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QUOTE (bmags @ Apr 11, 2018 -> 11:47 AM) So for all the talk of pitchers, it looks like what was expected in february may happen: the depth of pitching in this draft makes it more likely teams get top bats early and pitching later. We now have word of Kelenic 1, madrigal/bohm at 3, Swaggerty/Bohm at 4. Haven't heard stuff on Giants. It was a while ago, but I remember there being a connection with the Giants and Liberatore. Don't know if thats still a thing after his velo came back down from those couple 97mph outings.

Mike 12:41 Kelenic turns 19 this summer and is almost a year older than some of his classmates. Bohm is also a year older than Swaggerty and some others in the college JR class. How does that weigh in the evaluation of a player? Kiley McDaniel 12:41 Matter more for HS than college and more for hitters than pitchers, but matters in all four instances. Hinkie 12:43 Kiley ... According to your draft notes column last week, it sounds like the Phillies are considering Alec Bohm with the 1-3 pick. Have you heard of any other prospects the Phillies are most seriously scouting/considering for that pick ? Kiley McDaniel 12:43 Hearing Madrigal as well, Logan Gilbert has come up but that seems too rich for 3 Dave 12:43 Kiley, which is tgemHS infielder has the most upside? De Sedas, Turang, Gorman? Kiley McDaniel 12:44 Turang has a chance to be 55-60 Hit, 50 power, 60 run at SS, Gorman 50-55 Hit, 60-65 power at 3B. Both have some real concerns about reach that. De Sedas is much lower than them. Dave 12:45 Kiley, Jeremy Eierman??‚??„?s base-stealing seems to go under-reported. He has 16 SB??‚??„?s, with only 1 CS. Very similar to last year. Is he that good, or is it the product of a lesser conference? And do you see any way he enters the top 10? Kiley McDaniel 12:45 Solid average runner, solid instincts. More middle to late 1st Dave 12:46 Kiley, do you have any concerns are pitch counts and over-use with Logan Gilbert this season? Kiley McDaniel 12:46 I guess some? I try not to get too overheated about that unless its 140+ pitches, but if I'm a team I'm paying attention to it. Jo-Nathan 12:49 Jordyn Adams can't possibly turn down millions if he goes first round? Having said that I just learned his father is a coach at NC, but still that is life changing money Kiley McDaniel 12:49 His dad would be his coach and he's one of the top 100 football prospects in the country. I mean that's enticing too, even if baseball appears to be the better business decision Bravesy McBravesface 12:53 How has Jarred Kelenic looked so far this spring? Kiley McDaniel 12:53 Has only played a handful of games, but sounds like it's been solid. Had a minor illness recently. PTown 12:54 Would you be shocked if the White Sox took Bohm with the 4th pick even though they drafted Burger last year? Kiley McDaniel 12:54 Nope because that would be smart and not taking Bohm for that reason would be stupid Oregon Guy 12:54 Does Larnach project as a 1st rounder? Future starting OF or still fuzzy at this point? Guy is raking. Kiley McDaniel 12:55 Middle 1st round. Another guy I may be the high guy on right now along with Connor Scott. Kevin 12:57 Aside from the obvious #1, if you're in the top ten, where do you think the best value pick will be given the "tiers" of players forming? Kiley McDaniel 12:57 I think the top tier is 6 right now, maybe 7. That will change. Alex R. 1:00 Ethan Hankin's has fallen down the draft board a bit but is there any chance he still goes in the top 2 to either the tigers or the giants? Kiley McDaniel 1:00 He's gonna have to go insane to go top 5, still a chance to sneak in the top 10. Bravesy McBravesface 1:04 Is Joey Bart a top 10 draft prospect? Kiley McDaniel 1:04 Might be, he's close if he isn't, definitely trending up Bobby Bradley's 40-time 1:05 Best draft eligible, college arms in New England? Kiley McDaniel 1:05 Eh Tim Cate at UConn is the only one that comes to mind and he's shut down currently. Very good northeast prep year. Lineras Torres, Mike Vasil, Matt Cusick, Grant Lavigne, Charles Mack, Nick Decker. All could go top 3 rounds Outta my way, Gyorkass 1:08 How much has Jonathan India raised his stock this year? Absolutely raking for a team that he used to be what, the 4th or 5th best hitter on? Fun stat too: no GIDPs in 133 PAs! Kiley McDaniel 1:09 Chance to go back of the 1st round now, I did not see that coming: https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/far-too-man...es-on-college... Finnegan 1:10 You're high on Alec Bohm, will he go high because of the hit/power combo during an era where teams feel they can fix launch angle, or will he slide due to athleticism and defensive concerns? Kiley McDaniel 1:10 There aren't athleticism/defensive concerns so no King Tut 1:11 Do you think Kelenic will stay in CF? Kiley McDaniel 1:11 Not a slam dunk but yes FH 1:11 What happened to the top two prep righties coming into the season, Ethan Hankins and Kumar Rocker. Rocker looks so good on video, i don't understand why he's not top 10...? Kiley McDaniel 1:11 He might be, he's close to that and he's been shoving all year Runelvys Gergich 1:12 Is there any chance, based on what you've heard, that the Tigers take Madrigal? Kiley McDaniel 1:12 I would say very, very low Sean 1:20 Kiley, what do you see as Kyler Murray's projection? Kiley McDaniel 1:20 Heard positive buzz, I'll see him in May. Could go top 5 rounds. PTown 1:33 Is Swaggerty a better prospect coming out than Corey Ray or Adam Haseley? Kiley McDaniel 1:33 Better than Haseley, comparable to Ray but Ray had more tools and longer track record Jack 1:33 Is Joey Bart a lock in first round? Which team would be interested in him? Kiley McDaniel 1:34 Yes, probably all of them Kyle 1:34 Any buzz on Brett Kinneman? Kiley McDaniel 1:34 4th-6th round, ok tools, performer paul 1:36 India a first rounder? Kiley McDaniel 1:36 Possibly, in the mix for late first Jimbo 1:37 Any sense of who the Braves like at 8? Kiley McDaniel 1:37 The team links are more in the top 5-6 picks where a top tier has emerged dominik 1:37 should the white sox really consider bohm? I know usually you should go BPA but the sox already have like a million corner bats in their system and really lack up the middle (middle IF, CF) talent. Kiley McDaniel 1:37 They aren't all gonna hit, trade the leftovers when you find the good ones. Pitchers will always be available in trades Zook 1:38 Is Turang an option for SD in the draft? Kiley McDaniel 1:38 Sure but I think he goes lower than that

