O's Agree To Terms w/Davies

[Tony-OH]

Sounds like he just got Esposito's money. Seems a bit high for guy without a lot of projection, but I'm all for bringing more talent into the system.

[baseball777]

Looking at it objectively I agree! As I state dpreviouosly, "time will tell".

Watch out Stotle!! jgdomino might start questioning your opinion becasue you don't agree with him!! LOL

[Stotle]

Looking at it objectively I agree! As I state dpreviouosly, "time will tell".

Watch out Stotle!! jgdomino might start questioning your opinion becasue you don't agree with him!! LOL

Saw him throw a couple four times. I'm sure whoever inked him for the O's has seen him more. Not my "type", but if I were running a college program I'd sure love to have him. Tough loss for ASU, as he's the kind of kid you generally feel comfortable you'll be able to hold onto through August.

Best wishes to Davies -- he was fun to watch in Long Beach and I hope he has a great career with the O's organization.

[baseball777]

Saw him throw a couple four times. I'm sure whoever inked him for the O's has seen him more. Not my "type", but if I were running a college program I'd sure love to have him. Tough loss for ASU, as he's the kind of kid you generally feel comfortable you'll be able to hold onto through August.

Best wishes to Davies -- he was fun to watch in Long Beach and I hope he has a great career with the O's organization.

Yes he is definitely projectable as a college player and lets hope he further develops in the O's system. I think it was a shock to ASU that he signed and was offered that amount. he was one of the guys ASU "thought" the could count on attending school.

[Stotle]

Yes he is definitely projectable as a college player and lets hope he further develops in the O's system. I think it was a shock to ASU that he signed and was offered that amount. he was one of the guys ASU "thought" the could count on attending school.

Coach Esmay should be able to hold onto McCreery, Hoffman and maybe Bonilla -- probably their three top arms for 2011. Love Dylan Delso and I don't believe he was even drafted. Will be an excellent college backstop and has a chance to be a high round pick in three years.

[RVAbird]

Saw him throw a couple four times. I'm sure whoever inked him for the O's has seen him more. Not my "type", but if I were running a college program I'd sure love to have him. Tough loss for ASU, as he's the kind of kid you generally feel comfortable you'll be able to hold onto through August.

Best wishes to Davies -- he was fun to watch in Long Beach and I hope he has a great career with the O's organization.

Yeah, Davies has the kind of arsenal that could be really effective in a college rotation. He doesn't have the profile that typically succeeds in pro ball, but you never know. I'm interested to see him develop. I like what I've seen/heard of the kid, but I am a bit worried that he'll run into trouble around AA.

I think I said this before, but it is very interesting to me that they paid Davies more than twice what they offered Coats. That's a head scratcher.

[NCRaven]

Sounds like he just got Esposito's money. Seems a bit high for guy without a lot of projection, but I'm all for bringing more talent into the system.

Or he got his money + Coats money. Doubt this impacts Esposito negotiations at all. Although, I doubt that's the point that you're making.

[baseball777]

Coach Esmay should be able to hold onto McCreery, Hoffman and maybe Bonilla -- probably their three top arms for 2011. Love Dylan Delso and I don't believe he was even drafted. Will be an excellent college backstop and has a chance to be a high round pick in three years.

Coach Esmay and his staff have been doing a great job!! Pretty smooth transition after Pat "resigned".

PM has been doing a great job managing in the MiL with the Eugene Emeralds!! best of luck to him as well and hopefully another college position if he seeks it.

[Skywalker76]

Here is Callis' take on Davies in Steve Melewski's latest report:

"Davies is interesting. In our scouting report on him we went the obvious route and made the Mike Leake comparison, because he's a 6-foot right-hander that is very athletic. He plays the infield when he doesn't pitch and was committed to Arizona State.

"It's not big-time stuff, but it's a tremendous feel for pitching and it's four solid pitches. Kind of like the Mike Leake starter kit, minus some of the late life on Leake's fastball. Real interesting kid they got done for $575 (thousand) yesterday."

He sounds all positive, like he does for the whole Orioles draft btw. if we can sign the big three!

[LookinUp]

The O's must believe his pitchability is incredible and also have faith in his upside.

[SammyBirdland]

Didn't see which forum this was from; I thought this thread was going to be about Kyle Davies, who was just released by the Royals last week.

[csgordos]

Are you sure that velocity can't be taught? That's an arm strength thing, isn't it? Seems like something that a conditioning program could develop, and even better if the kid has more than two pitches already. I'm just speculating.

Actually speed/velocity is all about body mechanics. This involves the legs, trunk, shoulder, and whole arm, not just "arm strength." As evidence you have somebody like Billy Wagner at less than 5'10" or Pedro Martinez who weighed less than 180lbs who could really bring it. And then you have guys who are 6'4" could bench press 3xs as much as Pedro who top out at 85mph. Imagine a spring and pulling it to end range and letting it go. The speed and recoil will be much greater than pulling the same spring to only 70% of it extensile length. The one issue that you have is on a small framed pitcher you are putting increased stress on the shoulder and arm when you throw that hard. Thus the smaller the frame the more likely the injury if the speed reaches the upper ranges of MLB top flight pitchers. Hope that helps, and if anybody disagrees and has more to add, please feel free to correct any of the above statements.

[Stotle]

Actually speed/velocity is all about body mechanics. This involves the legs, trunk, shoulder, and whole arm, not just "arm strength." As evidence you have somebody like Billy Wagner at less than 5'10" or Pedro Martinez who weighed less than 180lbs who could really bring it. And then you have guys who are 6'4" could bench press 3xs as much as Pedro who top out at 85mph. Imagine a spring and pulling it to end range and letting it go. The speed and recoil will be much greater than pulling the same spring to only 70% of it extensile length. The one issue that you have is on a small framed pitcher you are putting increased stress on the shoulder and arm when you throw that hard. Thus the smaller the frame the more likely the injury if the speed reaches the upper ranges of MLB top flight pitchers. Hope that helps, and if anybody disagrees and has more to add, please feel free to correct any of the above statements.

Nothing to add, other than "skinny doesn't always mean there is more velocity to come later." One of my bigger pet peeves with the numerous "scouting experts" popping up across the net.

[NCRaven]

Nothing to add, other than "skinny doesn't always mean there is more velocity to come later." One of my bigger pet peeves with the numerous "scouting experts" popping up across the net.

Is it reasonable though, to assume that a high school aged player has not yet reached his full physical maturity and may develop more over the next several years? I find it interesting that many of the reports about Bundy seem to indicate that he's at or near his physical peak due to his training methods and work ethic while other high school players seem to still have room for physical development.

[Stotle]

Is it reasonable though, to assume that a high school aged player has not yet reached his full physical maturity and may develop more over the next several years? I find it interesting that many of the reports about Bundy seem to indicate that he's at or near his physical peak due to his training methods and work ethic while other high school players seem to still have room for physical development.

Yes, but physical maturity is a separate issue from ability to throw a baseball hard. They can sometimes be tied together, but it isn't necessarily the case.