Dave Saltzer

Ahhh . . . but that's the challenge. Now you know why it's a difficult problem. As I said, it's painful. You will have to make some difficult choices and compromises. So, who are you going to cut from that group?

Okay, some things that needed to be added. On our all legendary team, our top two prospects have to be Rondon and Ralston Schmidt. I knew someone on here would create the all-time worst list of players. And, based on WAR, those are the worst, but think about it in terms of contracts. Any legendary bad team has to have an OF of Hamilton, Finley, and GMJr. All of these players got paid to not play for us, which means that they can't generate their true WAR value. Doc, what would are all-time legendary bad contract team look like?

Damn! Someone stepped up in a big way. Way to make this a lot more exciting!

Lackey is a very tough case. Yep. Game 7. But uggghh....the personal and the way he left and all sorts of other things. Witt had the perfect game and the combined no-hitter. Their numbers are so close (they are right next to each other in historical stats, with Witt being slightly better). So, combined, it wasn't easy. So, I went with Witt because yes, I liked him more as a player.

Starters going 5+ innings, and heck, going for whole games . . . stuff of legends!

Cut off date is game time for that game. You can change your vote game by game. If you don't, your previous vote remains in effect.

I've also seen some people linking us to a couple of RHPs. One is a local HS pitcher out of Orange Lutheran, Cole Winn. Cole Winn | Rank: 42 School: Orange Lutheran (Calif.) HSYear: SeniorPosition: RHPAge: 18 DOB: 11/25/1999Bats: R Throws: RHeight: 6'2" Weight: 195 lb.Commitment: Mississippi State Watch Scouting grades: Fastball: 60 | Curveball: 50 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 50 | Overall: 50 As a junior, Winn was named the Colorado State High School Pitcher of the Year. He won't be able to repeat, as he transferred to Southern California powerhouse Orange Lutheran for his senior year. That will give the projectable right-hander a lot more exposure, which will raise the level of scrutiny on the Mississippi State commit. After a solid summer showcase circuit, Winn belongs in the same group of second-tier high school arms in California as guys like Ethan Reed in the south and Dominic Pipkin up north, and he might end up ahead of them in terms of his combination of polish and stuff. He can flash three plus pitches at times and was up to 94 mph at Perfect Game's World Wood Bat Association Championship in Jupiter, Fla., in the fall, up a tick from previous readings. He'll throw two different breaking balls at times, a power curve and a cutter-like slider, with focus on one a likelihood in the future. He has feel for a changeup as well and with his clean and easy delivery, he should develop more consistent command. How much projection his body has and how much strength he can add to his slender frame are questions scouts will try to answer. They'll also want to know how he'll respond to the better level of competition in his new home. If he proves he's ready, Winn will move up Draft boards this spring. The other is Jackson Kowar, a college RHP Jackson Kowar | Rank: 10 School: FloridaYear: JuniorPosition: RHPAge: 21 DOB: 10/04/1996Bats: R Throws: RHeight: 6'5" Weight: 180 lb.Previously drafted: 2015, 40th (1210) - DET Watch Scouting grades: Fastball: 65 | Curveball: 50 | Changeup: 60 | Control: 50 | Overall: 55 While Brady Singer understandably gets most of the attention in terms of the Florida Gators staff, recent history should show the school typically has a deep stable of arms for scouts to evaluate. Kowar pitched behind 2017 first-rounder Alex Faedo and Singer in the weekend rotation last year and opened some eyes with how he threw this fall to jump up on Draft radars. Kowar's size and live arm make him stand out immediately. With a clean, repeatable delivery and easy arm action, the 6-foot-5 right-hander was up to 98 mph this fall and can sit in the mid 90s with ease. It can be a little bit too true at times, in contrast to Singer's live heater, leading to a lower strikeout rate during his sophomore year than one would expect. His changeup is his best secondary offering, a plus pitch right now. His breaking ball is behind the other two, but it will flash above-average at times. He generally throws strikes and with a solid delivery, his command should improve. With some projection and that arm strength, there's a lot scouts will want to see in the spring. Some thought he threw better than Singer this fall, albeit in a much smaller sample size. The two should combine to be another exciting 1-2 punch in Gainesville.

