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Billy Eppler front runner for GM job - Hal Morris a darkhorse candidate


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The Angels did not take that approach this year, rather than drafting one of dozens of pitcher, position players etc. they acquired a clone of Jeff Mathis who most experts did not expect to sign until late second round as they specifically wanted a catcher, rather than an outfielder or pitcher or whoever was the best player availably, most likely as they do not anticipate re-signing Iannetta.

They scouted him a ton and felt he was the best player available.

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The Angels did not take that approach this year, rather than drafting one of dozens of pitcher, position players etc. they acquired a clone of Jeff Mathis who most experts did not expect to sign until late second round as they specifically wanted a catcher, rather than an outfielder or pitcher or whoever was the best player availably, most likely as they do not anticipate re-signing Iannetta.

 

What makes Ward a Mathis clone?  I doubt you've seen him enough to make that sort of an observation, so other than his being a catcher and Mathis being the worst possible catcher you could think of, what are their similarities?

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What makes Ward a Mathis clone?  I doubt you've seen him enough to make that sort of an observation, so other than his being a catcher and Mathis being the worst possible catcher you could think of, what are their similarities?

It should be fun to see Ward develop through the system, so far he looks real good. It would be nice to see a stud catcher come through the system some day.

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I have been following Bandy all through the second half in SLC.

I really think Perez and Bandy can carry this team's catching duties through next season.

They are young and unless some unforeseen injury happens, they should be able to handle the 162 grind.

 

This frees up money for the search for a solid bat in LF and on the bench.

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Scotty has this bizarre bias against GA, and continues to throw out the ridiculous theory that it's not a great state for baseball.  He says it all the time.  I've learned to just ignore it.

 

Bizarre?  Yeah, I can see that.  It's just a pattern I notice when looking at players drafted by state.  The ones from Georgia are typically labeled exceptional athletes with high upside.  They're million dollar bonus babies and by and large, once they're forced to compete with the kids from the Carolinas, Florida, Texas, California, the Dominican, Puerto Rico and Venezuela, they end up falling short.  It just has to do with the level of play and other sports. 

 

football is so prevelant that many of the athletes don't focus on baseball until they've been drafted, whereas in other states, these kids have been competing against the top competition in year-round ball since they were 12.  It's just a different ball game and for the most part, in recent history, Georgia just doesn't measure up. 

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Claude during your hiatus Lou brought up the most important stat that basically shits all over your meme. Every team in the AL that is holding a playoff spot, their GM was hired without any experience. Oh and the notion that Arte is cheap is truly ridiculous.

 

Hey i was just kidding Strad. I think Hal Morris would do a good job. And no, Arte is not cheap.

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Bizarre?  Yeah, I can see that.  It's just a pattern I notice when looking at players drafted by state.  The ones from Georgia are typically labeled exceptional athletes with high upside.  They're million dollar bonus babies and by and large, once they're forced to compete with the kids from the Carolinas, Florida, Texas, California, the Dominican, Puerto Rico and Venezuela, they end up falling short.  It just has to do with the level of play and other sports. 

 

football is so prevelant that many of the athletes don't focus on baseball until they've been drafted, whereas in other states, these kids have been competing against the top competition in year-round ball since they were 12.  It's just a different ball game and for the most part, in recent history, Georgia just doesn't measure up.

Cliffs Notes version : the players from GA are black

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What makes Ward a Mathis clone? I doubt you've seen him enough to make that sort of an observation, so other than his being a catcher and Mathis being the worst possible catcher you could think of, what are their similarities?

I was paraphrasing what I had heard during the live broadcast of the draft, of which I unfortunately could not find a transcript. A poll of disintereted experts at MLB and ESPN had Ward ranked 99th overall, the 4th best catcher on the board, and 74th best player overall at the time the Angels selected him.

Many have claimed that the Angels likely drafted Ward rather than a higher up prospect to conserving their signing bonus pool, but if that was the case they surely would not have expected Ward to already be gone by the time their turn arrived. The celebration in the Angels war room after the conclusion of the preceding pick was very odd.

I found a blog which sums up what was said over the air fairly effectively:

http://isportsweb.com/2015/06/10/los-angeles-angels-2015-mlb-draft-analysis/

Every scouting report you’ll find on Ward says the same thing: He’s primarily a “catch-and-throw guy” with a cannon for an arm, but his bat lags behind his defense, and he’s projected to be at least a glove-first backup. MLB.com said it perfectly: “The team that takes him early will be the one that thinks he’ll hit enough to be a regular backstop at the highest level.” Sure enough, the Angels are that team.

Scouting director, Ric Wilson believes that Ward can be “a .250, .255 hitter, maybe 12- to 15-homer type.” That wouldn’t be the kind of score that Trout was, but he’d definitely be worth the pick if he could hit like that to go along with a solid defensive prowess behind the plate, which is already expected.

Taylor Ward is a vintage-Scioscia pick. His skill set reminds scouts of a former Scioscia favorite: Jeff Mathis. Mathis had a lot of hype surrounding him as a farm hand, as he was the 33rd overall pick in the 2001 draft, but when he made it to the Show his bat never performed at a high level. However, he was always one of the best defensive catchers in the game, which is why Mike Scioscia admired him so much. From what I’ve seen from the videos and scouting reports of Taylor Ward, a career like Mathis’ seems very possible. The organization and its fans, however, pray that the young backstop develops into a much more fearsome force at the plate than Mathis did.

Edited by ScottLux
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. A poll of disintereted experts at MLB and ESPN had Ward ranked 99th overall, the 4th best catcher on the board, and 74th best player overall at the time the Angels selected him.

Did you mean "disinterred" ?

Oh wait, you said ESPN. Disinterred it is

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I found a blog which sums up what was said over the air fairly effectively:

http://isportsweb.com/2015/06/10/los-angeles-angels-2015-mlb-draft-analysis/

 

Heres an early Mathis scouting report....  http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?id=1612228

 

I appreciate that you took the time to post the links but, bad info is still bad info.  Mathis wasnt drafted for his catch and throw ability -- the guy wasn't even a regular catcher, he basically caught one guy...   Mathis' bat and athleticism were supposed to be his calling card....   Unfortunately for him the only thing that translated into MLB was the glove.

 

I guess if they are comping him to the finished product it makes sense -- but the finished product was always considered to have been a fail...   It was the potential with the bat that made him stand out.  Mathis was like the Dick Schofield of Cs -- while his bat was supposed to have been his calling card, it was the defense that ended up being what kept him in the majors.

 

TY for responding.

Edited by Inside Pitch
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