The Rays are also looking at Posey as a need pitch at catcher. He is a bit of a long shot since his ceiling is precived as being too low for the top spot.

I would go with Matusz with the pick, assuming of course that Alvarez will be gone. I think picking Smoak could cause issues since Snyder and Rowell both project to first basemen in the majors.

The team's still too needy to fall too hard into that best-athlete-available mode. And almost all of our needs are in the lineup, particularly in the infield. I'd say that no matter whether Matusz or Crow are left at pick 4, we'd need to pick from T. Beckham, Buster Posey, Justin Smoak, or Eric Hosmer, all of whom will end up playing an infield spot in the big leagues. There's no way Alvarez drops to four. If he's there, the pick's a no-brainer.

Boras with Wieters, Arrieta, Alvarez, and Teixeira. Nothing boring there.

We're halfway there. Let's make it happen.

If that Aaron Crow vs. Shooter Hunt match up works out down the line, we may see some feathers fly.

Isn't it true that expectations for Snyder & Rowell have been rolled back alot, especially when compared to Weiters? For instance, I have heard that Snyder will be a utility guy at best in the ML if he makes it & that Rowell isn't expected to be any big deal himself now. If I am wrong, good, but I was just wondering. My Pt? If they got a future fringe util guy & a so so 3B with 2 of the last 3 high #1 picks, what does that say about Mr Jordan's stewardship of the draft?

If available I'd go with Smoak, Alvarez and G. Beckham in that order. What better than to have the Goose Creek connection playing for you.... Most reports say Smoak's power is legit and ready for prime time. Also, the Rays have been reportedly interested in Posey which is good for us.

Roch, what do you hear about the Miami U 1B, he appears like the real deal & I thought I heard he was in this year's draft.

I bet Shooter's real name is Mike isn't it....

IF they are thinking about Alvarez, what does that say about their plans for Rowell?

** Justin Smoak played high school baseball w/ Wieters**
That could have the makings of somehting special. As a college vet, Smoak should be ready for the bigs in a couple of seasons. Adding his bat to a lineup that should have a polished Markakis, Jones, Wieters & hopefully Rowell could be intriguing.

We are getting a little back loaded at the 1B position. Rowell will probably end up there if not at DH. Another question to ponder is, why place such a rock solid hitting prospect like Wieters behind the plate. Why waste the kids legs there?

In regards to the draft, we have to trust our scouts. It is very risky to take a pitcher in the first round, but then again arms win rings so you have to go there sometime.

Billy Rowell is still a bigtime prospect. He's starting to put up numbers as one of the youngest guys in the Carolina league (19). And many still think he's our 3B of the futureed. The O's won't pass on Matusz if he's there, he's the #1 pitcher in the draft and if he's available it means Alvarez and Beckham are long gone. They'll get criticized for taking him over Smoak but you can never have enough pitching.

I'd take a look at the dark horse candidate, Thomas Mark. He can hit and the kid is all muscle. The odd part is that he has very tiny 'tic tac' teeth. That would make for an unusual baseball card.

My mind keeps getting images from the classic 11-inning, 10-9 Oriole win over the Yanks.

There was so much in that game.

How about the 4-2-5 DP? I don't recall having seen that one before. Roberts makes a great grab and then Quiroz fires to third in a remarkable heads up play.

I had seen 9 home runs in the first five innings before. I watched that Phils-Cubs on Philly TV on May 17, 1979 when the wind was blowing out big time at Wrigley and the Phils beat the Cubs, 23-22.

Whitney Thompson's father was my little league coach.

No clue on the Cycle 10 winner either but i'd love to throw out the first pitch.

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Small world, isn't it? - Roch

I read a great article on Buster Posey mentioning how versatile he is. He has good size (6'2, 200+ pounds), and has played all nine positions at Florida State. He can flat out rake too. If he is still at #4, I say nab him.

David Fisher--"All muscle" in a "dark horse" sounds intriguing. But, "very tiny 'tic tac' teeth?"

Gee, makes me think of Kenny Clay "spitting the bit," as George Steinbrenner so sensitively put it.

Talking about bite, I disagree with you on Joba's slider. It will definitely leave an impression.

Orioles can use another LHP in the minors and by all accounts Matusz will be in the majors in two years. Selecting him would raise questions concerning the futures of our top lefty prospects Loewen and Patton both of whom have had the injury bug lower expectations.