I know we all want the BPA (Best Player Available), but what I would like to see us do is go after a lefty starter. With Griffin, Barria, and others developing, we have a real shortage of lefties in the system. There is Suarez and then not much (especially for starters) until we get down to Jerryell Rivera. Ideally, a lefty from college would work best, so he could catch up with the rest of our developing talent. Here's an article listing the top 7 college lefties: https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/top-7-college-lefthanders/ I saw on one site linking us to Pilkington. Here's the discussion https://247sports.com/mlb/scouting/Article/Way-Too-Early-2018-MLB-Mock-Draft--108332780 17 Los Angeles Angels - Konnor Pilkington, LHP, Mississippi StateThe Angels bucked the trend of taking the safe route last year with Jo Adell. The feeling is that, as an organization, they have been looking for an arm, for the last two years, who has consistently performed, which would be Pilkington at Mississippi State. The lefty does not get the talk of the players ahead of him in this mock, but has been a top pitcher in the top conference the last two years. He had limited experience as a freshman, but the numbers were strong even then. He is a safe arm, more of what we have seen the Angels do traditionally. This is a spot that seems likely to have more college depth than high ceiling talent like the Angels took last year. Here's more on Pilkington from: http://m.mlb.com/prospects/2018/?list=draft Scouting grades: Fastball: 55 | Slider: 50 | Changeup: 55 | Control: 50 | Overall: 50 In the 2018 Draft, few college players can match Pilkington's youth (he won't turn 21 until September) and track record. He cracked Mississippi State's Southeastern Conference rotation as a freshman, became its No. 1 starter as a sophomore and performed well in the Cape Cod League and with Team USA during his two summers. He could become the third Bulldogs pitcher to go in the first round in the last seven Drafts, following Chris Stratton (2012) and Dakota Hudson (2016). Pilkington could have three solid or better pitches when all is said and done. He works with an 88-93 mph fastball that tops out at 96, using his 6-foot-3 frame and a high three-quarters arm slot to deliver it on a steep downhill plane. He trusts his advanced changeup more than his slider, which can get slurvy at times. Pilkington's stuff, strong frame and competitiveness could make him an innings-eating No. 3 starter. He generally throws strikes but has occasional lapses of control. He'll need to watch his conditioning to reach his potential.

With all the talk about our Major League doing well, and our Minor League prospects developing nicely, let's start talking about this draft. Supposedly it is deeper in HS talent, and in pitching talent. So, with that, let's start posting mock drafts and thoughts in here.

I'm not going to participate because I helped to put this together. But, I told my sons about it, so they all want in on a chance to win some In 'N Out. Mikey's prediction is a double in the 1st inning off the starter. Joshua's prediction is a single in the 6th inning off of the starter. Nathan's prediction is a single in the 8th inning off of a reliever.

You all can vote daily. You can change your vote daily. You should put in something like Double, 5th inning, off of XXX pitcher. The next day, you could post a new thread and say HR, 3rd inning off of that day's starter. It'll keep you guessing!

In & Out. Yum!

More importantly, Regnifo is 2nd in the Cal League in walks with 12 so far, which has him as 12th overall in OB%, even though he only has a .255 BA.

This was the thread in which I miss the lost posts the most.

Congrats Griffin!

Did any of you catch the interview with Ward yesterday by the AA announcer? If any of you did, could you post it in here please?

@Jeff Fletcher is indeed fantastic and a great resource for fans on here. We definitely should all click on the links in the articles to help support his work. He is about as honest as he can be with us, as candid as he can be with us, and does a great job covering the team.

With 2 more hits tonight so far, does anyone want to change their predictions?

Don't get me wrong, I WANTED to see Ohtani in tonight's game. While the whole team is doing so much to make this season fun so far, he's electrifying. One of my boys has already declared that he will switch to #17 next year. So, I get it. But, there are times when I see people going off on Scioscia when it isn't always the wrong decision by Scioscia, but he can't or won't say all the factors that led to the decision.

Question here for everyone: What if Mike Trout said that he really wants to play for Scioscia for his career and wants to be an Angel for life? Would you be willing to keep Scioscia as the manager for that scenario?

Not to be an ass, and not to purely pick a fight, but Scioscia has said all along that they will work in conjunction with Ohtani to develop how to use him. So, let's say that Scioscia or a coach asked Ohtani how his arm is feeling today, and Ohtani said "a bit sore". Or what if Ohtani woke up with a bit of the flu? Scioscia then takes Ohtani out of the lineup, and he would never reveal that potential soreness or illness to anyone. I'm clearly NOT in Texas and have no way of knowing if this is or is not true, but it is possible. I don't want anyone claiming that I've said that Ohtani is sore or injured or anything. I'm just pointing out as fans, we are only able to see such a tiny amount of the information that goes into a manager's decisions. Things like this do happen (I've been aware of reasons why a player wasn't in the lineup that I couldn't reveal), and fans were going nuts about the decision. I'm just pointing out before the board flips out and goes crazy over this decision that it is possible that other factors could have weighed in on the decision.

When we get a bit closer to 3,000, maybe say at 1995, I'll do a predict the pitcher thread to see who will give up the milestone hit!

For the record, only 4 players hit HRs as their 3,000th hit. I don't know how many got triples, but I would love to see what the odds would be for Pujols to do it!

You need to click on the view the full article to vote in the polls. Please do so!

Again, lost. In yesterday's win was Pujols passing Jimmie Foxx to take sole possession of 9thbplace all time for RBI. Pretty classy that it's about the team and the wins, not about him.