Please draft Green!

[Khaezh12]

Wow, there is a lot of unwarranted aggression towards JTrea. At this rate, Ackley WILL be taken before any of those pitchers, and is most definitely NOT a reach at #5. Nowhere did I see him say that Matzek, White, and Crow sucked, but only that position players are usually rated more highly than pitchers, most likely because there is less of a chance of injury and it is easier to correctly evaluate how they will translate in the MLB.

[JTrea81]

So, who are your top 5 players in this draft?

Ackley

Strasburg

Purke

Poythress

Stassi

[QBsILLEST1]

dude stassi is a second round talent......I get that you push the whole position talent idea, but what about Matthes and Kipnis?

[JTrea81]

dude stassi is a second round talent......I get that you push the whole position talent idea, but what about Matthes and Kipnis?

Matthes is a senior and he's never put on this kind of performance, so he drops out of the top 5. Kipnis while having a stellar season, doesn't scout out that well. (See, I look at scouting reports )

It's hard to argue with the statistical success Kipnis has had at ASU, particularly in his junior season. But projecting him is a little more difficult. He's got average tools across the board and does tend to play above them. But he doesn't profile as an everyday guy at any one outfield position, making him more of a tweener or fourth-outfielder type. Still, he's tightened up his swing and his on-base ability should appeal to those teams who really value those skills.

And this about Stassi:

Good catching skills and good overall hitting ability. Makeup and instincts are off the charts.

Stassi is a first round talent no doubt. If a guy like Kyle Skipworth can be taken in the first round early, you can bet Stassi will. Everybody is looking for a catcher that can hit.

[allstar1579]

You should put more stock into scouting reports because college stats can be very misleading with projecting a player.

The fact that you think we should never draft a pitcher in the first round is completely ridiculous. There is a reason that no team drafts solely college hitters and that's because it's dumb. Do you really think that you are that much smarter than all the other team's draft director?

Dustin Ackley would be a reach at #5 especially when guys like White, Matzek, an Crow are likely to still be available. Those guys are superior talents.

Ackley would not be a reach at #2 right now. While JT is very hitter biased, he is right that Ackley is the best bat in the draft with the value adjusting based on what position he plays.

White shouldn't be looked at as a slam dunk for the top 5, I personally could see him dropping based on the wishy-washy season he's been having. While Crow is polished, he also is a year rusty (due to only playing in a small handfull of games since Mizzou) and could possibly be a slight character issue based on the Nats situation, no one really knows.

I personally have Matzek rated higher than Purke, but some people would flip-flop the two. I look at them like I looked at Matusz/Crow last year, each has strengths, different kinds of pitchers, both talented, but it's harder to read HS players (cause they have developing to do mentally and physically still). I have Gibson in my top 5, as he has added some muscle to his frame and has looked very good taking over for Crow in that top pitcher role. His K's are up, his BB's are down, and aside from one disaster against OK. St. has looked sharp in every other game.

As a side note, I'm very very surprised that JT left Tate out of his top 5, I guess his hitters only theory has a skew towards the college bats

[ThisIsOurHouse]

As a side note, I'm very very surprised that JT left Tate out of his top 5, I guess his hitters only theory has a skew towards the college bats

Isn't Tate going to try and play college football? I think I heard some one mention it on this forum.

Anyways Ackley is definatly a top 5 prospect, he is the kind of prospect who I see making great strides every year. He has great plate discipline, even as a first basemen I would draft him if he falls to us. If he can play the outfield it is a bonus.

I think out of all the prospects in this class he has the best chance of being the sure thing. I am not basing this off of any past tendancies, only from read and hear.

I do not like the idea of drafting shortstops in the first round unless he is like a Longoria where there is no doubt that his bat will carry over to third base. For shortstop get someone who plays solid defense, like an Izturis. But for the first five picks, if you use a pick on a batter, then you need to get someone who will be the biggest threat in your line up (Like a Weiters or a Longoria).

I have no problem selecting a pitcher in the first, If Ackley does not drop then we should definatly draft pitcher.

[allstar1579]

Isn't Tate going to try and play college football? I think I heard some one mention it on this forum.

Anyways Ackley is definatly a top 5 prospect, he is the kind of prospect who I see making great strides every year. He has great plate discipline, even as a first basemen I would draft him if he falls to us. If he can play the outfield it is a bonus.

I think out of all the prospects in this class he has the best chance of being the sure thing. I am not basing this off of any past tendancies, only from read and hear.

