Sometimes its worth paying slot

[Philip]

24 minutes ago, 7Mo said:

But not both....

Had to laugh at that.

FWIW, I think I remember that taking G-Rod at 11(?) was considered dangerous because I think he was expected to go in the high teens or thereabouts. But no one is complaining about him now.

I don’t know enough about the options to even begin to guess at the best pick, but I’d like a college guy, someone very close to the majors, very fast who walks a lot and has a great glove and can hit for average. I don’t give a damn about power. Ichiro has 117 career home runs, and he did ok. 

i dunno who that might be, but if he’s available, I hope we take him.

[Can_of_corn]

46 minutes ago, Jammer7 said:

Reread what I wrote. He made some improvements to make more contact. Specifically, he swung less at balls outside the zone. His swing decisions became much better, and he did more damage. Minor swing adjustments as well. He improved every year. He competed at a high level, against top competition in the SEC and Internationally. He improved each year. Have we not talked about this enough?

They did play a moderate schedule, like all teams. They did play Texas, Baylor and Oklahoma though. And he hit well against them, including a 445 foot home run and a bunt single. 

So no, I am not kidding. Are you kidding? Or just pushing the same tired anti-Elias schtick? 

Are you actually looking at his stats?

He improved every year?

Freshman- 26 walks, 55 K's 972 OPS

Soph- 21 walks, 65 K's 975 OPS

That's improvement?

Yes, the 16 games he had as a Junior were much improved. 

But it was 16 games.

You look at this schedule and tell me he playing top competition in 2020.

https://arkansas.rivals.com/news/diamond-hogs-release-2020-schedule

 

He was a high risk pick.  Now he might pan out and have a heck of a career, not saying it couldn't happen.  But he was high risk.  You really should get over your own bias and admit it.

 

Edit- I see you have admitted to him carrying some risk.  I guess I'll take it.

Edited July 2, 2021 by Can_of_corn

[7Mo]

2 minutes ago, Philip said:

I don’t know enough about the options to even begin to guess at the best pick, but I’d like a college guy, someone very close to the majors, very fast who walks a lot and has a great glove and can hit for average. I don’t give a damn about power. Ichiro has 117 career home runs, and he did ok. 

i dunno who that might be, but if he’s available, I hope we take him.

But power is the name of the game these days.

Henry Davis could be a very, very good pick. 

[Jammer7]

4 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

Are you actually looking at his stats?

He improved every year?

Freshman- 26 walks, 55 K's 972 OPS

Soph- 21 walks, 65 K's 975 OPS

That's improvement?

Yes, the 16 games he had as a Junior were much improved. 

But it was 16 games.

You look at this schedule and tell me he playing top competition in 2020.

https://arkansas.rivals.com/news/diamond-hogs-release-2020-schedule

 

He was a high risk pick.  Now he might pan out and have a heck of a career, not saying it couldn't happen.  But he was high risk.  You really should get over your own bias and admit it.

 

Edit- I see you have admitted to him carrying some risk.  I guess I'll take it.

There is some risk on every pick. Adley has some risk, but a very high floor. Martin had risk in that part of his value was alleged to be defensive versatility. Martin had a 60 hit tool, with 50 power. The risk was that he'd be a 2B, or a LF since his arm was 45-50. That isn't a great value at 1-2. (Look at his stats this year, 43 K's in 142 at bats) Pitchers, no matter how talented, have enormous risk. I think we are arguing about semantics, mostly anyway.

https://www.mlb.com/prospects/bluejays/austin-martin-668885

I looked at the schedule. South Alabama and Gonzaga are not as bad as you think. And they lost to Illinois State. But Texas, Baylor and Oklahoma are high level competition. And he mashed against them too. Don't forget they have more data than you and I know about. Team USA, Fall Arkansas data and so on. The scout knew the kid (and the family) for many years, coached his brother. 

His improvement each year may not show in stats as much, but it is there. You have to watch his video to see it. I have watched a ton of video on him. I followed the kid since he was the SEC Freshman of the Year. I was surprised at the pick, but then I went back and watched the video. His process really was impressive. He improved his physicality and defensive abilities. He played in about as many meaningful games as anyone ever has. SEC, NCAA Regionals, Super Regionals, College World Series and TEAM USA. The kid had been batting 3rd or 4th on all of those teams. He can hit, and he can hit for power. All players are flawed, but his production will be somewhere close to Martin's if he can get healthy. I will bet you a steak dinner on that. 

We can do this all night, but there are already threads with this stuff in them. I am at work with nothing else to do, at the moment. I am not Mike Elias' caddy. If I think he screws up, I will say so. If he takes Rocker, and pays him slot, I will call that a bad idea based on the pitcher that he has been nearly all of 2021, regardless of what some feel his upside may be. 

[Jammer7]

33 minutes ago, Philip said:

Had to laugh at that.

FWIW, I think I remember that taking G-Rod at 11(?) was considered dangerous because I think he was expected to go in the high teens or thereabouts. But no one is complaining about him now.

I don’t know enough about the options to even begin to guess at the best pick, but I’d like a college guy, someone very close to the majors, very fast who walks a lot and has a great glove and can hit for average. I don’t give a damn about power. Ichiro has 117 career home runs, and he did ok. 

i dunno who that might be, but if he’s available, I hope we take him.

I think there will be a time when our inventory is where it needs to be. Then, you can take some bigger risks with higher picks, but only on the right guys. Right now, Elias is still adding talent for the next competitive cycle and he cannot afford big misses, not yet. And by then, we should not be in the top 10-15 picks anyway.

I have seen Grayson since high school, so I was happy with the pick at that time. But HS pitchers is the riskiest demographic out there in any draft. But how else do you get them into your organization, right? A lot goes into the evaluation of a pitcher. What is the talent, the upside/projection, and the wear and tear? What is the make up? What would be their development plan, and is your organization able to develop that pitcher?