Orioles Sign Matt Hobgood

What I like about this kid's makeup is that Palmer jokingly asked him why didn't he wait until Aug 15th and sign in the last few minutes like every other bonus baby, and he replied that he doesn't think 2 lost months of baseball is worth an extra 1M, and he just wants to start playing ball. His mother also mentioned that his personality is that he'd pay to play baseball. On tonight and last night's broadcast Palmer seemed to like him based on how he described their conversation. Hobgood was asking him about how to go thru a lineup multiple times thru, how he should use his fastball, etc. Of course, a classic Palmer response was to throw a ton of strikes with the fastball until the batter proves he can hit it. Based on physique, Hobgood looks like he can get a slight headstart over most HS pitchers since he's probably close to built up conditioning for a starting pitcher. For a HS guy he could move fast, but he is starting at Delmarva tomorrow.

Orioles are continuing to invest heavily on adding new topflight pitching to an already excellent depth there. Now they've got Tillman, Arrieta, Matusz, and Hobgood. Any of those guys could be the instant #1 pitching prospect in many organizations.