QUOTE (DirtySox @ Apr 11, 2018 -> 11:44 AM) Okay I have too much work to do and there are too many solid draft questions. Done updating my post today! I'll get the rest of it haha

Love what Kiley said about the Sox. We like Swaggerty first and Bohm next and we should be able to get one of them.

QUOTE (steveno89 @ Apr 11, 2018 -> 10:34 AM) Drafting a Bohm in the top five seems like it would be a mistake. He's likely a 1B only player being 6'5" and 240 lbs, which forces the bat to play big time. I'm not wasting a high first round pick on a first baseman unless he projects to have enormous power potential. He projects to have enormous power potential. Plus, he can probably stay at 3B. I think almost every scout thinks he's more likely to stick there than Burger was even before the injury. The only thing he is bad at apparently is getting his feet in bad position on throws sometimes, which shouldn't be too hard to fix in the minors.

QUOTE (DirtySox @ Apr 10, 2018 -> 11:25 AM) I've never heard of 2080 baseball. How reputable is it? Its not BA or MLBPipeline, but they seem to have a lot of guys with scouting experience for major league clubs. Here is the staff page with bios to check them out: https://2080baseball.com/reference/2080-staff/

QUOTE (Blackout Friday @ Apr 10, 2018 -> 08:32 AM) Noticed they have Bohm listed as a 1B. Wow, I missed that. That may explain why they have him at 8 when others seem pretty sure he is in the top 5. They also have Greyson Jenista listed as OF/1B. Triston Casas listed as 3B/1B, and Seth Beer listed as OF/1B, so they seem pretty forgiving about defensive issues, which makes them only putting 1B for Bohm kind of worrying.

Full draft top 125 from 2080 baseball. They have an interesting take on Turang. Also there seems to be some consensus forming on the top tier.

QUOTE (bmags @ Apr 9, 2018 -> 11:36 AM) That Kelenic stuff has been interesting. Still, I file it under "misinformation", I will be skeptical until it's announced/deal is announced there. This guy from Scout also heard the connection. Its interesting because I liked Kelenic from the beginning, but I didn't think he would go as high as 4 let alone be a possibility at 1-1. I really like how the top of the board is separating itself right now. If Kelenic is in the top tier, you are looking a him, Bohm, Swaggerty, and Madrigal all as possible bats and Mize and McClanahan as possible pitchers. We would be assured of getting one of those guys and I really wouldn't even be mad if it were one of the pitchers because both seem like they could be elite.

