There has been a lot of MLB Draft Coverage on the site. Dr. Loftus provided his Day 1, and Day 2 reviews. Our On The Verge colleagues provided their recap on the pod, and Nick Stevens expanded on his thoughts here.  And our posters gave extensive thoughts at the board. Here I’ll add some of my own thoughts on what we saw from the Baltimore Orioles Front Office last week.

(You can discuss this on the BSL Board here.)

I do think it was interesting that the team’s Zoom call with Kjerstad apparently had impact. That indicates the O’s are utilizing makeup (at-least what they can glean in a short-call, and other homework they do) as part of their overall evaluation. I wonder if that is simply feel for them, or if they assign percentages, etc. 

– In Astroball, there was talk about the leadership debating their 1st selection right up until the draft. That appears to have happened with the O’s 1st pick here in Baltimore as well.  Elias per MASN,“We really don’t decide 100 percent for sure and start blasting off with the strategy for one of these really high picks until the last hour of the draft. That’s just kind of the way it is, at least it has been in my experience. “You can really wake up each morning and feel a different way because these choices are tough and there’s not a ton of separation between these guys sometimes. And so we had an idea probably earlier without making it public that we were focusing on one of the bats in this draft. We really, really liked one of the pitchers in particular, but we just felt the bats that were available, we didn’t want to pass up. And then it became a big debate and a big analysis about which one was the best way to go and that lasted all the way through today.”

I find this very interesting.  You are gathering information up to the last minute… but play ended months ago (obviously the primary source of new information), and you’ve been locked into that 2nd overall selection. Points to the idea of how they were deliberating and laboring internally on their selection.

– Excited is probably the wrong word, but of the initial two selections, I’m personally a bit more intrigued by Westburg. He’s got an intriguing profile.

– Re: Kjerstad… For me, his profile doesn’t say this is the guy to like 2nd overall. But who cares? It’s not like I scouted him or anyone else that was available in this Draft. The Orioles had, and they made the decision on who they liked. That’s fine. What I do like with the Kjerstad selection, is you know what he does have skill wise, and it isn’t all projection. He doesn’t have to hit his ceiling to provide production / return.

– If the selection was based largely around getting him underslot, then I’m less of a fan.  I think selecting 2nd overall, you need to select who you like best vs. hoping to save any money, and utilize towards other pics (of guys who may or may not be available later).  The Orioles taking pitching pretty much off their board at 1.2, and selecting Kjerstad over someone such as a HS kid like Veen, is pretty telling imo.  I think you can read into that the Orioles value having the additional information (college) they had with Kjerstad over Veen. And even if they think (they might not) that Veen has a higher ‘ceiling’, they believe with the available additional information that they have with Kjerstad… that he’s less likely to completely flame out.  I think it’s clearly part of their overall evaluation that they want to add players to the system where they are likely to get something out of them. Arms and HS kids being higher risk.   They had 5 guys on their board.  Maybe Torkelson was one of them, but assuming they believed he would go 1st, you figure their 5 was Kjerstad, Martin, Gonzales, Veen, and Hassell.  Or maybe instead of Hassell they had one of Lacy / Meyer / Hancock 5th on their board.

The bottomline is the each of those guys were available, the O’s made their choice, and we will eventually see how they did.

– 2021, start Kjerstad and Westburg at Frederick? (Will Frederick still be an Orioles affiliate? Point is High A.) Ideally 1/2 a season there, move up to Bowie (AA) to end ’21….. start ’22 at Bowie, and with performance, you are within shouting distance of promotion to the show.

My general take of the draft, is that I actually like most of the selections in a vacuum.
My criticism is that with the selections 1-4 (Kjerstad, Westburg, Haskin, Servideo), it doesn’t feel to me like they optimally maximized the chances to add the most ceiling to the organization.
The organizational depth is improved. The athleticism is improved. The bats are improved.
I’m excited they’ve got Mayo, and Baumler signed.

Thinking Ahead… A Late ’22 Lineup Which Looks Something Like…?

Hays CF
Alberto 2nd
Mountcastle 1st
Kjerstad RF
Rutschman C
Santander DH
Ruiz / Nunez 3rd
Westburg SS
Diaz LF

Mancini traded.
Stewart traded.

Alberto at 2nd, and Ruiz / Nunez are 3rd are placeholders.  There is enough to like with each of them to give them additional opportunity now (while you aren’t contending) and evaluate them further.  There are enough questions with each, that its more likely than not that none of them will be part of the roster in late ’22.

Could also keep Mancini (1st), Mountcastle DH, and trade Santander.

Chris Stoner
Chris Stoner

Owner

Chris Stoner founded Baltimore Sports and Life in 2009. He has appeared as a radio guest with 1090 WBAL, 105.7 The Fan, CBS 1300, Q1370, WOYK 1350, WKAV 1400, and WNST 1570. He has also been interviewed by The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Business Journal, and PressBox (TV). As Owner, his responsibilities include serving as the Managing Editor, Publicist, & Sales Director.

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