2019 MLB Draft Thread

Rather than Bishop who may very well become the next Jenista? Maybe.

Yet Bishop has more skills and his power gives him substantially more upside as a hitter. The best defensive catcher in the draft honestly isn't as valuable as you think it is. It's been proven that the most important defensive aspect of catching is framing. It honestly is irrelevant how quickly he can field a bunt or how quick his pop time is or how strong his arm is. Where he's gonna earn his keep is pitch framing. There nearly zero information regarding pitch framing in college baseball that I'm aware of and his bat has plenty of questions. That makes his selection at 9 to be pretty terrible.
 
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My understanding of the hamate injury is that is something people overcome after two years. If that's wrong, then I'll learn something.

I'm just surprised the view is so negative on the board vs the people doing mock drafts.

Bishop seems to be a big time ATH. We could use a LH bat. He's very tall and Judge has shown you can be that tall and play in the OF. It just seems odd that people aren't worried about sample size given how his first year went and how he has performed vs better competition. Seems to me to be a very small sample size of offensive excellence.

I think in two years we are looking at Waters and Pache in our OF. I'd be looking for HS kids with tools over college bats.

I really wish we could trade the 9 pick and two pitchers for the number 1 pick to the get the OSU catcher.


I'm not sold on Bishop either, but his upside is considerably better than Langeliers.
 
Perfect Game's updated mock: https://www.perfectgame.org/Articles/View.aspx?article=16352

9. Atlanta Braves | Matthew Allan, RHP, Seminole (Fla.) HS
The prep arms in this class could still go in seemingly any order, but the industry seems to prefer Allan as the top arm heading into the draft. The Braves are strongly linked to Hunter Bishop, though in this projection he goes at No. 8, so we think they may start the proverbial run on high school arms by going with Matt Allan here.

21. Atlanta Braves | Kameron Misner, OF, Missouri
After going with prep arm Matt Allan early, the Braves go with a college bat here in Missouri’s Kam Misner. Misner has been dinged because his performance in the SEC has been uneven, but he has a loud profile in terms of his athleticism and tools and his upside is that of an impact major leaguer.
 
Perfect Game's updated mock: https://www.perfectgame.org/Articles/View.aspx?article=16352

9. Atlanta Braves | Matthew Allan, RHP, Seminole (Fla.) HS
The prep arms in this class could still go in seemingly any order, but the industry seems to prefer Allan as the top arm heading into the draft. The Braves are strongly linked to Hunter Bishop, though in this projection he goes at No. 8, so we think they may start the proverbial run on high school arms by going with Matt Allan here.

21. Atlanta Braves | Kameron Misner, OF, Missouri
After going with prep arm Matt Allan early, the Braves go with a college bat here in Missouri’s Kam Misner. Misner has been dinged because his performance in the SEC has been uneven, but he has a loud profile in terms of his athleticism and tools and his upside is that of an impact major leaguer.

Sounds like we need some NCAA bats to get hot and make a run into the top 10 conversation for Bishop to fall.

If we miss on him, I can't see fault in the above.
 
I'm not sold on Bishop either, but his upside is considerably better than Langeliers.

I don't see him written about as a defensive only catcher. He can hit. I think the issue is there is not a lot of power. If he is a good defensive catcher who can hit and draw walks that's a 3 WAR or better player, right?

Anyway I'd pick the best player. I think we'll look to cut an underslot deal and load up on HS to replinish that area of the team under the sanctions.

In Chase Sisco still good? If Baltimore drafts this catcher number 1 does he become available?
 
From Kiley's chat today on the HS names who have big asking prices. These are the guys we could target at 21:

"Becoming a little more clear who the signability guys may be. Jack Leiter has been the leading name there for awhile and the chatter is $4M+ and maybe only a couple teams would interest him, so he likely won't be in the next mock. Matthew Allan also may be a roughly $4M pricetag and has a real chance to go Kumar Rocker/Cole Wilcox and go to Florida if he slides past the middle of the 1st round. Some talk on Corbin Carroll and Blake Walston, but not as likely as the first two. Of those guys, Thomas (S. Carolina commit) may be the one that's asking for more than the industry figures he's worth, Maxwell (Ga Tech) may also fit."
 
Yet Bishop has more skills and his power gives him substantially more upside as a hitter. The best defensive catcher in the draft honestly isn't as valuable as you think it is. It's been proven that the most important defensive aspect of catching is framing. It honestly is irrelevant how quickly he can field a bunt or how quick his pop time is or how strong his arm is. Where he's gonna earn his keep is pitch framing. There nearly zero information regarding pitch framing in college baseball that I'm aware of and his bat has plenty of questions. That makes his selection at 9 to be pretty terrible.

I've said all along that I'm not campaigning for Langeliers at all - simply that I can see the defense if he's taken there to save money IF they think they can float someone they really like to #21. He's still somewhat highly thought of in some aspects, and the talent behind the plate in this draft drops off pretty substantially once Langeliers comes off the board. There are quite a few potential "fits" at #21 and #60 from the group of OFs/SSs/HS arms that AA can spend the extra money on if you could get the Catcher below slot.

He'd certainly make more sense at #21, but I just don't think he's going to drop that far given that this is a draft almost completely bereft of talented Catchers.
 
