twinsin17

I’d like to know goals for each player this coming year and what they did in the offseason to improve their games. Nice job lining these guys up Seth!

Luis Arraez killed A level pitching in the Midwest League in 2016 and continued the slaughter during winter ball in Venezuala before tearing his ACL at the start of last year. Hope he bounces back and murders Florida State League pitching in 2018!

Mike Redmond would be a huge win. He has done a great job with the young pitchers in Miami and the couple years of experience makes him a more desirable option in my opinion. Jake Mauer is a bit green still to be considered a viable candidate. I wouldn't doubt if Molitor has some sort of handshake agreement in place already, though.

Interesting article, thank you for the post. Quantifying ground ball rates kind of blows my mind. Do double plays count as two ground outs? Are line drives counted in air outs? Does GB% include all batted balls (hits and outs)? I wonder what the league average for these metrics is for comparison sake.

Robinson Cano

So you're telling me the solution to his hitting woes is a simple induction of bi-lateral leg weakness? I'm sold!

What is Berrios doing better this season that is making him more effective than he was against inferior competition in A ball?

Anyone else think Andro Cutura will sign WAYYYYYYYYY under slot and allow us to sign Cederoth?

I'd swap Vargas or Burdi for Thorpe. Pretty impressive top 10!

Tony Cingrani was a college reliever picked in the 3rd round of the 2011 draft out of Rice. His resume was pretty unimpressive (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Cingrani) until a breakout season as the team's closer his senior year. He signed quick and transitioned to a starter right away in 2011. Cincy watched his workload closely and he averaged less than 4 innings/start in 13 dominating rookie league starts that year. In 2012 he started the year all the way up in A+ ball did so well he progressed to AA and then earned a late season taste of the big show. In 2013 he started in AAA and earned his full time ticket to the bigs after just 6 starts. For all the haters out there this is proof it can happen.

Good point, this pick was a combination of sign-ability and value. Give me Burdi over an Eades-esque pick any day of the week.

Burdi...hmmmm... His stuff is so good reports are he could pitch in the bigs right after signing. With Perkins locked up for cheap, is a dominant setup man worth an early 2nd rounder? Will we try and convert him to a SP?

I'd take Marcus Wilson over Monte Harrison but Reid-Foley would be an excellent addition as well. Deep draft!

Your disdain for Nola is dully noted. No need to "pick apart" posts, respect for differing opinions works just fine. Personally I am most interested in Gordon, Jackson, Nola and Freeland but considering our recent history of high picks with Buxton and Stewart I feel pretty confident that we'll draft who we feel is the best player and I'd be able to get behind just about anyone at 5.

Here is an article I dug while on the topic of Wacha v Nola. http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/41964/how-18-teams-passed-on-michael-wacha Nobody projected Wacha a a future ace out of college. In fact, Wacha was projected as a quick to the majors #3 and received comps to Leake. It wasn't until sometime after the 2012 draft that he added a few ticks to his low 90s fastball, making his already plus change up that much more effective. I cannot find anyone who said Wacha had a plus-plus change coming out of college. He simply got better. Why can't Nola also get better? If it is true and he could be a #3 right now it sounds kind of crazy to say that is his ceiling...unless he lacks any coach-ability and has completely maxed his physical ability as a 20 year old. Doubtful. Yes, with a few more inches of height Wacha looks the part of a true #1 more than Nola. Maybe Wacha had a better change coming out of college but Nola has superior command, as good or better fast ball, better curve and a solid change himself. Arguments about arm angle lack merit. The fact is whether a pitcher throws sidearm, 3/4 or right over the top the motion is unnatural and can lead to sever injury. No study shows one method or the other is worse or better for the arm and if such study did exist it would be inherently flawed as no control could exist for such experiment. Take a moment to watch Nola clips and marvel at how much movement his pitches generate and how well he controls where they go. He more than passes the eye test. And, yes, his college stats are better than Wimmers. SEC>>>>>>Big Ten