2008: A few that got away

[BringBackMagic]

This year we drafted Jarret Martin for the second time -- Jordan doesn't seem to want to let him get away. He was a hard sign HSer last year. Hopefully we can get him inked an in Bluefield this summer.

Here are a few others from last year that we drafted, didn't sign, and what they did this past year. Hopefully we can get a few of them again next year.

Chris Herrmann -- 2008, 10th Round

Herrmann was a first team JC All American as a third baseman at Alvin CC. He batted .442 with 14 HRs the spring before the O's drafted him. He didn't sign, honoring his commitment to Miami where he led the team in batting average this season. Going back to school worked out. He was taken by the Twins in the sixth round. It's just a guess, but I'd figure he would sign. If he comes back next season though, he may be able to get up into the first few rounds.

Player AVG GP-GS AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI TB SLG% BB HBP SO

Chris Herrmann... .341 60-60 214 59 73 13 0 9 44 113 .528 41 7 46

Keith Landers -- 2008, 18th Round

Taken one round before the aforementioned Martin, Landers was another projectable HS arm. At 6-foot-7, the left had all of the tools you look for in what could develop into a powerful starting pitcher. He only pitched in three games this season for Louisville, starting each game. He only tossed 9.1 innings. He struck out 10, walked 3, gave up 12 hits.

Jeremy Dobbs -- 2008, 30th Round

Taken out of HS, Dobbs was an all-state pick and region POY. With Austin Peay this season he got roughed up quite a bit, both as a starter and in relief. Made 16 appearance, 7 as a starter and threw a total of 37 innings finishing with an ERA of 7.65. Struck out nearly a batter per inning but his control haunted him, walking 34 in 37 innings. Among the regular relievers on the team, he had a solid BAA of just .255, one of the best on the team. Looks like he has the stuff, just needs to command it.

Brandon Loy -- 2008, 32nd Round

This could be one we really regret in the next few seasons. Loy is the starting shortstop for the Texas Longhorns and one of their top hitters as a freshman. He batted .300 this season, walked 27 times and struck out just 23 in 217 at bats. He also stole 8 bases. He didn't show any power at all, not hitting a home run and tallying just 7 doubles. But I'd still love to have him in the system. He'll likely be back among the first few rounds after next season.

Art Charles -- 2008, 33rd Round

I can't find any statistics on this guy other than he went to Bakersfield College for a year and was drafted by the Royals in the 39th round this time around. He's 6-foot-6 and 225 lbs. My guess is there is a lot of raw power potential. On MaxPreps it has his numbers from high school when he batted .384 with 9 home runs and 9 dbls. He struck out 1:4 at bats, but also took 20 walks in 29 games. If the 33rd round wasn't good enough for him last year, I would expect him to go back to bakersfield or another school for another year to try to improve his stock because he has tools.

Kirk Singer -- 2008, 40th Round

Another SS with a lot of potential. at 6-1 and only 160 lbs, he'll likely get bigger and fill out a bit. He batted .317 in limited action this year for Long Beach State. He played strong defense as well, committing just one error.

Kevin Brady -- 2008, 44th Round

The player we talked about the most of any hard sign HSer from last year, Brady is a local kid that would have required 2nd round money to sign. He played for Orioles scout Dean Albany's Youse's Orioles team in the Cal Ripken Sr. College Baseball League, ranking as the third best prospect in the league. He had dominating stuff at Gaithersburg High, striking out 249 batters in just 140 innings. He was the Rawlings Player of the Year in Maryland. It turned out that he just really wanted to go to college, and he did, and played very little this year. I couldn't find any write ups on him from the season, but he was very good in the little action he did get. He threw just 10 innings, four appearances, 3 starts. He struck out 8, walked 5 and had an ERA of 1.69. BAA was just .225. He's one that Jordan will surely keep an eye on during the next few seasons.

I started to run out of time at the end here so skipped a few of the other late round picks that didn't sign and went straight to Brady because I knew he was a popular talking point around here.

[QBsILLEST1]

Brady was the one I wish we could have gotten. Hopefully we'll keep up with him and see where hes at in 11.

[hoosiers]

What a great summary.

Even thought we did not sign the kids below, they mostly show that Jordan and his scouts have some pretty good intuition.

There were some HS kids taken in 2007 that were of interest that I'd like to hear about. I think at the end with the time and $ and attention spent on signing Wieters and Arrieta there wasn't much left for the HSers. I think Jordan specifically liked the Klein kid out of California who was heading to USC or UCLA I think. We drafted him in the mid-20s and I do not believe he was on the BA list of top 50 sophomores heading into next season.

[Pruke]

Brady was the one I wish we could have gotten. Hopefully we'll keep up with him and see where hes at in 11.

We could have used the 3B injection....

[crawdad]

What a great summary.

Even thought we did not sign the kids below, they mostly show that Jordan and his scouts have some pretty good intuition.

There were some HS kids taken in 2007 that were of interest that I'd like to hear about. I think at the end with the time and $ and attention spent on signing Wieters and Arrieta there wasn't much left for the HSers. I think Jordan specifically liked the Klein kid out of California who was heading to USC or UCLA I think. We drafted him in the mid-20s and I do not believe he was on the BA list of top 50 sophomores heading into next season.

The only two of note if I remember correctly are Eryck McConnell and Russell Wilson. McConnell might be a good bullpen arm. Wilson might be something to draft next year. Nothing too special.

Klein looked good out of the bullpen for UCLA in '08, but stumbled toward the end of the year. He was redshirted this year. Gerritt Cole looked pretty good for them.

[LookinUp]

Aside from Brady, Herrmann was the player I was most disappointed in not signing. It sounded like he renegged on his promise, so I don't blame the O's, but it was still disappointing.