2019 MLB Draft Thread

Horsehide Harry said:
I don't have data to support this but will say that it's hard for me to remember 1st round catchers who weren't 1/1 types (or in the discussion for it) doing much of anything and drafting a defense first (and possibly only) catcher early is a huge risk the Braves really can't afford IMO.
Click to expand...

Your thoughts are pretty much correct on this. In the past decade there have been exactly 2 catchers drafted in the first round that have done squat, Mike Zunino (3rd pick in 2012), and Grandal (12th pick in 2010).

Drafting a questionable hit tool catcher in the top 10 is a pretty poor choice to me. Unless the catcher has a strong offensive skillset like Joey Bart or Rutchsman I'd stay the heck away from catchers in the top 10 pick.
 
"Oregon State's Adley Rutschman is the favorite to go No. 1 overall in the 2019 Draft, and the player who shared catching duties with him on the U.S. collegiate national team last summer won't go far behind. Langeliers' defense alone could make him a first-rounder. Recovering from hitting .252 as a sophomore, he has looked better offensively this spring despite breaking the hamate in his left hand and rushing back after just three weeks.

Langeliers has a cannon arm that can produce 1.7-second pop times in workouts and 1.8-second clockings during games, and he used it to erase 70 percent of basestealers as sophomore. The 2018 Rawlings/ABCA Gold Glove recipient as the best defensive catcher in college baseball, he's a quality receiver who's more agile and athletic than most at his position. He also has the strong leadership skills teams desire in a backstop.

Even when Langeliers slumped last year, he still made consistent contact and doesn't have any glaring flaws in his right-handed stroke. It was more a matter of trying to do too much at the plate rather than letting his solid to plus raw power play without selling out for home runs. He's a below-average runner but quicker than a typical catcher."


"In a typical draft class, the Baylor backstop would be a safe bet as the top catcher in the class, but Langeliers has to deal with Rutschman ahead of him in the 2019 group. Still, Langeliers has a solid, all-around toolset with no weaknesses in his game aside from being a below-average runner—which is the least important tool for a pro catcher. He projects as a solid-average hitter with average power, and even more juice to the pull-side, with a strong defensive skill set behind the plate. Langeliers has above-average receiving and blocking ability as well as a strong, accurate arm, which he used to throw out almost 70 percent of basestealers last spring."


And even from the all-knowing FanGraphs...

"Langliers' is a throwback catcher with a squatty frame, contact over power approach and above average defensive tools; there isn't much projecting necessary."



Must be Law that thinks he has a "questionable hit tool". Definitely pass - he was certainly right about Riley.
 
He sounds like a second- or third-round pick: thus, a major stretch at #9.
 
jpx7 said:
He sounds like a second- or third-round pick: thus, a major stretch at #9.
Click to expand...
A fantastic defensive catcher who is an avg hitter would be a boarderline star. Catching is so bad.

How long can we get fortunate with our scrap heap Catchers? Contreras is still years away. He’s your huge upside guy. Put those two together and you are in a good spot.

I’d think he might go a little under slot given he’s more 15-10 projected, college guy and huge opportunity to get to mlb fast.
 
Russ2dollas said:
A fantastic defensive catcher who is an avg hitter would be a boarderline star. Catching is so bad.

How long can we get fortunate with our scrap heap Catchers? Contreras is still years away. He’s your huge upside guy. Put those two together and you are in a good spot.

I’d think he might go a little under slot given he’s more 15-10 projected, college guy and huge opportunity to get to mlb fast.
Click to expand...

Contreras likely ends the year in AA. "Years away" is a bit of a stretch. There are no guarantees with anyone, but he's more likely to be a starting big league catcher than Langliers.

Langliers is a huge reach at 9.
 
Horsehide Harry said:
I don't have data to support this but will say that it's hard for me to remember 1st round catchers who weren't 1/1 types (or in the discussion for it) doing much of anything and drafting a defense first (and possibly only) catcher early is a huge risk the Braves really can't afford IMO.
Click to expand...

I'm not totally old school, but Langeliers barely scraped .250 with an aluminum bat his sophomore season and while batting average can be misleading, it's a red flag to me at this level. His BB and K rates are solid, so maybe his sophomore season was fraught with bad luck. I'll let the scouts decide, but at a two-dimensional level, he appears to be a pretty significant reach at #9.
 
50PoundHead said:
I'm not totally old school, but Langeliers barely scraped .250 with an aluminum bat his sophomore season and while batting average can be misleading, it's a red flag to me at this level. His BB and K rates are solid, so maybe his sophomore season was fraught with bad luck. I'll let the scouts decide, but at a two-dimensional level, he appears to be a pretty significant reach at #9.
Click to expand...

