1st Round Pick - Matt Hobgood - RHP - HS

[Why Not?]

Definitely a reach at #5, no doubt about that.

Only potential saving grace for this pick is if Jordan truly thinks he's worth the pick and all the other scouts have got it wrong, he's great at his job so hopefully that ends up being the case. Also, we're very likely to spend a lot in the mid-late rounds on signability guys now, which is a good thing.

I don't think any of us can actually be happy with this pick. The best anyone here can say is that we trust Jordan and hopefully we'll eventually see what he says. Anyone who says they genuinely like this pick over any of the other top HS for any reason other than "In Jordan We Trust" is just being overly optimistic and orange-colored in their view. This is a guy nearly none of us had heard of before 4pm today, so there is no way anyone can genuinely like this pick over the more touted guys.

So, lets hope Jordan is as smart as we hope he is!

The key thing to remember is that those doing the touting don't have that great of a track record.

[Sports Guy]

Is Scott Erickson a good comp to this guy?

[rolliefingers]

Yep....It appears that Hobgood has a ton of upside but Jordan seems to be one of the only people that has him ahead of Matzek and Wheeler...let's hope he is right.

Or Jordan has those guys ahead of Hobgood but felt they weren't worth the money.

I have a lot of faith in Jordan, but I have a hard time believing that he has some special source of info that nobody else had. Time will tell. And hopefully we can get some "signability" guys to fall to later rounds.

[Tony-OH]

I have a very hard time believing it wasnt about the money.

So Joe Jordan is a liar?

He just said this was a guy they were on all along. do you really think scouting departments read BA and go, "We better draft this guy because they said so?"

Jordan is a straight shooter and if he said he liked the kid then he liked the kid.

[Three Run Homer]

I'm willing to take Jordan at his word. But his ranking of the HS pitchers is outside of the mainstream of the scouting community. I respect the fact that Jordan does this for a living and has the right to make his own opinions based on his own observatinos. If the pick turns out to be good, then Jordan's a genius. If he turns out to be mediocre, then I think Jordan should be held accountable. He's taking a big risk here--we could have had any HS pitcher we wanted, and most people thought that there were 4-5 guys better than Hobgood.

[Can_of_corn]

I keep seeing comments about his size like its a good thing, except that snippet from rotoworld. The kid looks about 20-25 pounds heavy to me. Is he in shape? I hate to think they spent a five pick on a kid that is going to have weight issues.

[Camden_yardbird]

I've heard the word "Bulldog" used to describe Hobgood. I always like to see that. Just like every good offensive line needs a "mauler", every good NHL offense needs an "enforcer", every good rotation needs a "bulldog." That's a quality intangible I am not sorry to see this team drafting for, even if they reach a little.

[Moose Milligan]

Some good info in here and Tony's Tidbits ™ are getting me more excited about him.

Sounds like he started throwing harder as the season went on, early reports had him at 89-92, now sitting around 94-5.

I like the fact that his makeup is apparently "off the charts" and good poise.

[PaulFolk]

Is Scott Erickson a good comp to this guy?

Kevin Millwood is the comparison that Jordan made.

[blueblood]

This have Chris Smith written all over again. If they sign him around ~2mil, the orioles are dead. They will never able to compete against Yankees and Boston. Angelos, time to sell the team. sell it to Steve Bisciotti, he know how to run a sport franchise.

[Moose Milligan]

I've heard the word "Bulldog" used to describe Hobgood. I always like to see that. Just like every good offensive line needs a "mauler", every good NHL offense needs an "enforcer", every good rotation needs a "bulldog." That's a quality intangible I am not sorry to see this team drafting for, even if they reach a little.

I totally agree.

[Moose Milligan]

This have Chris Smith written all over again. If they sign him around ~2mil, the orioles are dead. They will never able to compete against Yankees and Boston. Angelos, time to sell the team. sell it to Steve Bisciotti, he know how to run a sport franchise.

JTrea, are you a computer hacker?

[crawdad]

This have Chris Smith written all over again. If they sign him around ~2mil, the orioles are dead. They will never able to compete against Yankees and Boston. Angelos, time to sell the team. sell it to Steve Bisciotti, he know how to run a sport franchise.

Wow . . . that is knowledgeable. I'd prefer Wheeler here, but Hobgood is not out of the realm of reason. I'd peg Wheeler at top 2nd tier because I worry about the conditioning. Seems the O's feel better about him getting that under control.

[Tony-OH]

I'm willing to take Jordan at his word. But his ranking of the HS pitchers is outside of the mainstream of the scouting community. I respect the fact that Jordan does this for a living and has the right to make his own opinions based on his own observatinos. If the pick turns out to be good, then Jordan's a genius. If he turns out to be mediocre, then I think Jordan should be held accountable. He's taking a big risk here--we could have had any HS pitcher we wanted, and most people thought that there were 4-5 guys better than Hobgood.

I think Jordan would want it no other way.

[allstar1579]

I'm not going to bash Jordan or anything, too much respect for the guy, but I'm really not a fan of the pick from a talent perspective. Now if you put a whole scenario together with HS kids getting big heads and asking for their own personal planets like has been reported, it starts to make sense.

Talent wise, I would have called him a reach at 15.