Reflecting on past drafts and more from Elias

The Orioles made the first round of the 2019 First-Year Player Draft a breeze for the beat crew. They didn't pull any surprises. They didn't choose a player who required a hasty Google search or leave us frantically tearing through the pages of Baseball America's preview issue.

Oregon State catcher Adley Rutschman was the obvious choice two years ago as the first overall selection, though prep shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. had the endorsement of at least one former scout in the organization. Executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias made a mockery of the mocks last night by passing on Vanderbilt's Austin Martin and selecting University of Arkansas power-hitting outfielder Heston Kjerstad, but the Texas native was seen in the industry as a Top 10-13 talent and his name had been attached to the club as a possible under-slot choice.

My early story had to be blown up and rewritten, removing Martin as the lead character. A common practice in Baltimore.

It's supposed to be easier when the Orioles are choosing first or second. And when the team ahead of them last night, the Detroit Tigers, stuck to the script by selecting Arizona State slugger Spencer Torkelson. He was a slam dunk and the Tigers didn't hit the back of the rim.

"We considered a lot of guys," Elias said last night on a Zoom call with the media. "It was a bunch of good choices this year. It wasn't like we felt like we were sifting through the lesser of two or three evils. We liked all these players. If our pick was a pick or two later we would have happily taken some of these other guys and (been) high-fiving.

"It was just a matter of picking out the right one for us and with Heston we feel really strongly and confidently he's going to play a good right field and be able to stay there. It's a really strong profile, it's a classic profile for that position and I think there was a lot of certainty attached to that."

The Orioles held the seventh pick in 2001 and the local media gathered in a conference room at Camden Yards to cover the event. Sodas were included. Times were good.

We listened to the selection on a conference call, looked at each other, shrugged and slipped into a mild panic.

Who the heck is Chris Smith?

I couldn't find his name in BA's preview, and certainly not among the top projected picks or in the upper portion of its talent rankings. Maybe I was skimming too quickly.

Also to be fair, Smith was drafted as a high school senior by the Pirates in the 11th round. He wasn't anonymous, except to a group of Baltimore sportswriters.

Here's the lede that I wrote for The Baltimore Sun:

"Faced with choosing between a pitcher or a position player with the seventh selection in yesterday's amateur baseball draft, the Orioles got both by picking Cumberland University's Chris Smith, a left-hander who projects as a starter despite putting up impressive offensive numbers in college."

Sounds like winner, right?

Here's more:

"Smith, 21, went 9-2 with seven complete games and a 2.13 ERA in 15 games at Cumberland, an NAIA school in Lebanon, Tenn. He allowed 58 hits, walked 34 and struck out 115 in 84 1/3 innings, and opponents batted .194 against him.

"Ranked with Stanford's Mike Gosling as the best arms among college left-handers in the draft, Smith possesses a fastball that tops out at 94 mph and a developing curve and changeup."

It took a lot of research.

As a sophomore right fielder at Florida State, Smith posted a .375 average with 14 home runs and 66 RBIs while helping the Seminoles to the College World Series. The second-team All-American wanted to focus more on pitching the next season, but was refused by coach Mike Martin, who also denied his request to be released from his scholarship.

Rather than sit out a year as required by the NCAA, Smith transferred to Cumberland and posted a .414 average with 17 homers, 67 RBIs and 18 stolen bases.

Maybe the Orioles should have let him hit.

Smith was one of the many draft busts in Orioles history, though not entirely of his own doing. He sustained a shoulder injury during an examination by a former member of the organization's minor league medical staff and went 2-4 with a 7.52 ERA and 2.184 WHIP in 24 games.

Smith missed the 2003 season and never made it above low Single-A Delmarva. His career ended with the independent Long Island Ducks in 2005.

The Orioles would have taken one of the two locals, pitcher Gavin Floyd or infielder Mark Teixeira, if they hadn't been chosen fourth and fifth, respectively. There were plenty of busts that year. Mets third baseman David Wright lasted until the 38th pick.

The 2001 draft also will be remembered for the Orioles using the 19th overall pick, obtained from the Yankees, on Louisiana State second baseman Mike Fontenot. They also took switch-hitting infielder Bryan Bass of Seminole (Fla.) High School with the 31st selection, additional compensation for losing pitcher Mike Mussina in free agency.

Players selected before Fontenot included John Van Benschoten, Colt Griffin, Chris Burke, Kenny Baugh, Mike Jones, Jake Gautreau, Kris Honel and Dan Denham. Quite a list.

