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

[sportsfan8703]

On 7/16/2024 at 10:29 AM, btdart20 said:

Honeycutt vs. EBJ in a bit of a swing-type/approach grudge match!  May the odds ever be in your favor!

Honeycutt all day. He’s got tools that EBJ will never have offensively. IMO, taking Honeycutt was admitting that we EBJ hasn’t lived up to our own internal hopes. 

Griff is a solid pick. Had Brecht not been there, we would be judging this pick differently. 

We were rumored to be in on the two HS SS. Meaning we wanted a SS. I think overall, the board broke in a dream scenario for Elias and Co. and they still passed on Brecht. 

[Go_Os]

3 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Honeycutt all day. He’s got tools that EBJ will never have offensively. IMO, taking Honeycutt was admitting that we EBJ hasn’t lived up to our own internal hopes. 

Griff is a solid pick. Had Brecht not been there, we would be judging this pick differently. 

We were rumored to be in on the two HS SS. Meaning we wanted a SS. I think overall, the board broke in a dream scenario for Elias and Co. and they still passed on Brecht. 

Completely disagree with this take.  Aberdeen is a tough place to hit, so Bradfield is performing just like he did in college.  I just think Elias likes outfielders that are elite athletes and defenders.   We are also going to eventually be trading prospects for help in other areas.

[glenn__davis]

37 minutes ago, Go_Os said:

Completely disagree with this take.  Aberdeen is a tough place to hit, so Bradfield is performing just like he did in college.  I just think Elias likes outfielders that are elite athletes and defenders.   We are also going to eventually be trading prospects for help in other areas.

Agreed.  Honeycutt has nothing to do with Bradfield.

[MurphDogg]

$135,400 savings.

[Frobby]

In some ways I think O’Ferrall is going to define this draft.  We passed up some higher upside guys to take him.   Can we get him to max out?  Best case is Joey Ortiz with a little less power, I think.   

[Sports Guy]

On 7/14/2024 at 10:33 PM, Sports Guy said:

Don’t pay this guy slot either 

And they didn’t.  Didn’t save as much as I thought they would though. 

[RZNJ]

5 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

And they didn’t.  Didn’t save as much as I thought they would though. 

They don’t have your negotiating skills.

[CaptainRedbeard]

Some really interesting thoughts from Longenhagen, that are particularly applicable to O’Ferrall (and Anderson and Overn). Posting this in O’Ferrall’s thread because he is and will be by far the most scrutinized pick. Basically, the Orioles followed the overall trend of the league with these guys valuing college contact hitters over power, even if it maybe means sacrificing upside.

Honeycutt is the exception, and Longenhagen even calls out that pick and the Orioles as one of the few franchises that zig when others zag in this respect. With this context, it makes me like the college contact hitters drafted after Honeycutt more - but I also like that the Orioles are willing to diversify conforming to that overall trend with a big shot for the upside on a guy like Honeycutt, when the rest of the league may be further shying away from the “everything but the hit tool” archetype. 

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/2024-mlb-draft-day-two-and-three-roundup/

Teams Leaning On College Contact Hitters

If there was a universal response from team personnel over the last couple of days about this draft, it was that, especially on Day Two, teams prioritized college hitters who had demonstrated bat-to-ball ability. Rutgers shortstop Joshua Kuroda-Grauer (A’s) and Texas Tech catcher Kevin Bazzell (Nationals) got things kicked off in the third round, and then players who either need a swing change, like Oklahoma State’s Zach Ehrhard (Red Sox, fourth round), or to get much stronger, like Eli Serrano (Mets, fourth round), were also frequent Day Two selections. There’s a growing number of teams that would rather have contact skills on board to start and then try to add or augment other stuff, like strength or swing mechanics, later. The general sentiment is that hitting is harder to teach. This isn’t universal (the Orioles took Vance Honeycutt in the first round), and I think it can easily be argued that having an up-the-middle defensive fit (especially the athleticism to play shortstop or center field) is every bit as innate and probably scarcer. Another variable that seems to have motivated this reasoning brings me to my second overarching theme…

The Changing Run Environment in College Baseball Has Made Power (and Other Traits) Tougher to Trust and Evaluate

There have been pieces written about this elsewhere, and it was a common refrain among team personnel during the lead up to the draft and after. Whatever is altering the run environment (there are some industry rumors/conspiracy theories about bat juicing in college baseball), it won’t affect whether or not a hitter makes contact. Hitting a baseball is often referred to as the hardest thing to do in professional sports, and as pitchers get better and better, finding guys who can actually do it is a league-wide priority. I do think we’re riding the asymptote of pitcher development as far as quantum leaps in technique are concerned and that hitter dev is starting to catch up, but orgs can still apply pitching dev methodology to arm after arm.

 

[Frobby]

Here’s a link to Steve Melewski’s interview with Griff O’Ferrall and Ethan Anderson, who were teammates and roommates at UVA before being selected by the O’s.   My impression is that Anderson hasn’t had that many reps at catcher and may move more slowly than O’Ferrall for that reason.  

[Rbiggs2525]

3 hours ago, Frobby said:

Here’s a link to Steve Melewski’s interview with Griff O’Ferrall and Ethan Anderson, who were teammates and roommates at UVA before being selected by the O’s.   My impression is that Anderson hasn’t had that many reps at catcher and may move more slowly than O’Ferrall for that reason.  

Which is fine due to just turning 21 and having Adley 3.5 more years minimum.