Jordan talks about his 2008 draft class

[wayne25]

Well, first off, its good to see it was his pick and not AM's. I'll take his word on that. 2nd, we may not have a Matusz in our system but we sure have alot of guys who throw the ball and are highly rated. You cannot say that about our hitters, and so I'll respectfully disagree and say he made the wrong selection. If they were that close in his mind, why go with the one who is so much more likely to get hurt and only contributes one day in 5. Good luck Matusz but we'll regret this choice for along time, I think. Otherwise a much more balanced draft than last year, so thats nice. Thanks for the article, nice to hear from the Man about his thoughts.

[utvolzac]

I still think if he was that split over the decision and both players were "tied" or close, the tie should have gone to organizational need. Without Matusz, our system still has alot of pitching depth. Without Smoak, we have one impact bat, another possible impact bat who can't stay healthy and a couple of maybes.

I also don't understand his quote of "We don't have a Matusz in the system." I tend to disagree with that. We have plenty of high end pitching prospects in the system and in the majors. Tillman looks to have as much or more potential as a front of the rotation starter. Arietta looks to have a ton of potential as well. We are not starving for high end pitching prospects.

We definitely don't have a Smoak in the system, nor have we had a legit 1Bman for about the past decade. Now it looks like all our eggs are in the sign Tex or hope Snyder/Rowell develops basket. Otherwise, we'll have to trade value to get a young 1bman.

[Peace21]

I just hope they dont rush or micromanage Matusz. We dont need another young pitcher going that we draft go through TommyJohn.

[Pheasants]

While I've been on the anti-M side of this draft, it sounds to me like the only thing that was bringing the 'other player' close to Matusz in Jordan's mind was organizational need. He really wanted Matusz, but was wondering if the need was great enough to balance it.

[Tony-OH]

I still think if he was that split over the decision and both players were "tied" or close, the tie should have gone to organizational need. Without Matusz, our system still has alot of pitching depth. Without Smoak, we have one impact bat, another possible impact bat who can't stay healthy and a couple of maybes.

I also don't understand his quote of "We don't have a Matusz in the system." I tend to disagree with that. We have plenty of high end pitching prospects in the system and in the majors. Tillman looks to have as much or more potential as a front of the rotation starter. Arietta looks to have a ton of potential as well. We are not starving for high end pitching prospects.

We definitely don't have a Smoak in the system, nor have we had a legit 1Bman for about the past decade. Now it looks like all our eggs are in the sign Tex or hope Snyder/Rowell develops basket. Otherwise, we'll have to trade value to get a young 1bman.

What he said was absolutely true. Matusz is a four pitch pitcher who can throw them all for strikes, three of which are plus pitches. Tillman and Arrieta are high end pitching prospects, but neither are at Matusz' level for the amount of plus pitches and command of those pitches.

If our rotation ends up Matusz, Tillman, Arrieta and a mix of Guthrie, Olson, Liz, Spoone, and possibly Bergeson, I truly believe we will have the best rotation in baseball.

[Hank Scorpio]

What he said was absolutely true. Matusz is a four pitch pitcher who can throw them all for strikes, three of which are plus pitches. Tillman and Arrieta are high end pitching prospects, but neither are at Matusz' level for the amount of plus pitches and command of those pitches.

If our rotation ends up Matusz, Tillman, Arrieta and a mix of Guthrie, Olson, Liz, Spoone, and possibly Bergeson, I truly believe we will have the best rotation in baseball.

:beerchug1:

Here's to hoping.

It would certainly appear that we're on to something...

[olehippi]

Well, eventually, he should be judged on that. About 2 players a year eventually become hall of famers. That means an average personnel guy should get one every 15 years. An outstanding personnel guy ought to be able to pick one a bit more often.

I'll be at Wieters' induction in 2033 and Matusz's in 2034....and at Jordan's, whenever that will be!

I'll definitely drink to that!!! :beerchug1:

[Jenius]

Great writeup, thanks Tony...it's always nice to get an inside look at Jordan's mentality and approach, and especially given the broad criticism of this year's draft by OH posters.

[osfan83]

Well, first off, its good to see it was his pick and not AM's. I'll take his word on that. 2nd, we may not have a Matusz in our system but we sure have alot of guys who throw the ball and are highly rated. You cannot say that about our hitters, and so I'll respectfully disagree and say he made the wrong selection. If they were that close in his mind, why go with the one who is so much more likely to get hurt and only contributes one day in 5. Good luck Matusz but we'll regret this choice for along time, I think. Otherwise a much more balanced draft than last year, so thats nice. Thanks for the article, nice to hear from the Man about his thoughts.

Maybe thats why the stratagy is to load up on top line pitchers. Because so many get hurt, you need lots of good pitching in the system, plus I would much rather spend FA dollars on possitional players who are less likely to get hurt.