I do not like the idea of drafting shortstops in the first round unless he is like a Longoria where there is no doubt that his bat will carry over to third base. For shortstop get someone who plays solid defense, like an Izturis. But for the first five picks, if you use a pick on a batter, then you need to get someone who will be the biggest threat in your line up (Like a Weiters or a Longoria).

I have no problem selecting a pitcher in the first, If Ackley does not drop then we should definatly draft pitcher.

Yeah, he's got a 2 sport scholarship at UNC, that was one of my big issues with him, his non-committing to baseball. Stotle has said he thinks Green can play well enough to stay at SS, so I trust him on that one. If I take Green, it is as a SS, and I think of him somewhere near Tulo without as good defense.

[JTrea81]

Yeah, he's got a 2 sport scholarship at UNC, that was one of my big issues with him, his non-committing to baseball. Stotle has said he thinks Green can play well enough to stay at SS, so I trust him on that one. If I take Green, it is as a SS, and I think of him somewhere near Tulo without as good defense.

With that and Boras as his agent, I figured Tate would be a tough sign, hence that drops him out. And I like the value in Stassi's bat even more even though we have Wieters.

[allstar1579]

With that and Boras as his agent, I figured Tate would be a tough sign, hence that drops him out. And I like the value in Stassi's bat even more even though we have Wieters.

I just don't think Stassi is that good of a prospect. I think he could slip into mid-late first with the C value, but he's no Posey, and Skipworth I felt like was kind of a reach last year too, but someone does it every year. Just not high enough for him to go top 5. I think there are 2-3 other C prospects better.

I would say hitter wise, Ackley, Green, Davis, Davidson, and Heathcott are in conversation for my top 5. This draft is very pitcher heavy though, if this were last year, I don't know that I would have taken ANY of them in the top 10.

[TJ Wrangler]

Ackley

Strasburg

Purke

Poythress

Stassi

Purke over Matzek? Not that it's an uncommon argument, but what is your reason behind that?

[JTrea81]

Purke over Matzek? Not that it's an uncommon argument, but what is your reason behind that?

Purke's been pretty steady while Matzek got roughed up a little bit over the past two starts.

I also don't like this about him:

Sometimes seems like he just does what he needs to do to get by. He may have been throwing to the gun too much in the past.

[allstar1579]

Purke's been pretty steady while Matzek got roughed up a little bit over the past two starts.

I also don't like this about him:

My theory on HS pitching is that it's easier to blow the ball by hitters than it is to have great secondary pitches and know how to use them. That's why I give Matzek the edge, he reminds me of the next in the Hamels/Matusz mold.

[JTrea81]

My theory on HS pitching is that it's easier to blow the ball by hitters than it is to have great secondary pitches and know how to use them. That's why I give Matzek the edge, he reminds me of the next in the Hamels/Matusz mold.

Purke's got good secondary pitches as well. He's got a good changeup, plus slurve/curve, and his FB sits 92-93...

Matzek's lack of focus concerns me. When you keep hearing he knows how to pitch when he wants to, that draws some red flags...

[allstar1579]

Purke's got good secondary pitches as well. He's got a good changeup, plus slurve/curve, and his FB sits 92-93...

Matzek's lack of focus concerns me. When you keep hearing he knows how to pitch when he wants to, that draws some red flags...

That's really hard to tell in HS though. The only way to get a really good read on what they are pitching against is to scout their entire schedule, records in HS can be really overrated, as much as stats can. It's really hard to tell which one has faced more of a test, all you can go by is the individual attributes.

I don't know where you got your info on Purke, but my read is that he's got a plus fastball that hits 94 with late movement, his curve is a work in progress, it could be a plus pitch eventually, but it's not there yet and his changeup is good, not great. Purke also has a commitment to TCU, but I'm sure that's just the back-up plan at this point.

[Big Mac]

Ackley

StrasburgPurke

Poythress

Stassi

Ackley over Strasburg is laughable, but I know your reasoning behind it so we don't really need to get into it. Agree to disagree.

I can understand the argument for Purke over Matzek, persoanlly I think either one would be a very good pick at 1:5.

I don't think either Poythress or Stassi is a top 5 talent.

The issue I have with Ackley is this, I feel his ceiling is low for a guy to be picked at 1:5. He is a very safe pick, I would be shocked if he didn't become a solid ML regular, but I'm not sure he'll ever be much more than that.

That being said, I don't like to complain about who the O's draft, I'm smart enough to realize they know much, much more about the player's in this draft pool than I do. So if we draft Ackley, it's fine by me.