QUOTE (SoxAce @ Apr 8, 2018 -> 02:04 PM) Eh.. well that and pitch count. Sox are still being careful with him to start. Does anyone know his final pitch count and/or his pitch count when he started getting wild?

I'm pretty sure Thyago Vieira is the only healthy guy in AAA on the 40 man, so we're probably going to bring up one of the NRIs who stuck around in AAA.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Apr 6, 2018 -> 07:15 PM) It's in the third inning of the games and every affiliate won last night... Never let the truth get in the way of a good story

QUOTE (Dam8610 @ Apr 6, 2018 -> 05:25 PM) Who's the superstar hitter in this draft, though? Swaggerty? Bohm? No one has really differentiated as that guy to this point. To me with Madrigal it comes down to how highly you rate the hit tool. He projects as a 5 tool, but almost all of them are 50s or 55s. If you're putting a 60 or higher on the hit tool, he's worth it. I also happen to think he could be the next Jose Altuve, and his swing mechanics look very similar to a younger Altuve. If they're not going Madrigal, McClanahan is my next choice, maybe even my choice over Madrigal given the relative dearth of top LHSP talent in the system and recent developments with our MLB middle infielders. I just don't think he'll hit for as much power as Altuve because Altuve may be short, but he is pretty thick while Madrigal is basically a twig. I do think its disingenuous to say all his tools are 50s/55s because by all accounts the hit tool is a 6 or even 7, speed is at least a 6, and if he plays second then his fielding is probably a 6. As for superstars, Kiley mentioned today that Bohm is not yet Kris Bryant, but he's not as far as most people would think. He could be a 50 bat with 60 GAME power, or even more power if he sells out for it a bit more. If he keeps it up he might be the superstar bat of this draft. As for Swaggerty, I think he is safe yet has good upside because it sounds like he just changed his swing this year to go for more power, so he has time to refine that, and though he is a junior, he won't turn 21 until mid-August, so he is a year younger than some of the other guys in this draft. If you buy the bat and think he can get just a little more power, he could be a 20/20 guy with a high OBP and great CF defense. I like McClanahan, but I am just so scared of drafting pitching this high because it always seems like its not a matter of if but when they get injured. I would rather use picks when we are picking later in the first round on pitchers that may have something wrong that we can fix.

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Apr 6, 2018 -> 04:42 PM) Realistically, what do we think Madrigal’s upside is? Can he become 4 to 5 WAR player? I just think picking top four (when we may not have this opportunity for quite some time) we have to select a guy who could be a potential star & Madrigal seems to be more about floor than ceiling from what I can tell. I guess it really depends on whether you think he can hit homeruns with wood. He never really showed great power, and then he started this year hitting two in 6 games. If he comes back and still hits for power, he could be a fast riser with 20/20 potential, high average, good defense at second or average at short. Is that an annual 4 WAR player? Probably. Is he a superstar everyone talks about? Probably not.

QUOTE (DirtySox @ Apr 6, 2018 -> 12:26 PM) Thanks. There was a piece about some risers on BA two days ago that has Carter Stewart in it as well. Also I think Mayo is wrong on Madrigal. I don't see him in the last few Box Scores at all. Yeah, I thought so as well. I'm pretty sure those are his stats from before the injury. We probably would have heard a lot more about his performance if he came back and did that right away. I guess its just a mistake. I'm pretty sure he also called Jeremy Eierman Johnny Eierman in the video, so someone didn't fact check that article haha

New MLBPipeline Inbox just came out and it had some interesting notes. They should be coming out with an updated draft top 100 by late April, but for now they gave what is probably the current top 10: 1. Casey Mize, RHP, Auburn 2. Nick Madrigal, SS/2B, Oregon State 3. Matt Liberatore, LHP, Mountain Ridge HS (Ariz.) 4. Shane McClanahan, LHP, South Florida 5. Carter Stewart, RHP, Eau Galle HS (Fla.) 6. Brady Singer, RHP, Florida 7. Travis Swaggerty, OF, South Alabama 8. Alex Bohm, 3B, Wichita State 9. Ryan Rolison, LHP, Mississippi 10. Ethan Hankins, RHP, Forsyth Central HS (Ga.) They also listed Kelenic, Gorman, and Kowar as other names to watch. So that fits with the idea that Gorman has really fallen and Hankins is down. I'm surprised I'm not hearing more about Stewart if he rose that high. Also apparently Madrigal is back playing and destroying again. It was mentioned multiple times that it seems like Mize has separated himself from the rest of the group and that several executives had him at 1-1 on their board. He also fits the Tigers profile, so that almost seems like a foregone conclusion at this point. Finally Mayo talked about Jordyn Adams and said he was one of the fastest guys they have seen in the past several drafts. If we end up going with Bohm or Madrigal in the first and Alek Thomas is gone by the second, he could be a nice pick.

