I texted over 30 executives and scouts with this simple request: What did you see this spring that made you feel positively “wow” or negatively “wow”?
It was a fun practice. It allowed me to reconnect with a lot of people and feel what they were seeing. No one thinks that all 30 teams are widely distributed in two states. Still, it was his two themes that surfaced the most. One had a positive theme and the other had a negative theme.
On the positive side, nearly everyone stationed on Florida’s West Coast marveled at the Orioles’ wave of positionally talented young players. Remember that in spring training, especially early training, starting pitchers tend to be taken out of the game in his first at-bat or his second at-bat.
So at that point, it’s tissue depth versus tissue depth. This often includes, for example, off-option players who could be acquired in late spring or young players they are unfamiliar with, which can really discourage scouts.
