2024 MLB Draft Chat

[RZNJ]

Think about it this way.  Cowser is an elite fielding OF and people want to bench him because he's not hitting.   Cowser is twice the hitter Vance Honeycutt is at the time of the draft.

The defense isn't enough to carry the bat.

Look at Elijah Green.  Look at Soencer Jones.   Tooled up players who can't make enough contact. 

[RZNJ]

5 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

What's your preference in hitters at between Waldschmidt, Benge, and Honeycutt?

1. Benge for overall package.

2. Waldschmidt 

3. Honeycutt. 

[sportsfan8703]

3 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

Think about it this way.  Cowser is an elite fielding OF and people want to bench him because he's not hitting.   Cowser is twice the hitter Vance Honeycutt is at the time of the draft.

The defense isn't enough to carry the bat.

Look at Elijah Green.  Look at Soencer Jones.   Tooled up players who can't make enough contact. 

I hear you, and appreciate your thoughts.  The tools are hard to pass up here at 22.  I think we go college bat at 22.  

Any word if Qrey Lott is going to sign before draft day?

[OsFanInOhio]

21 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

Another problem I see with Honeycutf.  His freshman stats are almost identical to his junior stats in HR,  OPS,  AND strikeouts.   Looks like he tried to make an adjustment his sophomore year but he had a bad year.  So I see a player who went back to what worked but was basically the same player he was as a freshman.   I think that's a bad sign.

Fair. But you could also make a very similar statement about Enrique bradfield jr…and he didn’t even get back to what he did freshmen year…

[OsFanInOhio]

22 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

Think about it this way.  Cowser is an elite fielding OF and people want to bench him because he's not hitting.   Cowser is twice the hitter Vance Honeycutt is at the time of the draft.

The defense isn't enough to carry the bat.

Look at Elijah Green.  Look at Soencer Jones.   Tooled up players who can't make enough contact. 

Jorge Mateo had almost a 3 war season (2.7 fwar) despite hitting .220 and 13 hrs. Cal Raleigh has a 4 war season hitting .232. Willy Adamas and Eugenio Suarez had 3.3 war seasons hitting .217 and .232 respectively. I’m not saying it’s ideal, but there are absolutely players who can be above average major leaguers due to some combination of great defense / power / speed. Kevin keirmeier has made a career out of being an average to below average bat that plays great defense. 
 

again, not advocating for him. We aren’t going to get the same caliber prospect at 22 we are used to. So do you look for a well rounded prospect with no elite tools or pick a guy with elite tools and try to fix/refine them, knowing those tools provide some floor. Honeycutt, like bradfield, is a bare minimum 5th outfielder  who plays elite cf defense and can be a menace on the basepaths. Not a lot of late second round picks are almost assured to have some sort of major league role unless he completely falls on his face. 

[RZNJ]

1 hour ago, OsFanInOhio said:

Fair. But you could also make a very similar statement about Enrique bradfield jr…and he didn’t even get back to what he did freshmen year…

I think the strikeouts are the big problem.   No improvement from freshman to junior.   In Bradfield's case, no real hitting progression from freshman to junior could be a red flag too.  He's not exactly tearing up A+.   Is this as good as he's gonna get?   Fair question. 

[RZNJ]

49 minutes ago, OsFanInOhio said:

Jorge Mateo had almost a 3 war season (2.7 fwar) despite hitting .220 and 13 hrs. Cal Raleigh has a 4 war season hitting .232. Willy Adamas and Eugenio Suarez had 3.3 war seasons hitting .217 and .232 respectively. I’m not saying it’s ideal, but there are absolutely players who can be above average major leaguers due to some combination of great defense / power / speed. Kevin keirmeier has made a career out of being an average to below average bat that plays great defense. 
 

again, not advocating for him. We aren’t going to get the same caliber prospect at 22 we are used to. So do you look for a well rounded prospect with no elite tools or pick a guy with elite tools and try to fix/refine them, knowing those tools provide some floor. Honeycutt, like bradfield, is a bare minimum 5th outfielder  who plays elite cf defense and can be a menace on the basepaths. Not a lot of late second round picks are almost assured to have some sort of major league role unless he completely falls on his face. 

Who says Honeycutt even makes it that far?    Even Mateo had some success in the minors.  Honeycutt could flame out in AA.

[RZNJ]

1 hour ago, sportsfan8703 said:

I hear you, and appreciate your thoughts.  The tools are hard to pass up here at 22.  I think we go college bat at 22.  

Any word if Qrey Lott is going to sign before draft day?

No word on Qrey Lott.

[OsFanInOhio]

8 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

Who says Honeycutt even makes it that far?    Even Mateo had some success in the minors.  Honeycutt could flame out in AA.

Anyone could flame out in the minors…or get hurt. It comes down to risk vs reward and Honeycutt has the most upside outside the top 10, and has tools that could make him useful even if the hit tool never gets above a 40. He can be a league average player without hitting for any average. 

[OsFanInOhio]

13 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

I think the strikeouts are the big problem.   No improvement from freshman to junior.   In Bradfield's case, no real hitting progression from freshman to junior could be a red flag too.  He's not exactly tearing up A+.   Is this as good as he's gonna get?   Fair question. 

We drafted him knowing we’d have to make adjustments to his game offensively. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that he’s still in a+ ball. If he was going to be able to fly through the minors with his hit tool he would’ve been a top 10 pick. 

[Just Regular]

Longenhagen's Thursday guess is Brody Brecht.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/2024-mock-draft-1-0/

[Greg Pappas]

Law is guessing: 

22. Baltimore Orioles: Kellon Lindsey, SS, Hardee HS (Wauchula, Fla.)

Lindsey’s market probably starts here. Beyond him I’ve heard Baltimore more with college bats, including King, Honeycutt, and Tommy White.

[RZNJ]

39 minutes ago, OsFanInOhio said:

We drafted him knowing we’d have to make adjustments to his game offensively. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that he’s still in a+ ball. If he was going to be able to fly through the minors with his hit tool he would’ve been a top 10 pick. 

I'm not surprised Bradfield is in A+ ball.  I just said the fact that he didn't really progress from the time he was a freshman to a junior is a bad sign to me.    If there isn't much progression from age 19 to 21, I'm skeptical how much you can expect from 22-24.

[RZNJ]

46 minutes ago, OsFanInOhio said:

Anyone could flame out in the minors…or get hurt. It comes down to risk vs reward and Honeycutt has the most upside outside the top 10, and has tools that could make him useful even if the hit tool never gets above a 40. He can be a league average player without hitting for any average. 

He can be or he could be such a bad hitter that he's not a league average player.  If we take him, I hope he figures it out but I hope we don't take him.  

[RZNJ]

1 hour ago, Just Regular said:

Longenhagen's Thursday guess is Brody Brecht.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/2024-mock-draft-1-0/

Wow. He doesn't even have Honeycutt going in the top 30.  I've seen him as high as 12.