QUOTE (DirtySox @ Apr 6, 2018 -> 08:41 AM) Kiley on a bunch of draft prospects including Bohm, Swaggerty, and India. https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/far-too-man...raft-prospects/ Why do I feel like the team in the top 5 that thinks Swaggerty is the best bat in the draft is us? Really wouldn't be mad about either him or Bohm at this point.

QUOTE (mac9001 @ Apr 5, 2018 -> 11:02 PM) Just going off a couple tweets he was mostly throwing 2-seamers at 87-89, 4-seamer is 90+ but rarely thrown. I'm looking forward to seeing him on TV and it never hurts to be 6'7"so the velocity may play up if he has decent extension. Do we know how much the extension helps in terms of like less reaction time or more mph per extra inch? Because at this point I feel like you have to sit 93-94 to be considered a prospect. Obviously there are outliers in the majors, but it puts so much pressure on having multiple plus secondaries and great command that its hard to predict.

QUOTE (DirtySox @ Apr 5, 2018 -> 01:19 PM) Some draft items from Keith Law's chat today. So compared to the Fangraphs guys he is (or has heard): -lower on Hankins, Liberatore, Bohm, India -higher on Kelenic, Swaggerty, Rodriguez, Stewart, Winn -about the same on Mize, Bart, Pompey

QUOTE (bmags @ Apr 4, 2018 -> 11:34 AM) Kiley specifically may now have better info sources to pull on fresh out of a front office, but after last 2 years I don't really trust that people have good gauges on sox draft preferences. I mean, what we'd think at this point would be: - Emphasis on advanced approach at plate with power - Tend to pick from schools with trackman/statcast data - Confident they can get average defensive players to stick in more valuable positions - Value college relievers - Power arms? Can't tell if this is real or just a factor of going after relievers But what theoretically we should also expect this year: - A shift toward younger players as we have been very college heavy and Hostetler has mentioned as such - A move away from college outfielders where we have a huge bottleneck but would these tendencies show up in the first pick? Who knows. (College relievers, for instance, would not) I wouldn't be surprised or upset if we went college bat with the first pick (even if it is OF), but then go HS heavy in the other rounds. It would get us a good mix of security with the college bat (with potential bonus savings), but also upside with HS guys that have some holes but also some good tools.

QUOTE (steveno89 @ Apr 4, 2018 -> 09:48 AM) It seems like arms are going to be the top of this class, we should not be foolish and reach for a lesser player out of need. With a top 5 pick we should take the best talent. Yeah, but I think most feel at this point that Mize will be gone by our pick. There is a ton of talk connecting him to the Tigers and maybe more connecting Liberatore to the Giants, so we're kind of talking about other guys. Don't get infatuated with someone we probably aren't going to get.

I don't know how I would feel about a retractable roof rule, but they could make it more nuanced than what everyone is talking about. They could require that every new stadium north of a certain point or with certain average temperatures is built with a retractable roof. Stadiums that already exist don't have to have retractable roofs but you could incentivize them to do so by offering those stadiums all star games or not allowing them at stadiums without retractable roofs for a long period of time. Something along those lines would hopefully get enough teams to get domes that teams like the Cubs or Red Sox could keep their stadiums but play most of the series at the start of the year in warm weather or domed stadiums. Combine that with series at the beginning of the year being matched to midsummer series so that the series locations could just be switched and ticket holders could be alerted to this when purchasing tickets, and most of the weather related cancellations should be gone.

QUOTE (DirtySox @ Apr 3, 2018 -> 05:36 PM) To be honest, I was never quite sold on Burger. At least not as a long term 3B. Losing a year of development hurts a bit too. Bohm seems to be much more highly regarded at this point as well. Though I'm still awaiting more of a consensus on his defensive acumen. Well so far in his career he has posted fielding percentages of .859 | .959 | .925 I know fielding percentage isn't a great measure, but he is pretty consistently low (the second year was probably inflated by playing ~20% of his games at first base) and he doesn't look great on video. I also don't really understand why everyone is talking about him having massive power when he has put up good power numbers, but nothing spectacular. Unless its something they see and think they can change to bring out more power, but that seems like added risk to such a high pick.