2023 MLB Draft Day 3 Thread

What are you all thinking of our draft coverage so far this year? Any comments on the tracker or things that could be improved?

An interesting development.

 

1 hour ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

What are you all thinking of our draft coverage so far this year? Any comments on the tracker or things that could be improved?

Too many threads. One draft thread is plenty. 

1 hour ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

What are you all thinking of our draft coverage so far this year? Any comments on the tracker or things that could be improved?

I like it... it's been pretty easy for me to follow

edit: though it wouldn't hurt for it to be in one thread

Edited July 11 by Rex Buckingham

We do multiple threads for a couple of reasons:

1. It makes it more accessible to users who aren't hammering the refresh button all day long (sorry you goons, other people exist, too) 😃

2. It helps drive up author page counts, which means we pay them more because our payment methods are based on views

Something like this would be awesome:

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/1/d/1R9hzhGo0Q_29g2bfa2yQwHYqNN799JzkCP7HyK-XCKY/htmlview#

I don't mind the different threads for different days, but it definitely impacts ongoing conversations and can make things a bit difficult to follow for people who aren't actively following everything. It's helpful that each thread has first posts with summaries and links, though.

I'd favor master posts for general MLB Draft discussions, Cubs-specific picks and links, and then a subsequent thread to track signings and bonuses.

2 minutes ago, Outshined_One said:

I don't mind the different threads for different days, but it definitely impacts ongoing conversations and can make things a bit difficult to follow for people who aren't actively following everything. It's helpful that each thread has first posts with summaries and links, though.

I'd favor master posts for general MLB Draft discussions, Cubs-specific picks and links, and then a subsequent thread to track signings and bonuses.

+1

6 minutes ago, Tim said:

Something like this would be awesome:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/1/d/1R9hzhGo0Q_29g2bfa2yQwHYqNN799JzkCP7HyK-XCKY/htmlview#

You mean just a draft overview page with all relevant information such as dates, times, etc?

That's a good idea, I'll add it to the list.

As for the draft itself, I wonder how much Duce Robinson is needing to split his time between pro baseball and USC football.  He's been linked to the Cubs in a couple places and is still sitting there.  

Just now, Brock Beauchamp said:

You mean just a draft overview page with all relevant information such as dates, times, etc?

That's a good idea, I'll add it to the list.

Did you click through all the tabs? 

Just now, Tim said:

Did you click through all the tabs? 

Oh, I missed that. Even better, will talk to JD about this next spring.

Just now, Brock Beauchamp said:

Oh, I missed that. Even better, will talk to JD about this next spring.

Yeah, keep an eye on it as the signings come in. I forget who maintains that, but he does an amazing job with a status overview on who has signed, who is leaning which way based on media and social media reports, where things stand with the bonus pool, etc. It's a fantastic resource for the draft itself, but even more so for tracking things afterwards.

One idea for future content, after the draft have a pick by pick view at what the author feels a good outcome/comp would be for that player.  I feel like most draftniks know that no one has detailed first hand info on all these guys, so the summary of  scouting reports tends to feel more watered down than it is useful.  Using a comp as the lens for describing the player allows the author's view to shine through a bit more because they can describe whether that's based on body type, pitch repertoire, swing, defense, etc.  Plus people love comps so I would guess it would be a decent performer, and you can hedge against the 'every player drafted is a big league starter' false assumption by being clear about what you're doing with the exercise up front.

6 minutes ago, Tim said:

Yeah, keep an eye on it as the signings come in. I forget who maintains that, but he does an amazing job with a status overview on who has signed, who is leaning which way based on media and social media reports, where things stand with the bonus pool, etc. It's a fantastic resource for the draft itself, but even more so for tracking things afterwards.

Wes Saver, i.e. Yagyu from the old PSD message board.  I don't remember if he ever made the move to NSBB or not after getting banned over there.  It turned into a dumpster fire.  

