Rajsich talks to Melewski about the Draft

[Ampontan]

Rajsich said two very interesting things in an interview with Steve Melewski.

First:

Rajsich said the club had hoped to land the trio of Virginia pitcher Branden Kline, Miami area high school shortstop Adrian Marin and South Carolina first baseman Christian Walker among its first few picks. It worked out just that way as he hoped, as they were drafted in rounds two through four.

"We identified those three as target guys. In rounds two through four, our guys did a great job of identifying the players. We knew we wanted all three guys but in what order do you take them to get all three? Our guys did a good job of lining them up. It happened the way we thought and that was great," Rajsich said.

In other words, they got exactly the players they were looking to get.

Second:

Rajsich said just about all the pitchers the Orioles drafted were taken to be starting pitchers.

"We definitely place an emphasis on starting pitching. We believe you can find bullpen help out there, but if you want starting pitching and good starting pitching, you have to draft it."

That includes the Orioles second-round pick, University of Virginia right-hander Kline, who went 7-3 with a 3.56 ERA as a starter this year after making All ACC as the Cavaliers' closer in 2011.

"We are going to develop him as a starter and we have high hopes for him. He's got a big arm with good balance and he's a good athlete. You can work with that and make adjustments with his delivery. He has a good arsenal of weapons. It's just becoming more consistent with his delivery so he can improve his command," Rajsich said of Kline, who is from Frederick and attended Thomas Johnson High.

Well, three things. He also said he was thrilled to get Price in Round 7.

[Frobby]

Well, this will certainly be a draft to judge Rajsich on, since he got who he wanted. It will be fun to follow this new crop of Orioles.

[jcarm]

It is amazing how every team every year seems to get exactly the guys that they wanted all along.

[Flacco Machado]

It is amazing how every team every year seems to get exactly the guys that they wanted all along.

No mention of Rutledge? I thought that was surprising.

[mcgraw238]

It is amazing how every team every year seems to get exactly the guys that they wanted all along.

Exactly, just typical draft speak. You don't want the guy saying "we had to settle for these bums."

[Ampontan]

Exactly, just typical draft speak. You don't want the guy saying "we had to settle for these bums."

Perhaps not in this case. Law had Kline ranked just about at that point, and others had Walker going in the fourth round pre-draft. And they were honest about wanting Correa first and then taking Gausman because he was #1 on their board when their turn came.

As long as Marin --- the one nobody expected --- doesn't turn out to be a Joe Jordanesque Kyle Hudson-type pick, there doesn't seem to be any problems with their selections.

[mcgraw238]

Perhaps not in this case. Law had Kline ranked just about at that point, and others had Walker going in the fourth round pre-draft. And they were honest about wanting Correa first and then taking Gausman because he was #1 on their board when their turn came.

As long as Marin --- the one nobody expected --- doesn't turn out to be a Joe Jordanesque Kyle Hudson-type pick, there doesn't seem to be any problems with their selections.

I didn't mean to imply anything deceptive, just saying it makes sense to say we got the guys we targeted.