Obviously Fenech is an idiot for both of those comparisons. I do agree with the general thought: let the guy play the position he's comfortable with so that he can get the most out of his bat, rather than risking development delays or failures in hope that he can be competent at another position.
I'd just throw him at 1st and race him to the big leagues, but there's nothing wrong with trying it this year and seeing what happens. They're not playing minor league games, anyway.
If they want to try it during AFL and instructs I agree, but I'd hate for him to waste his first spring training next year trying to learn to field a new position to squeeze more value out of him when he should be focusing on hitting professional pitching. Part of this is I think - without proof - that trying to learn a new position has a negative effect on hitting. Maybe Tork wouldn't be affected, but why risk it.
I think the second part is key. Torkelson is going to be working with 3B in spring training next year. He's probably going to be taking extra ground balls and such. I don't think doing that will mean he will spend any less time working on his hitting. The only things that would limit his hitting development are... - if he tries to drop too much weight to play 3B - if he struggles at 3B and it carries over to the plate I would hope they'd keep a close enough eye on him in both instances to stop either from happening.
Some players say they don't want to know. I know Mize was like that. I don't think it's that out of the ordinary. Especially with the #1 pick.
We took Dingler and Cabrera and Martin still on the board. Cole Wilcox also still there. Could end up with another guy in Rd 3 that people wanted in Rd 2
We probably could, but we'd have to go cheap the rest of the way. I'm not really a fan of that strategy.
If Wilcox was a consensus top 20 guy, I think he would have been picked there with all the other college arms. I'd rather have someone like Cabrera with a good chance to reach the big leagues + three lottery picks than one lottery pick (Wilcox) and three seniors with much lower ceilings. Either strategy can work, but I think the former is going to work more often than the latter. I'm just not a fan of dumping draft picks in a five round draft. There's too many good players available still.
Correct, but then I'm not sure how that makes going all in for one player a better strategy than taking four players where other teams would be picking them. His track record is the same whether they take Wilcox or not, so you're creating a scenario where you can say it won't work either way.
Henning doesn't seem to be a huge Martin fan. From his little write up today "He is a fine overall athlete. But there are (shudder) concerns about his bat and about strikeouts. Thus, Tigers draft followers familiar with past decades of draft-day casualties at shortstop understand Martin’s profile spurs dark memories. If he’s the choice at 38, step outside your pandemic-isolated abode and listen for the distant sounds of howls and pained yelps from Tigers fans experiencing dreadful flashbacks."
I've never seen Martin play, but his scouting report reads an awful lot like JaCoby Jones. And there's nothing wrong with taking JaCoby Jones in the 2nd or 3rd round in the draft because the tools are really loud and it's hard to find those guys. They just usually turn out to be players like JaCoby Jones instead of Trea Turner, which is the downside.