While there were different opinions about the order of the shortstops in the Orioles' minor league system, almost everyone agreed that there is a lack of promise and depth at the position.

Orioles fans hope that will change with the addition of 2009 second-round draft pick Mychal Givens to the organization next year. For now, however, the shortstops in the organization are a collection of middle-of-the-road players who hope to surprise the analysts and make contributions in the major leagues.

There is a little bit more promise with the third basemen in the organization, thanks to the midseason trade of closer George Sherrill to the Los Angeles Dodgers. In the deal, the Orioles acquired Double-A Bowie Baysox third baseman Josh Bell and right-handed pitcher Steve Johnson.

Despite only playing 33 games for the Baysox, Bell easily earns the top spot in my rankings.

Brandon Waring, who played in 62 games at third base with the Single-A Frederick Keys and Baysox this season, would be at No. 2. I ranked him as the top first baseman in the organization, however, so I didn't include him in this list.

Here is how I would rank the top five third basemen in the Orioles' minor league system.

Continue reading "O's minor leaguers in '09 -- Third basemen" »

Posted by Dean Jones Jr. at 6:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (22)
Categories: O's minor leaguers in '09
        

Wow, did anyone watch the American League Central tiebreaker between the Twins and Tigers tonight? What an amazing game between division rivals.

That's the perfect example of exciting playoff baseball. I hope the rest of the games are that good. In case you missed it, the Twins won in 12 innings.

Anyway, let's get to the next installment of my positional rankings for the 2009 season.

Today, we'll talk about shortstops.

Remember, this isn't necessarily a list of prospects. There are plenty of those kind of lists which are composed by people who get paid a lot of money -- OK, maybe not a lot -- to analyze the prospect status of players.

I'm just here to provide news about the minor leaguers in the organization, so my lists are focusing on several factors. The performance of the players in 2009 and potential to help the Orioles in the major leagues are key considerations.

I admit that I'm not perfect, which is why I'm asking everyone to include their lists in the comments below each entry.

There are a lot of diehard fans around the country who are passionate about the Orioles. I'm sure everyone can provide excellent analysis about the players in the organization, so let's hear your opinions.

In the organization, there are a lot of marginal players at the shortstop position. None of the players really shined above the others this season. It's difficult to rank the players because everyone struggled for the most part in 2009.

Here is how I would rank the top five shortstops in the Orioles' minor league system.

Continue reading "O's minor leaguers in '09 -- Shortstops" »

Posted by Dean Jones Jr. at 10:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (20)
Categories: O's minor leaguers in '09
        

Before I get into the top five second basemen in the Orioles' minor league system, I wanted to thank everyone who offered their input on my list of the top first basemen in the organization.

It's always good to have an educated discussion between baseball fans that doesn't deteriorate into name-calling and arguments. I knew it was possible.

As I said in the post, the case could be made for any of the top three players -- Brandon Waring, Brandon Snyder and Rhyne Hughes -- to be at the head of the class.

Waring, who spent most of the season with the Single-A Frederick Keys, was at No. 1 in my list. However, I do see the point of those in favor of Snyder, who split the season between the Double-A Bowie Baysox and Triple-A Norfolk Tides. Despite a tremendous offensive season, Hughes loses points since he was only in the organization for a short time.

Now, let's move on.

Here is how I would rank the top five second basemen in the Orioles' minor league system.

Continue reading "O's minor leaguers in '09 -- Second basemen" »

Posted by Dean Jones Jr. at 9:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)
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Before jumping into the list of the top five first basemen in the Orioles' minor league system, let's follow up on the best catchers in the organization.

For the most part, there wasn't much to discuss about my list of top prospects at catcher in the organization.

Mostly everyone agreed that Single-A Frederick Keys catcher Caleb Joseph is at the top of the rankings, and the best other prospects at the position are a pair of 2009 draft picks -- Justin Dalles and Michael Ohlman.

The rest of the catchers listed in my rankings are good organizational players who probably won't contribute much to helping the Orioles in the major leagues.

A few people mentioned Single-A Delmarva Shorebirds catcher Luis Bernardo as someone who should be included in a list of the top players at the position in the organization.

Honestly, I considered adding Bernardo as one of the five catchers in the list. His offensive struggles in the South Atlantic League, however, lead me to believe it's going to be difficult for him to advance to the major leagues.

With that said, it's definitely possible for his defensive skills to put him on a path to the Orioles. Still, keep in mind that the 21-year-old catcher committed 11 errors and had 15 passed balls in 82 games with the Shorebirds this season.

Those numbers will need to improve if Bernardo is going to play in the majors in the future.

While there doesn't seem to be a lot of potential major leaguers at catcher in the Orioles' minor league system, there are several first basemen who could make an impact at Camden Yards.

This position, in my opinion, is arguably the most difficult to rank in the organization because there are more than five candidates who could play in the major leagues at some point in their career.

I've compiled a list of the best first basemen, in my opinion, but I'm pretty sure that there will be several other ways for readers to rank the players. Make sure you leave your rankings as a comment below this entry and we can all discuss them.

Continue reading "O's minor leaguers in '09 -- First basemen" »

Posted by Dean Jones Jr. at 4:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (25)
Categories: O's minor leaguers in '09
        

After taking a longer break away from O’s on Deck than planned, I’m back and ready to go.

Over the next couple weeks, I’m going to take a look at the minor leaguers in the Orioles’ system. I’ll analyze each position and share my thoughts on the top players.

Last year, if you remember, I ranked the top players for each position in the organization during the 2008 season. You can find all of those breakdowns here.

I’m making a small change to my criteria for ranking the players this year. While I made it a point to not pay too much attention to prospect status in 2008, I’ve decided that it’s going to be a significant part of the new series of lists.

Let’s face it – a player’s potential to help the Orioles in the major leagues is a big reason why most of the readers continue to support O’s on Deck, so I think it’s good to include prospect status in the rankings.

With that said, as you'll see below, prospect status wasn't too much of a factor in the first list. It's hard to get a list of five prospects if there aren't that many available at a given position.

While some readers might agree with my picks, the majority of you will likely have a different opinion about a lot of the positions.

Since this is a blog and audience participation is highly encouraged, I’d like for everyone to post a list of prospects for each position as a comment at the bottom of each entry. As long as your comments are clean, I’m happy to approve them to facilitate discussion.

I’ll start the rankings today by naming the top five catchers in the Orioles’ minor league system.

Continue reading "O's minor leaguers in '09 -- Catchers" »

Posted by Dean Jones Jr. at 9:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)
Categories: O's minor leaguers in '09