Jason Mayo's Draft Reports

[QBsILLEST1]

I haven't seen this posted yet, if it has I apologize..... Im new here, long time reader, but just got my plus membership. Jason Mayo is doing his draft reports again and I just wanted to post this link for those of you who are like me and can not wait to see who the O's take this year in the draft. There are a lot of high upside pitchers in the draft this year, and this site will give you some input on most of the top talent in this years draft pool.....

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/draft/y2009/reports.jsp

[baltimoriole]

Is it just me or is there no one in this draft? Every highly touted prospect going into the season has flopped and Stotles reports of Ackley show's that he's only crushing slightly better than high school caliber pitchers and not much from top competition.

Alex white is giving up more hits than innings? Ryan Jackson is hitting .277. Is Grant Green even playing? Matzuk is bombing. Ugh, even when the O's get a high pick it doesn't work in their favor.

[QBsILLEST1]

I havent heard anything about Green since he hurt his shin or ankle(don't remember which). This draft seems that whether we are drafting #5, or #15 you are going to get similar talent. One really good top tier guy, and a ton of 2nd and 3 tiers. Some of the guys that many here thought were stretches at first may be worth looking into at 1:5 Ive mentioned Alex Wilson on here before, his reports are amazing looking, just an injury risk as is Crow. Mike Leake is interesting, but hes a mid-late 1st rounder. I hope some of these guys make a push and won't be a reach at 1:5 because Im so far unimpressed with the guys in our current slot.

[Stotle]

I havent heard anything about Green since he hurt his shin or ankle(don't remember which). This draft seems that whether we are drafting #5, or #15 you are going to get similar talent. One really good top tier guy, and a ton of 2nd and 3 tiers. Some of the guys that many here thought were stretches at first may be worth looking into at 1:5 Ive mentioned Alex Wilson on here before, his reports are amazing looking, just an injury risk as is Crow. Mike Leake is interesting, but hes a mid-late 1st rounder. I hope some of these guys make a push and won't be a reach at 1:5 because Im so far unimpressed with the guys in our current slot.

After seeing Leake, I honestly would not be surprised if he turned into an Oswalt-style starter (similar frames) provided he can hold up over the course of a long pro season. His curveball is 2-plane and nasty with late bite. He spotted his fastball well and no one could square-up on it because of all the late life.

[markpolis]

Is it just me or is there no one in this draft? Every highly touted prospect going into the season has flopped and Stotles reports of Ackley show's that he's only crushing slightly better than high school caliber pitchers and not much from top competition.

Alex white is giving up more hits than innings? Ryan Jackson is hitting .277. Is Grant Green even playing? Matzuk is bombing. Ugh, even when the O's get a high pick it doesn't work in their favor.

Yeah, that Matt Weiters pick is really turning out to be a bust. :wedge:

[baltimoriole]

Yeah, that Matt Weiters pick is really turning out to be a bust. :wedge:

Don't be ridiculous. You know I was talking about this season as an isolated event. Not the Matt Wieters year. Even then there was still a lot of top tier talent in his draft so if he didn't fall they would have been able to get a very quality prospect. This season is not like the 2007 or 2008 draft. It is not stocked with elite talent.

[Stotle]

Don't be ridiculous. You know I was talking about this season as an isolated event. Not the Matt Wieters year. Even then there was still a lot of top tier talent in his draft so if he didn't fall they would have been able to get a very quality prospect. This season is not like the 2007 or 2008 draft. It is not stocked with elite talent.

As of right now, what strikes me most about this class is that there isn't a lot of fully-baked talent, but there is an excess of solid talent (generally rounds 2-5ish?) and a good amount of projectible talent that could ultimately turn out to be very good. Now, those HS picks are the type I'd generally like to grab in rounds 2 and 3, but for teams that are particularly skilled at projecting, there could be some very good value in the early rounds w/r/t HS arms, catchers, outfielders and perhaps a handful of middle-infielders. The one thing the draft seems light on is power. Again, I'm just digging into what's been going on and starting my own amateur scouting, so these are just some thoughts off the top of the dome.

[waroriole]

Right now, Crow is looking pretty good.

[allstar1579]

Is it just me or is there no one in this draft? Every highly touted prospect going into the season has flopped and Stotles reports of Ackley show's that he's only crushing slightly better than high school caliber pitchers and not much from top competition.

Alex white is giving up more hits than innings? Ryan Jackson is hitting .277. Is Grant Green even playing? Matzuk is bombing. Ugh, even when the O's get a high pick it doesn't work in their favor.

That is the nature of the draft and the fact that people are really just starting to take interest in building from within and drafting good teams. A few seasons ago, everyone was all "JTrea" about things and wanted to sign every big name free agent and that was it. Now that people are seeing that not work out, a focus is being placed on finding those next superstars earlier and earlier.

That being said, the casual-moderate fans are now starting to take notice in drafting and prospects when they are coming into their sophmore/junior years.

The problem with this, is most people don't really become draft worthy until draft time. Matt Wieters wasn't Matt Wieters until he was...if that makes any sense. It wasn't like people were drooling over him for 3 years waiting for him to become draft eligible, but his stock really rose going into his last year in college, his numbers stayed amazing and therefore he was talked about as #1 prospect guy. Had he seen a hiccup in his numbers that last year you could have seen him drop even more than signability did.

The guys that everyone was hyping before the season was an educated guess, you really need a picture of a player's career all the way to June of his eligible draft in order to get it in draft ready status. You won't see a real accurate assessment for another month at least, this April-May stretch is one of the MOST crucial for prospects in college or HS. You will see names you have never heard before talked about as top 5-10 picks after this month, just watch the stats, look for good competition and track record, and enjoy the show.

[markpolis]

Don't be ridiculous. You know I was talking about this season as an isolated event. Not the Matt Wieters year. Even then there was still a lot of top tier talent in his draft so if he didn't fall they would have been able to get a very quality prospect. This season is not like the 2007 or 2008 draft. It is not stocked with elite talent.

I wasn't being ridiculous. Perhaps you should try writing more concise sentences.

As Allstar1579 pointed out, it's way too early to say this draft is going to be a bust year. What's ridiculous is for someone to say this draft is devoid of top tier talent three months before the draft occurs.

[DocJJ]

There's still 2 1/2 months to go. Some guys will step up and get hot, some may stay cooled off.

There's still plenty to like. Pitchers Aaron Crow- polished, closest to the bigs, might be tempting depending on how our guys are doing. Also Matzek and Purke, Kyle Gibson, Ryan Berry, etc.

Hitters- Ackley, Green, Kipnis, Poythress, all worth watching...