Orioles select SS Richie Martin with 1st pick of Rule 5 Draft

[GoldGlove21]

59 minutes ago, Andtothewall said:

Only a slightly related thought, but - should teams value players differently based on how advanced their team's player development is? For example, Orioles pitchers over the past five-ish years have consistently improved when they leave the organization, meaning they might have been undervalued by statistical analysis or scouting simply because their organization wasn't putting them in a position to succeed. Players from "smart" teams, on the other hand (like Martin from Oakland and Jackson from LA) might be closer to their ceilings because of superior player development. I wonder if front offices have started to factor that in. 

It is mechanics. If they feel they can fix something in a delivery or swing they could take a risk.

[Ripken]

3 minutes ago, interloper said:

That's what I see as well. I think he just needs to swing at the right pitches.

Well, that's always true.  lol

[Santandah]

Keith Law's take on Martin and Jackson:

http://www.espn.com/mlb/insider/story/_/id/25526772/mlb-keith-law-bullpen-overpays-rule-5-results

 

Quote

This year's Rule 5 draft had one truly notable name taken, former first-rounder Richie Martin, selected first overall by the Baltimore Orioles from the Oakland Athletics.

Martin was the 20th pick overall in the 2015 draft from the University of Florida. He's a plus runner with some bat-to-ball skills who showed the athleticism to play short but not the hands or consistency. He did hit .300/.368/.439 repeating Double-A this past year, a nice bounce back after a dud season in 2017 split between High-A and Double-A, and the Orioles really had nothing to lose with the selection since they only had two major-league ready middle infielders on the 40-man roster in Jonathan Villar and Breyvic Valera going into the draft.

Baltimore also added Drew Jackson, another shortstop but out of the Dodgers' organization, this time a better defender and plus runner with a great arm and a 40 hit tool at best. He's a potential backup infielder or could be a convert to the mound at some point.

 

 

[interloper]

1 minute ago, Ripken said:

Well, that's always true.  lol

Well, if he's swinging at sinkers and early on breaking balls and the like, sure, he's gonna beat stuff into the dirt. He's a contact hitter apparently, so the more stuff you can make contact with, the more pitcher's pitches you can make contact with, the more groundballs you will hit.

[GoldGlove21]

The goal might be to field a cheaper team and net another high draft pick next year. If you are going to be terrible why not do it for as cheap as possible?

[Ohfan67]

1 hour ago, Tony-OH said:

I would feel better if the stats showed that, but he hitter better in the first half than in the second half of the season. I could not find a split for AO/GO.

His August was great (.870 OPS) and he was Babe Ruth in his two September games. His July was the stinker month (.634 OPS). No strong seasonal pattern once you look hard at the month by month results. 

[Tx Oriole]

1 hour ago, 25 Nuggets said:

The common thread between Elias' very first roster moves appear to be upgrading infield defense.  3B and now SS.

3rd base? Sorry but I must have forgotten who that was? 

[weams]

5 minutes ago, Tx Oriole said:

3rd base? Sorry but I must have forgotten who that was? 

Jackson's future is rumored to be in pitching. 

[El Gordo]

19 minutes ago, Tx Oriole said:

3rd base? Sorry but I must have forgotten who that was? 

 

[raypetty]

I think it's becoming apparent we are drafting THE Catcher with the 1st pick in the draft.

[Can_of_corn]

Just now, raypetty said:

I think it's becoming apparent we are drafting THE Catcher with the 1st pick in the draft.

I think we are but I wouldn't use collecting Rule V middle infielders as evidence. 

The top Short Stops in the draft are high school kids so they are years away.

[Tx Oriole]

7 minutes ago, El Gordo said:

 

Thank you for the info.

[wildcard]

I was glad to see Cervenka and Luis Gonzalez not taken.

[bobmc]

1 hour ago, interloper said:

Because at the end of the day, sometimes you're just a light-hitting shortstop. And that's who this player is. There is no magical fix of his swing plane that will turn him into a power hitting shortstop. He's a decent player, but the A's know who he is. We just happen to be in a position to need that kind of player - that is, anyone who can play defense at SS.

Except ME has some "special sauce", alluded to in one of the beat reporters blogs.

[Grt 2BA FL Gator]

Heyyy. Guys a Gator and I didn't even know it. How 'bout that. Excited to watch.