Addressing holes in baseball team

[CadaverDawg]

Can anybody tell us what we're doing to address 1B, 3B, and catcher for the next few years?

Alexander is a SS playing 3B, and will be our SS next year. We have no first baseman that can hit AND give us the size & D we need over there, and we have a few decent defensive catchers but none of them can hit a lick and rumor has it that Marrero may be as good as gone (not that he was doing much). I feel great about our OF, middle infield, and pitching staff the next few years, but if we're going to make a run we gotta get more out of the corner infielders and from our catcher at the plate.

Is help on the way?

[The Federalist Engineer]

In 2018:

1B has Gordon as JR, a big KY recruit named Hutchinson 6-6 250 guy with PG 10 rating, a big AL recruit named Lovell 6-4 230 guy with PG 10 rating, a JC guy named Rivera 6-6 250 from Puerto Rico that was drafted in 2016, and another JC guy named Pener from a wood bat league in AZ

So many good players, the draft could take a couple of these players Hutch and/or Rivera and maybe Lovell.

C seems to be Skelton or bust, but Skelton will make us proud

At SS we have Reed Smith already on the team and we get Texas and Louisiana recruits with very high ratings. I wish we could see Smith get some playing time to develop. But with half the team hitting below Mendoza, it's hard to sit people that are hitting.

Bragg is a 1b and 3b player

[CadaverDawg]

Good to hear on the 1B recruits, and I hope Skelton is the answer at catcher....but what about 3B? LA will move to SS, so who will be our 3B? We need a true 3B, and I honestly can't remember the last time we had a good "true" third baseman. I really wish we'd have gotten Chase Lunsford from Hinds CC a few years ago. He's having a good career at La Tech, and is what I'm looking for in a 3B...size, range, good arm, and can hit for power. Are we recruiting any 3B prospects?

Bragg might be the guy, but it's always good to have more than 1 option...that's also my worry at catcher

[HSVDawg]

Good to hear on the 1B recruits, and I hope Skelton is the answer at catcher....but what about 3B? LA will move to SS, so who will be our 3B? We need a true 3B, and I honestly can't remember the last time we had a good "true" third baseman. I really wish we'd have gotten Chase Lunsford from Hinds CC a few years ago. He's having a good career at La Tech, and is what I'm looking for in a 3B...size, range, good arm, and can hit for power. Are we recruiting any 3B prospects?

Bragg might be the guy, but it's always good to have more than 1 option...that's also my worry at catcher

Why is it a given that LA will be the SS next year? Gridley isn't exactly a hot draft commodity. I think its pretty likely he's back there again if he returns as a senior.

[Todd4State]

Yeah- third base has frustrated the hell out of me for the past few years. I remember a few people criticizing me because I called Cohen out about recruiting Delvin Zinn instead of a third baseman after we lost Austin Riley to MLB knowing that Riley was a draft risk.

Catcher- long term we're going to be fine. Marrero being in trouble is what is hurting us there more than anything. He should be a veteran sophomore and we're actually a little bit lucky that Lovelady got hurt last year or we would be down to Skelton with Stovall as the back-up. We have a JUCO catcher coming in next year named Marshall Gilbert and that will help with depth at the very least. I'm not expecting Marrero back next year, although he could surprise me. We also have Luke Hancock in the 2018 class and he is going to be a really good catcher himself- and he'll get to learn from Skelton in a couple of years when Skelton will be a veteran guy. We may add a JUCO catcher in the 2018 class if we need to for depth- kind of depends on a few unknowns right now and that's down the road.

1B- Cole Gordon has two years after this if I had to guess and he could move to pitcher full time depending on who we get through the draft. As Federalist said, we have a couple of JUCO's coming in that will compete for the spot. That's assuming we get Riveria past the draft- and he could also be a corner OF as well. Pener and Bragg assuming Bragg doesn't go pro are possibilities. The guy that we need to watch and I think we get him to school is Owen Lovell. He might be good enough to start as a freshman but we'll see once he gets to school and hopefully he doesn't pull an Austin Riley on us.

