Looking ahead to the 2018 draft

[zambonir]

The problem is, if you believe he deserves to be rehabilitated than you also believe he's a liar, as he now says he didn't do anything.

OTOH, if you believe what he says it's easier to take him.

I don't think he should be playing for Oregon State at all myself, but being allowed to get a job, essentially, is different.

Still, as the mother of his victim said in the NY Times piece (I haven't read the SI yet but SL Price is very good so I'm sure it's extremely interesting):

He Was Convicted of Molesting a 6-Year Old. Should He Have a Future in Baseball?

For her daughter, she said, the case “will only go away when Luke is out of the light. If he makes it to the big leagues, he will be in the light forever. Any accomplishment he makes will shine the light on her. It could be 50 years from now, he gets inducted into the Hall of Fame, they will bring up this story.

It's admirable when teams give guys a second chance but I don't necessarily need the Phillies to be team that makes this woman and her daughter feel bad. More selfishly, not sure I need my team to deal with the media coverage. And really, regardless of what might have actually happened the whole things stinks of a person you want to stay away from. I mean, this whole thing came to light because he forgot to register, that's not a good look either (and I think sex offender registries are generally terrible and overused. But if you're careless or indifferent about something like that what else are you careless and indifferent about?)

[Squire]

During his weekly chat, I asked Kiley McDaniel whether things were starting to solidify around:

1. Mize
2. Bart
3. Bohm

And he said that they recently heard some buzz which would blow that up. So stay tuned I guess.

[zambonir]

"Buzz" about Mize maybe?

The curious case of Casey Mize and his splitter

(Story wonders if injury is inevitable, or if the Tigers might want him to use the pitch less.)

[andyb]

Could also be talk about Bohm not being a 3B long term and I was never totally sold on Bart this high in the draft.

Which gets me to my ever-repeating question of why the Phillies are not looking at Liberatore more?

[zambonir]

Must be that "grow the bats, acquire the arms" strategy we kept hearing about.

[Austinfan]

I think it's "acquire minor league arms" - Pivetta, Velasquez, Eflin, but also Thompson, Eshelman, Windle, on the other hand De Los Santos, Lively, Arauz, McGarry, Hammer, Tirado, Mills, Requena.

There's something to be said for this strategy, trading for good young pitchers in A and to a less extent AA ball tends to be relatively cheap, and "safety in numbers," stockpile a few and you'll hit on some lottery tickets. Given the rate of burnout from the draft and LA to A ball, this might be a hidden economy in baseball.

[SerAdonisKingery]

I saw that yesterday too. Law just put out a new mock with the Mize-Bart-Bohm top 3 so who knows.

[fish]

Not a first round pick, but would you take Luke Heimlich?

si.com

He's one of college baseball's best pitchers. He's also an admitted juvenile sex...

He's one of the best college pitchers, a first-round draft talent—and an admitted juvenile sex offender whose crime, if not for a legal glitch, may have stayed secret forever. Watching Luke Heimlich pitch stirs wonder and outrage—and questions about...

Baseball-wise, from what I've seen his stuff has ticked up this year after what was already good last year. Without his history to think about he'd be a top 10 overall pick this year. In almost every other circumstance I'd be inclined to say a kid convicted of a crime at age 15 deserves a chance again, but the importance of kids to the game just feels like too big of an obstacle. Someone's going to get a really good pitcher...and a long long period of uncomfortable scrutiny and coverage.

[xogfog]

Strange in Law's Mock 2.0, his Phillies comment, with Mize and Bart off the board, he has them taking Bohm, but says "It sounds like this is probably Bohm or Bart. I've heard Madrigal and Travis Swaggerty are out here." No mention of Singer who he has going 5th to the Reds.

[Squire]

Yeah, I don't think there is any indication that the Phillies are even considering Singer. I'm glad they are out on Swaggerty. I guess I'd be OK with Madrigal if he could play SS but I think its Mize-Bart or Bohm for the Phillies at this point.

[David_Criss]

I can tell you from watching Alec Bohm play he looks like someone who would not need much time in the minors before being ready for the show. Joey Bart also makes a lot of sense for the Phillies. Having the number three pick anything is possible. All the talk about Detroit not being able to afford Casey Mize, who knows what will happen,

Mize, Matt Leberatore, Brody Singer, Alec Bohm, Joey Bart, Nick Madrigal, Kumar Rocker and Brice Turang are all bats and arms the Phillies should be concentrating on with the third pick. They could all be available.

[flyers19rw]

A case for taking Joey Bart

Detroit Tigers have top pick in MLB draft: Joey Bart would be a catch

[LoneStarPhan]

If they can get a player who becomes a productive major leaguer in a few years, they will have done fine. It's fun to read all the speculation, but I don't know who they should take. I hope the professionals working for the Phillies make a good call on the pick.

[phillychuck]

If Bart is still on the board at #3 (Bohm and Mize are gone) do we take him given Alfaro and Knapp?

[bigegypt0417]

If Bart is still on the board at #3 (Bohm and Mize are gone) do we take him given Alfaro and Knapp?

This is why MLB should at least consider allowing trades...even if they add a formula for how you can make those trades. Kind of like the point value system NFL teams use.

[Squire]

I’d take Singer but I’d be ok with Bart

[bkeich]

This is why MLB should at least consider allowing trades...even if they add a formula for how you can make those trades. Kind of like the point value system NFL teams use.

That would actually be pretty simple for Baseball, they already have the system in place (there actually isnt a system in the NFL, it is just a chart of opinions of slots). MLB has hard slots for the draft spots, so you just make a rule that the trade has to be within a certain dollar amount of being equal (100K?) and then maybe assign a slot price based on salary / performance of "existing" players (a little harder) (2nd part if you want to be able to trade players for picks, but if you just stick to picks for picks it is very simple)

[bigegypt0417]

This is why MLB should at least consider allowing trades...even if they add a formula for how you can make those trades. Kind of like the point value system NFL teams use.

That would actually be pretty simple for Baseball, they already have the system in place (there actually isnt a system in the NFL, it is just a chart of opinions of slots). MLB has hard slots for the draft spots, so you just make a rule that the trade has to be within a certain dollar amount of being equal (100K?) and then maybe assign a slot price based on salary / performance of "existing" players (a little harder) (2nd part if you want to be able to trade players for picks, but if you just stick to picks for picks it is very simple)

I would imagine it should be easy to put together.

So if a team wanted the 3rd pick and was drafting 5th it would be a swap and maybe a 3rd round pick?

[allentown]

I would strongly consider Liberatore or Singer. I have no problem with Bart if he is clearly the best player available. Catchers are very tradable. We need 2 of them and Alfaro and Knapp still aren't sure things going forward and it will be at least a couple years until Bart is ready to play in majors. That's different than my view of taking Madrigal, since 2B don't seem to be super tradable and he doesn't seem that position flexible -- I assume he can become a CF, but we've drafted so many guys with his profile (not as good as him, but still scares me off a little).

[phillychuck]

I think I'm with Squire--Singer would be my choice if that happened, but I have no problem with Bart, who might be an all-star when he matures.