I couldn't find his sacrifice numbers so I can't say exactly but his BABIP last year was probably in the .260s.

It's probably in the .340s this year and .330s in 2017. So he had some pretty bad luck last year.
 
Russ2dollas said:
A fantastic defensive catcher who is an avg hitter would be a boarderline star. Catching is so bad.

How long can we get fortunate with our scrap heap Catchers? Contreras is still years away. He’s your huge upside guy. Put those two together and you are in a good spot.

I’d think he might go a little under slot given he’s more 15-10 projected, college guy and huge opportunity to get to mlb fast.
Click to expand...

What's your definition of years away. Contreras is trending to be ready by 2021, maybe end of 20 if all goes well.

Sure we could use some better catching depth but i wouldnt spend a top 10 pick on one.
 
striker42 said:
You can try to make the excuses for the front office in this but at the end of the day it's the results that matter. We ended up delaying our pick a year (a year's delay of development) and picking a spot lower. Also, by having the two first round picks this year it has made our second round pick vulnerable to loss if we signed a FA with a QO (see Kimbrel).

I think the issue here is that you're comparing the actual result with what the result would have been had we signed Stewart. I'm comparing the actual result with the result you expect from a top 10 selection (getting a top prospect).

So you can argue that the front office isn't at fault. That there was no way they could have known about Stewart's issues. All of that. But at the end of the day that pick was a fiasco and the front office is ultimately judged on results.

That being said, they could redeem themselves if they grab someone at 9 this year who really works out for them. They'll still be judged on the end result. It's just that right now, the result is less than ideal.
Click to expand...

You are seriously beyond clueless
 
striker42 said:
I have no idea what your point is here.

I do think you're making some assumptions you can't make. You're assuming there were no red flags before the draft and that no other team knew of these. You're assuming the injury was the real reason the Braves were scared off and that it wasn't just a pretext.

There's no evidence one way or the other on a lot of things. Maybe some teams had observed Stewart's spin rate on his curve drop. Maybe there were warning signs that he was hurt. Maybe the injury had nothing to do with it. Maybe the Braves drafted Stewart and then found out he wasn't nearly as good as they thought and so dug up a minor injury as a pretext to try to get another pick in the next draft.

I can't tell you one way or the other. I can tell you the draft did not turn out as intended. I can tell you the Braves were involved in a dispute with a high profile draft pick (terrible optics). I can tell you there have been negative consequences from not signing our pick.

Since we really don't know what all went on, I choose to grade the front office poorly at this point based on the poor result.
Click to expand...

Maybe maybe maybe... so many assumptions...
 
CJ9 said:
I don’t disagree with you. The one thing I will say about Langeliers — and I don’t want him at 9 regardless — but he fractured his hamate early in the season which notoriously zaps power when players return from the injury that season.
Click to expand...

I feel like players don’t always return to form from hamate injuries... I think it’s too much of a risk
 
Russ2dollas said:
A fantastic defensive catcher who is an avg hitter would be a boarderline star. Catching is so bad.

How long can we get fortunate with our scrap heap Catchers? Contreras is still years away. He’s your huge upside guy. Put those two together and you are in a good spot.

I’d think he might go a little under slot given he’s more 15-10 projected, college guy and huge opportunity to get to mlb fast.
Click to expand...

Years away? Some thought he could be ready this year in a pinch.
 
zbhargrove said:
“Will write quote that has nothing to do with the topic when I can’t write anything of substance”
Click to expand...

It's more I'm done with that debate and see no reason to extend it beyond the multiple pages it already is.

I also have zero respect for ad hominems. They're the resort of the wrong or those too incompetent at argumentation to form coherent positions.
 
zbhargrove said:
Trade Freeman for more picks?
Click to expand...

That wasn't necessarily wrong and is still trending to have been right. We will never know for sure if trading Freeman was the right move because we will never know for sure the return or how the return would have developed. But, unless the Braves develop into a consistent contender, which they aren't currently -better surely, but not consistent, before his contract is up, then trading him would have been the best move, assuming a good return.

Keeping Freeman around in effort to be 5 wins better than worst in the league never really made sense and is actually counter to a most efficient rebuild.

It's a point that can't be proven right or wrong because it didn't happen. But you know that. However, throwing it in my face all the time does make for a good passive-aggressive response when you have nothing else to contribute. Right?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top