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Joe Jordan sizes up some O's draft picks

rhall

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rhall Major Leaguer Cup of Coffee

rhall

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A great read by Melewski/Jordan.

Some excerpts...

Round 7 - LHP Aaron Wirsch from El Toro HS in Lake Forest, California.

"This guy's a little different, he's got some savvy about him. I wish we could sign five every year just like him."

Jordan says Wirsch's changeup is better than the one Brian Matusz had coming out of high school.

Round 9 - RHP Ryan Berry of Rice University.

"He did throw some in instructional league before going back to school in September. Our guys were like 'you got to be kidding me,' I mean it was good.

"In my opinion, he's the first guy to the big leagues out of this draft. If he is healthy, which we believe he is 100 percent, he could start next year at Frederick and be at Double-A before next summer is over. That's just what I think of him.

"He's a little different, a little eccentric. He's over the top smart. But he's a pitcher that knows what he is doing. There's a little (Mark the bird) Fydrich in this guy. He's got his own beat, but when you see him out there he's surgeon-like when he's right."

Round 10 - RHP Jake Cowan from San Jacinto Junior College.

"John said 'Joe this a third-round guy for me.' That's the value he put on him. He was an over-slot sign. He was signed to go to the University of Texas but it was just a good job by our area scout, who really got to know the kid.

"He throws about 92, 93 with sink. The slider is a legitimate pitch and he's got a changeup, his third pitch right now. He knows what he's doing out there. Scott McGregor really liked him.

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Stotle Hangout Grand Counsel

Stotle

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Berry was easily the best pick of the draft, in my opinion. Loved his stuff during the spring. As the 8th round was progressing I was praying BAL would take him in the 9th, as I thought that was just about right considering the arm issues earlier in the season. Great job by JJ & Co.

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Stotle Hangout Grand Counsel

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Also, Devin Harris could emerge as a beast this spring, but I fully support Jordan's decision not to go crazy. There are still plenty of questions with regards to his bat and approach, and I'm sure his showing this summer didn't help his cause. Good selection for the round, and I don't blame BAL being warry of pumping too much into Harris with a lot still uncertain in his game. But definitely keep your eye on the ECU box scores this spring...:)

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Frobby Hangout Grand Counsel

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Also, Devin Harris could emerge as a beast this spring, but I fully support Jordan's decision not to go crazy. There are still plenty of questions with regards to his bat and approach, and I'm sure his showing this summer didn't help his cause. Good selection for the round, and I don't blame BAL being warry of pumping too much into Harris with a lot still uncertain in his game. But definitely keep your eye on the ECU box scores this spring...:)

I see your point, but don't we eventually need to get some hitters into this organization? Our approach seems so pitcher-heavy. Maybe it's that way everywhere, but it really seems lopsided in our organization. 18 of Tony's top 30 prospects are pitchers, including 7 of the top 10 (including the top 3) and 13 of the top 20. Also, 6 of our top 10 draft picks were pitchers. So it's kind of annoying seeing us miss out on one of the few hitters we drafted in the early part of the draft.

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Lucky Jim Hangout Grand Counsel

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I see your point, but don't we eventually need to get some hitters into this organization? Our approach seems so pitcher-heavy. Maybe it's that way everywhere, but it really seems lopsided in our organization. 18 of Tony's top 30 prospects are pitchers, including 7 of the top 10 (including the top 3) and 13 of the top 20. Also, 6 of our top 10 draft picks were pitchers. So it's kind of annoying seeing us miss out on one of the few hitters we drafted in the early part of the draft.

If we have under 27 players at 1B, 3B, RF, LF, CF, and C by the end of next year, I'm okay with a healthy unbalance. Not quite where we are now, but a bit. I think the time will come when we need advanced college bats in the mix.

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rhall Major Leaguer Cup of Coffee

rhall

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I see your point, but don't we eventually need to get some hitters into this organization? Our approach seems so pitcher-heavy. Maybe it's that way everywhere, but it really seems lopsided in our organization. 18 of Tony's top 30 prospects are pitchers, including 7 of the top 10 (including the top 3) and 13 of the top 20. Also, 6 of our top 10 draft picks were pitchers. So it's kind of annoying seeing us miss out on one of the few hitters we drafted in the early part of the draft.

I agree (that it would've been nice to sign Harris)... hopefully Townsend can turn things back around in the spring. That would make the "loss" of Harris more palatable.

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Stotle Hangout Grand Counsel

Stotle

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I see your point, but don't we eventually need to get some hitters into this organization? Our approach seems so pitcher-heavy. Maybe it's that way everywhere, but it really seems lopsided in our organization. 18 of Tony's top 30 prospects are pitchers, including 7 of the top 10 (including the top 3) and 13 of the top 20. Also, 6 of our top 10 draft picks were pitchers. So it's kind of annoying seeing us miss out on one of the few hitters we drafted in the early part of the draft.

Well, it is what it is. Harris was a flier. He was going to be a tough sign because he hasn't yet broken through and he was just a sophomore. So you go into it knowing you likely need to throw enough money at the player to convince him it isn't worth going back to school.

Where I might find fault, if fault needed to be assigned to some aspect of the process, would be Jordan not taking Harris at his word with regards to his "buy-out price". Harris is talented, low-production thus far, and he's a smart kid -- someone I would peg as a "tough sign". My guess is Jordan would have upped the offer with a better summer from Harris, and he was being polite in his comments to MASN (rather than saying something like "we were interested in signing the kid, but his performance this summer left a lot of questions and he wasn't willing to discount his price to account for those questions").

To your larger point, my issue there is picks 1-6. If you want to bring bats into the system, there is plenty of opportunity with surer signs.

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rhall Major Leaguer Cup of Coffee

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Great read on picks 6-10. Thanks for posting.

I'm beginning to think that QBIllest isn't quite as overly optimistic about the pitching in this draft as I previously thought. It looks like we got some really nice arms.

I know! I always thought that QBIllest was over the top in his optimism for these young unproven pitchers, but these quotes from Jordan are certainly encouraging. Granted, they are still largely unproven and this article did focus more on the positive side of things, but this is all great to hear.

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Stotle Hangout Grand Counsel

Stotle

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I know! I always thought that QBIllest was over the top in his optimism for these young unproven pitchers, but these quotes from Jordan are certainly encouraging. Granted, they are still largely unproven and this article did focus more on the positive side of things, but this is all great to hear.

I was about to say...what do we expect to hear from Jordan? "Well, this guy fell and has tons of questions. Probably a long shot, but we thought it was worth a gamble here. We weren't sure we'd sign Givens so we threw some extra money at this guy -- probably too much. Hopefully it works out. This guy has a lot going for him, but he doesn't wash his underwear, which really saps the moral in the clubhouse. We didn't know that until we drafted him, but we have or medical staff speaking to him about germs and infections. We're confident he'll make strides in hygene this winter and be clean and ready in the spring."

To be clear, this is a joke and not a knock on JJ's picks.

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crawdad Major Leaguer

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I was about to say...what do we expect to hear from Jordan? "Well, this guy fell and has tons of questions. Probably a long shot, but we thought it was worth a gamble here. We weren't sure we'd sign Givens so we threw some extra money at this guy -- probably too much. Hopefully it works out. This guy has a lot going for him, but he doesn't wash his underwear, which really saps the moral in the clubhouse. We didn't know that until we drafted him, but we have or medical staff speaking to him about germs and infections. We're confident he'll make strides in hygene this winter and be clean and ready in the spring."

To be clear, this is a joke and not a knock on JJ's picks.

I can only hope that somehow Givens nickname becomes Skidmark and he will be confused for the rest of his career.

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