2021 2nd round pick (41): Connor Norby - 2B - (Junior) East Carolina University

[Sports Guy]

1 minute ago, MurphDogg said:

Hey, Taylor is still available!

I will be right there with you storming the warehouse if they don't spend the draft pool allotment. 

At this point, would it matter if they did?  They could just overpay for sh** talent and that spends the money.

We should be grading this a lot harsher than "did they spend the money"?

[MurphDogg]

4 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

At this point, would it matter if they did?  They could just overpay for sh** talent and that spends the money.

We should be grading this a lot harsher than "did they spend the money"?

There are still 17 high school players remaining on MLB.com's top 100 list. I don't know enough to say what their talent level is, but I would give them the benefit of the doubt that they weren't throwing money away for the sake of it.

[Sports Guy]

10 minutes ago, MurphDogg said:

There are still 17 high school players remaining on MLB.com's top 100 list. I don't know enough to say what their talent level is, but I would give them the benefit of the doubt that they weren't throwing money away for the sake of it.

Awesome, lots of stud players are always falling to rounds 6 and later.  Can't wait to see how we are justifying losing games and taking lesser talents early to save for later an over slot HS kid in round 7!

[Tony-OH]

Initial Take:

Another advanced bat to ball polished hitter who had really good success this season and also against some top pitchers like Leiter. His college coach says he's the best right handed hitter he's ever coached and he coached D.J. LeMahieu. He's going to be limited to second base most likely due to his arm, but he sounds like a guy who can move quickly to the big leagues. 

[Hallas]

10 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

Pirates went underslot with the 1st pick and have now taken 2 high upside HS players.  This is what you do when you go underslot.

Does upside really matter if your overall grade on the college player is higher?  And Norby may require a bit of overslot, since his mock draft position skyrocketed recently and he can still go back to school.

 

Or worded a bit differently, how much upside would be necessary to pick a player that maybe you have ranked a bit lower?

[emmett16]

18 hours ago, Ruzious said:

Terrific numbers, and the competition couldn't have been too bad - considering the Vanderbilt games.  Good defensively according to the scouting reports.  

Don't sleep on ECU.  One of top programs on all east coast, easily.  

[emmett16]

17 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

Pirates went underslot with the 1st pick and have now taken 2 high upside HS players.  This is what you do when you go underslot.

Have the O's reached out yet to offer you a job?  Seems like a no brainer.  

[LookinUp]

19 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

Pirates went underslot with the 1st pick and have now taken 2 high upside HS players.  This is what you do when you go underslot.

The thing is that the savings at 1:1 and 1:2 for under slot guys is potentially very significantly more than the savings at 1:5. As you've noted, the O's didn't take some kid rated around 20. They took a guy that many had right near their slot. I doubt the savings will be massive.

I think the "O's went under slot" narrative is mistaken, at least on scale.

[Sports Guy]

2 minutes ago, LookinUp said:

The thing is that the savings at 1:1 and 1:2 for under slot guys is potentially very significantly more than the savings at 1:5. As you've noted, the O's didn't take some kid rated around 20. They took a guy that many had right near their slot. I doubt the savings will be massive.

I think the "O's went under slot" narrative is mistaken, at least on scale.

I would bet that Cowser signs within 750k of slot.  Some savings but not a ton.

 

[Frobby]

I’m inclined to like the Norby pick.   Seems like a guy who could get to the majors quickly.   We’ve got a lot of middle infield competition in the minors, which is good because our major league team is awful at 2B and has a stopgap (now injured) at SS.

[Sports Guy]

1 minute ago, Frobby said:

I’m inclined to like the Norby pick.   Seems like a guy who could get to the majors quickly.   We’ve got a lot of middle infield competition in the minors, which is good because our major league team is awful at 2B and has a stopgap (now injured) at SS.

Yes, he should move fast.  He’s fine.  But could they have gone higher ceiling?  Could you have added a guy that has more of a chance to be a real impact guy?

The write ups on Norby tell me he can be a valuable piece..a 2-3 WAR second baseman (unless the defense is elite).  Norby/Cowser 1-2 in the lineup is a possibility.  
 

But could they have gone higher risk/higher reward?  If so, should they have or should they just be content in safe?  

[NCRaven]

If they feel he’s more likely to reach a higher floor, and still has a good ceiling, I’m okay with that.  I’m okay at this point with 1-3.  But I admit I’m not thrilled with the next 8 guys as a group.

[Frobby]

4 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

Yes, he should move fast.  He’s fine.  But could they have gone higher ceiling?  Could you have added a guy that has more of a chance to be a real impact guy?

The write ups on Norby tell me he can be a valuable piece..a 2-3 WAR second baseman (unless the defense is elite).  Norby/Cowser 1-2 in the lineup is a possibility.  
 

But could they have gone higher risk/higher reward?  If so, should they have or should they just be content in safe?  

You can argue it either way.   I know you would have preferred the high risk/high reward approach.   My impression of Elias is he’s pretty risk-averse.    Given that philosophy, I like the choice.   

The fact is, there’s a good bit of risk with every draft pick, including Norby.  If he turned out to be a 2-3 WAR player I’d be very happy.   
 

[Sports Guy]

 

[Moose Milligan]

11 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

 

But could they have gone higher risk/higher reward?  If so, should they have or should they just be content in safe?  

Yes they could have.

I understand your frustrations, however you on one hand are calling for the rebuild to be done faster...so they draft a lot of college guys that should be able to rise quicker.  Should be, being the keywords there.  And then you're upset that they're not taking enough high school guys who won't track as quickly as college players.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not particularly thrilled with the draft so far, either.  There seems to be talk on how much Cowser will take under slot, some seem to think it'll be a substantial amount, others not so much.  I agree with you that they haven't taken any high upside HS talent and that's a bummer.

But for someone who's constantly lambasting the FO for taking too long on the rebuild, preferring college players in the draft doesn't seem like something you'd be really upset about.