Joe Jordan on the Rob Long Show at 9:45am today

[Triple Crown]

It's not just any one pick. When you're the scouting director of a team that finishes terribly every year, and you make a reach pick with a pick that high - and then insist it had nothing to do with money... like I said, unless his other picks turn out better, Yeah, his rep in my mind anyway, does and should depend on this pick.

Ok, suppose Hobgood doesn't pan out, but a couple of the other players we were able to get in this draft with the savings turn out to be solid MLer's. I don't think there would be any damage to is rep.

[SrMeowMeow]

My only issue is with people who are unwilling to even think that maybe Jordan was a little disingenuous with his comments.

Look, if they picked Hobgood to spend money later in the draft, that means they picked Hobgood to save money on the first pick. It's that simple. It's not a bad thing, but I'm just confused by this defensive deification of Joe Jordan. It also could turn out to be the wrong decision - and I don't mean that Hobgood could bust, I mean that it's possible to make a decision with lots of unknown variables (i.e. the value of Hobgood and a couple other over-slots vs. that of Matzek alone) and make the wrong decision even if you're smart.

[wickedwitch]

It's not just any one pick. When you're the scouting director of a team that finishes terribly every year, and you make a reach pick with a pick that high - and then insist it had nothing to do with money... like I said, unless his other picks turn out better, Yeah, his rep in my mind anyway, does and should depend on this pick.

A large percentage of #4-5 picks bust.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/draft/?query_type=overall_pick&overall_pick=5&draft_type=junreg

http://www.baseball-reference.com/draft/?query_type=overall_pick&overall_pick=4&draft_type=junreg

We've had 3 under Jordan, and it looks like he's done very well for at least 2/3 of those. 2/3 is a much higher success rate than the entire league has.

[hobbycars]

What did he say about Britton?

The part I heard:

- He still has a lot of confidence in Hobgood, compared him to a young Kevin Millwood, and is very high on the Orioles' ability to develop young pitchers and maximize their potential.

- His pick for an organizational "sleeper" is Tyler Henson, who is a great athlete who can play five positions and Jordan thinks he could have a Mark DeRosa type career.

Many are still high on Matzek too:) Just a thought. We have no second rounder this year, so I hope we don't go for another value pick.

[hobbycars]

Matt Wieters

Because I am an Orioles fan, and Andy MacPhail and Peter Angelos won't be with the Orioles forever.

Jordan's drafts have certainly taken a different turn since MacPhail has been in charge IMO. Under Duquette and Flanagan in 2007, he was given a larger budget IMO and more reign to spend to get the best talent available in the earlier rounds.

Then starting in 2008, under MacPhail, pitching is a priority over hitting even if said player isn't the BPA. Instead of spending major money on first and early round talent lke he did with Wieters and Arrieta, he's shifted philosophy to spreading it around all rounds of the draft.

Both strategies are classic MacPhail.

It will be interesting to see if the Orioles have Harper in their sights for instance, and pass on him to pick another pitcher that Jordan has a "gut feeling" about that isn't ranked as highly...

Brian Matusz was a great selection.

[JTrea81]

Brian Matusz was a great selection.

Considering our needs and what was available, he was a great selection but not the best one for the franchise.

We could have selected a pitcher that would only be a year behind Matusz in 2009 or we could have signed a FA pitcher that would produce the same.

There was an opportunity to get an advanced impact bat that we can't seem to get through FA.

Posey, Smoak, Alonso or Beckham were all available to us and we haven't seen that kind of advanced positional depth in the first round of the draft since.

There were plenty of good pitching prospects in the first round of 2009 and there will be even more in 2010, with no advanced bat in sight.

[SrMeowMeow]

Considering our needs and what was available, he was a great selection but not the best one for the franchise.

We could have selected a pitcher that would only be a year behind Matusz in 2009 or we could have signed a FA pitcher that would produce the same.

There was an opportunity to get an advanced impact bat that we can't seem to get through FA.

Posey, Smoak, Alonso or Beckham were all available to us and we haven't seen that kind of advanced positional depth in the first round of the draft since.

There were plenty of good pitching prospects in the first round of 2009 and there will be even more in 2010, with no advanced bat in sight.

Oh my god! We haven't seen that kind of advanced positional depth since...since a year and a half ago! It will therefore never happen again!

[ledzepp8]

Considering our needs and what was available, he was a great selection but not the best one for the franchise.

We could have selected a pitcher that would only be a year behind Matusz in 2009 or we could have signed a FA pitcher that would produce the same.

There was an opportunity to get an advanced impact bat that we can't seem to get through FA.

Posey, Smoak, Alonso or Beckham were all available to us and we haven't seen that kind of advanced positional depth in the first round of the draft since.

There were plenty of good pitching prospects in the first round of 2009 and there will be even more in 2010, with no advanced bat in sight.

