Jordan talks about his 2008 draft class

[bigbird]

Hey Tony, where are the "sleepers" you mentioned yesterday???

[Tony-OH]

Hey Tony, where are the "sleepers" you mentioned yesterday???

The 18th and 19th pick are two, but I'll have more on them soon, I swear.

[Duke2010]

Tony, I really like Landers and Martin a lot. What are the chances that we can sign those two? Also, what about guys like Beal and Bundy?

[orioole28]

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, I'm not going to let you forget about DHernandez. Even tough you saw him pitch once(wasn't even close to his best performance, probably average at best) you made a quick judgement on him, I still feel he's good enough to make that rotation. You probably should go see him pitch one more time and it just might change your scouting report on him.:scratchchinhmm: Do you see DHernandez coming out of the bullpen?? And if so, in what capacity?

[hoosiers]

Two things:

TB has three pitchers among the top 25 prospects in all of baseball to go along with Kazmir, Shields and Garza. I'd give the nod to TB though I believe we have closed the gap considerably with the Matu pick. I believe there is a good chance that our pitching prospects after the top three in each organization are superior to TB's after their big three are removed.

I exchange emails with a writer at BA and he speculated that Bundy might sign for third round $ and that we would be unlikely to sign Martin. IMO, signing just Bundy to third round $ would be a tremendous move by our FO. It would be high enough above slot perhaps to be a franchise record above slot for a pick after the fifth round - as far as I know.

[wayne25]

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.

Well , its always good to be the first:) I hope your right by the way.

[wayne25]

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?

If criticism, it was certainly on "the light side"..

[Tony-OH]

Tony, I'm not going to let you forget about DHernandez. Even tough you saw him pitch once(wasn't even close to his best performance, probably average at best) you made a quick judgement on him, I still feel he's good enough to make that rotation. You probably should go see him pitch one more time and it just might change your scouting report on him.:scratchchinhmm: Do you see DHernandez coming out of the bullpen?? And if so, in what capacity?

Again, and I'm not sure if you will get this or not, but I did NOT, make a call off of seeing him pitch once!! I really can't and won't go over this with you again.

I truly believe Hernandez is going to pitch in the major leagues but I really think it's going to be in the bullpen. He misses bats and I think he might even be a closer candidate one day.

He could very well be given a shot as a starter and if he can develop a consistent change up then maybe he has a chance of sticking as a starter, but I really believe his stuff will work a lot better in one or two innings stretches in the major leagues.

That might not be what you want to hear, but it's my opinion based off lots of information besides just my one day of scouting him. Tell you the truth, it may be a more optimistic view than some scouts.

[orioole28]

Again, and I'm not sure if you will get this or not, but I did NOT, make a call off of seeing him pitch once!! I really can't and won't go over this with you again.

I truly believe Hernandez is going to pitch in the major leagues but I really think it's going to be in the bullpen. He misses bats and I think he might even be a closer candidate one day.

He could very well be given a shot as a starter and if he can develop a consistent change up then maybe he has a chance of sticking as a starter, but I really believe his stuff will work a lot better in one or two innings stretches in the major leagues.

That might not be what you want to hear, but it's my opinion based off lots of information besides just my one day of scouting him. Tell you the truth, it may be a more optimistic view than some scouts.

I doubt that very much and the key word some scouts. Believe it or not, I'm in the loop in some sort of way when it comes to DHernandez and from what I hear if the Orioles don't put him in the 40-man roster and protect him from the Rule V draft, there are a lot of teams that would grab him in a second!!!

[glenn__davis]

Believe it or not, I'm in the loop in some sort of way when it comes to DHernandez

No way!! I never would have guessed!!!

[Tank]

I doubt that very much and the key word some scouts. Believe it or not, I'm in the loop in some sort of way when it comes to DHernandez and from what I hear if the Orioles don't put him in the 40-man roster and protect him from the Rule V draft, there are a lot of teams that would grab him in a second!!!

I don't see any reason why we wouldn't put him on the 40 man roster after this season, even if we only thought his potential is a good reliever/closer.

[oriole_way]

I doubt that very much and the key word some scouts. Believe it or not, I'm in the loop in some sort of way when it comes to DHernandez and from what I hear if the Orioles don't put him in the 40-man roster and protect him from the Rule V draft, there are a lot of teams that would grab him in a second!!!

What is that supposed to imply?

Just because a pitcher is selected in the rule V draft doesn't mean that they are the second coming, or even a possible solid major league starter.

For example, we grabbed Randor Bierd this year and I don't think anyone expects him to be more than a middle innings reliever.

[Tony-OH]

I doubt that very much and the key word some scouts. Believe it or not, I'm in the loop in some sort of way when it comes to DHernandez and from what I hear if the Orioles don't put him in the 40-man roster and protect him from the Rule V draft, there are a lot of teams that would grab him in a second!!!

Really? No one would have guessed you had a connection with Hernandez.

The Orioles will absolutely put Hernandez on the 40-man this off season and yes I agree, he would certainly be snatched up if they left him off.

And yes, some scouts think less of Hernandez and I'm sure some scouts may think he's more. If all you want to read is that Hernandez is the best pitching prospect in baseball, then start your own fan club site because really, you are beyond annoying due to the fact that you somehow take negatives from every single thing that someone says if it's not "gushing about how great your boy is."

Seriously, you've now become the most annoying pro-player poster I've had on this site in 12 years. Congratulations.

This is my last post to you because I'm done repeating myself and done having you twist everything I say or do as some knee jerk reaction to one day at the park.

[Ruzious]

And what will help them be the best rotation in the AL is having a great bullpen - Johnson, Albers, Sherrill, Liz, Sarfate, Beird, Ray, DHernandez/Penn/Hoey/McCrory

[tywright]

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.

Arrieta has a 2 seamer, 4 seamer (up to 95), plus slider, change (to lefties) and an occasional curve. I'd say he has #1 stuff.