From Kiley's chat today on the HS names who have big asking prices. These are the guys we could target at 21:

"Becoming a little more clear who the signability guys may be. Jack Leiter has been the leading name there for awhile and the chatter is $4M+ and maybe only a couple teams would interest him, so he likely won't be in the next mock. Matthew Allan also may be a roughly $4M pricetag and has a real chance to go Kumar Rocker/Cole Wilcox and go to Florida if he slides past the middle of the 1st round. Some talk on Corbin Carroll and Blake Walston, but not as likely as the first two. Of those guys, Thomas (S. Carolina commit) may be the one that's asking for more than the industry figures he's worth, Maxwell (Ga Tech) may also fit."

Slot value at 9 is just under $5M, so Allan fits in that regard. He is the consensus top prep arm, so maybe the Braves love him if an OFer from the Bleday/Greene/Bishop group isn't available.

Slot value at 21 is a little over $3M, and the value of 60 is a little over $1M, so it's possible the Braves save cash on picks 9 and 60 to give Allan $4M at 21.

Something like Bishop for $4M at 9 and Allan for $4M at 21 might be pretty cool to see shake out, with the back up plan being Allan at 9, Misner at 21, and not punting the pick at 60.

Some combination of Lango and Allan at 9/21 makes some sense if Bleday/Greene/Bishop aren't available at 9.
 
I don't see him written about as a defensive only catcher. He can hit. I think the issue is there is not a lot of power. If he is a good defensive catcher who can hit and draw walks that's a 3 WAR or better player, right?

Anyway I'd pick the best player. I think we'll look to cut an underslot deal and load up on HS to replinish that area of the team under the sanctions.

In Chase Sisco still good? If Baltimore drafts this catcher number 1 does he become available?

It isn't that I don't think he can hit. It's that the offensive upside is fairly limited anyways without factoring in his last year so worth of production. A 3 WAR catcher is certainly valuable. But the chances he becomes that seem more unlikely than many of the players that should be available at 9.
 
I havent researched this draft class but I wilp be very dissapointed if we take a college player with our first few picks. I loathe college prospects.
 
I havent researched this draft class but I wilp be very dissapointed if we take a college player with our first few picks. I loathe college prospects.

The pendulum has swung toward college players over the years, at least with respect to the first couple rounds. Mostly seems to have to do with teams having a better understanding of the risks associated with taking a HS pitcher.
 
The pendulum has swung toward college players over the years, at least with respect to the first couple rounds. Mostly seems to have to do with teams having a better understanding of the risks associated with taking a HS pitcher.

It's all such a crap shoot. I've always viewed the problem with making the decision on college pitcher versus high school pitchers in that you have to gauge the possibilities of abuse from college coaches on college pitchers (not nearly as bad as it used to be) in comparison the really uncertain ceilings on high school pitchers.
 
It's all such a crap shoot. I've always viewed the problem with making the decision on college pitcher versus high school pitchers in that you have to gauge the possibilities of abuse from college coaches on college pitchers (not nearly as bad as it used to be) in comparison the really uncertain ceilings on high school pitchers.

What teams have noticed is that the yield on HS hitters and college players taken has been better than the yield on HS pitchers and they have adjusted their draft boards accordingly. I suspect that this particular "market inefficiency" that existed 20 years ago is no more.
 
Pipeline updated their mock. Still not exciting. Love Priester at 21, no interest in Rutledge: https://atmlb.com/2LtXm6C

9. Braves: Jackson Rutledge, RHP, San Jacinto (Texas) JC
(Compensation for failure to sign 2018 first-rounder Carter Stewart)

The top junior college talent in the country has also risen up close to the top of the pitching list. He has overpowering stuff, missing a ton of bats with his fastball and slider alone, though his curve flashes plus as well.

21. Braves: Quinn Priester, RHP, Cary-Grove HS (Cary, Ill.)

Priester has a definite up-arrow next to his name and is now behind only Allan on most boards in terms of high school pitching.
 
Agreed. Even though our hitters look a lot better than our pitchers right now I don’t wanna take a pitcher with our first 2 pics.
 
I’d be a lot less concerned with going pitcher at 9 if 7 hitters had already been taken. Sometimes the board doesn’t fall your way.
 
I’d be a lot less concerned with going pitcher at 9 if 7 hitters had already been taken. Sometimes the board doesn’t fall your way.

Agreed. If there is a run on hitters and all of Bleday, Greene and Bishop are gone, I have no problem seeing them take whoever the best arm happens to be (Allan or otherwise).

I just hope they don't end up going RHP/RHP at 9 and 21.
 
Agreed. If there is a run on hitters and all of Bleday, Greene and Bishop are gone, I have no problem seeing them take whoever the best arm happens to be (Allan or otherwise).

I just hope they don't end up going RHP/RHP at 9 and 21.

Pass on Rutledge...at least as a first rounder.

He couldn't find the strike zone with a GPS in his season at Arkansas, and bailed under kind of questionable circumstances before the season ended.

There's no doubt he has a lot of talent, but I see a right-handed Newk with possible makeup issues. He probably profiles as a closer in MLB if he makes it that far.
 
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