On the record on Brian Matusz

[Tony-OH]

Going back through the draft thread during the first day of the draft, I thought it was kind of interesting the comments made after the Orioles took Brian Matusz with their first selection. I guess we'll see who's right in the next 2-5 years.

Positive:

nemO821 - "Cant be disapointed with picking a great pitcher."

BaltimoreTerp - "Sounds like a good pick.*Yelling into the avalanche*"

birds90 - "I like him. I think he'll help out a lot."

Ruzious - "'ll take it as good news - figuring they must have a couple of big hitters they're confident in getting. And Matusz adds a big-time lefty that's not going to take 4-5 years in the minors. Excellente!!!"

Stotle - "Matches my pick. Good job by the Orioles grabbing a first-rate talent."

Shawn555 - "Why are people bashing this pick?? I have more trust in Jordan than any of you complainers, he is the safest best selection on the board at this point. You can never have enough pitching. A great pick."

Mackus - "I can understand preferring Smoak, I did myself, but anybody saying that Matusz was a terrible pick is simply being ignorant. He's a tremendous pick."

NJOriolesFan - "Come on guys. It is a great pick. This is what the Orioles of yesteryear was always built on great pitching. Just keep adding great pitching because some of them will be Mike Mussina, some will be Chris Smith, some will be Ben McDonald and some will be Adam Loewen. You have to like this kid, even if you wanted Smoak. A legitimate lefty, potential All-Star with excellent command. What's not to like?"

Tony-OH - "It's hard to argue with a pick that comes with most scouts believing this lefty was not only the best pitcher in the draft, he's fairly close to being major league ready, and may be a top of the rotation guy despite an average major league fastball. As good as the Orioles pitching prospects are, none have the amount of plus pitches and command that Matusz reportedly possesses. If he ends up anchoring an Orioles rotation for years to come no one will care who the Orioles passed over."

Neutral/leaning negative:

Yardbirds13 - "Well damn. He better be a stud."

orangedive - "I guess that means we're really going after Teixiera in the off-season. Can't say I'm thrilled about this, but we'll see. I had Crow ranked ahead of Matusz and wanted Smoak, but those guys are the experts."

Hank Scorpio - "Not shocking, slightly disappointed... not because I dislike Matusz, though."

Negative:

Mikzpens - "Guys, Matuzz's next pitch could be the end of his rotator cuff. Look how many we've lost already this year. No way you use the 4th friggin' pick on a pitcher! Totaly stupid! The next Chris Smith is one pitch away."

ChaosLex -

TyCobb - "Damnit! We missed a gem in Smoak."

Bmo24Ph - "terrible pick. they better offer the house to texiera"

JJLin29 - "He doesn't even sound like a good pitcher, much less pitch like one."

mdterps4life25 - "Im a little bummed....I dont care if this dude is the second coming of Sandy Koufax, we need positional talent. I was really hoping for smoak to fall to us."

three run homer - "I don't like this pick. I don't think either Matusz or Smoak are superstars in the making; I think Smoak will be somewhere on the Wally Joyner-Todd Helton spectrum of good fielding 1B with high OBP and 25-HR power, while Matusz if all goes well will be a good 2-3 starter. But Smoak is more likely to reach his ceiling simply because he is a hitter, and the O's need hitting more than they need pitching, all else equal. A wasted opportunity...the only silver lining is that hopefully it's a signal that we're going to break the bank for Texeira."

Wayne25 - "COULD NOT AGREEE MORE, THIS WILL GO DOWN AS ONE OF THE WORST PICKS THE O'S HAVE MADE. NOT BECAUSE OF THE FACT THAT MATUSZ WON'T WIN SOME GAMES, BUT BECAUSE OF WHO WE DID NOT SELECT: SMOAK"

[Greg Pappas]

Awww man, great post!

I recall specifically my feeling as the draft approached; with Guthrie, Olson, Liz, Cabrera, Penn, Loewen and a plethora of talented youngsters in the system and a lack of positional talent, I thought taking a great young hitter made more sense, although I clearly stated that Matusz was a great pick.

I haven't been confident that any of them, besides Guts, would be good ML'ers though, but figured that with so many other scouts and posters feeling differently, that perhaps I had been too stringent in my views on Olson, and Liz in particular. Well, while it's still too early, I have zero confidence in either. Cabrera has faded badly, Loewen's pitching career is over, and Penn is a wild-card that may never pan out.

The minor leaguers give me more hope though, without a doubt.

In hindsight, I would have also selected Matusz over Smoak and the others, and have come to a more definitive understanding of my own way of viewing the draft and the philosophy that a team can never have enough pitching.

