5 Orioles in top 81 of Keith Law's Top 100 prospects

[Can_of_corn]

7 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

 

https://theathletic.com/3145964/2022/02/24/orioles-qa-with-keith-law-about-his-prospect-rankings-and-observations/?source=user_shared_article

Well, from this interview, it’s pretty clear he doesn’t value what other sites and people say.

From any interview it's pretty clear he doesn't value what other sites and people say.

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, Sports Guy said:

 

https://theathletic.com/3145964/2022/02/24/orioles-qa-with-keith-law-about-his-prospect-rankings-and-observations/?source=user_shared_article

Well, from this interview, it’s pretty clear he doesn’t value what other sites and people say.

Can’t read it, but I generally expect evaluators to be independent of others’ opinions.    I did find this interesting from Boston’s scouting director, responding to a comment from David Laurila that many had seen Ned Yorke as an overdraft:

“The point you bring up — him being viewed as [an overdraft at 17th overall] — is something we had to take into account. We felt like we were some of the only ones seeing what we were seeing, and there is some risk with that. The wisdom of the masses. I think you can make a strong arguments that accounting for that is a real thing, and it probably shouldn’t happen, right? So it kind of works both ways.”

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/a-conversation-with-red-sox-amateur-scouting-director-paul-toboni/

So it does seem like opinions from outside the organization are at least known and may result in a player getting extra scrutiny if a team’s evaluation differs significantly from others’ opinions.

 

[Sports Guy]

Last year, to the chagrin of many Orioles fans, you ranked the club’s farm system No. 18 of 30. This year you have it No. 10. Is the reasoning for the uptick the strides Orioles prospects have made or a drop in other systems?

I have to say that Orioles fans chagrined by my rankings probably aren’t taking an objective view of the system. I’ve pointed out a few times that they have less prospect capital from international scouting than any other organization in baseball. For them to rank 10th with that drawback is remarkable! They should be thrilled. But between that and the system’s lack of clear starting pitching prospects, expecting a higher ranking isn’t reasonable.

[Sports Guy]

The sense among Orioles fans is that you were light on Grayson Rodriguez last year at No. 55. You have him at No. 14 this year. Why the jump, and what is his ceiling in your opinion? Fans are hoping for the first homegrown true ace since Mike Mussina. Is that too optimistic?

I wasn’t light on him; I ranked him appropriately for someone who’d barely pitched in pro ball, who was held back by the Orioles’ strict pitch limits for younger pitchers (which, I’ll note, didn’t keep Hall on the field).

[Frobby]

Just now, Sports Guy said:

Last year, to the chagrin of many Orioles fans, you ranked the club’s farm system No. 18 of 30. This year you have it No. 10. Is the reasoning for the uptick the strides Orioles prospects have made or a drop in other systems?

I have to say that Orioles fans chagrined by my rankings probably aren’t taking an objective view of the system. I’ve pointed out a few times that they have less prospect capital from international scouting than any other organization in baseball. For them to rank 10th with that drawback is remarkable! They should be thrilled. But between that and the system’s lack of clear starting pitching prospects, expecting a higher ranking isn’t reasonable.

Except that every other publication has them higher.    I guess Law thinks only his views are reasonable.  But I’m not offended by his ranking and do think that our past neglect of the international market leads to our system not being as strong or deep as it could be.   Hopefully it will be less of a factor each year.

[Frobby]

3 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

The sense among Orioles fans is that you were light on Grayson Rodriguez last year at No. 55. You have him at No. 14 this year. Why the jump, and what is his ceiling in your opinion? Fans are hoping for the first homegrown true ace since Mike Mussina. Is that too optimistic?

I wasn’t light on him; I ranked him appropriately for someone who’d barely pitched in pro ball, who was held back by the Orioles’ strict pitch limits for younger pitchers (which, I’ll note, didn’t keep Hall on the field).

Didn’t really answer the question, he just got defensive.   Too bad.   I believe elsewhere he has said that Rodriguez has ironed out some kinks in his delivery.  

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, Frobby said:

Except that every other publication has them higher.    I guess Law thinks only his views are reasonable.  But I’m not offended by his ranking and do think that our past neglect of the international market leads to our system not being as strong or deep as it could be.   Hopefully it will be less of a factor each year.

What I find amusing is he is accusing the fans of not being objective when he himself isn't objectively judging the talent and is instead "docking" the O's for the manner in which they have accumulated the talent.

[btdart20]

A vlogger review of the Law top 100.  The dude is a Met fan.  At the end he summarizes saying he's not sure how Law ranks players.

 

[Big Mac]

6 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

What I find amusing is he is accusing the fans of not being objective when he himself isn't objectively judging the talent and is instead "docking" the O's for the manner in which they have accumulated the talent.

That interview is a great example of why Keith Law rubs people the wrong way.  He couldn't help but be defensive in response to any slight suggestion of a criticism for his rankings without actually answering most of the questions.  He came across as a child. 

[Sports Guy]

48 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Except that every other publication has them higher.    I guess Law thinks only his views are reasonable.  But I’m not offended by his ranking and do think that our past neglect of the international market leads to our system not being as strong or deep as it could be.   Hopefully it will be less of a factor each year.

No doubt.  I am not arguing that his reasoning has merit.  But to say no one else is being reasonable, when he is the outlier, is pretty out there imo.

[Sports Guy]

46 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

What I find amusing is he is accusing the fans of not being objective when he himself isn't objectively judging the talent and is instead "docking" the O's for the manner in which they have accumulated the talent.

I wish Connolly had asked him something about this. I mean, we get it that the talent is great in the other countries but its not like a Coby Mayo clone from the DR is better than the one from the US.

[wildcard]

Keith Law talks O's prospects in interview on the Glenn Clark show.

Nothing new here but if want to hear Law talk about Adley, Grayson and Ortiz here he is:

Scroll to the bottom to listen.

https://pressboxonline.com/2022/02/24/the-athletics-keith-law-orioles-are-building-championship-caliber-lineup-but/

[LookinUp]

On 2/24/2022 at 12:30 PM, Sports Guy said:

I wish Connolly had asked him something about this. I mean, we get it that the talent is great in the other countries but its not like a Coby Mayo clone from the DR is better than the one from the US.

Keith Law is always controversial. All fans think he hates their teams. I think he wears that as a badge of honor.

He's definitely not a consensus guy, and that's fine. Sometimes I wonder if he's marketing his product with controversial takes on purpose or whether he's just seeing things in his own light. I don't wonder that about Tony, for example. He has Mayo higher, but I don't believe for a second it's so more people come to look at his rankings. With Law, I suspect that's part of his schtick. Hopefully that's not too unfair to him.

 

[waroriole]

On 2/24/2022 at 11:41 AM, Frobby said:

Didn’t really answer the question, he just got defensive.   Too bad.   I believe elsewhere he has said that Rodriguez has ironed out some kinks in his delivery.  

Isn’t that what he always does? Guy is such a prick.