<!--StartFragment--> 11.  Kam Mickolio- RHP, 24, Grade- C+

When one looks at Mickolio’s numbers, ranking him at number 11 seems way too high, but his numbers tell only half of his story. Mickolio went to a high school in Montana that did not offer baseball, and only began playing baseball the summer after his junior year for an American Legion team. Since being drafted by the Mariners in the 18th round of the 2006 draft Mickolio has made tremendous strides for someone with such a limited baseball background.

            Mickolio features a true upper 90s fastball, a sweeping slider, and a change that is little more than a show-me pitch at this point. The slider tends to flatten out, but can be devastating when it gets a little depth to it. One of the reasons Mickolio is such an intriguing prospect is that he stands a gigantic 6’10! He combines this huge frame with a very unorthodox delivery. His front foot strides towards the back of a right-handed hitter, instead of towards the plate, and then he throws from a ¾ arm slot. The result is that the ball is released way behind a right-handed hitter and cuts across the pate. This makes the ball very hard to pick up out of Mickolio’s hand. One might suspect that this unorthodox delivery would make Mickolio susceptible to lefties, but the difference in his splits is fairly negligible. Lefties hit .248 against Mickolio as opposed to .222, and they even strike out at a slightly higher rate.

            Some project that Mickolio could eventually find himself in a closer’s role, but I don’t think his command will ever be good enough to handle the closer’s role. Furthermore, even though lefties have not yet caused Mickolio a tremendous amount of trouble they certainly could at the major league level. I see Mickolio settling into a 7th/8th inning long-term and having a very successful career.

 12.  Nolan Reimold- RF/LF, 25, Grade- C+

In my opinion Reimold is the most overrated prospect in the Orioles’ system. Although he put up pretty good numbers this year at AA, it is certainly worth noting that he was 25. Reimold reminds me a bit of Brady Clark, the former Brewers outfielder, in that both are righties with a mechanical swing. Watching Reimold play he lacks plate coverage to drive balls to the opposite field. Advance scouts should exploit this when he makes it to the majors. Furthermore, while he is pretty athletic and has an average arm he is not a good defender.

            Although Reimold has his share of shortcomings, he has value. He has good plate discipline, and pretty good pitch recognition skills which allow him to make solid contact. Furthermore, at 6’4 he has tremendous power, as evidenced by 57 extra-base hits this year at AA. He hits lefties well, although he did not have a tremendous amount of success against them this year. Throughout his minor league career he has showed good power against lefties, and I think down the road I think he will ultimately become an outfielder who platoons against lefties.

 13.  Bobby Bundy- RHP, 19, Grade- C+

Coming into the 2008 season, some projected Bundy as a possible first round pick. However when Bundy tore a ligament in his knee during a basketball game that opportunity went out the window. Pitching with a knee brace Bundy saw his velocity drop from the mid-90s to the low 90’s and upper 80’s, according to Baseball America. This drop in velocity combined with a commitment to Arkansas caused Bundy to slip all the way to the 8th round where he received a 600,000 from the Orioles.

            Early reports are that Bundy’s velocity has returned. Combine that solid fastball with a true 12-6 curveball, and Bundy appears to be a very good prospect, and a possible draft-day steal. I am interested to see whether the Orioles believe he is advanced to handle a full-season assignment in 2009.

 14. Xavier Avery- CF, 19, Grade- C+

Avery is one of the best athletes, not just in the Orioles’ system, but in all of baseball. An exception high school football player he was a 4-star recruit set to attend Georgia before he turned pro for 900,000, as the second round pick of the Orioles. The Orioles envision Avery becoming a dynamic player who uses his speed to play an exceptional centerfield, and to wreck havoc on the basepaths. However he is not just a slap hitter. Although he did not hit a homer as a professional, he is projected to develop the ability to drive the ball as gets more and more baseball experience.

            As Avery’s numbers indicate he is extremely raw. He struck out 51 times in only 175 at-bats, so obviously his pitch-recognition skills need to improve. Although his numbers do not seem to be overly impressive, when one considers the magnitude of the jump between the competition that Avery faced in high-school and what he faced in professional ball, the 280 average and 333 on-base percentage that Avery posted are pretty impressive.

            Avery isn’t advanced enough to go to full-season ball, but should play at Aberdeen in the NY Penn league next season. 

 15. Chorye Spoone- RHP, 23, Grade- C+

Spoone may have had the most disappointing 2008 of any Oriole farmhand. Coming into the year Spoone was a very popular breakout candidate, and rightfully so. When Spoone is healthy he misses bats with a mid-90s FB with good late life, and a sharp downer curve. Not only does Spoone do a good job of missing bats, but he also does an exceptional job of keeping the ball on the ground.

            Unfortunately for Spoone he tore his labrum early in 2008. The labrum tear is one of the hardest injuries for pitchers to comeback from. Many pitchers who suffer the labrum tear never regain their former velocity. I have not heard any report on how Spoone is progressing in his rehab, but even if everything goes according to plan Spoone will not be pitching in games until July or August.

            Before the injury I would have given Spoone a B, but anything more than a C+ is too high with the severity of his injury.

16. Tyler Henson- 3B, 21, Grade- C+

Henson is one of my favorite prospects in the Orioles’ system. An exceptional athlete- he was the starting quarterback on the state championship winning high school team in Oklahoma, and he started at point on the basketball team. He was drafted as a shortstop, but has moved to third since signing. He has the arm, range, and adequate hands to man the hot corner, but there is some question as to whether he will develop the bat for the position.

