Taking a look at some early mock drafts...

[JTrea81]

I'm not saying it is or is not the Orioles. I am saying that to express it as fact is misleading.

This is not discrediting your point or trying to disagree with you. It is about properly representing known information. I think you are improperly expressing what has been written in the media.

Draft order: AL teams in bold:

1.Washington

2.Seattle

3.San Diego

4.Pittsburgh

5. Baltimore

6.San Francisco

7.Atlanta

8.Cincinatti

9.Detroit

10.Washington

Which AL team looks like the middle to you? Saying that they hope he falls to them pretty much means they are high on him wouldn't you think? What is misleading about that?

[crawdad]

Draft order: AL teams in bold:

1.Washington

2.Seattle

3.San Diego

4.Pittsburgh

5. Baltimore

6.San Francisco

7.Atlanta

8.Cincinatti

9.Detroit

10.Washington

Which AL team looks like the middle to you? Saying that they hope he falls to them pretty much means they are high on him wouldn't you think? What is misleading about that?

It is misleading because no one wrote . . . a Baltimore official said this. Until that happens, you are making an assumption. Therefore, present it as an assumption . . . not as a fact because it is NOT a fact.

[LookinUp]

FWIW, I was our cleanup hitter in high school. My senior season started pretty well, against good pitching. Then we played a terrible team. We won by 20 runs. Unfortunately, I struck out 4 times against terrible pitchers.

My head was in the game. I badly wanted to pad my stats like everyone else. For some reason, I just wasn't on that day. Granted, I never had good coaching, but there was something about those terrible pitchers on that field and that day that made me incapable of feasting on those meatballs. I assume my problem had something to do with trying too hard.

It had nothing to do with desire or committment though.

[Stotle]

FWIW, I was our cleanup hitter in high school. My senior season started pretty well, against good pitching. Then we played a terrible team. We won by 20 runs but me, the cleanup hitter, struck out 4 times against a terrible pitcher.

My head was in the game. I badly wanted to pad my stats like everyone else. For some reason, I just wasn't on that day. Granted, I never had good coaching, but there was something about those terrible pitchers on that field and that day that made me incapable of feasting on those meatballs.

It had nothing to do with desire or committment though.

I did the same thing in Puerto Rico. After playing at Hiram Bithorn (where the WBC was played) we had a game at a small field outside of San Juan. The fence to left was something crazy like 285 ft. I wasted a game thinking about the fence rather than just playing, and looked pretty bad in the process (and coach reminded me after the game and before practice the next day ).

[LookinUp]

I got taken out of the game. It was a route any way, so people were being replaced, but I certainly deserved it. Either way, one game didn't define me.

[wickedwitch]

FWIW, I was our cleanup hitter in high school. My senior season started pretty well, against good pitching. Then we played a terrible team. We won by 20 runs. Unfortunately, I struck out 4 times against terrible pitchers.

My head was in the game. I badly wanted to pad my stats like everyone else. For some reason, I just wasn't on that day. Granted, I never had good coaching, but there was something about those terrible pitchers on that field and that day that made me incapable of feasting on those meatballs. I assume my problem had something to do with trying too hard.

It had nothing to do with desire or committment though.

I take it you were never a successful ML player? I think the idea is that with uber-talented kids, they should have very few off days given the lack of competition. I'm not sure I agree with that idea, but I don't think your example is relevant.

[allstar1579]

I did the same thing in Puerto Rico. After playing at Hiram Bithorn (where the WBC was played) we had a game at a small field outside of San Juan. The fence to left was something crazy like 285 ft. I wasted a game thinking about the fence rather than just playing, and looked pretty bad in the process (and coach reminded me after the game and before practice the next day ).

I think we've all had games like that. I had a junk-baller throwing 65 (I excelled at offspeed stuff) with a left-field porch of 295. Got so worked up and excited I swung right through him all 3 at bats. They switched pitchers to a kid that threw mid 80's and I hit one about 365 over the fence.

