, that's a fine pick. Not quite as polished as Hultzen, but potentially higher ceiling and better build. He'll need to work out some command kinks and refine his secondaries but still should have a <3 year rough MiL development track.

From what I understand, the big six that BAL is considering at this point are Cole, Rendon, Hulzten, Bradley, Bundy and Starling. That doesn't mean there couldn't be a sleeper in the mix, but each of those six guys was in play as of a couple of weeks ago.

I wish Sonny Gray was stronger in the conversation, but sometimes a scout can't get a small frame out of his mind. I understand the sentiment, but I think it needs to be considered on a case to case basis.

Still, any of the six guys mentioned above are justifiable IMO.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The top of this draft is stacked. I love the idea of Hultzen, I think he'd move quickly and has shown nice improvement this year, I've been hearing his name to Arizona at number 3, but if he's there I'd love to see the O's grab him. I also love Starling and Bundy from the HS ranks, but they will take longer to reach the bigs, but both have tons of potential.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Things could certainly shake out this way, though if ARI wants to go college lefty I assume they'd just select Hultzen again. Top members of that organization love him.

If that left us with Bradley, that's a fine pick. Not quite as polished as Hultzen, but potentially higher ceiling and better build. He'll need to work out some command kinks and refine his secondaries but still should have a <3 year rough MiL development track.

From what I understand, the big six that BAL is considering at this point are Cole, Rendon, Hulzten, Bradley, Bundy and Starling. That doesn't mean there couldn't be a sleeper in the mix, but each of those six guys was in play as of a couple of weeks ago.

I wish Sonny Gray was stronger in the conversation, but sometimes a scout can't get a small frame out of his mind. I understand the sentiment, but I think it needs to be considered on a case to case basis.

Still, any of the six guys mentioned above are justifiable IMO.

It's not just the frame with Gray. His last bunch of starts his control has been all over the place. He's looking more like a 7-12 pick for me, and I liked him fringe top 5 for a long time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's not just the frame with Gray. His last bunch of starts his control has been all over the place. He's looking more like a 7-12 pick for me, and I liked him fringe top 5 for a long time.

Tim Lincecum - 4.5 BB/9 his junior year at Washington.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tim Lincecum - 4.5 BB/9 his junior year at Washington.

Yuck. Nice stat pull though, kudos. :)

You might be more up on him than me, but I heard not even the walks being the issue he was just having trouble locating all together. Thought maybe a nagging injury or something, so I was keeping tabs for the rest of the season.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's not just the frame with Gray. His last bunch of starts his control has been all over the place. He's looking more like a 7-12 pick for me, and I liked him fringe top 5 for a long time.

It is just the frame for many. People were writing off Gray based on size/effort before the season.

I agree that control/command is a legitimate concern, and have said such. It's not prohibitive of me picking him top 5, however.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yuck. Nice stat pull though, kudos. :)

You might be more up on him than me, but I heard not even the walks being the issue he was just having trouble locating all together. Thought maybe a nagging injury or something, so I was keeping tabs for the rest of the season.

Eh, I don't see injury concern. His stuff is where it usually is. His command is where it usually is. He's improved his BB/9, SO/9, HR/9 and H/9 over the past year. He's still maintaining 94-96 into the late innings and showing a potential plus-plus breaker. I think command is one of the concerns you point to if you are pointing to concerns. I think size is a legit concern. But I think he overcomes both when it comes to developing into a good pro pitcher. I can't imagine he'll ever be a surgeon on the mound, but he should be accurate enough to succeed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Saw a tweet today that Gammons is hearing that Hulzten could go #1...but its just a rumor.

I can't for the life of me imagine that actually happening, though I have the utmost professional respect for Mr. Gammons.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So for those of you who know a lot about the draft, are there any high upside guys who's stock is falling that you would have expected here, but aren't. And that might have a chance to drop down to the O's next pick. We won't pick again until what 64th? So is this even a reasonable question to ask?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So for those of you who know a lot about the draft, are there any high upside guys who's stock is falling that you would have expected here, but aren't. And that might have a chance to drop down to the O's next pick. We won't pick again until what 64th? So is this even a reasonable question to ask?

