BA updated top 100

[Alasdaire]

If Coby is gonna be stuck in Bowie because there's no room in Norfolk, why not use that time to try him out in LF/RF?

That seems like a much higher upside outcome than sticking him at 1B. Arms like his don't grow on trees.

I don't get not even attempting that once by this point.

[interloper]

I know positional flexibility is all the rage these days, and deservedly so. But sometimes, it's ok to just be a DH 80% of the time who can play a little 1B and a little RF in a pinch. If Mayo ends up being a better Mancini with more power and a better arm, then that's still a successful draft pick and I'd take that guy on my team all day. 

Edited June 14, 2023 by interloper

[Alasdaire]

18 minutes ago, interloper said:

I know positional flexibility is all the rage these days, and deservedly so. But sometimes, it's ok to just be a DH 80% of the time who can play a little 1B and a little RF in a pinch. If Mayo ends up being a better Mancini with more power and a better arm, then that's still a successful draft pick and I'd take that guy on my team all day. 

Why would you treat that as anything but a last resort though?

If this lineup is going to be as stacked as we think it could be, then the flexibility that keeping that slot open offers is important. And it's especially difficult to justify a true DH when your catcher is a guy who you want in the lineup every day.

Plus in Coby's case, his arm is a plus tool that is worth trying to work in somewhere.

He's going to be moved off of third because of the existence of Gunnar/Holliday/Ortiz. Try to utilize the arm at LF/RF. If that doesn't work, see if 1B is open. Only if all of that fails and his bat justifies it do you put him at DH imo.

[interloper]

1 minute ago, Alasdaire said:

Why would you treat that as anything but a last resort though?

If this lineup is going to be as stacked as we think it could be, then the flexibility that keeping that slot open offers is important. And it's especially difficult to justify a true DH when your catcher is a guy who you want in the lineup every day.

Plus in Coby's case, his arm is a plus tool that is worth trying to work in somewhere.

He's going to be moved off of third because of the existence of Gunnar/Holliday/Ortiz. Try to utilize the arm at LF/RF. If that doesn't work, see if 1B is open. Only if all of that fails and his bat justifies it do you put him at DH imo.

Sure, I agree. I'm just saying if he ends up a DH eventually, that's ok. Because he should be a very, very good one. 

[Alasdaire]

Just now, interloper said:

Sure, I agree. I'm just saying if he ends up a DH eventually, that's ok. Because he should be a very, very good one. 

If his bat is has enough juice to demand a DH spot amidst all of the other guys on the 2024+ roster, then I'll be fine with it too

[Sports Guy]

2 hours ago, Alasdaire said:

If Coby is gonna be stuck in Bowie because there's no room in Norfolk, why not use that time to try him out in LF/RF?

That seems like a much higher upside outcome than sticking him at 1B. Arms like his don't grow on trees.

I don't get not even attempting that once by this point.

They could be showcasing him and keeping him at third. I hope not and I don’t want him traded but I could see it happening.

[Alasdaire]

50 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

They could be showcasing him and keeping him at third. I hope not and I don’t want him traded but I could see it happening.

That's possible I suppose. Or maybe they've had him take fly balls in practice and he struggled enough with tracking them that they don't want to put that out on actual game tape.

But if the O's valuation of Mayo is closer to most of us here than that of some national publications like BA, I would think he's in the tier of guys that is just below the untouchables (Adley/Gunnar/Jackson).

[Hallas]

4 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

I think that's a fair assessment of his defense at 3B. I think he has a little more mobility side to side than Nevin, but coming in on balls is not his strength. Literally all of the guys you mentioned are better defensive 3B than Mayo, so Mayo may need to learn 1B.

Mayo now has a career .898 FLD pct in 175 games at 3B. I think it's fair to have some concerns about him defensively at 3B despite the good arm. I'd like to see him get more time at 1B and even some in RF myself just to get him the experience. 

He may slow down too much to be affective in RF longterm but he has the arm for it. 1B is his most likely major league position and personally he should start being a priority play there.

 

 

In general do you think it's tough to scout for 3rd basemen defensively?  I feel like sometimes you get a big guy that doesn't look like he can field the position, and then he goes out there and is a vacuum cleaner at 3rd and gobbles up those slow rollers in his sleep.  And sometimes you get Melvin Mora or Wilson Betemit who misses that play 50% of the time.

[Tony-OH]

1 hour ago, Hallas said:

 

In general do you think it's tough to scout for 3rd basemen defensively?  I feel like sometimes you get a big guy that doesn't look like he can field the position, and then he goes out there and is a vacuum cleaner at 3rd and gobbles up those slow rollers in his sleep.  And sometimes you get Melvin Mora or Wilson Betemit who misses that play 50% of the time.

Unless you watch every single game it's hard to get  a complete picture without statcast data. Obviously when you scout you can only judge what you see on the plays that player makes on the games you are watching. 

Obviously arm strength is the easiest to judge but hopefully you get a few tough plays in or side to side to give you a general idea. I typically will go back and watch a fielder's errors to get an idea of what they struggle with and hopefully catch those good plays in the other times.

[Sports Guy]

Mayo playing first tonight 

[AnythingO's]

I don't think Mayo has the foot speed to be a COF although he surely has the arm for RF. With his experience on the dirt wouldn't it make more sense to groom him for 1B and Heston for RF/DH??

[deward]

1 hour ago, AnythingO's said:

I don't think Mayo has the foot speed to be a COF although he surely has the arm for RF. With his experience on the dirt wouldn't it make more sense to groom him for 1B and Heston for RF/DH??

It would make sense to me. 

[Ridgway22]

2 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

Mayo playing first tonight 

Now, this is interesting if it comes a trend and not a one off.

[Sports Guy]

BA updated their list to include draft picks.

 

Mayo has skyrocketed in just over a month.

I’m guessing De La Cruz is 1 but he won’t be eligible after this weekend.

Edited July 14, 2023 by Sports Guy

[RZNJ]

Gotta think Bradfield is right around 100.  I suspect he makes the off-season list.   Amazing drops.  Termarr Johnson at 97 and Druw Jones at 99.   BA doesn’t usually drop guys down that far that quickly.   Frankly, I’m very surprised.