Alright let’s talk about a couple of totally unrelated things - my recent travels and the 2021 MLB Draft.
Travel
My partner and I recently traveled to Seattle and then Hawai’i. It was my first time in both spots and we spent three full days in Seattle and four in Hawai’i. High level takeaway is both are very cool and would recommend seeing each one if possible!
Seattle
We flew up to Seattle - my first time flying since pre-pandemic - and it was a whirlwind trip. I got to see some friends from college as well as my brother and his partner while staying in the cute West Seattle neighborhood. I enjoyed the scenery and nature across the city as we visited Seward Park, Gas Works, the Ballard Locks, and several neighborhoods. We saw the city skyline at night and Bainbridge Island at dusk from West Seattle, and in the city we would turn a corner and see the surrounding mountains and lakes.
The food and drinks were delicious, too, though we had a terrible brunch at Easy Street Records despite maybe seeing Sue Bird walk past (it was tough to tell with the masks). The highlight of the trip was Un Bien, a Caribbean sandwich spot that I would love to get again so I can explore more of the menu. I would also recommend Thai Tom in the University District, Nouveau Bakery, and Olympia Coffee.
One random thing that stood out to me in Seattle was how odd the streets were with small lettering for the directions on the pavement such as “Do Not Stop” and the weirdest intersections. My brother’s partner said the latter was due to overlapping grids from different city planners, but it still felt wild and a bit dangerous.
Hawai’i
We took a trip to the Big Island with my partner’s family and it was incredible. Her family has two young children in it so we largely did our own thing during the day and met back up with them in the evening. But wow did we ever do our own things, driving nearly 500 miles and seeing most of the island in just four days. We didn’t see the green sands beach on the southern tip of the island, but saw black sand beaches, Waipi’o Valley, Volcanoes National Park, Captain Cook’s Monument, Hilo, Kona, Akaka Falls, and a few smaller beaches.
Our first day we walked through lava rock fields and past beaches near the resort before driving up to Waimea for coffee and lunch on our way to Waipi’o Valley. We got Waimea Coffee Company’s special of the day - a delicious white chocolate macchiato if my memory serves - and split a pork chop plate from a place across the street. From there we drove up to Waipi’o Valley where there are some beautiful views of the valleys as they stretch towards the ocean. The steepness of the valley walls was astounding and while we didn’t go down into them, they reminded me of a tropical version of the calanques we saw in Cassis, France. After taking it all in we headed home and stopped at Big Island Brewhaus for some refreshments. I wasn’t expecting too much because Hawai’i is so far from everything else, but the brewery really came through. They went for a lot of different styles, but I liked most of the ones I tried, especially their Red Sea of Cacao and a gose made with jabuticaba.
The next day was filled with driving as we went across the island to first hike Akaka Falls and then check out Volcanoes National Park. The volcanoes were absolutely incredible and I wish we could have spent more time there. The sulfur fields, calderas, and lava tubes were all so unlike anything else I’ve seen in person, and that’s without hiking down into the calderas or going down to the beach where the lava flows into the ocean.
Snorkeling at Captain Cook came next and it was another first time experience for me. It is so weird going underwater and breathing through the snorkel for the first time - I felt like I was going to suffocate initially, but then air came through and everything was fine. Going underwater and seeing all of the fish swimming around was so peaceful and I could’ve stayed there for hours just watching them move about the coral. Not all of the animal activity was below the surface though as we watched four goats maneuver their way up the almost cliff face by the water.
Our last full day was dedicated to food and wow did the Big Island ever come through! We had pretty good food and drinks throughout our vacation with some super fresh and tasty poke, Kona coffees, shave ice, and beer from Big Island and Ola Brewing, but the last day blew the rest out of the water for me. My friend Ravi recommended Broke Da Mouth Grindz in Kona and we got garlic furikake chicken and kalua pork with rice and a lychee lemonade, and it lived up to its name. It really felt like my taste buds were broken by how delicious and flavorful everything was in that meal. The meat was cooked and spiced phenomenally, and the lychee added another level to the lemonade.
We followed it up by walking over to a coffee shop where I ordered an ube latte at HiCO. I haven’t had a ton of ube things before, but have liked them every time - the ube tortilla from Señor Sisig was clutch - and decided to take the risk. The color of the drink was striking as the purple ube sat on top of the light brown latte and slowly seeped down into the coffee as they mixed. The flavors were similarly impressive and it may be my favorite coffee drink ever.
It was a great first experience in Hawai’i and I’m definitely looking forward to going again sometime and exploring more like the green sand beaches on the southern part of Big Island or checking out one of the other islands.
2021 MLB Draft
This is shaping up to be a weird draft thanks to all the oddities caused by the pandemic. There are some solid players in it, but this year does seem a bit weaker at the top than other years. In my unprofessional eyes, the top players in the draft are:
- Henry Davis
- Marcelo Mayer
- Kahlil Watson
- Jack Leiter
- Brady House
- Kumar Rocker
After that it isn’t super clear to me - I’m not a big fan of Jordan Lawler and am not sure which of the next group of college hitters I like the most, though I think Gunnar Hoglund would be either 6 or 7 if he hadn’t gotten hurt. I really like the top 3 though, and may bump reorganize them before the draft.
I’ve had a harder time zeroing in prospects in the A’s range that are favorites than is typical, but I bucketed some players based on how I’d feel if the A’s drafted them.
- Love: Will Taylor, Harry Ford
- Like: Trey Sweeney, Michael McGreevy, Carson Williams, Jud Fabian, Will Bednar, Izaac Pacheco, Gage Jump
- Fine: Jay Allen, Aaron Zavala, Ryan Cusick, Alex Binelas, Lonnie White Jr., Tyler Black
Some others that I wouldn’t expect to be the first round pick, but could be around in the second are Davis Diaz, Thatcher Hurd, Josh Hartle, Ryan Bliss, James Wood, Edwin Arroyo, Ky Bush, and Doug Nikhazy, among others. I’ll probably post a list of all the guys I’m higher on than consensus at some point, as well as a consensus board made from ones posted online.
One last note is that the A’s scouts definitely deserve some credit, at least for the Soderstrom pick last year. He’s been absolutely killing it. Logan Davidson is more of a mixed bag, getting a 50 from MLB Pipeline, a 45 from Prospects Live, and a 40 from FanGraphs. He seems sure to stick at SS despite Nick Allen’s presence and he’s been better of late in Double-A Midland where he’s 1.2 years younger than the average player in the league and having only played in short season ball before this year thanks to the pandemic. However, wood bats seem to sap all power from him, which could result in a walk-driven profile despite his 6’3” 215 lb frame.