February may mean the month of Valentine’s day to some but I’m not one of those people. I’ve chosen to fly solo thus far in my illustrious college career and I intend to keep it that way. Besides, if I were in a relationship, I wouldn’t have the requisite free time to put together my award winning Top 20 Orioles prospect list each February.
I’ve been doing this formally since 2009, but this will be my third I have published online. Previously, I just organized them neatly into a journal, away from the public eye. But, I knew I couldn’t keep my lists hidden away from the outside world forever. That’s when I discovered wordpress, a free blog domain, as a place to voice my opinion about everything you ever possibly wanted to know about the cream of the crop down on the Orioles farm.
And that my friends is what I associate the month of February with. It’s my yearly tradition. Football season is dead and gone and Spring Training games don’t get started until March. College basketball is all I got to pass the time during this lonesome month but that doesn’t complete me. Writing about baseball prospects completes me. It gives something to look forward to. Hope springs eternal when you’re a talented youngster coming through the Orioles farm system. Everyone has a chance, “potential” we call it, to turn into a productive asset for the big club one day.
With prospects, its easy to dream big, even though years later many of them often disappoint as big leaguers. Baseball, after all, is a tough game to master at the highest level. You can’t get by on athleticism alone. With that in mind, I like to give an honest overview in my projections for each prospect in how I see their careers panning out, what they need to do to get there, and what may ultimate prove to hold them back from success at the highest level.
No, I’m not writing a novel here. Let’s get onto the list. This year’s crop lacks depth, especially on the hitting side from previous list I have put together. If you pay attention to what the know-it-all Keith Law has to say over at ESPN – by the way, I’m taking his job one day – you’ll know that he placed the Orioles current minor league crop 22nd out of 30 teams.
That’s a fair assessment actually but it is still important to remember that A) The Orioles graduated two top 100 prospects during the 2014 season in RHP Kevin Gausman and 2B Jonathan Schoop B) The Orioles traded another sure-fire top 100 prospect in LHP Eduardo Rodriguez away to the Red Sox for sidewinding lefty relief stud, Andrew Miller C) The Orioles didn’t have a single pick until the 3rd round in the 2014 MLB Draft because they forfeited their 1st and 2nd round picks to sign Ubaldo Jimenez and Nelson Cruz. They also traded a supplemental 1st round pick away in the trade that brought Bud Norris to the Oriole rotation.
So, its not surprising to see the farm system in its current state, a bottom third tier group of players. That’s the price of winning 96 games. I don’t think anyone’s complaining about that so don’t complain about the minors.
Besides, I offer Orioles fans a silver lining: We still have two of the best pitching prospects in all of baseball named Dylan Bundy (coming to a ballpark near you in 2015) and Hunter Harvey, who’s a few years away but may have an even higher ceiling than Bundy if that change up develops.
I offer you silver lining number two: The Orioles will be getting a nice talent influx from the MLB draft this time around in 2015, considering they are the only team that will pick 4 times within the first 90 picks of the draft. Quite the turnaround.
Silver lining number three: The O’s are finally investing heavily into the international free agent market (thank you, Dan Duquette) and have a young third baseman named Jomar Reyes whom many, myself included, think could have a breakout season in 2015 thats establishes him as a Top 100 caliber prospect.
Alrighty, let’s get on to the list…
Without further ado…
20) Branden Kline – RHP – Age: 23
19) Jason Garcia – RHP – Age: 22
18) Drew Dosch – 3B – Age: 23
17) Adrian Marin – SS – Age: 21
16) Parker Bridwell – RHP – Age: 23
15) Josh Hart – CF – Age: 20
14) Tyler Wilson – RHP – Age: 25
13) Mike Yastrzemski – OF – Age: 24
12) Pat Connaughton – RHP – Age: 21
11) David Hess – RHP – Age: 22
10) Brian Gonzalez – LHP – Age: 19
9) Mike Wright – RHP – Age: 25
8) Tim Berry – LHP – Age: 24
7) Dariel Alvarez – RF – Age: 26
6) Jomar Reyes – 3B – Age: 18
5) Christian Walker – 1B – Age: 24
4) Zach Davies – RHP – Age: 22
3) Chance Sisco – C – Age: 20
2) Dylan Bundy – RHP – Age: 22
1) Hunter Harvey – RHP – Age: 20
HM/ Henry Urrutia – OF, Ofelky Peralta – RHP, Jonah Heim – C, Mitch Horacek – LHP, Mychal Givens – RHP, Trey Mancini – 1B, Tanner Scott – LHP, Oliver Drake – RHP, Eddie Gamboa – RHP, Glynn Davis – CF, Michael Almanzar – 3B
Now, the fun part. Over next month and a half, I will create separate and detailed posts that break down each player on this list and link each blog post to the player’s name when I release it. I don’t have time to do it all in one sitting without compromising the quality of analysis. Stay tuned for that. I’m out.