Do you not see how silly some of the things you say are? Matusz was drafted 2 drafts ago. Geez, you wonder why people give you a hard time on here.

[hobbycars]

Do you not see how silly some of the things you say are? Matusz was drafted 2 drafts ago. Geez, you wonder why people give you a hard time on here.

I think people give him a hard time because he questions moves instead of drinking the kool aid all the time. I am pretty certain JTrea is a HUGE Orioles fan. That doesn't mean he has to worship every move the team makes.

We are just talking sports here. It is just an outlet from everyday life. Sports has a different role in all of our lives.

I personallhy love that we took Matusz over Smoak. I also hated the fact we were pinching pennies last year on our first rounder. That doesn't make me any less of a fan.

Just my thoughts.

[Hank Scorpio]

Considering our needs and what was available, he was a great selection but not the best one for the franchise.

We could have selected a pitcher that would only be a year behind Matusz in 2009 or we could have signed a FA pitcher that would produce the same.

There was an opportunity to get an advanced impact bat that we can't seem to get through FA.

Posey, Smoak, Alonso or Beckham were all available to us and we haven't seen that kind of advanced positional depth in the first round of the draft since.

There were plenty of good pitching prospects in the first round of 2009 and there will be even more in 2010, with no advanced bat in sight.

Joe Jordan selected the best player available. Matusz will likely be our best pitcher in 2010.

[JTrea81]

Oh my god! We haven't seen that kind of advanced positional depth since...since a year and a half ago! It will therefore never happen again!

We need another bat, and we don't exactly want to pay market price for one. Had we drafted one of those bats, they would be ready to help us in 2011 at the latest and would be another bat we could have added to our core and had under control for 6 years.

And we could have signed a FA pitcher to replace Matusz while the prospect we picked in 2009 was only a year behind and ready to help us in 2010 or 2011.

Any advanced bat we draft in 2011 (if there are any available) won't be able to help us until 2012 or 2013 at the earliest and any HS bat we draft in 2010 is probably at least 4 years away at least so we are talking 2013-2014.

[JTrea81]

Do you not see how silly some of the things you say are? Matusz was drafted 2 drafts ago. Geez, you wonder why people give you a hard time on here.

Where's the advanced bat we are going to pick with our first rounder in 2010? That would make 3 straight drafts with no advanced bat taken in the first round.

Even Harper will take 3 years to make it up to the majors.

[Jammer7]

It may be easy for some to look at this as simply being about Matzek's ability vs. the ability of Hobgood. But when you are the amateur scouting director and you are about to spend maybe upwards of 4-5 million dollars on one pick, you had better make sure he is worth it in every sense. There was more than a loud whisper that Matzek had big attitude concerns. I don't know anything about why, but they were definitely there.

I think JJ's comments were very telling in CR Stoner's blog. He talked about not what they were right now, but what they believed the end product would be (paraphrasing). The whole Rowell saga, I am sure, stings right now because of his attitude issues. So, I think when he says he liked Hobgood better, I am quite confident he means exactly that. It isn't just a question of on-the-field performance. Intangibles have a lot to do with it and they have a lot to do with which kids will likely be successful in the future.

Matzek maybe had the eyeball higher value, but Hobgood wasn't far behind if at all. But if the intangible questions turned off JJ and staff, then his value was lowered in their eyes. Hobgood's intangibles appear to be off the charts by all accounts. I don't think it had as much to do with signability as who JJ believed was the better value long-term. Really, I think this is pretty simple. And for anyone to question JJ's integrity over this, well, it's weak to say the least.

[Can_of_corn]

Hobgood's intangibles appear to be off the charts by all accounts.

I find fault in this statement. From what I have heard, from here on the OH for instance, is that Hobgood showed up for short season out of shape. That is not "off the charts by all accounts".

Now I expect him to show up for spring training in fine shape, but that was not good news last summer, particularly considering he has fought weight issues in the past.

[RShack]

I think people give him a hard time because he questions moves instead of drinking the kool aid all the time.

No, that is not why. Lots of folks question both the Orioles' decisions and their personnel, and people don't get disgusted with them. This happens because of a combination of 3 things: he says things that are moronic, he refuses to listen to anybody or reason with anybody about anything, and instead relentlessly crams his moronic ideas down everybody's throat again and again and again, like Rain Man but without the innocence. It's like talking to the wall. He sits up there in Maine, doesn't even watch the ballgames, and takes it upon himself to single-handedly "hold AM accountable" by endlessly ruining thread after thread here, hijacking them with his drivel. More than one good poster has pretty much quit participating because of him. If he really hated the Red Sox like he claims to, then he would go torment Red Sox fans instead. He gets away with it because he exploits a loophole in the rules about trolling. He trolls nonstop but is very careful about how he does it. And when somebody doesn't recognize what he does, and defends him like you just did, he interprets that as support, which just encourages him to keep up his unwavering BS. So thanks a lot.