[tennOsfan]

Well, first off, its good to see it was his pick and not AM's. I'll take his word on that. 2nd, we may not have a Matusz in our system but we sure have alot of guys who throw the ball and are highly rated. You cannot say that about our hitters, and so I'll respectfully disagree and say he made the wrong selection. If they were that close in his mind, why go with the one who is so much more likely to get hurt and only contributes one day in 5. Good luck Matusz but we'll regret this choice for along time, I think. Otherwise a much more balanced draft than last year, so thats nice. Thanks for the article, nice to hear from the Man about his thoughts.

The bolded part hurts my head so badly.

So, he only pitches in 20% of the games, but wouldn't you agree that if a starting pitcher pitches only once every five days, he certainly affects that 20% a great deal more than the position players?

Let's make it simple: A starting pitcher is unbeatable. His team wins every time he goes out. His team is a .500 club otherwise. Thus four out of every five games, without him, they win two. They win the fifth when he pitches. That .500 club winds up with a .600 winning percentage, just because of that one outstanding player. The winning percentage puts you in the playoffs, despite having an average squad otherwise.

I'm not saying Matusz is that kind of pitcher, but if he's the best player available at that pick, then we need him. It doesn't matter where he plays on the field. If he's the best, get him.

And if he really has four quality pitches that he can control, then he'll make it rather quickly in the majors. He doesn't even have to know that much about pitching -- just mix it up and keep the hitters guessing. It's not rocket science.

That anyone complains of his being drafted, at least for now, blows my mind.

[Anonymous]

What he said was absolutely true. Matusz is a four pitch pitcher who can throw them all for strikes, three of which are plus pitches. Tillman and Arrieta are high end pitching prospects, but neither are at Matusz' level for the amount of plus pitches and command of those pitches.

If our rotation ends up Matusz, Tillman, Arrieta and a mix of Guthrie, Olson, Liz, Spoone, and possibly Bergeson, I truly believe we will have the best rotation in baseball.

Interesting, Tony. I'll take that as one vote for trading Daniel at the deadline if we get a nice offer.

[wayne25]

What he said was absolutely true. Matusz is a four pitch pitcher who can throw them all for strikes, three of which are plus pitches. Tillman and Arrieta are high end pitching prospects, but neither are at Matusz' level for the amount of plus pitches and command of those pitches.

If our rotation ends up Matusz, Tillman, Arrieta and a mix of Guthrie, Olson, Liz, Spoone, and possibly Bergeson, I truly believe we will have the best rotation in baseball.

Tony, you MUST be drinking the orange koolaid: " the best rotation in baseball". I don't think we would have the best rotation in the American League East, that title would go to TAMPA. God knows it would be our best rotation in forever in decades.

[wayne25]

The bolded part hurts my head so badly.

So, he only pitches in 20% of the games, but wouldn't you agree that if a starting pitcher pitches only once every five days, he certainly affects that 20% a great deal more than the position players?

Let's make it simple: A starting pitcher is unbeatable. His team wins every time he goes out. His team is a .500 club otherwise. Thus four out of every five games, without him, they win two. They win the fifth when he pitches. That .500 club winds up with a .600 winning percentage, just because of that one outstanding player. The winning percentage puts you in the playoffs, despite having an average squad otherwise.

I'm not saying Matusz is that kind of pitcher, but if he's the best player available at that pick, then we need him. It doesn't matter where he plays on the field. If he's the best, get him.

And if he really has four quality pitches that he can control, then he'll make it rather quickly in the majors. He doesn't even have to know that much about pitching -- just mix it up and keep the hitters guessing. It's not rocket science.

That anyone complains of his being drafted, at least for now, blows my mind.

If "your not saying Matusz is that kind of pitcher" then the rest of what you said doesn't really matter.

[Tony-OH]

Tony, you MUST be drinking the orange koolaid: " the best rotation in baseball". I don't think we would have the best rotation in the American League East, that title would go to TAMPA. God knows it would be our best rotation in forever in decades.

Nope, that's the first time someone has accused me of drink orange koolaid. Usually people are on me because I'm not fawning over every guy in the system.

If Mutusz ends up a four-pitch number one starter then there's our ace as good as any in the big leagues. Tillman and Arrieta should end up 2-3 type starters with above average fastballs, curveballs, and hopefully by then some type of consistent change.

Then, we could fill out the rest of the rotation with guys like Guthrie, who's already a solid big league starter, and guys like Olson, Liz (who may end up a closer), Spoone or Bergesen (ground ball machines).

Tampa may very well have a great rotation as well, but the Orioles will be among the best in baseball if these guys pan out like they should.

[Sports Guy]

Tony, you MUST be drinking the orange koolaid: " the best rotation in baseball". I don't think we would have the best rotation in the American League East, that title would go to TAMPA. God knows it would be our best rotation in forever in decades.

Not fair to accuse Tony of that.

He has always "called it as he sees it" in terms of our prospects.

Obviously, Tony's enthusiasm about Matusz is based on what he is being told by Jordan and you know what, who can blame him for listen to Jordan and expecting big things?