2021 4th round pick (106): Donta Williams - OF - (Senior) Arizona

[jamalshw]

Not a big fan of these last two picks. Still waiting to see the windfall from the money saved. 

[vab]

I have to wonder with them drafting all these fast, line-drive hitting OF'ers if they're not planning to actually re-configure the park and move the fences out. 

[Just Regular]

4 minutes ago, vab said:

Obviously he's going the draft the bats, trade for and go FA for the arms route but I hope he realizes getting a difference-making free agent pitcher to come to Baltimore is going to be virtually impossible, even with a strong, young line-up. 

We're obviously going to be trying for that Verlander, Cole, Greinke type trade, even if Means, Rodriguez, Hall all hit.   

Portfolio-wise I kind of get the notion that there is some time value to learning which pitcher you want to pitch for you say...this October and next October, and not having to really pick until July 31st of Year 1.

[now]

14 minutes ago, LookinUp said:

Still, the lack of pitching is...interesting, to me. This has to be philosophical, right?

Hard to argue with the simple math of the position player philosophy. Factor in the much greater risk of injury, and your top pitching prospects effectively can be downgraded 50 percent.

Later, just trade from your stockpile of hitting prospects to get a proven healthy pitcher. Or go the Houston FA route. Or tap the DR pipeline.

[SteveA]

2 minutes ago, vab said:

I have to wonder with them drafting all these fast, line-drive hitting OF'ers if they're not planning to actually re-configure the park and move the fences out. 

Corn doesn't seem to be around today so I'll say it:   Have we seen the blueprints for Nashville's future ballpark?

[MurphDogg]

The Pirates just took a 5th round senior, need a little more for all those overslots. Not all coming out of Davis's pocket.

[cnmilton]

I actually like this pick:  sounds like a team leader type personality, has had a lot of success in one of the better College baseball conferences, has had success in high stress games, looks like a high on base guy with some speed, and at a premium position (CF).

 

I will say that I still think Gary Rajish did a better job with his drafts than Elias has done so far. Also, I agree that the Os definitely need some higher end starting pitching prospects as Elias hasnt done much to add any during his draft tenure.

[Ruzious]

Get all the OFers in baseball, and then ransom them back to the other teams.  Brilliant!!!  I doff thy fedora to thee, Sir Elias.  

[Tony-OH]

Initial Take:

A 22-year old senior with good on base skills, this could be a cost saver pick. Not a ton of power or speed so I'm betting this is a cost saver pick.

[emmett16]

22 hours ago, Moose Milligan said:

I'd have preferred it if he went this crazy on arms.  Like my strategy from a few years ago, just draft nothing but pitching, rounds 1-50.  Someone good would have had to have landed.  

Just on a flat monetary value, wouldn't it make sense to do the opposite?   Pitchers are more likely to get hurt and they play fewer innings than the position players.  Why not draft and develop a ton of position players, let other organizations take risk on pitching, and when a good pitcher(success w/o injury history) emerges trade with the surplus of position players.  

[Can_of_corn]

Just now, emmett16 said:

Just on a flat monetary value, wouldn't it make sense to do the opposite?   Pitchers are more likely to get hurt and they play fewer innings than the position players.  Why not draft and develop a ton of position players, let other organizations take risk on pitching, and when a good pitcher(success w/o injury history) emerges trade with the surplus of position players.  

Then you have to trade 3 for 1 maybe?

 

[emmett16]

1 minute ago, Can_of_corn said:

Then you have to trade 3 for 1 maybe?

 

Yes.  I think that is the idea.  At least to be able to do that, if need be, for the right player.

[bobmc]

On 7/12/2021 at 5:22 PM, Tony-OH said:

Initial Take:

A 22-year old senior with good on base skills, this could be a cost saver pick. Not a ton of power or speed so I'm betting this is a cost saver pick.

Is $150K a "cost-saver"?

[Tony-OH]

2 hours ago, bobmc said:

Is $150K a "cost-saver"?

I thought it would be more when they originally drafted him since he was a senior with little leverage and was not high on most draft boards. I heard though that his talent was real and not a 10K cost saver guy and his bonus shows the team thinks highly of him. the fact he had little leverage probably cost him the 150K, but right now I'm not sure if the Orioles have an overslot guy they are saving this money for or whether they just were able to get guys they wanted at cheaper price than slot. 

We have to see how the rest of the signings bonuses go down.

[emmett16]

5 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

I thought it would be more when they originally drafted him since he was a senior with little leverage and was not high on most draft boards. I heard though that his talent was real and not a 10K cost saver guy and his bonus shows the team thinks highly of him. the fact he had little leverage probably cost him the 150K, but right now I'm not sure if the Orioles have an overslot guy they are saving this money for or whether they just were able to get guys they wanted at cheaper price than slot. 

We have to see how the rest of the signings bonuses go down.

Tony,

 How much do you think Covid played into the draft strategy?  Seems like this year picking HS players would be risky.  They only played a handful of games (shorter track record & less reps), probably didn't have systems in place (like universities) to keep kids working & playing.  I imagine development at the lower levels, HS and on down, were effected much more than Pro & College programs.   After reviewing draft I've been wondering if he decided to take a super safe route this year and go heavy College & avoid air balls on HS kids due to a wasted 2020.