Well screw Baltimore

[commadore]

They snub Martin for an Arkansas power hitter: Kjerstag.
Miami up next.
I guess there is a reason Baltimore is the worst team in the American league.

[commadore]

Miami goes with a pitcher. Kansas City up next. Hope Martin goes to them. Hate that he has gotten pushed down as his payday is quite a bit less. If picked by Toronto (KC goes with Lacy)' he loses $1.6 million in bonus.

[commadore]

Toronto it is! Lpt of woesr places to go.

[commadore]

Hassell eighth to San Diego. Well, we knew he wouldn't make it to VU.

[admin]

Hard to believe he went No. 5 but that's still outstanding. I bet Martin makes it to the majors first.

[commadore]

Pete Crow-Armstrong 19th to the Mets. Another kid we won't see.

[doredane]

I am a lifelong Orioles fan. There has been some talk over on their fan site the past few days that they might pass on Martin for financial reasons. Specifically, the Os have the most picks in the draft and might run into some issues signing all of their picks given the MLB limitations on how much can be spent on signing draftees. By taking a lesser prospect at #2, they could possibly pay under the slot value and have enough to sign the remainder of their picks. Scott Boras being his agent probably didn't help things. I am bummed; I was hoping to see Martin play in Camden Yards.

*BTW, Detroit is the worst team in AL.

[Levon]

MLB is currently a HR skewed game. The top 2 eligible power hitters went 1-2 in the draft. It ain't rocket science. Not saying I agree with the thought process, but it's not hard to figure out. As for Austin Martin, in Toronto he'll be part of one of the most exciting young offensive teams in baseball. He'll be okay.

[commadore]

I am a lifelong Orioles fan. There has been some talk over on their fan site the past few days that they might pass on Martin for financial reasons. Specifically, the Os have the most picks in the draft and might run into some issues signing all of their picks given the MLB limitations on how much can be spent on signing draftees. By taking a lesser prospect at #2, they could possibly pay under the slot value and have enough to sign the remainder of their picks. Scott Boras being his agent probably didn't help things. I am bummed; I was hoping to see Martin play in Camden Yards.

*BTW, Detroit is the worst team in AL.

Goodness, what was I thinking? My first baseball game was in old Detroit stadium, oddly against Frank and Brooks Robison and the Orioles. Detroit won in the 15th inning when a pitcher, Earl Wilson, hit a pinch-hit three run homer into the left field upper deck, two rows in front of me. Final, 8-5 Tigers.

[Versus75]

... by not swapping picks for no. 7 or no. 8.

With Austin Martin and all those coveted pitchers (Lacy, Meyer, Hancock) at the top, the Orioles could have gotten the later pick plus a bench player or middle reliever for their no. 2. And then still picked up Kjerstad.

[doredane]

I am a lifelong Orioles fan. There has been some talk over on their fan site the past few days that they might pass on Martin for financial reasons. Specifically, the Os have the most picks in the draft and might run into some issues signing all of their picks given the MLB limitations on how much can be spent on signing draftees. By taking a lesser prospect at #2, they could possibly pay under the slot value and have enough to sign the remainder of their picks. Scott Boras being his agent probably didn't help things. I am bummed; I was hoping to see Martin play in Camden Yards.

*BTW, Detroit is the worst team in AL.

Goodness, what was I thinking? My first baseball game was in old Detroit stadium, oddly against Frank and Brooks Robison and the Orioles. Detroit won in the 15th inning when a pitcher, Earl Wilson, hit a pinch-hit three run homer into the left field upper deck, two rows in front of me. Final, 8-5 Tigers.

You got me by a few years. My first Orioles game was in Memorial Stadium (what a dump) against Detroit in 84. Tigers were pretty awesome that year--Chet Lemon, Alan Trammell, etc. Both teams suck pretty bad these days. Os are tearing it down and working through a couple of awful contracts (i.e., Chris Davis); better days are ahead. My fear is that they will be the Charlotte Orioles at some point in the near future, although I've heard the Nashville Orioles is a possibility. The arrival of the Nats and the shrinking of Baltimore have made things tough.