I would pass on Matusz unless I were convinced he was a potential #1 pitcher simply because there is not much of a talent difference between Matusz and some of the bats at the top of the draft. Given the Orioles needs for infield prospects I would choose in this order Pedro Alvarez, Justin Smoak, Gordon Beckham, Tim Beckham.

If I were drafting, I would take Alvarez and Smoak in that order, because we need a potent third baseman, and Mora is getting old. Heck he is already old. And, we thought Rowell would be our third baseman.

Then, Smoak is second because I'm banking on getting Teixiera. Of course, this is in a perfect world. But on the other hand, if we don't get Teixiera, Smoak is an excellent backup choice for us.

If we're doing pitchers, I would take Brian Matusz first, and then Aaron Crow. The reason for this is because Matusz is 6"5", and we have a knack for getting tall pitchers. Of course, that's a very low reason. The main reason is Matusz recorded a career-high 13 strikeouts on three occasions and rung up 10 or more batters in nine games. This means he is very dominant, and could be our Josh Beckett or Joba Chamberlain in that respect.

Now, for Aaron Crow, he pitched 117.2 innings in 2007. In addition, he led the team in strikeouts (90), and pitched at least seven innings in 11 of his 18 starts on the year, including complete games against Texas A&M and Kent State. This tells me that Crow can go the distance everytime he gets on that mound. He is exactly the pitcher we have needed for a long time. One that can go at least 7 innings, and get CGs at any time. He can also strike out people as well as Matusz.

That would be my draft if we went either way. The players, position or pitcher, are very appealing, and would be a great choice for the Orioles. Of course, I'd like somebody who would be inserted at Triple-A and could come up to the Orioles in a short time.

Here are 9 top players and an assesment by Greg Pappas

Pedro Alvarez, College 3B, Vanderbilt, Age=21, 6' 2 - 225. bats left, throws right and plays a decent third base. Alvarez has comparable skills to Alex Gordon, with a .300+ BA and middle of the lineup production (30+ HR, 100+ RBI) very possible.

Tim Beckham, (GA) High School SS, Age=18, 6' 0 - 188. Unlike many High School SS's, Beckham will stay at short. A .300 ML hitter with 15-20 HR's and 40+ SB's per year, all while playing great defense at short. He has been compared to BJ and Justin Upton,

Buster Posey, College C, Florida State, Age=21, 6' 1 - 205. Posey's defensive strengths, athleticism, and solid offensive skill-set have scouts abuzz, as the former SS has bounded into top 10 consideration. Posey has been spectacular in '08 and is being rumored as a possible 1st overall pick.

Brian Matusz, College LHSP, San Diego, Age=21, 6' 4 - 195. Matusz is one of those pitchers that just has ML'er written all over him. He employs a sweet combination of crafty lefty with a low nineties fastball and consistently throws three quality pitches for strikes.

Eric Hosmer, (FL) High School 1B, Age=18, 6' 4 - 220. For me, Hosmer may be the single best 1B prospect in the last 20 years. Eric profiles as a middle of the order beast. With perhaps the sweetest swing in the draft.

Justin Smoak, College 1B, South Carolina, Age=21, 6' 3 - 200. With sound swing mechanics from both sides of the plate that generates both average and power. Smoak does play a very good defensive 1B. The following line a rough estimate of his hitting abilities> .290/.375/.510/.885 with 30'ish HR's and good run production.

Aaron Crow, College RHSP, Missouri, Age=21, 6' 2 - 215. Missouri right-hander Aaron Crow easily repeats his mechanics, which may contribute to why his command of a low to mid-nineties fastball (which has hit 98 occasionally) has been outstanding, and has a solid repertoire of secondary pitches, with a slider and change both grading out as average to above-average.

Kyle Skipworth, (CA) High School C, Age=18, 6' 4 - 205. Skipworth has been a steady riser among scouts who have watched his growth in the California H.S. ranks. At a physically impressive 6' 4 205, Kyle features a 4-tool skill-set, with speed being his only detriment. He reminds some of Joe Mauer.

Gordon Beckham, College SS, Georgia, Age=21, 6' - 190. There's another Beckham in Georgia... Gordon is his name, and he's pushing his way into the limelight. He is compared occasionally to Khalil Greene, but Gordon should hit for a higher average while being less of a defender than Khalil.

Thanks Ron for the information. Very easy to read. These players are all very talented, and I think if we land any one of these men, we will achieve our target.