Matt Purke, obviously. Zach Cone (of, Georgia) entered the season with a chance to crack the 1st Rd and has struggled some, statistically (though I think his issues are correctable). Archie Bradley could fall due to signability, along the lines of AJ Cole last year (though with so many teams having extra picks I imagine someone would take a stab in the supplemental 1st Rd. Austin Hedges (c, JSerra HS, Calif.) is a stud defensive catcher that has swung the bat a little too -- his commitment is supposed to be strong, so he could slip to the 2nd or later. I'd like to say Alex Meyer (RHP, Kentucky) but don't see him making it out of the supplemental (and he could honestly still be selected in the top 10 overall). One interesting name is Austin Wood (rhp, USC) who has a little Arrieta in his draft profile. Showed 1st Rd stuff over the summer, has dialed up to 96 this spring, but command and consistency have been off. I can't imagine him going before the 2nd Rd at this point -- could be a very nice pick-up for an org that believes his issues can be cleaned-up quickly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Does anyone know what kind of bonus Hultzen would be seeking? More than 6?

Also, can anyone say what kind of talent might be there with the 2nd rounder? What guys could fall, and how would they rank in our system?

Good talent in 2nd Rd -- potential mid-rotation arm, starting position player, etc.

Hultzens have not made any figures public, so far as I am aware.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Does anyone know what kind of bonus Hultzen would be seeking? More than 6?

Also, can anyone say what kind of talent might be there with the 2nd rounder? What guys could fall, and how would they rank in our system?

Do we know who his "advisor" is. I'm guessing that they will be looking at Cole (a Boras client) as their benchmark. I'm guessing when all is said and done, he will get a similar deal to the one we gave Matusz when he was drafted, as he was a # 4 pick.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.



