a700hitter

I am hearing that some of the very top players are not getting drafted ... possibly because signing money is short this year. 21 of the pre draft ranked top 100 weren't taken. 15 of those 21 were HS kids. Two of the best available pitchers: Victor Mederos and Jordan Walker went undrafted. Red Sox pick Blaze Jordan was my great nephew's roommate in USA 15 & Under team. Kid has been hitting 400 ft bombs since age 14-15. Kid wins every HR derby, but in game action he swings and misses a ton. Swings and misses at 90 mph fastballs. Maybe his swing is too long and can be fixed or his quick twitch is too slow. He also has a big arm 92-94 mph. Maybe they will turn him into a pitcher. He has a Clemens' type build.

My great nephew wasn't in the 2020 draft although he got draft packages from the Diamondbacks and the Reds. He didn't register so he wasn't listed on the portal. He is working back from an arm injury and didn't feel the it was the best timing for him. His dad, my nephew is pretty familiar with a lot of these players, because my great nephew has played with or against them. Here are the comments that he sent me by text: It's by no means a full evaluation, but he has a very good eye for talent. But here it is-- evaluation by text: nick yorke .. can flat out rake ... .. kid just hits everything robert hassel III is a JOKE at #8 ...he sucks Austin Hendrick #12 is horrible, he is a pederson-type -- all or nothing Mike Abel #15 is real deal i have no f***ing idea who Ed Howard is...never saw.him ...ever .. his f***ing bio say LITTLE LEAGUE WORLD SERIES.. are they f***ing kidding pete crow armstrong SUCKS, figures the mets would waste a 1st round pick nick bitsko is real deal.. tons of arm... great body .. at 15u USA nick topped at 87, [my great nephew] was already 89 at USA and drew romo .. no clue ...says USA catcher for the last 2 years .. he wasn't there prior to that best catcher in this draft class out.of HS is a kid Jack Bulger from MD ... kid rakes and is solid behind the plate next kids from NY might be lazarus holdings .. sick outfielder...definite MLB bat and fast jason savacool, rhp from arojnd syracuse.. sick 91-93 FB and devastating CB for strikes, mixes well and hits his spots Alex Santos.. big lanky power arm. but typical power arm that cant hit a f***ing barn

The evaluators were really at a disadvantage for this draft. In senior year of High School and during college these players can make huge developmental jumps. Missing a full season was just huge in being able to make the evaluations. I think that down the road we will see an unusually large number of undrafted kids from this class making it to the majors.

Here is the Red Sox selection:

Here are the selections thus far:

With the Number 1 pick, the Tigers selected Spencer Torkelson, 3B out of Arizona State. The Red Sox have the 17th pick.

They let him pitch in the WBC and he blew out his arm. He was through after that.

Have the Italians and Irish stopped killing each other in Boston yet?

I can't say that I have seen that type of behavior as being prevalent at Fenway. I can say that it is the only ballpark where I have seen that type of behavior. I saw it as late as 1977 when Jim Rice hit a ball to the gap and a guy got up and yelled "Run N--!" over the rest of the crowd. I am from Brooklyn, NY and that would have started a race riot where I am from. My first reaction was to get ready to run for the exit because my fight or flight instinct kicked in. But nothing happened. No one reprimanded him or confronted him. He was not removed initially. It was appalling. It would be unfair to accuse the crowd of accepting the behavior. Clearly, from my observation, most people in the crowd were offended and did not approve. As the guy continued harping on Rice, my recollection is that he was booed and that he did not last the entire game. The same leather throated ******* was also screaming at Yaz calling him a Pollack. It was only one guy, but it was an eye-opening experience for me. I haven't witnessed anything like that at Fenway in over 43 years, but I don't doubt that it has happened since then. It only takes 1 ******* to poison the environment. In NY, there would have been blacks in the crowd, and the guy would have been violently confronted immediately. Back then at Fenway, the crowd was almost entirely white. This guy got booed and eventually was removed from Fenway. I always felt that he was not from Boston and not a Red Sox fan as his attacks were entirely directed at the home team. The good news is I have not seen that type of behavior at Fenway or any ballpark in more than 40 years.

I think he was the biggest dog to wear the Red Sox uniform.

Crawford might be at the top of my list of least favorite Red Sox players.

Not to be political, but if there aren't spikes in infections in about a week from today in the cities where there have been the largest protests, that will be very encouraging evidence for allowing mass gatherings like sports.

They have to make a decision soon if they are going to play at all.

That’s right and if we find other entertainment, they are screwed. You are right that the consumers are the biggest stakeholder, because we do fund the whole thing and if they lose sight of the consumer they will be shooting themselves.

It doesn’t matter whose side you take in this. People just want to see baseball. If it doesn’t happen because of $, people will find other things to do and other interests to pursue and many will be pissed off and mad. And when they restart baseball in 2021 after all major sports have restarted, the sport’s popularity will take a major hit. And it will not matter who was at fault.

If the owners have the ultimate decision on whether the season will be played, they have the leverage regardless of what the agreement says. That's not a legal opinion, but just an observation. Both sides lawyers should have been prepared for and made provision for the possibility that there would be empty stadiums.

Thanks for the explanation. That clears it up. Did they sign an agreement about a shortened season or was that a handshake type agreement?

I don't get this part of Pillar's comment. ^ I thought the owners were not responsible to pay on the MLB contracts if there was no season.

And broken down journeymen with one foot or both feet in their baseball grave.

I don't think the owners want to dip down to their prospects and start their service clocks.

I would argue that baseball undertook many fan friendly initiatives to win back the fans because they knew they had damaged the sport. I'll take the word of people like Glavine who lived through it rather than an interpretation by you of attendance stats.

Wouldnt there be a danger that too many would opt out?

That’s an interesting possibility — that some players would go against the union and refuse to play. It’s like they would be striking scabs crossing the labor line.

No one will sympathize with either side. If money keeps them off the field, the fans will punish both sides and stay away when they return. Jad is wrong that the fans returned after the ‘94 strike. It wasn’t until the overhyped drug fueled Home Run record chase by MGwire and Sosa in 1998 that popularity returned for baseball.

Glavine was a well respected and fierce advocate for the players union so his warning carries great weight imo.