Dave Saltzer

A couple of things:

1) Let's get him out into Orem to see what he can do as quickly as possible; 

2) Let's understand he is 18 years old, and will be competing against many 21+ year old pitchers, so let's have some patience;

3) He's not Chevy Clarke, or any other prospect. He is is his own person. Don't hang monikers on him because others did not succeed or he doesn't live up to your expectations or the supposed hype.

4) It may take him time to adjust to all his new-found wealth and fame, so recognize that, especially since he is 18 years old.

5) I really hope he does well.

On 6/13/2017 at 0:25 PM, red321 said:

You are talking about the NFL...I'm not.

The second a high school gets hit with a massive lawsuit you'll see them start to drop the sport...if high schools start to drop the sport you start to lose your feeder program. Small/non power conference colleges are probably in the same position.

I'm not saying this is going to happen overnight, but if it starts to become a trend the NFL is in trouble long term. 'They rely on high schools and colleges to be their talent pipeline.

Red is right and we are already seeing it. High school football participation is down about 10% since the movie Concussion came out. A few seriously paralyzed kids, severe brain trauma, and it will become too difficult for most schools to maintain.

Great job Brent! 

Another thought . . . for those of us who are starting to feel old . . . next year we will start seeing our first players born in the year 00 being drafted, and within 3 years, we won't have anyone being drafted born in the years 19XX.

So far we have drafted 16 pitchers. I wonder what that says about our organization . . . 

At some point, we will need to get some infielders and things to round out the teams for these players. My guess is in the 30s we will see a run on position players to round things out.

2 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

Beck has two years of availability..   He goes back to school, gets healthy and is eligible for the draft again.   Draft eligible sophomores aren't allowed to sign as undrafted FAs.   Not sure if there is a set protocol for HS types but, I'm pretty sure the owners have a gentlemen's agreement in place.

Okay. I really wonder, though, if a team could do that then with a HS Senior or not. Could an independent league sign the player to a contract and then a Major League team sign him from there? It would be an interesting loophole.

So here's a crazy thought: The draft only goes 40 rounds. And, as far as I know, the bonuses and pool limits only apply to those players taken in the draft. What if a fairly good HS or college player went undrafted and then signed as an undrafted free agent? Are there any limits to how much a team could spend then? Say, someone like Tristen Beck: could we spend what we wanted to sign him as an undrafted free agent? Is that a loophole a team could exploit?

39 minutes ago, ettin said:

Finally someone gets me.

Craig always got you.

Seems like he should move to relief, fix the command of the two pitches, and focus on throwing hard.

From perfect game, has a 90 mph fastball. 6'2" 205 lbs. 

Is Erstad such a gamer that he'd say bad things about the club to keep one of his players? I doubt it. But, it's an interesting test of his desire to win vs. desire to see a player succeed.

Good that they took him as a pitcher. I still wonder why Mitchell and Eder are still on the boards. Are they rumored to be tough signs?

Just now, Chuckster70 said:

Pick the best player available from here on out. 

We have a ton of young pitching coming on. Our position players have been the weak spot in the org in recent years. 

I'm glad Swanson is addressing that. 

Yes, take the BPA. But, I want more HS players with tools. Higher risk with higher reward.

7 minutes ago, Angelsfan1984 said:

Damned A's! They were the 1 team I thought would take him ahead of us. 

Well, there goes Heatherly to the Reds . . . Hopefully Allen will slide a few more spots and we can grab him.

7 minutes ago, Angelsfan1984 said:

If Nick Allen is there we have to take him. Defensively alone he's a first round talent.

Good point. I'd be very happy with him too. I honestly thought he was taken by now, and figured onto my next set of prospects.

Here's what I'd like to see today: Maybe 1 more good college arm in the 3rd round and then rounds 4-7 with toolsy prep position players or 1 prep LH arm. I'm already thrilled with Day 1's results, let's keep it going for day two. Some players that I would be interested in seeing us get would be Jake Eder (LHP), Jacob Heatherly, and Garrett Mitchell. 

Alright, so let's start projecting for pick #47! Who we taking?

I'm really excited with this pick. The kid wants to play and looks like one hell of a player.

Woot!!!!!! Now go polished college pitching the next 2 roundsand then toolsy HS for rounds 4-6.

With hours to go, BA has its mock draft 4.5 out. Here's what they have for us . . . In this scenario, Adell is still not picked.

10. Angels

Another tough one to divine, but the Angels are regularly connected to college players. Last year’s Virginia first baseman, Matt Thaiss, isn’t working out so hot so far, so we’re sticking with a college pitcher.

Pick: Alex Faedo, rhp, Florida | 

10 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

I assume that the scouts are better now at doing due diligence on potential draftees for their makeup/attitude?  

I know a lot of people on here think that everything Dipoto did was bad (it wasn't), but one of the changes that he implemented was adding a psychological profile to all potential draft picks so that they had a better idea of the player they were getting. That is still in place, as far as I know.

I almost included a paragraph about fielding and turning triple plays, but took that paragraph out. So . . . last night the Angels hit into a triple play!

I was at the game last night and noticed that we were not Buttercupped either in song form or bullpen form.

Another one to keep an eye on is Jonah Wesely. He's a LHRP coming back from Tommy John. Two bad innings really hurt his ERA, but for the season, he's got a 3.80 ERA in 21.1 IP with 27 K. His WHIP is 1.22. I think he will get a promotion soon.