  • Posts

    • Thanks for the detailed explanation of all of the issues.  Sounds like a mess.
    • Yeah the amenities are pretty outdated at the yard and they seem to do nothing year over year to improve them. The touchscreens have been banged on to death to the point they barely function, so you can't accurately fill out your order at the kiosks, and they don't have a way for the people behind the counter to ring you up at many of the food places. The sound is low to non-existent in certain sections of the club level, like around 218. Seems like there should be speakers that reach there but they might have been damaged by rain, etc. and they are too lazy to fix them. If you go to a game that's even slightly busy, you will wait forever to get into the bathroom, and the sink will be an absolute mess with no soap or paper towels. It's even worse on the club level where they have one sink that's right by the door. Nearby businesses don't care, either. The Hilton parking garage reeks of decay, pot and human waste. They don't turn on the air circulation fans, even if cars are waiting for an hour and a half to exit from P3, filling up the air with carbon monoxide. They only let you enter the stadium with one 20 oz bottle of water. It's so expensive to buy a drink or water in the stadium, but with all the salty food, 20 oz of water isn't enough, especially on a hot day. Vegetarian food options are poor to none, other than things like chips, fries, hot pretzels and the occasional pizza. Vida Taco is better, but at an inconvenient location for many seats. The doors on the club level are not accessible. They're anti-accessible. Big, heavy doors you have to go through to get to/from the escalators, and big, heavy doors to get to your seats, none of them automatic (or even with the option to be automatic with a button press). Makes it hard to carry food out to your seats even if not handicapped. The furniture in the lounges on the club level seem designed to allow as few people as possible to sit down. Not great when we have so many rain delays during the season. Should put more, smaller chairs in and allow more of the club level ticket holders to have a seat while waiting for thunderstorms to pass. They keep a lot of the entrance/exit gates closed except for playoff/sellout games, which means people have to slowly "mooooo" all the way down Eutaw St to get to parking. They are too cheap to staff all the gates, so they make people exit by the warehouse, even though it would be a lot more convenient for many fans to open all the gates. Taking Light Rail would be super convenient, except that if there's at least 20k fans in attendance, it's common to have to wait 90-120 minutes to be able to board a non-full train heading toward Glen Burnie. A few trains might come by, but they are already full, or fill up fast when folks walk up to the Convention Center stop to pre-empt the folks trying to board at Camden Station. None of the garages in the area are set up to require pre-payment on entry (reservation, or give them your card / digital payment at the entrance till). If they were, emptying out the garage would be very quick, as they wouldn't need to ticket anyone on the way out: if you can't get in without paying, you can always just leave without having to stop and scan your phone or put a ticket in the machine. They shut down the Sports Legends Museum at Camden Station in 2015 because the Maryland Stadium Authority was too greedy. That place was a fun distraction if you were in the area when a game wasn't about to start, like if you show up super early on Opening Day or a playoff day. Superbook's restaurant on Eutaw is a huge downgrade from Dempsey's in terms of menu and service quality. Dempsey's used to be well-staffed, you could reserve a table online, and they had all kinds of great selection for every diet. Superbook seems like just another bar serving the same swill that the rest of the park serves, with extremely minimal and low-quality food. For that matter, most of the food at the stadium is very low quality these days. A lot of things we used to love are made to a lower standard now if they are served at all. These are gripes about the stadium and the area that haven't changed my entire adult life. Going to an O's game requires one to tolerate many small inconveniences and several major inconveniences, any number of which could easily be fixed by the relevant authorities if they gave a damn about the people who pay to come see the team play. You would think a mid-market team would be able to afford to invest in the fan experience. You would think the city and partnering organizations like garages, the Stadium Authority and MTA would at least try to do their part to make the experience enjoyable and free of kinks. You would think they would put some thought into handling the "growing pains" of the fanbase due to recent renewed interest after the dark years. Instead, all we get is the same indifference and the same annoyances year in and year out. The whole area is overdue for a revamp. Not sure if $600 mil will get it done, but at least it's a start. Hopefully they can start to patch up some of the many holes in the fan experience. If you're not going to invest in Burnes, at least make it so paying customers have an easier, more enjoyable time getting to/from the stadium and having some food while we're there.
    • Elias has only been in rebuild mode with the O's so there's not much to speculate on there.  Houston, where he spent his formative years, doesn't seem to like to be on the hook for more than a couple of big long-term contracts at any given time.  I can see that as being Elias' choice as well, albeit with a lower overall cost - Houston runs a big payroll.  But it's all guesswork.  I really don't know. If Elias takes the 2025 payroll to $150 million it will creep up to $200 million or so by 2028 just from keeping the core together.  That's where I start to wonder about sustainability due to market size, economic forces, etc., etc., etc... If it were up to me, I would add a couple of free agents this offseason even if the contracts were longer than ideal and be conservative about extensions elsewhere until the prospects establish themselves a little better.  I think there's a competitive opportunity that the team is already into that's worth exploiting. I think ownership is very happy to have Elias on board and they're not inclined to force him to do anything.  I also think Rubenstein's demonstrated business prowess is great enough to assume that he has had plenty enough time to come to a mutual understanding with Elias as to goals.
    • We need a RH O’hearn…in addition to Westburg. At least 3 batters that will push up the pitch count and cause damage in the top 5 of the lineup.
    • Boy,  that Jackson Merrill is a good young player that is playing his best ball down the season stretch and in the playoffs.   He's only 21.  I guess some young guys are able to play up to the pressure.   Who could have guessed that?
    • I’m aware.   You are arguing something im Not.
    • What agreement? The agreement you are talking about happened as a result of the move.  The MASN agreement would not have existed if Angelos had gone to court to block the move.
  • Popular Contributors

×
×
  • Create New...