            I think he will. His plate discipline obviously needs to improve. He walked only 25 times in 502 at bats at low A. That lack of discipline will be exploited at higher levels. Henson did match that walk total in only 124 at bats in the Hawaiian winter league, but his discipline deteriorated as time went on. It is encouraging to see that Henson seems to be working to improve his plate-discipline. If Henson can learn to control the zone he should grow into a solid offensive player. He possess a wiry strong frame, similar to that of Ryan Braun. He doesn’t have the power of Braun, but he does have the ability to hit the ball out to any part of the park. In addition to solid raw power Henson is an exceptional base-stealer. He isn’t a burner, but he picks his spots well as evidence by his extremely high success rate.

            It will be interesting to see where Henson plays next season. Billy Rowell will most likely return to Frederick in 2009, so unless he moves to right or first Henson will be blocked. A repeat of Delmarva would not be the worst thing for Henson as he could hone his discipline, but he is advanced enough to hack it at high A. It might take Henson a while to reach his ceiling, but I think will eventually become a 5 at third.

 17.  L.J. Hoes- 2B, 19, Grade- C+

Another very good athlete, the Orioles selected Hoes in the third round this year’s draft. Hoes was thought to be a tough sign as he was committed to UNC, but he may have given the Orioles a bit of a hometown discount, Hoes is from the DC area, signing for 490,000.

            In high school Hoes played center, but he lacks the top end speed to play there in the pros, so after signing the Orioles moved him to second. Learning to turn the double play and some of the other finer arts of second may take some time for Hoes to perfect, but his bat seems to be very advanced for a high school kid. He has a tremendous eye at the plate, walking 30 times in only 159 at-bats. He also appears to be an extremely proficient base-stealer. He doesn’t have top-end speed, but he wasn’t caught as a pro, stealing ten bases. According to Baseball America Hoes doesn’t have any plus tool, but he has average tools across the board. While he hit for a high average as a pro, he didn’t show much power, slugging only 390.

            Hoes is very advanced for a high school hitter and could handle a full-season assignment. It is more likely, however, that the Orioles stay cautious and put him I the NY Penn league. If Hoes learns to play second, and shows some power he could quickly become a very good prospect.

 18. Ryan Adams- 2B, 22, Grade- C+

Adams can flat out hit. The Orioles took him out of a Louisiana high school in the 2nd round of the 2006 draft. Adams has great hand-eye coordination, and shows a very good ability to square the ball up, as evidenced by his line-drive percentage of 18. He also show surprising pop, 42 extra-base hits in 448 at-bats. Adams needs to work on plate discipline and pitch recognition. He struck out in almost a quarter of his at bats which is way too much, especially for someone who does not profile as a power hitter.

            In addition to his high K-rate, his defense at second was nothing short of atrocious in 2008. He committed 46 errors in only 96 games! There is some silver lining in that most of those errors were of the throwing variety, which seems to be more correctable. Adams is fairly athletic and could move to center if his defensive woes continue.

            I really like Adams’ bat a lot. I think he will straighten out his defense enough to be adequate, and I think he can hit around .300 at the major league level. He’ll have enough power to make his below-average defense acceptable.

 19. Tony Butler- LHP, 21, Grade- C

Butler was acquired from the Mariners in the Erik Bedard deal. At 6’7” the southpaw is a very imposing figure on the mound. The problem for Butler in 2008 was that he was not able to stay on the mound. He returned from injury in June, only to return to the DL by mid June for the rest of the season. I believe he suffered from tendonitis, but I am not sure. At any rate the injury is not supposed to affect 2009.

            When Butler is going right he combines a low 90’s FB, a big breaking curve, and a change. The change lags behind the other two pitches at this point. Reports are that Butler’s velocity was down a couple mph this season, but that could be due to the injury. He showed a strong K/BB ratio of 4 in 2008, an encouraging sign going forward.

            Butler is mostly projection right now. With his big frame he could grow into a couple mph and really come on strong in 2009. Furthermore, Butler seemed to have better command in 2008 than he had shown previously. The velo drop is a cause for concern though, and if he can’t regain it, it will be hard for him to have success at higher levels. Butler has the ceiling to fit in as high as 2nd or 3rd in a major league rotation. Although the chances that he reaches that are small.

 20. Oliver Drake- RHP, 22, Grade- C

Drake could have been a draft-day steal. He fell all the way to the 43rd round as a draft-eligible sophomore. Because he attended the Naval Academy many teams did not think he would be able to sign. Obviously he received his release, and had a tremendous pro debut. He pitched in relief allowing a total of two earned runs in 23 innings.

            John is obviously a big fan as he gave Drake a C+, but I think that is a little too bullish. He was pitching against younger competition, and was pitching out of relief. I have not see Drake, but Baseball America reports that he features a low 90’s FB with good life, a plus slider, and a rudimentary curve and change.

            From his numbers Drake obviously has a chance. At 6’4” he has the durable frame to become a useful starter, but he lacks the third pitch at this point in time. I don’t feel comfortable giving drake a higher grade until he succeeds as a starter, against older competition, and there is a bigger sample size. Drake should start 2009 at Lo A as a starter.