Day 2 of the MLB draft is underway, with the Nationals taking college lefty Sammy Solis. The Pirates followed their #2 overall Jameson Taillon pick with a second big hig school arm, Stetson Allie. Allie dropped to #52 due to a rumored $3MM price tag, tweets Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus. The Red Sox took college righty Brandon Workman with another notable pick, while James Paxton fell all the way to the Mariners at #132. Conor Glassey of Baseball America offers commentary on the second round here.
MLB.com's Draft Tracker is the place to be to follow along.
Quite a heist for the Pirates this year.
Agreed. If both those arms pan out then with everything else the Pirates have going for them, you could the Pirates dominating Central in 4-5 years.
I’ll believe it when I see it. They’ve had high picks for a long time now and haven’t went anywhere.
Yes, but a lot of those were wasted until Huntington came along.
another interesting pick with workman for the red sox. theo likes the “bulldog” mentality in pitchers, guys like Papelbon and Bowden. Would make a good bridge guy in the bullpen for most teams
I like the pick a lot less if they expect to develop him as a reliever.
im pretty sure thats the direction it goes though, i dont see alot with his off speed stuff for him to command a starting role, and neither does the scouting report, it also indicates he is a reliever
He’s been a starter all year for Texas.
starting in college and the majors are two very different things, i think if they try to make him a potential mlb starter, that they are going to run out of polish for him
Everyone knows they’re different. But for one thing, Workman wasn’t pitching for a lousy team or in a lousy conference; and for another, without some damning evidence he can’t hack it (there isn’t any), you don’t just convert him to a reliever without giving him a shot as a starter first. It’s goofy on so many levels. Cuts his value in half.
fair enough, you seem to know more about him so ill take your word for it
Bard was a highly touted starter out of north carolina when the sox drafted him. but he was’nt progressing until he started relieveing.
…Right. And if Workman doesn’t progress as a starter, give him a try at relieving. That doesn’t mean you make starters relievers from the go.
I think the Red Sox philosophy tends to be to try to develop them as a starter then around high A/AA they move them into roles. Workman’s body type screams a starter who can go deep, but from what I’ve read about his arsenal I’m guessing his ceiling is set up man.
Damn, I love that the Pirates are taking these big time high school arms. If they don’t spend much on the MLB payroll, they better spend a lot on the draft, and they usually do. This is light years better than the old regime drafting pitchable and signable college lefties and guys with 3rd starter ceilings.
Huntington’s going to the mattresses. Gotta love it. Not like Bonifay drafting his own son.
I can’t confess to being too perplexed with Allie falling out of the first round. He’s almost guaranteed to be a reliever and with questionable control the 9th inning might not be in his ultimate future. Cole falling into the 4th round is kind of surprising. I guess teams must really have thought he was determined to go to college.
Way, way, waaay too soon to say he’s almost guaranteed to be a reliever. He’ll be working with professional coaches, professional trainers, and an entire professional development staff whose job it is to make the most of his talent and work out his issues. Leaving aside all the physical development he has left, think that training alone might help a bit more than a high school coach has?
Even more ridiculous is your comment on his command, which is infinitely more correctable than stamina issues. Pitchers his age are SUPPOSED to have command problems.
As I said, it may not be in his ultimate future for being a 9th inning guy with regards to his command. It doesn’t mean anything other then his command is still very raw.
However you’re being a bit silly about the discussion of him being a reliever. About every profile you can find about him tallies him as a reliever for a good reason. The vast majority of pitchers can’t sit in the 96-100 mph range, (the very range that makes him a quality draft pick) and go 6+ innings. It’s the same philosophy as Joel Zumaya and Joba Chamberlain. Their value is highest in the pen.
He just turned NINETEEN you crazyass. He hasn’t even finished developing physically. Add that to all of this:
whatever arm strength training he’s done pales in comparison to what he’s about to experience in a professional program
his mechanics will necessarily improve with legitimate instruction at the pro level
his secondary pitches should be expected to develop
96-100 isn’t by any means required for a starter; he can be more than effective sitting at 93
I have no idea what the rush is with you people in developing young pitchers as relievers when ceteris paribus a top-shelf reliever is maybe half as valuable as even a legitimate #3 starter. Were he coming out of college with the problems he currently has, it might be more appropriate to fast-track him as a closer type. But he. is. nineteen. with great raw stuff. Groom him to start, and settle for relief work if he fails.
