2024 Prospect Promotion Incentive (#32): Griff O'Ferrall - SS - (Jr) Virginia (VA)

[oriolediehard]

12 hours ago, doccat said:

Brody Brecht throws 103 MPH.  
 

(sigh)

It is very ridiculous and disappointing that we passed on Brecht.  I wonder if Elias knows what he is doing???

[EdwinRip]

3 minutes ago, oriolediehard said:

It is very ridiculous and disappointing that we passed on Brecht.  I wonder if Elias knows what he is doing???

Are you serious?

[Rbiggs2525]

28 minutes ago, Just Regular said:

I get the Talent Accumulation aspect - it is most of what we have watched since Elias was hired.

Kjerstad is a major outlier for medical reasons, and Jordan Westburg sits next to Ryan Mountcastle as a prominent MLBPA member who may feel like theirs and their friends' competitive capabilities were constrained due to club circumstances.

I agree 3 contributors any draft is a favorable outcome, but if on Day 1 you can't forecast a high pick as a backup catcher and 5th infielder...

He is a 5th infielder because we have Gunnar Henderson. Look around the league. Cleveland is deploying a guy with 600 OPS at shortstop. Volpe OPS 666, Red Sox need shortstop, Rays need shortstop, Mariners need a shortstop. There are about 7 or 8 shortstops in the league that can hit. The average catcher OPS for 2024 is 690. 

[Sports Guy]

The Os have a solid track record with the top few picks of the draft, so that should be taken into account here as well.

[interloper]

1 hour ago, oriolediehard said:

It is very ridiculous and disappointing that we passed on Brecht.  I wonder if Elias knows what he is doing???

I think if you look at what's been happening to pitchers the last few years, Elias is even more justified than he's ever been in not going pitcher in the first 3 or 4 rounds. 

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, interloper said:

I think if you look at what's been happening to pitchers the last few years, Elias is even more justified than he's ever been in not going pitcher in the first 3 or 4 rounds. 

Since the supply of healthy pitchers is low he's been right to avoid acquiring them via the draft?

[interloper]

1 minute ago, Can_of_corn said:

Since the supply of healthy pitchers is low he's been right to avoid acquiring them via the draft?

No, since pitchers get injured extremely frequently for extremely lengthy periods of time, it's best to use your early draft capital on players who are much more likely to stay on the field and either contribute for your team or be traded later for pitching.

And then using the later rounds to find a slew of pitchers who are undervalued but make sense within your player development system. Rather than putting all your eggs in the "guy throws a million miles an hour" basket. 

[tntoriole]

14 hours ago, hydropups said:

Bad baseball name, imo, and therefore won’t be a top prospect. Future ptbnl.

Unlike those traditional baseball star names.. Brooks, Adley 

Edited July 15 by tntoriole

[oriolediehard]

17 minutes ago, interloper said:

I think if you look at what's been happening to pitchers the last few years, Elias is even more justified than he's ever been in not going pitcher in the first 3 or 4 rounds. 

You are right, my bad!! It makes sense!

[Can_of_corn]

18 minutes ago, interloper said:

No, since pitchers get injured extremely frequently for extremely lengthy periods of time, it's best to use your early draft capital on players who are much more likely to stay on the field and either contribute for your team or be traded later for pitching.

And then using the later rounds to find a slew of pitchers who are undervalued but make sense within your player development system. Rather than putting all your eggs in the "guy throws a million miles an hour" basket. 

So you can trade 12 years of team control for one?

If something is scarce and valuable you should be trying to stockpile it.

[interloper]

Just now, Can_of_corn said:

So you can trade 12 years of team control for one?

If something is scarce and valuable you should be trying to stockpile it.

Eh, we will agree to disagree on their draft approach, that's fine. 

[Tony-OH]

Again, my preference would be for a pitcher here, but it's pretty obvious that Elias is not changing his approach.

Kind of the opposite hitter to Honeycutt, with a great hit tool, but not a ton of power. Not excited to see reports that he may need to move to 2B which tells me the arm is a little short, but we'll have to see once he gets into the system.

I initially thought this was a money saver, but the read ups suggest this is not an overdraft so I expect him to take slot to sign. 

Let's be honest, there are not a lot of real SS prospects in the system right now that aren't in A-ball or lower. If he can stick at SS, he seems like he's got utility guy floor with the chance to be an everyday guy of he's able to develop a little pop.

[Jim'sKid26]

9 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

I’m sorry but using words like gamer and scrappy don’t do players justice.

It’s like when you see pics of a house that is for sale and all the pics are of the outside but nothing on the inside.  There is a reason for that..because the inside sucks.

I get the point of using some of these terms but when you say them, it takes focus off of their strengths and makes them more of the little engine that could type guy.

 

This seems to me to be an issue you could work through if you wanted to. Appreciating work ethic, dedication to your craft and the gumption (you might not like that word either but oh well) to make yourself into a very good baseball player are attributes many fans admire. I would submit to you that God given natural ability is a joy to behold, but many of us enjoy the player who does more with less talent a bit more. But, hey, you do you.

[Sports Guy]

1 hour ago, Jim'sKid26 said:

This seems to me to be an issue you could work through if you wanted to. Appreciating work ethic, dedication to your craft and the gumption (you might not like that word either but oh well) to make yourself into a very good baseball player are attributes many fans admire. I would submit to you that God given natural ability is a joy to behold, but many of us enjoy the player who does more with less talent a bit more. But, hey, you do you.

Huh?  What does this even mean?  I never said it’s a bad thing but when that’s what you lean on, that’s putting lipstick on a pig.

[now]

6 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

Since the supply of healthy pitchers is low he's been right to avoid acquiring them via the draft?...

If something is scarce and valuable you should be trying to stockpile it.

It's not pitchers that are scarce and valuable, it's healthy pitchers. Unfortunately that's not a commodity that is known in advance in the draft pool. If you're drafting pitchers you're not drafting "healthy pitchers," you're drafting cannon fodder. Better to wait till other teams' fodder is pruned to the more proven subset that you need (i.e., healthy).