At What Point Will The O's Farm System Turn Out a Game Changing Prospect?

[soxhotcorner14]

Jeffery Hammonds was not the "sexy pick" in that draft class nor was he a "flash in the pan"; He was the consensus best player in the draft with a very impressive resume. Hammonds would have gone #1 if it weren't for contract concerns. It's been reported that the Yankees would have taken Hammonds had he slid to #6. Also, the O's were prepared to take Jeter if Hammonds was pick in the top 3. Hammonds was absolutely the correct pick at the time the selection was made.

The point was, the bad luck the O's have had in the draft. Whereas, the Yanks end up with a HOF and the O's end up with a flash in the pan. Another tools guy that didn't work. However you want to slice it, Hammonds never lived up to his billing as the best player. Neither have a lot of players who have had that label. That's why i prefaced the post with saying basically we could do that with a lot of teams.

[murrayfan420]

I'm just not seeing it with Wieters. I never saw him play in the minors so I don't know what he looks like when he's dominating.. but I have yet to see anything to show me he's going to be a superstar. Hopefully I'm wrong.

[soxhotcorner14]

I'm just not seeing it with Wieters. I never saw him play in the minors so I don't know what he looks like when he's dominating.. but I have yet to see anything to show me he's going to be a superstar. Hopefully I'm wrong.

I share your same sentiment, but we also have to keep in mind that Joe Mauer at this stage in his career wasn't lighting it up yet either. I'm cautiously optimistic, i guess that's one way I can best describe how I feel. One big positive is that he's already a solid big leaguer with less than a year of experience under his belt. If this is all he is, then we have a catcher for the next 10 or so years. But I know he's capable of more.. But we are just going to have to be patient with him. We as fans, are just waiting for him to shift into 3rd gear and take off...

[mcgraw238]

The point was, the bad luck the O's have had in the draft. Whereas, the Yanks end up with a HOF and the O's end up with a flash in the pan. Another tools guy that didn't work. However you want to slice it, Hammonds never lived up to his billing as the best player. Neither have a lot of players who have had that label. That's why i prefaced the post with saying basically we could do that with a lot of teams.

Got it. Your right that things seem to move against the O's when it comes to the draft. What if a team had taken Hammonds before our selection and we picked up Jeter? Some of our luck has been self-induced such as selections like Chris Smith and Wade Townsed.

[DocJJ]

After 1 year in the minors, Anthony Rendon debuts at 3B for the O's.

[Arthur_Bryant]

After 1 year in the minors, Anthony Rendon debuts at 3B for the O's.

I don't know whether this qualifies as pessimism or optimism, but either way I'm afraid they're going to be a couple of picks short.

[PitchingWins]

Got it. Your right that things seem to move against the O's when it comes to the draft. What if a team had taken Hammonds before our selection and we picked up Jeter? Some of our luck has been self-induced such as selections like Chris Smith and Wade Townsed.

We would have had an unsigned draft pick that year... He said he only wanted to play for the Yankees. Otherwise, I believe he was going to Michigan.

[mcgraw238]

We would have had an unsigned draft pick that year... He said he only wanted to play for the Yankees. Otherwise, I believe he was going to Michigan.

Interesting. It did come out somewhat recently that he would have been the pick. Perhaps we were prepared to make him an offer he couldn't refuse.

[murrayfan420]

I share your same sentiment, but we also have to keep in mind that Joe Mauer at this stage in his career wasn't lighting it up yet either. I'm cautiously optimistic, i guess that's one way I can best describe how I feel. One big positive is that he's already a solid big leaguer with less than a year of experience under his belt. If this is all he is, then we have a catcher for the next 10 or so years. But I know he's capable of more.. But we are just going to have to be patient with him. We as fans, are just waiting for him to shift into 3rd gear and take off...

I just can’t take much more “he WILL be good” or “we WILL be better”. At this point I’d just like someone to live up to the hype, or some actual wins to materialize. Unfortunately, me complaining isn’t going to solve the problem.

[MisterCrash]

I think the simple fact that you have to ask "when will it be our turn?" shows how much of a failure the team's farm system has been (outside of the recent #1 draft picks). I mean, as of right now where would you rank the Orioles' farm system? Because it has to be in the bottom third.

[soxhotcorner14]

So after 6 years of drafting Joe Jordan has produced these major leaguers:

-Wieters (No Brainer) :clap3:

-Matusz (good pick):clap3:

-Jason Berken

-Brad Bergesen (decent)

-David Hernandez :scratchchinhmm:

-Nolan Reimold :eektf:

-Garret Olson:eektf:

Now I'm sure I might have missed a player here or there. I can't remember all of the relievers that have had their cups of coffee etc.

Now lets step back and take a look at how unimpressive that list is. Soak it all in.. Unreal!

I'm sure Jordan is a good dude and knows a lot of baseball. But for whatever reason, it's just not working out in my book. Not when you're consistently drafting as high as the Orioles are each year. Mediocre at best.

Edited May 25, 2010 by soxhotcorner14