[doredane]

... by not swapping picks for no. 7 or no. 8.

With Austin Martin and all those coveted pitchers (Lacy, Meyer, Hancock) at the top, the Orioles could have gotten the later pick plus a bench player or middle reliever for their no. 2. And then still picked up Kjerstad.

Can't trade picks in MLB. I wish they could. Each team has a set pool of $$$ to sign draftees. Overspend (i.e., paying at or above the slotted value) on one, and you don't have enough to pay the slotted value for the others. As a result, the player might decide to play college ball instead.

[Versus75]

I should have known that since I rarely see trades reported.
(Looks like there were 4 trades related to Competitive Balance Round picks.)

I have a feeling that most players will get very close to slot value.
With only 5 draftees, a team can’t afford to lose one to college, so it won’t try to lowball. And it’s not as though the team can save some money up top in order to throw a million dollars at one of those guys who said he would not sign and thus dropped to Round 19.

If a player drafted in Round 4 turns down $500k slot value then has a sub-par 2021 season, he could be looking at only $20k next year.

MLB might like this new draft format and stick with it.

[Commodoredave]

I am a lifelong Orioles fan. There has been some talk over on their fan site the past few days that they might pass on Martin for financial reasons. Specifically, the Os have the most picks in the draft and might run into some issues signing all of their picks given the MLB limitations on how much can be spent on signing draftees. By taking a lesser prospect at #2, they could possibly pay under the slot value and have enough to sign the remainder of their picks. Scott Boras being his agent probably didn't help things. I am bummed; I was hoping to see Martin play in Camden Yards.

*BTW, Detroit is the worst team in AL.

Also a lifelong O's fan and spent the night absolutely livid. I had heard the chatter in the week that the O's would go underslot at #2, but by the time they were up last night almost everyone thought it was Martin.
To make a move like that, the selecting team needs to know the pick will sign for less than slot, and then they need to have a couple in mind for the later picks. The guys who were ranked in the 15-20 range that they hoped would slide to 30 apparently didn't make it. Now they have #39 and if they can't find a great value pick who will sign, the strategy has backfired. I'm hoping they go at JT Ginn from MSU. He is a top 10 talent if you can accept the health risk, and after not signing 2 yrs ago followed by health issues, Ginn would be foolish to go back.

[Versus75]

My first baseball game was in old Detroit stadium, oddly against Frank and Brooks Robinson and the Orioles. Detroit won in the 15th inning when a pitcher, Earl Wilson, hit a pinch-hit three run homer into the left field upper deck, two rows in front of me. Final, 8-5 Tigers.

If you didn't save a program or box score from that game, here are the details:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxe ... 7150.shtml

I always liked Earl Wilson. For a few years he was known the Don Drysdale of the American League because of his hitting. If the Silver Slugger Award was in effect, Wilson would have won some trophies. From 1964-1968, he had double-digit RBI each season and hit 5-6-7-4-7 home runs. Wilson was also used frequently as a pinch runner (including 19 times for Boston in 1964), but he attempted ZERO stolen bases for his career.

[commadore]

My first baseball game was in old Detroit stadium, oddly against Frank and Brooks Robinson and the Orioles. Detroit won in the 15th inning when a pitcher, Earl Wilson, hit a pinch-hit three run homer into the left field upper deck, two rows in front of me. Final, 8-5 Tigers.

If you didn't save a program or box score from that game, here are the details:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxe ... 7150.shtml

I always liked Earl Wilson. For a few years he was known the Don Drysdale of the American League because of his hitting. If the Silver Slugger Award was in effect, Wilson would have won some trophies. From 1964-1968, he had double-digit RBI each season and hit 5-6-7-4-7 home runs. Wilson was also used frequently as a pinch runner (including 19 times for Boston in 1964), but he attempted ZERO stolen bases for his career.

Yeah, I had all that, but while I was away at law school my mother cleaned out my room and threw out a bunch of stuff, including two original comics now worth thousands and all my baseball and football programs. She meant well, but I stewed for years. Ha.