Matt Hobgood - is there hope? (No, there is not. Indy League bound.)

[eb45]

Do you remember if they selected him for themselves or if he was selected by the Texas (whom we traded him to as compensation for Teagarden I think).

Rosario was sent back to the Brewers during Spring Training, I think, after they realized he was too far from a major league pitcher for even the 2011 Orioles. He certainly never pitched for Texas. The Teagarden deal was for Randy Henry and Greg Miclat.

[Ohfan67]

Teams could do a lot worse in the Rule V than gathering up a young pitcher throwing in the mid-90s whose development has been impacted by injuries.

What's that got to do with Hobgood? He's not throwing in the mid 90's and he's basically had zero development. He's either been hurt or middling his entire minor league career. Teams could do a LOT better.

[Ohfan67]

It's exactly the kind of pick I'd make. You don't have to keep him. You pick 2 or 3 Hobgoods, bring them to ST, and see how they look. You have nothing to lose. There is very little talent available in the Rule 5, which is why very few are picked in the first place, and a small percentage of those picked even stick with their new team. The argument isn't whether Hobgood becomes a good ML pitcher. There's a small chance of that. The argument is whether you take a $50K chance on him becoming a serviceable ML reliever next year, and whether there is even a small chance he becomes a decent ML reliever or even the ML starter he was originally projected to be. He might be sitting 89-90 now. He might be sitting 89-90 next spring. I'd pay 50K to see if he's throwing better than that by next spring. It's a no brainer.

You would select two or three players in the Rule V every year? There are only like 12 to 15 or so players taken each year in the whole Rule V. I don't even know if all teams get two shots. I don't care about the 50k. To me it's a matter of getting meaningful innings to the pitchers that you want to evaluate in spring training and not wasting the organizations time and roster space on players with basically zero chance of helping the major league team.

I hear what you are saying but I still don't think you would really pick Hobgood just to see if he can throw harder in the spring. It's not like Hobgood is going to go from a middling A ball pitcher to a ML capable pitcher (even the 25th player on the roster) just because he gains four or five or even six MPH on his fastball this winter.

I think you are underestimating the hassle of your proposed strategy with rule V picks. I don't even think picking multiple players is a possibility for every team. The players immediately go on the 40 man roster so you would need multiple openings for your strategy.

[waroriole]

Even if he's not taken for the ML club, couldn't another team take him and put him at AAA, if we put him at AA? Or AA if we put him at A+?

I don't know the rules on this.

[Crazysilver03]

Rosario was sent back to the Brewers during Spring Training, I think, after they realized he was too far from a major league pitcher for even the 2011 Orioles. He certainly never pitched for Texas. The Teagarden deal was for Randy Henry and Greg Miclat.

Ah, I was thinking of Ben Snyder, who we took from San Fran and sent to Texas for Millwood in 2009.

[Crazysilver03]

Even if he's not taken for the ML club, couldn't another team take him and put him at AAA, if we put him at AA? Or AA if we put him at A+?

I don't know the rules on this.

You have a pretty good idea of how it works. And a player selected in the minor league portion of the draft can not return to their original organization like the major portion allows.

[Crazysilver03]

You would select two or three players in the Rule V every year? There are only like 12 to 15 or so players taken each year in the whole Rule V. I don't even know if all teams get two shots. I don't care about the 50k. To me it's a matter of getting meaningful innings to the pitchers that you want to evaluate in spring training and not wasting the organizations time and roster space on players with basically zero chance of helping the major league team.

I hear what you are saying but I still don't think you would really pick Hobgood just to see if he can throw harder in the spring. It's not like Hobgood is going to go from a middling A ball pitcher to a ML capable pitcher (even the 25th player on the roster) just because he gains four or five or even six MPH on his fastball this winter.

I think you are underestimating the hassle of your proposed strategy with rule V picks. I don't even think picking multiple players is a possibility for every team. The players immediately go on the 40 man roster so you would need multiple openings for your strategy.

I don't think there is a real cap on how many players you can take in the Rule 5. It continues until there is a round where no teams make a selection. Last year, the Marlins and Astros took players in the second round, so then there was a third round.

[Ornithological]

Last year only 15 players were selected in the rule 5 draft, and 10 of them were returned to their original teams. A team has to make room on the 40 man roster, so a lot of teams don't even select any rule 5 players. I think the risk of losing Hobgood to the rule 5 draft is low.

[waroriole]

You have a pretty good idea of how it works. And a player selected in the minor league portion of the draft can not return to their original organization like the major portion allows.

So, really, a team would only have to put him at AA (or possibly AAA) for the season and limit his exposure. Maybe, have him get in a lot of side work and instruction.

I wonder if there are some guys who fits Hobgood's situation that we can take?

[waroriole]

I think you are missing it. A team that takes Hobgood can't stash him in the minors. There is a ML rule 5 draft and a minor league phase. In the minor league phase you don't have to give them back. That's players the Orioles don't feel are good enough to protect on any minor league team roster. That's not Hobgood.

So, there are a select number of guys on each minor league roster who are "protected?" Do you know how many?

[Frobby]

Last year only 15 players were selected in the rule 5 draft, and 10 of them were returned to their original teams. A team has to make room on the 40 man roster, so a lot of teams don't even select any rule 5 players. I think the risk of losing Hobgood to the rule 5 draft is low.

I agree. I haven't thought through whether we have 40 guys more worthy of protection than Hobgood, but I'm not too worried that he'd get picked and then be able to stick. He's having enough trouble in A+.

[Nigel Tufnel]

Extended video interview with Matt:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Zr5Cm1uEKNs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Can_of_corn]

Extended video interview with Matt:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Zr5Cm1uEKNs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Nice job even if the interviewer looks like a 15 year old in his pajamas.

Nice job by Hobgood.

Interesting stuff about the throwing program.

[bobmc]

That was nice - Andrew did a good job! Looking forward to seeing Matt progress this year!

[Il BuonO]

Seems like a good kid a definitely has an even keel about him. Have to pull for him because he's become the forgotten first rounder with the ascendance of Bundy and Gausman.