Poll: Day 1

[SoBo]

I also don't see how getting the consensus best pitcher in the draft makes it a bad draft either. Seriously, most everyone thought Matusz was the best pitcher in the draft and we got him, how could that ever be bad. Seems kind of petulant to me.

Agreed, seems like some people are bent because he doesn't throw 1000 mph. Again, I love the fact that the guy commands 3 plus pitches and has a fourth. No more of this "wait until he perfects the change" stuff. I think we will all love this pick in short order.

[BaltBird 24]

I could be wrong, but wasn't Reimold a major reach in the 2nd round a few years back? Now he's considered one of the best corner OF prospects in baseball. I'll reserve judgement for a few years.

Reimold put up monster numbers are a fairly decent school back in 2005. He wasn't a reach at all in the 2nd round, if anything he could have gone late first round.

[SoBo]

Reimold put up monster numbers are a fairly decent school back in 2005. He wasn't a reach at all in the 2nd round, if anything he could have gone late first round.

Alright, I seem to remember reading that many experts thought the pick was a stretch.

[Gurgi]

Of course, I really have no idea, and only time will tell how good these picks were. But we didn't address needs at all, and our 2nd - 4th rounders all sounded like reaches. So I gave the draft a D. But, for all I really know, it could turn out to be an A.

I gave it a D also. But in reality I dont know any of the players past Matusz. So I am really just guessing.

[Gurgi]

I hate this draft. Matusz is a good prospect but we needed an impact bat at this spot and we didn't take one. I don't know why we're taking all of these speedy slap-hitter types. It's very hard for a player with no power at low levels of competition to maintain their success as they move up the ladder.

Matusz will be a good pitcher. None of the other picks so far will do a damn thing in the major leagues in my opinion.

Maybe all the "Moneyball" slow cant field guys are over valued now? Maybe everyone is drafting them so we got to do something different?

[ChaosLex]

LOL. Looks like someone over on the ESPN boards didn't care too much for our opinions.

http://boards.espn.go.com/boards/mb/mb?sport=mlb&id=bal&tid=2926727&lid=0

[Roll Tide]

We probably could have had a better draft if they simply drew names out of a hat.

Matsuz ( since were loaded in pitching I could have passed here)

The rest of our position picks are pretty poor... Speedy guys with no power... Apparently AM isn't watching the same baseball we are every night & then looking through our powerless minor league system.

Zagone is just a awful pick ???? Maybe Andy let his nephew pick???? Maybe they really did draw names from a hat???? I gave it a D' ..... But considering our needs really it should be a F

[Three Run Homer]

Having thought about this some more I think I can more clearly articulate the two things I don't like about the O's draft.

(1) The O's made no attempt to get a middle of the order hitter. In a draft supposedly full of impact power bats, the O's took a pitcher in round one (probably a very good pitcher, I'll admit) and then took a bunch of guys whose upside if everything goes right is that they will be good leadoff hitters. This offense has been starved for power in the middle of the lineup, and as much as I like Markakis, Jones and Weiters, I don't see any of them as cleanup hitters on a good offense--Markakis should ideally hit 2nd, Jones if all goes well would hit 6th on a good offense (which is where Torii Hunter would hit on a good offense)...Weiters could hit 3rd or 5th if he reaches his max potential, although Varitek has never been that kind of a hitter.

Jordan is drafting as though it's a given that Tex will sign and that Rowell will develop into an impact hitter. Neither is a safe assumption.

(2) Xavier Avery is the wrong kind of player for this organization, and the pick suggests that Jordan or Macphail don't really know what this organization's strengths and weaknesses are in terms of player development. It's well known that the O's have had trouble developing hitters in the last 15 years. But there have been a few exceptions: Brian Roberts, Nick Markakis, Matt Weiters, and if you go back far enough, David Dellucci.

What all these hitters have in common is that they already had an idea of the strike zone when they came to the organization. In contrast, the O's have done a terrible job with athletic, toolsy guys who were very raw in terms of skills like pitch recognition and plate discipline. Darnell McDonald comes to mind, as do Kieron Pope and Bryan Bass. Xavier Avery fits this mold perfectly--one of the best pure athletes in the draft, but extremely raw in his approach to hitting.

It's tough to teach tools guys how to hit, but some organizations seem to have more success than others; Tampa Bay was able to turn Rocco Baldelli and Carl Crawford into decent major league hitters, for instance. Unfortunately, the Orioles have no proven capability to turn someone like Xavier Avery from an athlete who wears a baseball uniform into a baseball player. Joe Jordan and Andy Macphail should realize this and shouldn't waste a high second round pick on someone who is not likely to develop in this organization.

[glenn__davis]

I can't get behind this thinking that the Orioles haven't developed a toolsy player in the past, so they shouldn't be drafting toolsy players. If they feel there's a problem with their player development regimen, they should be working to fix that, not abandoning going after those guys if they're the best players available.

I think most of us were hoping to see some more higher level and polished bats taken, but Jordan's taking the long view. I'd much rather him take guys that he believes are going to be impact players than take someone he believes will be a marginal major leaguer just because they're a little closer to the big leagues. I also seriously doubt that Teixeira has any bearing on this draft.

[utvolzac]

I gave it a C-. Matusz is a good prospect, but I think this is a weak draft for pitchers and we passed up some really good hitting prospects, an area we're dreadfully thin at. After that, we took way too many "projects", IMO. This was a deep draft for offensive players, I'm not sure why we are taking all these high speed, no pop players.

[Three Run Homer]

I also seriously doubt that Teixeira has any bearing on this draft.

I would like to think that this is true. But how else can you explain the fact that we didn't pick a first baseman or any hitters with plus power on day one, despite the fact that (1) the consensus view is that this is a draft very deep at 1B and with power hitters in general, and (2) we have an enormous organizational hole at 1B and an enormous lack of power in the minor league system?

[Puma170]

I wish there was a D- option.

[sector7g]

Well I voted C+ since it's difficult to know how this will turn out. I liked the draft though. Like most people on here I was v surprised by our picks in Rounds 2 & 3 but I'm actually excited to watch these guys develop over the next few years. I know we have a lot of holes in our position prospects but we don't have anyone like Avery or Hoes. The skys the limit for these guys, let's look forward to seeing them play.

[Boca Bird]

I gave it a D. I thought the objective was to take the best player avaialble.

I agree with those who liked smoak, but I also liked Alonzo (The U). I thought they were 1 and 1a. I also prefered Posey to Matusz. FSU converted him to a C, but he came on scholarship to FSU as a SS and probably could go back to SS

I have this feeling that we're really gonna be pointing to this draft on what we could've had

[glenn__davis]

I would like to think that this is true. But how else can you explain the fact that we didn't pick a first baseman or any hitters with plus power on day one, despite the fact that (1) the consensus view is that this is a draft very deep at 1B and with power hitters in general, and (2) we have an enormous organizational hole at 1B and an enormous lack of power in the minor league system?

I do agree that I would've like to have seen a little more power selected. I don't believe Teixeira had anything to do with it, though, because that would be incredibly stupid and neither MacPhail nor Jordan are stupid people. The only way I could see Tex making a difference would be if Angelos would interfere, which I dont' think happened.

A day after, I've really sold myself on picks 2-3. Not crazy about 4-6, but I'm looking forward to what Jordan has to say about them. Has he done any interviews yet?