Laika

Not sure. I mean, who knows. Flewelling and Piasentin seem very different to me other than the Province they are from. Flewelling was a slot signee six spots after a high school player who signed $200k under slot, Ronny Cruz. It's true that in that pick range most high school drafters are over slot picks. Piasentin having a 60 arm may not matter much since he seems destined for 1B. Seems like power and then questions everywhere else. Not sure that he is an over slot guy with the hot tool and defense question marks. We will see.

I like the draft a lot, given what they were working with. Assuming they sign everybody that matters, they found a way to move money around to add some upside to the draft despite not having the 2nd round pick. Generally speaking: Parker is a R1 talent Spencer would have been a R1 talent if healthy, so you could consider his upside to be that of an R1 talent Bullard might be an R2 or R3 talent. He seems like a lot of other high school infield prospects, vague but well rounded scouting report on the kid. Cook is an R3 talent with upside comparable to higher picks. Interesting combination of upside and floor, since he might be an MLB contributor even if he never figures out how to hit for power. Bucknam and Piasentin might carry risk and that might be why they are going to sign for under slot (I assume) but you can still see the upside. Bucknam with his velo and spin, and Piasentin with his power. So if you squint it's kind of like they had 4 picks in the top three rounds of a straight draft. Parker, Spencer, Bullard, and Cook.

I like the Ferguson idea. Not sure why his K rate is down so much but Stuff+ likes everything he throws enough. Plus four seamer and sinker. I wonder if he considers the "cutter" as more of a hard bullet slider. I don't understand what Hayes would do for Toronto. He seems like a downgrade for the team no matter how they add him to the fold. Ernie is already an elite defender and when any OF come back it's probably Barger and Ernie at 3B and 2B most nights. Hayes' stick has been putrid for two years now.

Like, if Jake Cook never pitches and instead is in College with his coaches trying to access his raw power... is he more comparable to a guy like Garrett Mitchell?

Parker hits a ball 110 mph in this video So as a high school senior he already has as more raw power than, say, Cavan Biggio Easy to see that developing into 50+ game power when he is 23

I don't think that's a fair characterization at all. Fangraphs on Parker: Explosive lefty power bat with a (somewhat small sample) contact performance that reinforces confidence in Parker's ability to access his power. Sweeping bat path similar to Walker Jenkins and Brady Ebel with dangerous low ball uppercut. Has shown some ability to flatten his swing to cover the top of the zone, with some oppo-poked contact of this style... Has a little less bat-to-ball track record as the other elite prospects, but has the contact/power combo to be an everyday player... Since last year’s PG National, Parker has really gone wire-to-wire as the most even-keeled, well-rounded high school prospect. Fangraphs on Cook: Likely low-impact offensive player barring total overhaul in approach and swing. Of all the athletes who might be able to do something like that, the recently converted guy is as likely as anyone... His offense (currently a slash-and-dash type) might evolve as he accrues experience. Most highly drafted high school SS prospects sound like JoJo Parker on scouting reports. Jackson Merrill, Kevin McGonigle, all sounded like that. MLB says 60 hit 55 power for Parker. Cook, look up some video on him. He does have a goofy stance and swing and he has styled his game as a slash and dash burner. But he is not a thin little speedster, he's like 6'3" with some muscle on there. His first HR this year was an oppo shot. That Jays only draft him at 81 if they think they can coach power out of him. I bet his swing will look completely different in pro ball, or maybe in 2026.

Have to like those two picks.

10th rounder is this guy https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=smith-024aus was two-way in college but announced as an OF. seems boring but maybe in 7 years he will be the next Nathan Lukes!!!!!

One more boring dude on a slot pick and then we can sign this year's Carson Messina or whatever in round 11 or 12 wooooooop

This is what I hate about the slot draft system. It gets very boring when every team just punts every pick from rounds 5 through 9. You basically just flip part of the draft upside down for no real reason.

Well, him or any other overslot player.

Danny Thompson Jr. Older college RP.

Yeah he was more in the 40 FV tier for McDaniel and Law. Here is what law said: Bauer has been up to 102 mph multiple times this spring, getting himself a ton of attention, but the rest of the package doesn’t live up to the pure velocity; he was 94-98 when I saw him with a 45 slider and 40 command. There’s plenty of effort here and he doesn’t have a great feel for the secondaries. He can generate huge spin rates on his breaking stuff, but because he doesn’t throw enough strikes with the fastball, he hasn’t developed enough feel for throwing and locating his slider, and casts it to try to get it in the zone rather than throwing it with conviction. He cuts himself off in his landing, and really, no one is throwing 102 without some effort anyway. There’s a ton to dream on here between the pure arm strength and spin rates up to 3,000 rpms, especially from the left side, but you have to trust your pitching development process. Easy to see why the player and teams just didn't align on $$$.

Many teams wouldn't care about injury risk. He can pitch a bit, have TJS, then they can finalize his development. Probably just has insane $$$ demands. His scouting report makes it seem like the secondaries are way behind and there is little command

Yeah I just started it. Help me out

He was probably the best draft eligible contact hitter in the SEC and he did hit 8 homers so it could be 40 pop or something. Stat scouting here, obviously. They actually have college leaderboards on Fangraphs now, interestingly. I just noticed that.

He was 139th on the Perfect Game draft board. Tiny college SS. Five foot eight. About 1.03 Alejandro Kirk's high. Under slot? Seems like a utility man prospect more than anything.

How does a guy named JACK BAUER drop at all? c'mon.

The Jays already have a deal with the twin, where they take him is not relevant.

Personally I think they should go slightly under slot on every pick this draft then just give Ross Atkins a nice bonus for being in 1st at the All Star break. Maybe take him out to Ruth's Chris for lunch. Let him get dessert.

Yeah and Parker could even be slightly under slot

You never know. Generally yes high school players will be overslot at this point but he could be slot or under as a Canadian going to the Jays.

Tim Piasentin Lefty 1B/3B from Okotoks, Alberta. Okotoks is fun to say. Classic profile... big power but hit tool questions. Has an arm but probably too big for 3B down the road.