That is a case of mentally throwing yourself off physically. I was so worked up and excited I was overswinging right over top of the ball. That is something you can see the effects of. The game Tate played the stinker his swing was identical to the night before, he just didn't have that extra "hop in his step" so to speak. I've read about him doing it other times too, so I like to think it's not an isolated incident.

[bigbird]

Do you think that is really fair to say when you look at half of our very best prospects are currently Boras guys, and avoiding his players would just weaken a relationship that as a team we could really use.

Very fair... whach one of those Boras prospects were drafter when AM was in charge? He even came out and said Weiters may not have been his pick if he were in charge. Who's the last Boras free agent he signed? Any of our 2008 draft picks Boras clients?

[crawdad]

Very fair... whach one of those Boras prospects were drafter when AM was in charge? He even came out and said Weiters may not have been his pick if he were in charge. Who's the last Boras free agent he signed? Any of our 2008 draft picks Boras clients?

We have gone after Boras free agents.

[LookinUp]

I take it you were never a successful ML player? I think the idea is that with uber-talented kids, they should have very few off days given the lack of competition. I'm not sure I agree with that idea, but I don't think your example is relevant.

No, I was never a ML player. However, that doesn't mean it's irrevelant. I was much better than the pitchers I faced that day and my mentality changed from getting hits to trying to destroy the ball. I was over confident and, for some reason, uncomfortable at the plate that day.

Do these things happen less for elite players, of course. Do they happen nonetheless? I'd say they do.

[allstar1579]

Very fair... whach one of those Boras prospects were drafter when AM was in charge? He even came out and said Weiters may not have been his pick if he were in charge. Who's the last Boras free agent he signed? Any of our 2008 draft picks Boras clients?

I don't think the big guy upstairs is going to like it much if he is avoiding one particular agent and his entire stable of clients for personal reasons. (and I mean the Greek one, not the omni-present one.)

And like the other poster said, we went after his FA, and had negotiations with him, if he was going to avoid him all together he would have ducked them too.

You can't draft the BPA if you are avoiding 1/3 of the first round, and McPhail isn't that stupid that he would eliminate 1/3 of the top talent in the draft from consideration because of a personal bias.

[ChaosLex]

With Scheppers likely to go early in the draft, you can't help but wonder how this will affect the draft now.

[crawdad]

Draft order: AL teams in bold:

1.Washington

2.Seattle

3.San Diego

4.Pittsburgh

5. Baltimore

6.San Francisco

7.Atlanta

8.Cincinatti

9.Detroit

10.Washington

Which AL team looks like the middle to you? Saying that they hope he falls to them pretty much means they are high on him wouldn't you think? What is misleading about that?

I will try once more . . . Churchill did not write the the Orioles said this . . . he wrote that an AL team in the middle of the top ten is interested in Ackley. So . . . you cannot say that Churchill said something that he did not say. It does not matter how obvious it may seem . . . he did not say that the Orioles said this.

It is that simple.

[allstar1579]

With Scheppers likely to go early in the draft, you can't help but wonder how this will affect the draft now.

Well that depends, some teams might want to stay away because of injury concerns, so he could drop a bit because of that, but he definitely has top 5 talent, and smart teams would treat him as such.

[allstar1579]

I will try once more . . . Churchill did not write the the Orioles said this . . . he wrote that an AL team in the middle of the top ten is interested in Ackley. So . . . you cannot say that Churchill said something that he did not say. It does not matter how obvious it may seem . . . he did not say that the Orioles said this.

It is that simple.

It's more than likely that Churchill used the term "middle" of the top 10 in order to disguise his source. He wouldn't say that if he meant it literally and there was only one possible team, because that would be the same as saying an Orioles source said...

It could have been them, but it just as likely could have been the other 2, and until he says "an Orioles source has said" then it is just speculation like Craw is saying.