Looking For Trends in the 2nd Day of the Orioles' Draft

[Jordan Tuwiner]

http://orioles-nation.com/?p=9913
By: Dan Malone

The day after selecting Owasso, OK high school RHP Dylan Bundy with the fourth overall pick, and seeing division rivals Tampa Bay, Boston, and Toronto select 20 of the next 56 players chosen, Joe Jordan and the Orioles' scouting department settled in for the real meat of the amateur draft: rounds 2 through 30.

In the past, Jordan has employed several different strategies with the Orioles. In 2009 he took many high-upside high school and junior college players who also carried some injury risks, and in 2007 took just seven high school players, five of whom did not sign.

Jordan also has shown a tendency to prefer specific types of players, mainly ground ball pitchers and athletic position players. So what did he and his staff do this year?

[Jordan Tuwiner]

Dan makes some interesting points here. I will chime in tomorrow with some thoughts.

[Mike]

Great points, especially about the early round pitchers. I wonder how much, if any, Buck had in suggesting the type of players to take (i.e. future bullpen arms) and if this is the reasoning for some of the new trends in this year’s draft. I think one of my favorite picks is Delmonico. Do you think there are going to be signability issues?

[Don]

Outside of the first round, I would be completely shocked if Buck had an ounce of influence.

I like Nick as well, but I think Joe Jordan and staff did a lot with very little selections. There were a few guys that I liked in the later rounds yesterday and a solid mix. Simply because they are later rounds, it does not make them less of a prospect. I feel the Orioles walked away yesterday with 4 guys that at one point in time were slotted on the first day. They walked away with 6 in my top 150 and 9 in my top 200. Not too shabby at all.

[Don]

One thing I was highly disappointed in is the lack of talent in this area and it was reaffirmed to us yesterday with the first high school product going in the 14th round. It should not be the case, even with the hotbed of lacrosse in the region. I am really tinkering with the idea of expanding my ties with an athletic facility in this region.

[Wingman]

Interesting analysis... The thing that sticks out to me though is that in the first 13 rounds we only took 2 HS/JC players. (I see JC players closer to HS players than 4 yr. college Jrs or Srs) but in rounds 14 through 30 we take 14 HS/JC players. I haven't gone back and crunched the numbers but I don't remember Jordan doing anything like this before. It may be just coincidence but it seems to me that Jordan waited until later rounds to take the higher upside/riskier younger players. These HS players may not be as high profile as some others but at least it seems to me he balanced out the risk/reward factor in the draft that at first seemed so out of balance and that I wasn't thrilled with.

It's going to be very interesting to see how many of these HS/JC players he selected later in day 2 he is able to sign and will go a long way in my mind in determining how I "grade" this draft.

[Wingman]

Outside of the first round, I would be completely shocked if Buck had an ounce of influence.

I like Nick as well, but I think Joe Jordan and staff did a lot with very little selections. There were a few guys that I liked in the later rounds yesterday and a solid mix. Simply because they are later rounds, it does not make them less of a prospect. I feel the Orioles walked away yesterday with 4 guys that at one point in time were slotted on the first day. They walked away with 6 in my top 150 and 9 in my top 200. Not too shabby at all.

Don - would you mind telling who the 9 (out of the top 200) were? Thanks