The A's title defense is off to a rough start in 2030... should we be buyers or sellers as the calendar turns to July and the trade market starts heating up?
Figueroa in the 1st, graves is gonna be there with your 1st supplemental pick - snag him there, then hope that Morley is there with your second round pick, and if not just go upside
So i noticed the mock draft seams to be pretty accurate and it has Mike Graves falling to your second round pick so i think you should go Figueroa-Morley-Graves since the mock has morley going earlier in the second round
I'd have to say Figueroa first, I'd snag Morley with the Supplemental 1st as he's likely gone in 2nd. I think he is a prime candidate to work on his existing strengths in the Lab to give him an edge, I really like him. I am not so hot on Graves, if he is there for your 2nd round pick, then maybe OK. For the rest just use your regular formula OSS as it seems to work more times than not. As always, good luck!
Joe Lewin is my pick, I'm biased as he goes to Saul high school in Philadelphia, I attended in 9th and 10th grade, when i went the field had no outfield wall, just a tennis court to right field and it's an agricultural school too. But he's a high end lefty, low financial ambition so it's possible you could get him on a contract like Soderstrom. I also like Bob Dae, he looks about two years away from contributing and a lot of contracts get expensive soon
Ha, I can always count on your analysis to factor in Philly! I kind of like Bob Dae too... I don't think I would take him in the first round, but if he lingers on the market a bit I could see him ending up on the A's!
@@oldschoolsports yeah, it's a small public school that's not really known for baseball, it's crazy to see them in the database. Maybe they have put out a prospect or two since I attended. That was pretty cool to see though. Dae isn't the traditional top pick, I don't know if I'd take him first round either, compensation rounds would be a stretch. I completely agree. But I wouldn't pass him up in the 2nd.
Graves if you go hitter or Frazier if you go pitcher. Graves is bound to be a minimum decent to good hitter and Frazier will at least have 3 decent to good pitches.
Hm, that Hoffman kid. Knowing Trevor Hoffman had some kids that at least played baseball, so Joel might be a later arrival to the Hoffman family 😅 I good reliever as his dad perhaps. Overall you got a group of not so high demanding kids to pick from. Question who ? Really no-one standing out in this draft. But sure you will dig up someone after looking deeper on them. You often do. 🧐 If you twist my arm I would have gone with Figeroa, Graves got no defense and is fragile. Morley is a shoe-in for that 2nd pick of yours (the comp one).
Thank you for taking a look. I wish there was a diamond in the rough I could unearth in my offline searching in this draft class, but not a lot of luck so far!
Intriguing question on Ortega. I think I never signed a player long term before he played a game in the majors. If I bring a new kid up it's earliest in May and I value him in that first contract year with ups and downs between AAA and the big show. Question then in the off-season should be the time or just wait after another full season. Of course I never see those minimum salary claims as Ortega showed in this episode, but still one could get a good deal and I'm a little more settle on his value going forward. So very seldom I go from minor league contract to full contract. Like to get those 1-2 years of minimum before I decide. One thing I think I do is looking at most minor leaguers not ineligible anymore and in danger losing them in Rule5 as a key moment to decide their future. I seldom bring up players from the latest or even the second latest draft. But I never had players like Incaviglia, Jim Abbott (that kid with only one hand, remember him) or John Olerud which made it the year after draft. But I also remember Darren Dreifort for the Dodgers doing it and crashed that year. Guess Dreifort made me scared bringing them up so early even in this game. Of course they have to be coming out of college even to consider it, but then you seldom draft college player in your first draft round. I do however 😉
I've signed a handful of guys with no MLB experience to deals over the years, with admittedly mixed results. Some of the contracts become huge bargains, but some are not good at all. I think it's a tougher call to make with the A's where we have so little room for error financially!
Don’t think you should sell Chandler. IMO even with the personality he’s very good value for money. I’d honestly rather lose Mason miller, they don’t seem wildly different and miller is much more expensive. I would probably not call up Ortega come September simply to manipulate his service time and keep an option year (AFAIK he’s not rule 5 eligible yet). IIRC that would mean you get more arbitration years too.
I like the way you are thinking with Ortega. I am still being optimistic and thinking we will be in contention for a winning season and perhaps a wildcard berth come September and that he could help us. But if that is not the case, which is certainly possible, if not probable, it probably does make sense to manipulate his service time (I mean give him some needed additional time in the minors for development), especially since he's already looking for significant money...
