I love draft day. So much promise, so much potential.
This year the A’s have picks 9, 50, 70, 85 and then pick 9th in rounds 4 on and have $9,553,000 to spend total.
It sounds as though there is a fair bit of consensus as to who the top 5 picks will be, but after that things are far less clear. There are still a lot of names being suggested for the A’s including Jonathan India Jaren Kelenic, Travis Swaggerty and Nolan Gorman. The A’s had previously been said to be interested in Shane McClanahan but he seems to be falling in recent mock drafts.
Looking forward to talking draft, prospects and bullshit with you FKers.
After absolutely ZERO research, I would like LHP Liberatore to fall to us at 9. Thx.
Thanks, and go As.
MLB nearly cleared the decks tonight to put the focus on the draft. Three west coast night games, with only the second game of a Yankees/Tigers doubleheader foiling the plan of no games during the draft itself.
I hadn’t made the connection. I was surprised to see such a light schedule today but didn’t think about the draft in that context at all.
It seems like BA has put a lot more of their stuff behind the pay wall this year.
Billy will ask for a subscription for the A’s as part of the Chapman trade.
Were you looking for something in particular? I’m happy to share.
Nothing important. I just recall that in past years I could look at their mock drafts and some of the prospect rankings.
Yeah, they seem to have redesigned their whole site and I hate it.
The Most Entertaining of the Mock Drafts
just before I logged in I was thinking, its time for an aardvark siting.
So besides mikev for Liberatore, who are people rooting for?
After minimal research, I’m rooting for high upside again and I think Liberatore’s probably best there. Gorman came for a workout. Anybody else?
also the 3B. Gorman?
edit: I’m an idiot. It’s in the main post. Gorman.
Thanks, and go As.
I don’t feel too strongly this time around, but if Bohm falls to the A’s like in the latest BA mock draft, that would be great.
BA has update their mock draft today with India and Kelenic moving up and Bohm dropping to the A’s.
And just like that they have an update to that update that has the A’s taking Gorman.
Sandra Day O’Connor High School.
how is that abbreviated?
SDOCHS
SDOHS
DOHS
OHS?
Callis and Mayo now both have us taking RHP Brady Singer.
I would have sworn they both had him going in the top 5 half an hour ago on tv.
Heh. They both had him at #4 this morning, at least.
Sounds like it could be a situation just like (his former teammate) Puk, where a pitcher originally expected to go higher drops into the A’s lap.
Interesting. Singer is considered to have lower upside than some others but could move quickly and had been high all year.
Tiggers on the clock.
Unsurprisingly the tigers take Mize.
Last BA mock is also available.
Looks like the consensus is Mize, Bart, Bohm to start, with some doubt about what the ChiSox will do at #4.
Bart goes #2
BA is 3 for 3 as Bohm goes to the Phillies:
Madrigal to the white Sox:
Reds take India:
Kleenex #6:
In a somewhat surprising move the padre go Weathers:
So we will get one of Liberatore, Gorman, Swaggerty, and Singer
The A’s have their pick of those 4 as Braves go Stewart.
Stewart scouting report:
Really hard to say how the A’s go here. I’m surprised Singer is available. Perhaps the A’s like that he could help quickly given their window.
WFT?! Kyler Murray.
What in the absolute hell is going on here???
I have to assume the A’s have a plan here, but I definitely don’t see it.
It sure sounds like they reached down for a guy who probably won’t sign for under slot and might not sign at all.
In the 4 minutes I’ve been reading about it, I fucking HATE the pick.
I’m actually really hoping that they take a bunch of “undraftable” guys in the later rounds now and go over slot to get 3-4 first rounders.
Thanks, and go As.
Maybe they have a deal with him. The difference in slotting for #9 ($4,761,500) and anything in the 70 (under a million) range is huge. So maybe the A’s plan to save money with him and go after someone who drops at #50.
BA has him down at 77:
LOL, he was #1 on Harold Reynolds’ board.
They are saying on TV that he is going to play this football season with Oklahoma and then switch to baseball. How does that work when you have to sign in the summer or go back into the draft? The NCAA would let a kid with a professional baseball contract play football?
If I remember correctly, he can sign by the deadline and return to school as long as he doesn’t play baseball. That’s what would put him back in draft eligibility.
Interesting. I hope the A’s get some insurance on his knees.
Wow this is the craziest pick I’ve ever seen the A’s make in the Beane era. It’s so un-A’s like. I’m not sure how I feel about this.
I’m not thrilled about having to nervously watch college football games this fall.
#swag to Pirates at 10:
#11 Grayson Rodriguez:
Jordan Groshans, Connor Scott, Logan Gilbert, and Cole Winn go 12-15.
Libartore finally goes at 16. I wonder if that’s high enough to buy him away from college.
Singer finally goes at 18 to the Royals, just after Jordyn Adams.
Gorman, Larnach, Turang, Rolison, Seigler, Hoerner, McLain, Casas, Denaburg, Beer, Naylor, and Ginn round out the top 30.
Some thoughts on Murray from Callis:
From the BP chat:
The question for me is do they have an underslot deal with Murray worked out (in exchange they’ll let him play football) or is this still a case where he’s a slot or overslot sign? I’ve read it both ways and both sound plausible. I guess their next pick will sort of reveal their intentions here.
If they get a discount and can sign an over slot guy I like that play. If the A’s pay slot or over for him, that’s a little scary. Then again, the athleticism is undeniable.
More on Murray:
Wow, TB takes Shane McClanahan at 31 after already taking advantage of Libaratore dropping to them at 15.
Now I know how Bed feels.
Dead sexy
i love this. don’t stop
Did you shave your head?