But he's been doing this for years.  It was an invaluable resource back in the days before bonus pool limits went into effect.  We let Yags do the dirty work in stalking the twitter accounts of 18 year olds to see if they were going to sign or not.  Dude was money.

16 minutes ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

..., so the summary of  scouting reports tends to feel more watered down than it is useful.  U...

I love having as many different scouting reports included as exist.  After the first few rounds, often there aren't very many.  But seeing different perspectives from different observers is really helpful.  In the threads, California Raisin has posted a bunch, and it's super interesting to see different thoughts on Carico's defense, for example.  Or Wiggins' fastball, one report can talk vertical drop, while another scout fastball as straight.  So whether in the threads themselves, or in the synopsis listing, I'd love to have as many links to multiple reports.

56 minutes ago, Hrubes20 said:

Wes Saver, i.e. Yagyu from the old PSD message board.  I don't remember if he ever made the move to NSBB or not after getting banned over there.  It turned into a dumpster fire.  

But he's been doing this for years.  It was an invaluable resource back in the days before bonus pool limits went into effect.  We let Yags do the dirty work in stalking the twitter accounts of 18 year olds to see if they were going to sign or not.  Dude was money.

Do you know how to get in contact with this person? I see their Twitter is locked, anyone have an in there?

37 minutes ago, craig said:

I love having as many different scouting reports included as exist.  After the first few rounds, often there aren't very many.  But seeing different perspectives from different observers is really helpful.  In the threads, California Raisin has posted a bunch, and it's super interesting to see different thoughts on Carico's defense, for example.  Or Wiggins' fastball, one report can talk vertical drop, while another scout fastball as straight.  So whether in the threads themselves, or in the synopsis listing, I'd love to have as many links to multiple reports.

Oh I agree, but for Brock's purposes he/the writers are not gonna plagiarize those different reports, so what ends up in their summary instead ends up being the agreed upon generalities that are less useful/interesting.

3 hours ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

What are you all thinking of our draft coverage so far this year? Any comments on the tracker or things that could be improved?

I think it's great! Only real comment would be are this many threads necessary? But thank you to all who put the effort in to know who these players are!

40 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

Do you know how to get in contact with this person? I see their Twitter is locked, anyone have an in there?

I do not.  Sorry.  

1 minute ago, Hrubes20 said:

I do not.  Sorry.  

I shot them an email, hopefully they respond. The work they do is fantastic and we will definitely find a way to get them paid for it if they're interested in such a thing. Now that we run three sites, we can leverage all three to pay these draft folks pretty well.

2 hours ago, Hrubes20 said:

Wes Saver, i.e. Yagyu from the old PSD message board.  I don't remember if he ever made the move to NSBB or not after getting banned over there.  It turned into a dumpster fire.  

But he's been doing this for years.  It was an invaluable resource back in the days before bonus pool limits went into effect.  We let Yags do the dirty work in stalking the twitter accounts of 18 year olds to see if they were going to sign or not.  Dude was money.

Is this Savermetrics? He’s posted on NSBB before and is on Twitter.

1 minute ago, CaliforniaRaisin said:

Is this Savermetrics? He’s posted on NSBB before and is on Twitter.

Yes.  I believe that was his twitter name.

https://www.insidenova.com/sports/prince_william/as-big-baseball-decision-draws-closer-colonial-forges-zyhir-hope-stays-in-the-moment/article_de26acf8-f95d-11ed-b60c-7f02618691fb.html

Quote

Six organizations attended the district tournament final May 17 against Riverbend, including a national crosschecker for the Chicago Cubs. It was at least the second time a Cubs’ cross-checker has seen Hope this season. The other was May 10 against Massaponax when Hope went 2 for 4 with two RBI and a home run.

Against Riverbend, Hope was 2 for 3 with two runs scored and one RBI. He also struck out two in the final inning, while hitting 95 miles per hour on the radar gun in the 8-2 victory.

 

Zyhir Hope, HS OFer is the 11th rounder.  

Unranked by MLB. Prospects Live has him 137th in the draft.  Says he has power/speed combo with CF defense.