The Orioles have their own list that they're trying to live down. First-round selections who crashed and burned.

Outfielder Dallas Williams in 1976, outfielder Drungo Hazewood in 1977, pitcher Joe Kucharski in 1982, pitcher Chris Myers in 1987, outfielder Mark Smith in 1991, pitcher Alvie Shepherd in 1995, outfielder Rick Elder in 1998, pitcher Beau Hale in 2000, pitcher Adam Loewen in 2002, catcher/infielder Brandon Snyder in 2005, infielder Billy Rowell in 2006 and pitcher Matt Hobgood in 2009.

I'm just naming a few.

It didn't work out in Baltimore for catcher-turned-outfielder Jayson Werth and outfielder Darnell McDonald. They were chosen in the first round in 1997.

More was expected of left-hander Brian Matusz, taken with the fourth overall pick in 2008. A starter out of the University of San Diego who had brief success as a lefty specialist.

Special recognition goes to the 1999 group of Mike Paradis, Richard Stahl, Larry Bigbie, Keith Reed, Josh Cenate and Scott Rice. The draft that could have changed the course of the franchise instead of setting it back for many, many years.

The Orioles failed to sign pitchers Brad DuVall in 1987 and Wade Townsend in 2004. They thought they were dealt aces with Dylan Bundy in 2011 and Kevin Gausman in 2012, but it wasn't in the cards.

The Orioles took position players with their first seven picks last year and chose Kjerstad and Mississippi State shortstop Jordan Westburg last night. There's been a lot of focus on the middle of the field.

"If you're playing shortstop for your high school team or your college team, that's where the best baseball players on the team usually play," Elias said. "Naturally, it pushes them up boards. But also, a guy like Westburg, he can play shortstop, but he gets into pro ball and who knows what our roster is going to look like when he makes the big leagues. And if there is a better defensive shortstop, he can go play second, he can go play third. That's the beauty of being a shortstop. He can go play other positions.

"There's a lot of value in those guys and it happens to be an area with a lot of opportunity in our system, so that doesn't hurt."

Kjerstad doesn't lack for confidence, stating last night that he's going to be an impact player. Somehow, it didn't come across as cocky.

"He is a terrific kid," Elias said. "Ken Guthrie is our local scout - Arkansas, Oklahoma, North Texas - really plugged-in scout and he knows the family well. He had scouted Heston in high school. Probably one of the scouts who was on Heston most prominently. He actually scouted his brother at one point, so he really knew the ins and outs of the whole situation.

"All the work that he did and that we did around him came up roses. He's a hard-working kid, he doesn't take himself too seriously. I think he's going to be a great fit in our organization and our town. It's a big point in his favor in terms of his makeup. That's an important thing for us."

Elias used the popular scouting term "hitterish" to describe Kjerstad, who's making some adjustments in his approach and mechanics at the plate in order to cut down on the strikeouts.

"He's a hitter first," Elias said. "He likes to swing the bat. He's really good at making really high-quality contact, meaning it's hit hard and it's hit at a good angle for getting past the defenders and the ball jumps off his bat and he can go to all fields. And so because I think he's a guy that's been able to hit everything his whole life, he's had a very aggressive approach at Arkansas and it's just because he's kind of a see-ball, hit-ball style hitter.

"He and his coaches this year said that he made a little more concentrated effort to be selective with the pitches that he was swinging at. We saw evidence of that. I don't think it was something that had to happen for him to go where he did in the draft. We liked him coming into the draft. But it was certainly encouraging. It's a good thing.

"He just got better this year and we saw it in his numbers."

Rounds two through five will be revealed this afternoon and the Orioles could go over-slot. They most certainly will come away with some pitching.

"I think it's an icing-on-the-cake mindset," Elias said when asked about the importance of Day 2. "We're going to take it as it comes and we're going to take the best players on our board, regardless of whether they're college or high school. We can't force anything to happen and other teams get to pick, too, so it's something that we're going to be opportunistic. I think we're going to be able to do as much as any team, but we're not going to artificially force or create situations to happen."

The Orioles chose a shortstop over a pitcher with the 30th overall selection.

"We had some pitchers that we were hoping would get there and they didn't get there," Elias said. "Westburg, we had him very high on our board as well, so we were very happy that he got there. He was higher than any pitcher that was remaining and we weren't going to force it just to kind of diversify the draft class.

"Maybe we'll get some good pitchers (today)."