3B- I agree about Lunsford. I still think that if Bragg comes back next year he is most likely our third baseman depending on how he progresses in the summer. We'll just have to wait and see what happens with him- scouts are going to look at him and love his upside and I hope we don't get screwed. Justin Foscue and Jordan Hedberg are guys that could be in the mix as freshman. It looks like we are going to redshirt Reed Smith. Getting a JUCO third baseman probably wouldn't be the worst idea ever. I'm also not so sure that Gridley will go pro. He's a good college player, but his ceiling seems to be pretty limited to me. Although Cann seems to think pretty highly of him since he hits him third and he used to be a scout. If Gridley comes back, we'll probably see the same lineup we see now with Stovall at second, Gridley at SS, and LA at third.

You are right that those are deficiencies that we have right now in varying degrees- but we really need to get some corner OF's to come in and play right away. I think Rooker goes pro and we are going to have to replace him. As I said, Riviera could play RF if we get him, but we really need to get Jordan Anderson in past the draft. I like Josh Hatcher a lot too, but I'm not sure if he would be ready as a freshman or not. My guess is Mangum will be back.

We also have some JUCO pitcher that if we get them in will help us while our staff recovers from Tommy John- Troy Bacon if we get him past the draft would help the bullpen immensely and Jared Liebelt and Pearson MacMahan could be in the weekend rotation mix. MacMahan was drafted by the Pirates out of high school or after his freshman year in JUCO. Rigby having his injuries might allow us to keep him for his senior year- I don't know how much leverage he is going to have anyway whether he leaves as a junior or senior because of the type of pitcher he is.

[Todd4State]

I forgot- Tanner Allen is another good player that might be able to come in and play as a freshman and possibly start. He can play the OF, and I could see him playing second or third too possibly. He's probably a second baseman in the pros.

[GTHOM]

With the pitchers we should have the next 2 years, we shouldnt have to a powerhouse on offense to contend. Just my opinion

[The Federalist Engineer]

If we survive the draft with less than 3 loses...this could be the best position player class since the 90's.

[TNDawg35]

If we loose Rooker and Bragg to the draft, we need some power hitters. I really wish Bragg would step up and could provide some support for Rooker. Im wondering how long til teams just start pitting Rooker on and then facing the guys after him...

[louisvilledawg]

If we loose Rooker and Bragg to the draft, we need some power hitters. I really wish Bragg would step up and could provide some support for Rooker. Im wondering how long til teams just start pitting Rooker on and then facing the guys after him...

Rooker is 100% gone after this year. He won't have leverage after this season.

[msstate7]

If we loose Rooker and Bragg to the draft, we need some power hitters. I really wish Bragg would step up and could provide some support for Rooker. Im wondering how long til teams just start pitting Rooker on and then facing the guys after him...

Blaylock is gonna be a high slugging % guy

[Madisonmd]

Blaylock is gonna be a high slugging % guy

Mangum will be draft eligible since he is so old, I believe. Will he go? He is 21+

[I seen it dawg]

Grid will be our ss

[I seen it dawg]

Mangum will be draft eligible since he is so old, I believe. Will he go? He is 21+

I believe he stays due to the leverage he still has.

[Steakonastick]

I expect Gridley to go. He won't be a high pick. But difference in signing for 100k or 5k if he comes back.

[The Federalist Engineer]

The biggest questions for next season are:

(1) Barton
(2) Rigby
(3) Gridley

Rooker will and should go, good for him. Mangum will stay, he is Mr. Baseball at Mississippi State

With Rigby and Barton in the pen as healthy seniors with developed Barlow and Price, that's a nice pen. I dare say 2013 quality.

[CadaverDawg]

I expect Gridley to go. He won't be a high pick. But difference in signing for 100k or 5k if he comes back.

Yep, my thoughts exactly. Gridley will not be back next year. Not only will this be his best leverage year, it will also be the last year he'll have Rooker behind him in the lineup allowing him better pitches to hit. He's gone

[I seen it dawg]

I expect Gridley to go. He won't be a high pick. But difference in signing for 100k or 5k if he comes back.

Don't disagree here. If he stays he's the ss but he prob should go.

[Steakonastick]

I hate the draft. You get punished if you are a senior. I wish they put a minimal slot value on picks.

[I seen it dawg]

Agree. Those kids that want to stay in school and get more education get screwed.

[CadaverDawg]

Agree. Those kids that want to stay in school and get more education get screwed.

Yep, it's bullshit.

And there may be no correlation to most of the population...but one reason I like watching NFL is bc I watched most of the players in college, so I can't help but think that they hurt the MLB product and viewership by the way they strip talent and development out of college baseball