Life after Britton

[Frobby]

We've had it pretty good the last 2 seasons, with Bergesen, Berken, Hernandez, Tillman, Matusz and Arrieta all having their major league debuts. We all expect Britton to follow sometime in 2011, most probably before the all-star break.

But after Britton, then what? I'm thinking that's all we've got for 2011, unless Spoone surprises us. Then in 2012, Spoone may be the only prospect (if you can call him that) who will go into the season with any substantial AAA experience. We'd be very fortunate if, by the end of 2012, Ryan Berry has run the AA/AAA gauntlet as a starter, and hopefully Dan Klein will have made a successful conversion and gotten through AA. It doesn't seem too likely that any other serious prospects will have gotten that far, unless someone like Hobgood, Beal or Bundy makes a nice leap forward.

Bottom line, there's not a lot of starting pitching coming from the farm in the next 2-3 years, once Britton is up. We'd better hope the current guys stay healthy and productive, and add some depth.

P.S. -- I've pretty much assumed that Erbe is out of the picture, unless and until he proves otherwise.

[weams]

We've had it pretty good the last 2 seasons, with Bergesen, Berken, Hernandez, Tillman, Matusz and Arrieta all having their major league debuts. We all expect Britton to follow sometime in 2011, most probably before the all-star break.

But after Britton, then what? I'm thinking that's all we've got for 2011, unless Spoone surprises us. Then in 2012, Spoone may be the only prospect (if you can call him that) who will go into the season with any substantial AAA experience. We'd be very fortunate if, by the end of 2012, Ryan Berry has run the AA/AAA gauntlet as a starter, and hopefully Dan Klein will have made a successful conversion and gotten through AA. It doesn't seem too likely that any other serious prospects will have gotten that far, unless someone like Hobgood, Beal or Bundy makes a nice leap forward.

Bottom line, there's not a lot of starting pitching coming from the farm in the next 2-3 years, once Britton is up. We'd better hope the current guys stay healthy and productive, and add some depth.

P.S. -- I've pretty much assumed that Erbe is out of the picture, unless and until he proves otherwise.

Klein will be a good one. Berry and Bundy. We have quite a few nice bullpen arms coming.

[Scrat1]

Hopefully our young starters stick and we don't need reinforcements anytime soon. Otherwise I'm crossing my fingers for Berry until Purke or Cole are ready...

[Gurgi]

Very interesting to see if we have any real breakout talent left in the tank.

Even a Bergesen type talent or two could really help out.

[RZNJ]

I don't expect anyone to be close by 2012, except for maybe Ryan Berry, but Klein, Bundy, and Hobgood could be close by 2013. Also, if we pick a college guy #4 this year, he could be in the picture by the end of 2012, just as Matusz was, although hopefully the need to rush won't be there. After that we have a lot of talented question marks with guys like Henry, Coffee, Wirsch, Bridwell, and Berry coming through the lower ranks. Pitchers can move fast once they put it together. At this point, I'm not counting on Spoone or Erbe as anything but relievers. Hopefully, the O's will have some good luck for once and the current crop of starters will stay relatively healthy for a few years.

[crowmst3k!]

This is why I want the O's to go after a top tier pitcher in the draft. I hope that either Cole or Purke falls. The O's couls have an opportunity to build a 3 ace deep rotation similar to San Francisco if Matusz and Britton both pan out.

[Mitch Connor]

P.S. -- I've pretty much assumed that Erbe is out of the picture, unless and until he proves otherwise.

Erbe has been starting to throw again. I would expect him to do some extended spring training and then go to Frederick or Bowie, if he doesn't have any set backs. I'm sure his innings will be limited this year. Hopefully he gets back on track to being a factor again.

[QBsILLEST1]

As already mentioned here, we have Britton this season with Berry and Klein coming up behind him. I dunno if Berry is much more than a back ender in the rotation, but Klein could be better. I'd also expect us to take an arm such as Purke or Barnes or Jungmann who will move pretty quickly and be a highly rated prospect as well.

[NCRaven]

Any chance at all Rendon falls to us at #4? Signability picks in front of us, concerns about his past injuries, incredible stupidity by others?

[Arthur_Bryant]

Any chance at all Rendon falls to us at #4? Signability picks in front of us, concerns about his past injuries, incredible stupidity by others?

I think the phrase "less than zero" probably applies.

I doubt whether he gets past the Pirates, who lately have showed a willingness to go for BPA even when they have to overpay. They'll just move Pedro to 1B when Rendon is ready.

[QBsILLEST1]

I think the phrase "less than zero" probably applies.

I doubt whether he gets past the Pirates, who lately have showed a willingness to go for BPA even when they have to overpay. They'll just move Pedro to 1B when Rendon is ready.

You may have said the same thing last year at this time about Ranaudo. However, I agree, there is very little chance he falls to us.

[Arthur_Bryant]

You may have said the same thing last year at this time about Ranaudo. However, I agree, there is very little chance he falls to us.

Ha, no, I was not that high on Ranaudo, and there was enough quality at the very top of the class that he was not a lock to go in the Top Four even if he had stayed healthy and put up the season that most expected.

You make a good point, though. There is still a full season of college ball to be played, and Rendon could slip to #4 if he puts up the hitter's equivalent of the season that Ranaudo had in 2010. But it would be unusual for an elite college hitter to slump that drastically for three months.

Could always happen though, especially since he is coming off an injury. And there is definitely enough talent up to push him down the list a least a little way.

[LookinUp]

I think the phrase "less than zero" probably applies.

I doubt whether he gets past the Pirates, who lately have showed a willingness to go for BPA even when they have to overpay. They'll just move Pedro to 1B when Rendon is ready.

I'm not disagreeing, but they went signability in 2009 when we picked Hobgood. This is a deep draft, so they might decide to spread their resources over many high ceiling players.

[Crazysilver03]

I'm not disagreeing, but they went signability in 2009 when we picked Hobgood. This is a deep draft, so they might decide to spread their resources over many high ceiling players.

While they did go cheap in 2009, I think they got rid of that front office person, which was shown when they selected JT this past draft.