You do know that by "played all 9 positions" it means that against a vastly inferior opponent his coach thought it would be amusing to have him play all 9 in the same game. I don't blame the kid for it of course but it was a tasteless move for the program.

Word is that Posey won't hit higher then 7th or so in a major league lineup, the only way he goes top 5 is for a team with a need at catcher.

Cycle 10 means the 10th season. Silly silly boys! Know your ANTM facts! Gosh!

High school Beckman is what they want. Good luck.Big time.

Most sources are leaning towards the following as the top three picks in the draft: 1. Tampa - Tim Beckham 2. Pittsburgh - Alvarez 3. KC - Hosmer

That leaves the Orioles to choose between Smoak or Matusz. I didn't realize that Smoak was a switch-hitter, which to me is a major plus. The problem with Smoak is what do you then do with Billy Rowell? I have seen him play third base and am not convinced that he can stay there. Matusz sounds solid, but accounts that I have read suggest that neither he nor Crow are #1 starters in the bigs. That said, who needs a clear #1 when you have 3-4 guys that may be #2 starters in your rotation?

Brian - I wouldn't be too critical of Joe Jordan. We had four picks in the first five rounds last year and got Wieters, Tim Bascom, Jacob Arrieta, and a first baseman named Joe Mahoney who has done well at Delmarva. Let's wait a little while before you right off Rowell and Snyder.

Besides Rowell and Snyder who were some of the early round picks from the 2005 and 2006 draft?

JWBBZ - Why waste Wieters legs behind the plate? Because he is a good reciever, has a cannon for an arm, and is the kind of guy you build teams around.

I don't know anything about any of the players since I don't watch or pay attention to college baseball at all (I can barely watch college football and basketball, you think I can get through baseball?) so my opinion doesn't really count much. I'd assume the scouts are actively researching their prospects in person, as I personally never believe a stat sheet.

As for keeping Wieters a catcher...it's because he's a damn good catcher. There's no rule saying you can't be a good hitter and a catcher (Varitek and Pudge for example) and if he throws out people and leads his pitching staff well, then why bother moving him? Or are you willing to trade away 8+ years at least of good pitch calling for an extra 2 years or so of 30 homers? Sounds like a stupid tradeoff to me.

And if you move Wieters now, who's going to become the Orioles future catcher after Ramon leaves? Quiroz?

You know, you guys who have given up on Billy Rowell already are idiots. He's 19, for chrissake. The kid is producing decent numbers at high-A ball when most kids are graduating from high school. He could play in the minors 3 or 4 more years. Everyone knew he was a project when he was drafted at 17. And Joe Jordan is awesome, by the way. Since he took over our drafts, we drafted Nick Markakis, Billy Rowell, Matt Wieters, Jake Arrieta, Pedro Beato, and many more solid prospects. For years, the O's had no idea when drafting.

Herb - We should call him HSBeckham!

Matusz is the real deal, and having seen
enuf of Bedard and Kazmir recently, I would hope that he would be the 3rd coming.
Let's all assume that last year's dealings with Boras end up down the line as good as they seem right now.
I would urge caution, and avoid the assumption that this would happen again. There are, in every draft, quality players not represented by a Boras type, who have more realistic handles on their potential value to any one team. These dollars saved are critical not just to signing draft prospects, but as well for securing the prospects that we have currently.

My bet:

Rays pick Posey. I can't see them taking Beckham with Brignac not far out from being their shortstop.

Pirates pick Beckham. With all the fanfare Boras brings, the cost to sign, the Loewen-esque contract (having to be in the MLB by a certain time), Pirates aren't ready for Alvarez. They will take Beckham and polish him at their own pace.

Royals will either take Matusz or Alvarez. They need pitching, and I think that with Alex Gordon being their 3B for a long time, Matusz makes sense for them.

That being said, the Orioles will take the opposite of the Royals pick, Matusz or Alvarez. My long shots are Smoak and G. Beckham, as I like them a lot more than Matusz or Alvarez.

"Most sources are leaning towards the following as the top three picks in the draft: 1. Tampa - Tim Beckham 2. Pittsburgh - Alvarez 3. KC - Hosmer"

Hosmer is heavily rumored to be more interested in going to college than signing with a MLB team. He would be risky for KC to take... I think KC has better options earlier than him.

I've ssen Alvarez play more than 100 games in person and believe me, he is the real deal... better all-around player than Smoak who would be a solid pick as well.