Sickels on Orioles 2009 draft: solid draft!

[Pruke]

If in 5 years, it's solid, I'll take it.

[Mizerooskie]

Wait, so you mean some people who never heard of these guys we drafted before a few days ago and got all uppity can change their minds now because Sickels said so?

Well played, let's hope so. It's got to help clear out some of the uninformed bashing, right?

Or maybe not...

It could have and should have been better though.

[Big O]

It is not much of a difference at all....I mean based on pure stuff, I dont see a difference between Hobgood and Wheeler. The intangibles are one of Hobgood's strengths and based off of reports he has the strongest intangibles of all prep pitchers. I am more excited to see these other HS arms we took later on and see how they do, this draft may have really just set us up for that next wave of prospects in out system, I never realized how many top 200 draft prospects that we took all together.....

Could anyone point out exactly who we took in the top 200?

[Crazysilver03]

Could anyone point out exactly who we took in the top 200?

Hitters:

46 - Givens (2nd round) [pick 54]

Pitchers

40 - Hobgood (1st round) [pick 5]

102 - Tolliver (5th round) [pick 146]

113 - Berry (9th round) [pick 266]

133 - Cowan (10th round) [pick 296]

195 - Henry (4th round) [pick 116]

[Stotle]

Well played, let's hope so. It's got to help clear out some of the uninformed bashing, right?

Or maybe not...

It's curious, because Sickels himself states he isn't an evaluator. He does what many who have been on this draft board have done -- research all the players and (to a lesser extent) watch video. Now, he's established and has been doing this for some time, but he probably doesn't know much more about the ins-and-outs of these kids than someone on here might. For proof, check out how similar his players to watch and mocks are to, say, Baseball America.

Keith Law would be a better source, since he actually watches some of these players, but you have to then agree that Keith is a good evaluator of talent.

So, it's all a big circle. Either you allow people on here to have opinions based on what they read or you don't. To different degrees, that's what most of the people "reporting on the draft" are doing anyway.

[Cavspider]

Hitters:

46 - Givens (2nd round) [pick 54]

Pitchers

40 - Hobgood (1st round) [pick 5]

102 - Tolliver (5th round) [pick 146]

113 - Berry (9th round) [pick 266]

133 - Cowan (10th round) [pick 296]

195 - Henry (4th round) [pick 116]

I am not sure how anyone can really take all these rating organizations all that seriously. They can all agree on the top one or two players, after that it is a crap shoot IMO. Just looking at our draft and who we took. Obviously Jordan disagrees with the BA rankings...and so does just about every other professional scout it seems. Givens was picked 54 when ranked 46 means he was passed by quite a few times by other teams. Tolliver was passed by other teams over 40 times, Berry over 150, Cowan over 160, and I am sure there are tons of examples through the draft by other teams.

I do not think the subjective likes and dislikes of various teams can be boiled down by a consensus by anyone. There are just too many factors to consider and so many kids to see with different teams stressing differnt things in development. The pros have the resources to see who they want to see. These rating organizations probably have much more limited budgets. The rating organizations might not be able to track improvement as well as the pros as Jordan seems to think he has in Hobgood.

Anyway, I think the rating organizations are great for hot stove type discussions, but they are only a brief introduction to these kids. That is all they provide, a starting point but not a true gauge of who is best. It is too subjective IMO.

I trust Jordan. He is a pro.

[QBsILLEST1]

Also, there is no way to tell how a HS kid is going to adapt to pro ball against wooden bats and better competition. Some HS kids thrive under pro conditions, some make you wonder why they were rated as highly as soon as they start their pro career. For instance, Henry could pitch better in the minors than Hobgood depending on how they both transition, it could go either way. Another thing though to keep in mind is that many of these pitchers we took, especially Henry were injured when they were ranked, so it may have hurt his status. His upside seems as bright as anyone we have drafted.....This draft should be considered high risk/ high reward. Even if 2 of these guys becomes as good as their ceilings state, it will be a success IMO...