SoxBlanco

Great article, but didn’t Roch say the Sox informed him that he’d be their pick on Thursday? So how was this discussion taking place on Friday?

For your sake, I’m glad we didn’t draft Lackey. Your head would explode trying to figure out who to rank higher between Bonemer and Lackey.

This is exactly right. If Vargas gave them a 1-0 lead and had the only extra base hit (as a homer), he wins MVP for sure. From a “fun” standpoint, the Vargas hit was better. But from a pure baseball standpoint, Bellinger had the most important hit of the game.

Oh, I’m with you. I wasn’t arguing who should win it. I was simply saying that writing “somehow” for Bellinger was a bit ridiculous, as if all he did was catch a fly ball or something.

“Somehow”? He had half the RBIs and had the game winning hit. I thought Vargas would be a good option also with the only XBH and home run, but let’s not pretend Bellinger didn’t deserve it also.

Absolutely. It’s either him or Bellinger.

Thanks. I saw Law’s ranking and figured it was more split among the evaluators. Didn’t realize nobody else had Thome ahead.

Why is that interesting? Are you saying Prosek is the better prospect?

We drafted a high school SS who is a superb defender and will need some time to develop offensively. Then in his first year in the minors, he gets hurt and hasn’t had a chance to develop yet. And we want to trade him right now for the best starting pitcher we can get? I just can’t get behind that idea. Seems like this would be selling at his lowest possible value.

Yep. I can’t figure him out. When I see him in videos like this, he seems like a good dude. But there’s no way all the reports on his attitude/personality/behavior are just smoke.

Pass. His OPS in conference games was only 2.101. And he’s only ranked #2 academically in his entire class. Weak. Don’t get me started on his vertical. Barely cracked 30 inches.

This sounds exactly like the type of high school pitcher that @Look at Ray Ray Run likes. Ray Ray, what do you think? Here’s the write up: “One of the better movers in the class, Casteel has a definitive starting pitcher operation. Complimenting the mechanics on the mound is exceptional pitchability and command around the zone. Casteel hasn't grown into overwhelming stuff, but does have a foundation teams will gladly build upon. To date, Casteel has reached back for 95 but is more commonly 90-93 with relatively generic shape. His fastball plays up a bit thanks to above average extension and his ability to pepper all four quadrants. The changeup and slider both flash solid average upside, the latter perhaps a bit more thanks to diving shape and feel for spin. Casteel isn't fully developed yet and doesn't have the stuff to overpower hitters, but he's relatively young for the class and moves well. A player development department might believe there's low-hanging fruit to get the engine running a bit hotter.”

Not sure what the pitching matchup will be yet, but it would be nice to keep the momentum going with a road win after the break. Lineup will be posted in five days.

Sorry, I’ve been gone all day. On it now!

Let’s get the sweep and head to the all-star break! Need a solid outing from Schultz. Maybe the A’s offense is just what he needs to get going.

Colson

Two reasons that I can think of: We REALLY want that extra money for this draft. Even if it just means you are replacing a more advanced prospect with a less advanced prospect, it gives them more flexibility today in the draft. Even if the guy they take at 34 never pans out, it could give more money to get someone at 41 who they otherwise wouldn’t have drafted. They are selling high on him. Maybe they aren’t sold on him and are worried the second half of this year will reduce his value. I love the idea of selling high if you are doing it with a guy who will never have a spot on the major league team.

Jacob Gonzalez had zero future on this team. There is nowhere he could play, unless someone got injured. So it was absolutely the right move to trade him to clear a 40 man spot. The only question is whether we could have gotten more for him from a different team. I’m not so sure we could have, but nobody really knows for sure.

He was asked what the process has been like for determining who to pick. He said something along the lines of, “When we landed the first pick, the conversation started with Roch.” Then he went on to say all the good things about Roch, but he did talk about the others as well.

Nice job taking game 1 and getting the offense back on track. Let’s keep it rolling on Saturday with Fedde.

On it. Give me a few minutes!

Two of the worst challenges I’ve ever seen. At least they can’t frustrate me with challenges for the rest of the game!

Hope he doesn’t go the Alec Hansen route. Nice list, by the way. I hate making lists like this myself because I second guess every spot, but I enjoy looking at other people’s lists. Appreciate the time you put in.

I honestly think we’ve been locked into Roch for quite some time. And the reports the past couple weeks suggesting otherwise made me even more confident it’s going to be Roch.

I’m more interested in a Caleb Bonemer thread. What are they going to do with him? I haven’t really read reports on his defense at SS in the minors. Does he end up in LF? Or 3B/2B?