I didn’t know we were doing round 2 tonight!
We got Jameson Hannah, an outfielder from Dallas.
Yep, and the competitive balance round B, and the supplemental second round.
A’s take Jameson Hannah. BA has him at #48 and MLB at 32.
BA Scouting Report:
His profile is not too dissimilar from last year’s second pick, Kevin Merrell. In the big leagues, I could see our Boog Powell being a reasonable comp. Not too sure about guys like this unless he suddenly starts tapping into more power.
It does seem to indicate that they don’t expect to save much money with Murray. I would’ve loved to see Kumar Rocker picked here instead.
My thoughts exactly.
And with their last pick of the night, the A’s take Jeremy Eierman. He was pretty well regarded so maybe he’s the over slot guy:
What I want to know is, can he hit and pitch?
I don’t know, but he plays QB and somehow has a below average throwing arm as an outfielder.
Tebow!
“he’s not injured enough to be an A yet.”
I wonder if the A’s can get injury risk insurance for a guy that doesn’t even play for them yet.
I would think if he is under contract they could get insurance, and if he is not under contract then the risk is all on his side.
that would be one expensive policy
Yes.
Not sure if this BA article is behind a pay wall, so here’s the part about the A’s:
Drafting starts today in about half an hour. A’s pick 7th in the 3rd round (85th overall) and then 9th the rest of the way through. I’ll be around much of the day for your drafty updates.
Callis just had some very nice things to say about Murray. Basically, his focus has been football but had it been baseball, he would have gone in the first round in 2015. And he was way better at baseball this year than people would have expected given that he basically hasn’t played for the last two years. Definitely has risk, but the upside is there and it sounds like the A’s did their work.
He also mentioned that the A’s could sign a two sport deal, which allows them to spread the bonus over 5 years. I remember this being used in the past but had completely forgotten about it.
wait, what?
Which part makes you say what?
the two sport deal part.
Wait, how does this 5 year spreading work? Solely for capital purposes, like the A’s salary for 2018 is 1/5*x? I’m assuming not for the signing bonus allocation for a #9 pick. What benefit does this grant the A’s besides theoretically paying $600K in 2018 as opposed to $3M? If he gets hurt playing football, do the A’s get benefit?
Correct that it doesn’t change anything about the slotting for the #9 pick. But it’s not just if he gets hurt. It’s also if he chooses not to play baseball. As I understand it, teams get 5 years to pay out the full bonus, rather than 1.5. How it all gets divided out depends on the negotiations. If he gets hurt or decides not to play at any point during the 5 years A’s keep whatever wasn’t paid out.
oh
Always good when the first thing said about the pitcher you just drafted is “coming off of an oblique injury.”
Why do so many of these guys have two last names and no first name?
Jameson Hannah Hogan Harris Brady Feigl
Lawrence Butler
Clark Cota
A’s take Hogan Harris in round 3:
Alfonso Rivas in round 4:
Brady Feigl in round 5, was ranked way down at #471:
Lawrence Butler in the 6th:
Charlie Cerny in the 7th who neither MLB or BA have a scouting report on, but I’ll look for one.
I really like the 8th round pick of JJ Schwarz. He’s someone who, earlier in his college career, people thought could go in round 1. His performance was inconsistent and he dropped last year. Could be a great pick at 8:
I like the sound of “loose wrists.” Sign this kid.
I can’t find much about Cerny, he’s only started 7 games and has in his college career but his 2018 numbers were dominant. Apparently his FB gets up to 93.
Jameson Hannah will be at the A’s game in Texas tonight, notes Slusser. She also points out that in 2016 Hannah played for the Savannah Bananas.
That’s hilarious. That roster also includes a kid named Rylan Bannon.
Hannah Hannah Savannah Banana.
there is always money in the savanah bananas
I’ll have to see if I can find the hat or t-shirt I bought, but I could swear when I went there it was the Savannah Sand Gnats. The switch to Bananas is inspired.
I would 100% figure out a way to make them enter the field from above just so you could have Savannah Bananas coming down the stairs.
Have half go left and half go right.
So when I was looking for Chase Cohen among the BA top 500, I learned that there are 12 guys named Chase on that list. And 0 named Cohen.
Cohen in round 9 (from mlb):
Clark Cota in round 10:
“Chase” and “Cohen” are names that do not fit together.
Schwarz and Cohen in consecutive rounds!
Is Schwarz & Cohen the firm representing Maxwell in his upcoming case?
I don’t know anything about any of the guys at this point. Reports on guys that BA has:
11: Demars
14: Varland
25-Jones:
27-Calabuig
Well thank god we have someone with an oblique injury…
I’m more excited to have a “big-bodied pitcher” to follow again.
More name fun:
In looking for A’s 19th round pick Matt Cross, I learned that there were two players eligible for the draft with the first name Cross. Cross Holfert and, get this…Cross Factor. 80 grade name. The endorsement deals alone!
The A’s also took a dude with the last name Dingcong. As in looks like it rhymes with King Kong.
Sounds like over slot.
Not under, at least.
Still seems like quite a bit of risk – not just the chance he gets hurt playing football, but another half year (at least) of lost development time for someone who already is considered raw.
Worth it
I tend to agree with you, although a Rickey Henderson comp is almost as bad as a Bo Jackson comp. You just can’t compare young ballplayers to the greatest athletes of all time.
I wonder if there’s any data about how big of a risk this is. How often do college QB experience an injury that would derail a potential baseball career?
Per wikipedia, Kyler Murray’s uncle Calvin was the batter when Randy Johnson hit the bird.
My heart is twice as warm already.