Looking at our pitching staff in shambles and realizing that while having a lack of positional talent is an issue that needs real work, the pitching must take top priority for a team that will win only with the horses on the mound to take us there.

Good reminder Tony.

[Flip217]

This could be called the "Prepare to Eat Crow" thread, though we still don't know which group will be digging in. Fun post!

[Malike]

Glad I was on board when we picked Matusz!

[Greg Pappas]

This could be called the "Prepare to Eat Crow" thread, though we still don't know which group will be digging in. Fun post!

What's interesting is not necessarily whether Matusz turns out to be a great pick or not, or whether a guy like Smoak has the superior career... but rather the process in making the pick itself and the philosophy behind it.

Jordan mentioned the difficulty is choosing Matusz over another player, which we assume was Smoak (pure speculation), but he came to realize that he had an outstanding starter sitting there at the #4 pick, almost gift-wrapped, and had to take the college starter who by many reports was the best pitcher in the draft and not far from the majors.

Jordan made the right call. If Matusz bombs, we'll all be disappointed, but I will say what I'm saying now... JJ made the best possible choice at the time he picked. That's all any of us can ask for.

[McLovin]

I hated the pick at first. I wanted them to draft a hitter. After the dust has settled though, and before he logs a professional inning, I'm now of the opinion that it was the right pick to make.

[Frobby]

My quote from draft day:

I have confidence that Matusz will be a fine major league starter

http://www.forum.orioleshangout.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1348974&postcount=25

and...

Assuming (as seems likely) that Matusz is still on the board when our turn comes, I'm trusting completely Jordan's judgment as to whether Matusz (or another pitcher, for that matter) is a better long-term prospect than the best hitter left on the board. No matter who he picks, it will be my assumption that this player is going to succeed and be a key contributor to our franchise. So you won't hear any words of disappointment from me no matter who he picks, just my best wishes for the choice to turn out to be successful.

http://www.forum.orioleshangout.com/forums/showthread.php?t=64655&highlight=matusz

[Stotle]

Would have made the same pick -- still love it. He's instantly the best pitcher in our system and should move quickly.

[Hutman]

Obviously I would have loved to have Smoak, but in retrospect it was absolutely the right pick. We need another top-tier pitcher in our system. Can't wait to see what he does in Winter ball!!!

[J.D.]

I hated the pick at first. I wanted them to draft a hitter. After the dust has settled though, and before he logs a professional inning, I'm now of the opinion that it was the right pick to make.

I remember getting into a debate about this with you in the Matusz thread. You were snarky. I cried.

This was what I said then about the pick:

Crow and Matusz are very close. I agree with you there. I take Matusz over Crow because of Matusz' control. Crow's going to be a power pitcher and absolutely has three plus pitches, but I'd rather take a polished guy with above average control, especially if he can be tweaked to potentially hit 92-94 MPH. And the fact that he's a lefty tilts it into his side for me as well.

[waroriole]

It's kind of like when your NFL team takes a lineman in the draft. It's not the sexy pick that everyone wanted, but it is likely, when you think about it, that it was the best pick we could make. I was slightly disappointed when we picked Matusz, but not that much b/c Alvarez and Tim Beckham were gone. I think very soon we'll be very happy with the pick.

[wayne25]

I haven't wavered a bit. Still don't like the pick. A #3 or possible a # 2 with the #4 overall in the country is a bad idea. A pitcher that high up, with really good bats available is a bad idea. I still believe that Jordan gave into the pressure his BOSS was exerting, even if the pressure was subtle.

[byrdz]

With the way some of our higher level pitching prospects (Olson, Liz, Loewen) are working out this turned out to be the best move he could have made.

[Leitch]

I haven't wavered a bit. Still don't like the pick. A #3 or possible a # 2 with the #4 overall in the country is a bad idea. A pitcher that high up, with really good bats available is a bad idea. I still believe that Jordan gave into the pressure his BOSS was exerting, even if the pressure was subtle.

Pretty sure he's more like a plus #2, possible #1, occasional all-star type

[Moose Milligan]

I hated the pick at first. I wanted them to draft a hitter. After the dust has settled though, and before he logs a professional inning, I'm now of the opinion that it was the right pick to make.

Yeah, I hated the pick, too. After a few hours and some of the dust settled, I felt a bit better about it.

And now I feel good about it. It's true, you can never have enough pitching...and as awful as Olson and Liz have been, we need that arm.

It's also buffered by the fact that Avery and Hoes seem to be adjusting well to rookie ball. Maybe we will have an impact positional player from this draft after all.