So did the O’s draft for need?

[Frobby]

You always hear GMs and pundits say, y you don’t draft for need, you take the best player available on your board.”  And in the past, that’s what Elias and Ciolek always have said they’ve done.  I’ve seen Ciolek say in past years that the O’s don’t have any preference for hitters over pitchers, or strategy to draft hitters, but that when it was time for the O’s to make each pick, the highest rated player always was a position player until later in the draft.  

Well, that’s all well and good, but do we really believe that the O’s drafted all outfielders and pitchers for the first 17 picks without considering who already was in their farm system or in the majors?   I’m inclined to think it was a pretty heavy factor this time around.  We had a shortage of high upside pitchers, and on the other hand, we’ve got a glut of major league-ready infielders and also a lot of infield types at the top of our GCL/DSL teams.
 

[RZNJ]

Almost every player we took “can play CF”.   Considering we didn’t have too many true CF in the system it does seem like they changed the emphasis in that regard.   Definitely went for pitching earlier than before so it does seem like the emphasis was different this time.

 

[CaptainRedbeard]

I think it’s important to go “best player available” at the top of the draft where you can draw meaningful distinctions between the quality of available players. I think that’s what they did with Bradfield Jr at least, they took the guy at the top of the board and it just so happened to align with the need in the system for a CF. At most they dipped down past a handful of players, but Bradfield was very much universally mocked in the range we took him, if not higher.

Beyond that, past the first few rounds you have large groups of players in the same tiers. It’s not really “drafting for need” with the negative connotations associated with that term if you take an equal rated player at a more preferable position based on the state of the system.

So yes, they did draft for need in the sense that there was an apparent deliberate effort to add arms and CFers, but I doubt they really made any sacrifices in passing on higher rated corner OF / IF / C to do so. 

[RZNJ]

Ciolek did say they worked closer with the developmental staff on this draft than on previous drafts.  I guess they told them they wanted position players with athleticism and tools and we’ll teach them to hit and grab some pitchers who have a starter kit of pitches and we’ll teach them more.

[Jim'sKid26]

I think EBJ was the BPA at #17. An argument can be made for a couple others but he's a very solid pick at #17.

After that they stocked the farm system with Right handed pitchers. Prior to the draft, pitching was a glaring weakness in the system.  Whether it will be moving forward time will tell. If drafting for need is trying to balance a system that is very heavy with position players by drafting a bunch of pitchers then they drafted for need. I personally think it was the right thing to do in this draft. But that's a gut response not based on any data at all. I hope I'm right.

[Moose Milligan]

I think they made a conscious effort to go after pitching this year. 

[Jammer7]

Elias and Ciolek have always said BPA at the top rounds, but drafting needs later. They may have shifted to need sooner than usual.

The focus on athleticism and versatility with position players was interesting. The rapid rise of the International players, particularly the infielders, has something to do with that, at least I would imagine so.

Lastly, the Bradfield and Horvath picks makes me think Fabian is one prospect who can be acquired in trade. Fabian and Norby seem to be the two most likely dealt higher-end prospects. 

[Paul in Virginia]

I think that you can make the case that the Orioles system is so rich that hey HAD to draft for need.  Mathematically, there comes a time where BPA is actually counterproductive.

[LookinUp]

I definitely think they prioritized pitching, but I also think they took some higher risks with the position players with tools. They are betting that they can teach one of these ultra athletic kids how to hit. If it pays off, you might get the next Mookie Betts or even “just” a Mullins. That seems like a fair gamble when you consider our development staff and the excellent composition of our existing minor league system. 

[jamesenoch]

Based on this tweet, it looks like the Orioles were in the middle of the pack when it comes to the # of pitchers drafted. Highest # of outfielders drafted though.

 

 

[Stotle]

4 hours ago, Frobby said:

You always hear GMs and pundits say, y you don’t draft for need, you take the best player available on your board.”  And in the past, that’s what Elias and Ciolek always have said they’ve done.  I’ve seen Ciolek say in past years that the O’s don’t have any preference for hitters over pitchers, or strategy to draft hitters, but that when it was time for the O’s to make each pick, the highest rated player always was a position player until later in the draft.  

Well, that’s all well and good, but do we really believe that the O’s drafted all outfielders and pitchers for the first 17 picks without considering who already was in their farm system or in the majors?   I’m inclined to think it was a pretty heavy factor this time around.  We had a shortage of high upside pitchers, and on the other hand, we’ve got a glut of major league-ready infielders and also a lot of infield types at the top of our GCL/DSL teams.
 

Teams that say they don't consider need when drafting are lying or bad at what they are doing. It's truly that simple.

[linedrive]

When teams say they draft the best player available and not for need, I think they're saying that because they're supposed to. I think Elias means that for the most part, at least until this year. In previous years I was lead to believe position players were weighted higher than pitchers simply because pitchers are a much bigger gamble, so I think that was a big factor, and it paid off. But I do remember an Elias interview where he discussed how thin the pitching was in the farm system, and they were going to have to address that in this year's draft, so I think pitchers were weighted higher this year out of need, making them the best player available. That's how I'm reading it.

[linedrive]

2 hours ago, jamesenoch said:

Based on this tweet, it looks like the Orioles were in the middle of the pack when it comes to the # of pitchers drafted. Highest # of outfielders drafted though.

 

 

I notice we drafted a first baseman according to this list. I'm assuming that's a typo, unless Elias plans on converting a pitcher. We drafted 13 pitchers, not 12.

[Otter]

They definitely did draft for need, but I have no doubt the players taken were also high on their board.  All teams do some combo of need and BPA; they'd be stupid to blindly take BPA with each pick.  Look at our previous drafts under Elias; heavy on infielders because when he took over that was our biggest weakness.  I overall like what Elias has done, but my only real complaint is that he tends to overcompensate.  Then we have a bunch of prospects around the same age playing the same position, causing roster crunches and limiting the reps players get at certain positions.

[Tony-OH]

19 hours ago, Stotle said:

Teams that say they don't consider need when drafting are lying or bad at what they are doing. It's truly that simple.

I think when you draft in the first few picks, you definitely are going BPA, maybe even through mid-1st round. After that, I think there is no doubt organizational need comes into play.

The Orioles know they are short on major league pitching prospects and that their concept of being about to develop 10-20 rounders into true starting pitching prospects has been a bust so far.

I believe the idea this year was to get better caliber arms with the spin rates and pitch shapes they like and try to run them through their system. For the most part, the success or lack there of outside of the ability miss bats was not a huge decider in this draft from what I can see.

It's going to be interesting to see how it works out, but I'm happy with the infusion of better arms.