I'm pretty excited about Adrian Marin

[Frobby]

19 years old, starting SS for Delmarva, hitting .344/.389/.469. From what I've heard, he's pretty slick on defense, too.

[weams]

19 years old, starting SS for Delmarva, hitting .344/.389/.469. From what I've heard, he's pretty slick on defense, too.

Me too. He looked great in spring training. Very smooth in the field.

[glenn__davis]

Yeah, he certainly looks good early on (numbers-wise, at least).

And good point from RZ regarding the top 4 picks. Shoot, even Hutter, who I believe was just supposed to be a "underslot guy" to save bonus money, is off to a great start (memory may be a bit fuzzy there). I've said elsewhere it's going to be very interesting following the draft picks and how they develop now that DD is in charge.

[Rene88]

Ill say it again...wow, Joe Jordan was bad. Why was he around so long?

[Jarman8675]

Ill say it again...wow, Joe Jordan was bad. Why was he around so long?

I don't know if he was bad at evaluating talent, I think he just took a lot of risks and that's understandable, at least to me considering we had no depth at all when he took over. If his risks had paid off, we'd be wondering why we let him go. Draft is a huge crapshoot.

[Can_of_corn]

He has a strong reputation in the industry and they were even worse before he got here. His record is far from written but it looks like more misses than hits. At least he didn't screw up his last two top picks (Machado and Bundy).

I don't know if he was bad at evaluating talent, I think he just took a lot of risks and that's understandable, at least to me considering we had no depth at all when he took over. If his risks had paid off, we'd be wondering why we let him go. Draft is a huge crapshoot.

I don't think his drafting style meshed well with the developmental program the Orioles had in place.

[The Rick]

I don't think his drafting style meshed well with the developmental program the Orioles had in place.

What developmental program?

[Can_of_corn]

What developmental program?

Exactly. He would draft raw toolsy guys then the O's would fail to develop them.

[The Rick]

Exactly. He would draft raw toolsy guys then the O's would fail to develop them.

Agreed. The poor development program makes it hard to really evaluate Jordan. It'll be interesting to look back in several years and see how he did with Philthy. Not that I'm particularly aware of their development program, but they seem to do a better job than we did, that's for sure.

[The Rick]

Avery was such a guy and I don't see any progression under the current regime either.

Decent point, but how late is too late for a leopard to change it's spots? (IE: plate discipline?) Not to mention, that's a very small sample size, no?

[waroriole]

And some guys are just raw and toolsy and they are what they are. Is anyone more toolsy than Bubba Starling was when he came out of HS. He was faster than a speeding bullet and able to leap buildings in a single bound. Right now he's in low A looking a lot like the "B" word because no matter how many tools you have, if you can't hit, you can't hit.

He's looking like a bust because of 50 AB with a low OPS despite putting up an .856 OPS last year?

[waroriole]

Not entirely. He's 20 years old. Even guys like Avery and Hoes were in High A at that age. Starling was held back from full season ball last year, all year, a little unusual for such a high pick. Even with that .856 OPS, he struck out 70 times in 200 AB's last year, another red flag. Certainly 50 AB's is much too soon to draw conclusions. Let's just say that 22 strikeouts in his first 49 AB's in low A is a little bit worrisome.

If I had to bet one way or the other, bust or success, I'd go for bust right now. Of course, maybe he can be developed?

He was taken so high solely on potential. Everyone said he is nowhere near a finished product. I'd give him more than 250 professional AB before passing judgment on a guy who was going to take a while to develop.

[waroriole]

Sure. He's the poster child for raw and toolsy. He may develop into a superstar. If he were an Oriole prospect you wouldn't be concerned by his start this year?

No......it's 50 AB.

[waroriole]

Ok. No problem. You and I are different. I agree, it's wrong to reach a conclusion based on 50 AB's. If this kid was someone we drafted 5 overall a couple of years ago, I'd be worried right now. Suppose he hits like this all year. When do you, personally, start worrying?

If he hits .143 all year, yeah, I'd be worried. There is a progression of worry that correlates with the number of AB and the OPS. It's hard to assign a specific number of AB to it. With a guy as raw as he apparently is, I'd be more interested in what the coaches and scouts are saying than his numbers.

[Can_of_corn]

Avery was such a guy and I don't see any progression under the current regime either. In fact, if we look at the O's top three rounds per draft under Jordan, I think you'll find very few raw and toolsy types.

Unless you consider every HS player raw, I would only consider Avery and Keiron Pope among high picks (top ten ronds) that I would consider raw and toolsy.

I would include Givens.

Not entirely. He's 20 years old. Even guys like Avery and Hoes were in High A at that age. Starling was held back from full season ball last year, all year, a little unusual for such a high pick. Even with that .856 OPS, he struck out 70 times in 200 AB's last year, another red flag. Certainly 50 AB's is much too soon to draw conclusions. Let's just say that 22 strikeouts in his first 49 AB's in low A is a little bit worrisome.

If I had to bet one way or the other, bust or success, I'd go for bust right now. Of course, maybe he can be developed?

His being held back from full season ball was explained as him being so good with one on one tutoring.