Relax, man. He thinks Allie will wind up being a reliever. It’s not too soon to make that guess. He can make that prediction anytime he wants to. Sure you groom him as a starter until he proves he can’t handle it. We get it. But it doesn’t mean you can’t speculate that he’ll end up as a reliever anyway.
Schweet backpedal bro. But the text is still up there. Dude said “He’s almost guaranteed to be a reliever and with questionable control the 9th inning might not be in his ultimate future.”
No one said it’s too soon to make predictions or guesses, what I said is that his prediction and his guess here is awful. Then he disputed that, so I showed him why.
You’re right, though – gotta relax. I was really outta control there. I even said “crazyass”. That’s when you KNOW a guy is steamed, amirite
What exactly would I be “backpedalling” from if this is my first post on the subject? And “he’s almost guaranteed to be a reliever” is still his opinion. He’s speculating on his ultimate future.
You’re post on the other hand talks about how he needs to be groomed as a starter. Example…”I have no idea what the rush is with you people in developing young pitchers as relievers..” I didn’t read where he or anyone else said he should be groomed as a reliever from the start. Did you? Yet it’s a rant you felt you needed to repeat several times.
Characterizing his comment as a mere guess was a huge step back from what his comment actually was. That’s a backpedal on his behalf. Didn’t think I’d have to explain, sorry.
Aaannd yep…I knew and know it’s his opinion. What else could it be? Aaaand I said it’s a bad one. Thaaaat’s what we’ve been talkin’ about around here.
He disagreed that it was a bad opinion, so I explained why I thought it was! (What are the odds.) And that’s where my “rant” that I apparently “repeated several times” (what did you do, read it more than once or something?) came in.
…And then you showed up! To say…welp, let’s just say you showed up.
LOL! Now that was quite a backpedal!
And, between posts on Workman and Allie, you stated that pitchers should be groomed as starters than move to relief if they fail in five different posts — despite no one every saying anything to the contrary. Shall I cut and paste them for you?
You damn well better! Let’s also count every time I’ve ever said it on any other post on this site — or any other site for that matter. Just so we can get everything relevant together in one place. Anything to make your interjection here seem appropriate.
Before you do, tho, I’d like you to clarify a few things for the group. Are these opinions we’re expressing right now? Is it okay to express opinions? Most importantly: should I relax, man?
Well, okay…If I damn well better…
1.” I have no idea what the rush is with you people in developing young pitchers as relievers”
2. “you don’t just convert him to a reliever without giving him a shot as a starter first.”
3. “And if Workman doesn’t progress as a starter, give him a try at relieving. That doesn’t mean you make starters relievers from the go.”
4. “Groom him to start, and settle for relief work if he fails.”
Oh, my bad. It was “only” 4 times you repeated the same thing over again. Congratulations. I declare you the winner in the debate “Reverend Black vs. Straw Man”.
Hello, constructive commenter? I am Context. I miss you. =(
Ok now do everybody a favor and get the last word; it will change everything. Ready go!
None of those commenters said anything about grooming either pitcher as a reliever from day one. That’s been the point all along. Meanwhile you’ve tried to re-frame this into an insipid discussion about the right to express opinions.
The Nationals picked Solis… Not the Astros…
kevin gausman went to the 6th round. damn. hes the best pitcher my former high school had ever seen
Does anyone know anything about the players the Red Sox took in the 3rd-10th rounds?
They drafted Kendrick Perkins ! Err, not that one. 🙂
It seems like they’re more into power bats. Plus, they drafted a guy named Roderick Shoulders, that’s a win right ?
I saw Perkins picture… he’s as big as his Celtic counterpart.
Do you think the Sox FO jokingly talked about how they need to make sure that all the Kendrick Perkins’ need to be in Boston uniforms? 😉
They probably made a deal with the Celtics, if there’s a basketball player named Ramon Ramirez, they have to sign him.