Baltimore Orioles Organization Discussion
by John Sickels on Dec 2, 2010 2:15 PM EST
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PrintI'm working on the Chicago Cubs Top 20 list. The next team on the list is the Baltimore Orioles. Use this thread to discuss the Orioles system, focusing especially on any sleepers or overlooked players you think need to be considered.
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There haven’t been any rumors in the O’s media about moving him to pitch. He was on fire after coming back from the injury. Most of the chatter has been about having him play 2B. The early bet is that he’s Manny Machado’s double-play partner at Delmarva next year.
Also possible that he’s at Frederick.
Very young pitchers
The O’s system is pretty barren at AA and AAA after Britton, Hoes, and Avery, but there are a whole bunch of relatively untouted, very young, high upside pitchers at the lowest levels. A lot of these guys rely on projection for their prospect status, but some have put up good results. Many had (mostly non-arm-related) injury issues and as a result haven’t put up much of a track record.
Hobgood, of course, was a 1st rounder, but after him there’s Aaron Wirsch, Cam Coffey, Randy Henry, Jesse Beal, Bobby Bundy, Ashur Tolliver, Tim Berry, Sebastian Vader, and Jaime Esquivel.
I’d be very curious to see what John thinks of this bunch.
Yeah, Ryan Berry is more advanced and IMO a far better prospect than any of the listed group with the possible exception of Hobgood. He’ll be at Frederick/Bowie next year, and he’s clearly a decent pitcher.
That list above are all guys who will be at Delmarva or Aberdeen.
(Some others, too: Jake Cowan, though he’s down for labrum surgery, Jarret Martin, and Bridwell and Bywater from this year’s draft.)
I'm curious
as to John’s thoughts on Hoes and Avery. Avery is a clear C to me; Hoes, a C+.
The front office is making a lot of happy noises about Hobgoblin’s conditioning, etc., but so far he’s Billy Rowell 2.0.
Wow those seem harsh. Avery’s a high-ceiling, toolsy guy who played well as a 20 year old in A+ and made it to the Eastern League where he was the (third?) youngest player.
Hoes put up great results within his skill set (doubles, walks, contact, no power at all) also as a 20 year old in A+. He was sick with mono for a good part of the season and came back before he had completely recovered. His numbers just before and just after the disease are noticeably lower than the rest of the year.
Plus, Hoes and Avery have been ranked #3 & #4, #4 & #3, and #3 & #5 on the three major top 10 lists so far… so a C and C+ would seem to indicate that the Orioles have literally no prospects after Britton and Machado.
Not trying to be harsh
Hoes has some nice secondary skills, but nobody I know thinks he can stay at 2B (or move to CF), so you’re essentially looking at a 4th/5th OF type without the speed or defense a team would otherwise want from a slap-hitting OF reserve. I’m struggling to come up with an MLB comp; maybe 65-75% of Jerry Hairston?
Avery made it to AA, but (as you know) hit .234/.288/374 there. Scouts are mixed on his defense in CF, and he still hasn’t demonstrated that he can do anything at all with the lumber. Tagging him as a “C” prospect doesn’t mean that he’s worthless; it just means that a lot of things have to go right for him to be a productive major-leaguer. That seems right to me.
I think the O’s farm system is pretty damn awful after Britton and Machado, but that’s mostly because they (a) just graduated a lot of guys to the majors and (b) have had some pretty bewilderingly awful draft choices as of late.
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