Excited to be going to my second opening day. Hope it is warmer and with a LOT less rain than last time. I'm too old for that crap.

Huh?

The only person from the 2020 draft class that did anything was Evan Carter and he had a 1.6 bWAR. What am I missing here?

Oof. Ohtani may have ****ed up BIG time. He or his translator stated he'd wired money personally to cover his translators gambling debts. Guessing both his own people and the Dodgers immediately jumped on how bad that is and changed the story to his translator stole it all. Federal investigators already involved.

So the Royals really have a guy in camp named Kale Emshoff, and this kid's parent's couldn't have done us all a favor by naming him Jack? C'mon... Thanks for nothing.

And he just hit a home run in the bottom of the 9th!!

/who cares it’s spring training!!

Jordan Montgomery was acquired from St. Louis for 2020 draft picks Thomas Saggese and Tekoah Roby. Montgomery had a 2.79 ERA for Texas.

Did you even watch the postseason?

Carter slashed .300/.417/.500 in 72 postseason plate appearances. He was arguably the third best position player for the Rangers after Corey Seager and Adolis Garcia in the postseason.

I'm just saying that's not what I'd consider killing the 2020 draft. In the technical sense, yes, it helped win the WS.

Roby and Saggese are both top 100 prospects. The Rangers' player development built up their value and acquired a number two starter at the trade deadline because of their perceived value.

From Baseball America this spring:
No player better fits that bill than Evan Carter, a highway robbery of a draft pick as part of a stunningly excellent 2020 draft class that should produce four major leaguers out of its five selections.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Alec Marsh is in the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Royals?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Royals</a> rotation, manager Matt Quatraro makes official. Jordan Lyles will begin the season in the bullpen.</p>&mdash; Anne Rogers (@anne__rogers) <a href="https://twitter.com/anne__rogers/status/1770855241501544504?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 21, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Reliever Josh Taylor is dealing with bicep soreness, Matt Quatraro said. He&#39;s getting treatment and figuring out next steps. Taylor missed all of 2022 and most of &#39;23 with injuries. He was in the mix for the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Royals?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Royals</a> bullpen this spring.</p>&mdash; Anne Rogers (@anne__rogers) <a href="https://twitter.com/anne__rogers/status/1770863952857268694?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 21, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

I still think Marsh's best role is a 1 inning reliever.

He should be able to gamble

Probably not a popular opinion, but Pratto ought to be our 1B most of the time w/ Vinnie getting mostly DH work. Pratto might turn into a pumpkin in the regular season, but he's earned his spot, IMO.

Is there some belief that accumulating any WAR at all by the end of 2023 isn't damn impressive for a 2020 draft pick?

It was a 5 round draft. Saggese will be a major leaguer and have a pretty long MLB career, IMO. Foscue has been exactly as advertised (great feel for the zone; decent power/speed set from a competent defensive 2b) - I suspect he'll have a 6-8 year MLB career as well and will likely be a WAR darling if he ever gets the starting 2b gig.

Carter is a possible superstar. What he did at his age in the post-season suggests someone with that flat heart rate that you need to really transition well to the big leagues. He may just be an MVP candidate in the next 3-5 years.

Roby is a pitching prospect. Who the hell knows? But he's already been instrumental in getting a vital starting pitcher for them. If he never touches a big league mound, he was a hell of a 3rd round pick.

Yeah - the Rangers strafed the 2020 draft. You really can't do it much better than they did.

If the Cardinals could actually develop players at the big league level at all, they'd have had a hell of a 2020 draft as well.

Walker, Winn and Burleson have all seen big league action (and all 3 should actually be pretty good players but the Cardinals **** everything up). Hence is a top 50ish pitching prospect. Bedell has made really nice strides and seems on track to make a big league bullpen in the next couple seasons.

I'd say their draft compared favorably to Texas in raw talent. But the Cardinals will ruin all those guys somehow.