Tony-OH

I hope so. It'll be interesting who see who the Orioles send. i mean we all imagine Holliday, but maybe not if he's in big league spring training going for a job.

https://web.archive.org/web/20021130213837/http://www.orioleshangout.com/minors02/top_50_prospects_e02.htm Yes, the famous list where I got too caught up with Luis Jimenez after going down to Bluefield and watching him for a few days. Saying that, he ended up making the majors years after leaving the Orioles organization. I remember this "kid" having some severe emotional issues and that he really needed the right system and the right organization to take care of him. Put his talent in the Orioles organization right now and I bet there would be a different outcome. He still took some of the best minor league BP I've ever seen.

More Wayback stuff Top 20 Orioles Prospects (Rankings based on Overall potential and production, age as of 1 June 99 (age they will play this season) This ranking is based on information known at the end of spring training 2000. Players were evaluated on their overall potential, tools, and production. Organizational information gained by talking with players, coaches, scouts and front office personnel. Click on player's name for a profile 1. Matt Riley, SP, 20, (3-2, 2.61 at FRE & 10-6 3.22 IP at BOW & 0-0, 7.36 at BAL) - Still number one despite some serious questions about his maturity. During spring training, he was late three times, "sentenced" by the team, fined by the manager, and finally sent to the minors after getting arrested in a nightclub incident. But, the hard throwing left-hander made big strides during the 1999 season especially with his endurance. Cut back on trying to strike everyone out and suddenly went from a five inning pitcher to a seven or eight inning starter. Consistently throws 92-93 MPH with a knee-buckling curve. Fastball tops out at 95mph on occasion. Tired at seasons end, but received an ill-fated major league call-up anyway. Will probably spend the entire 2000 season in Triple-A. 2. Jayson Werth, C, 21, (.305, 3,30,16sb at FRE & .273, 1,11, 7sb at BOW) - Got married in the offseason but more importantly, his hand completely healed in the offseason and added 15 pounds. Last season, the 6'5" catcher looked more like a kid, but after adding 15 pounds in the offseason, Werth now looks like the major league prospect he's suppose to be. Received a mid-season promotion to Bowie in 1999 where he was lighting things up (.363 with a .463 OBP (31-67) before going on the disabled list after being struck by a throw on his right wrist when sliding into a base. Continues to show promise defensively, but struggled to throw out runners all season and has not developed the power the Orioles are looking for. His wrist continued to bother him once he came off the DL and the Orioles took him out of the Arizona Fall League. Will spend the year in Double-A. 3. Calvin Pickering, 1B, 23, (.283, 16, 63 at ROC & .125,1,5 at BAL) - Hit well in the Arizona Fall League but appeared lazy on several plays, leading some scouts to doubt his desire. Still has a major league bat with major league power. The Orioles would like him to become more aggressive in RBI situations. Has a tremendous eye and can hit for power to all fields. Needs a big year at Triple-A to overcome the whispers. Everyone from Eddie Murray to Don Buford have sat down and talked with him about his attitude, it's now up to him to decide whether he wants to put it the effort to become a major league player. 4. Luis Matos, OF, 21, (.297, 7, 41,27sb at FRE & .237, 9, 36, 14sb) - Legitimate five-tool prospect who probably was rushed a bit too much last season. Has as much talent as anyone in the system. Has legitimate speed and can cover a lot of ground in center field. Will start the year in Triple-A but has usually struggled at each new level so a return to Double-A can not be ruled out. Has the potential to be a 30-50 guy in the major leagues. 5. Larry Bigbie-OF, 22, (.277,2,31 at BLU and DEL) - The furthest along of all the Orioles 1999 first-rounders. The sweet swinging outfielder struggled at first before adjusting to the wooden bat. Another five-tool talent, Bigbie's power should increase dramatically in his first full minor league season. Will not steal a lot of bases, but has decent speed and is a solid outfielder. Will start the season at Class-A with the Frederick Keys. 6. Darnell McDonald, OF, 21, (.266, 6,73,26sb at FRE) - A tough offseason for the former first-rounder. Had shoulder surgery after re-injuring it in the California Fall League last season, but then lost his mother unexpectedly. He's looking at baseball as a way to get his mind off his horrible offseason. More focused and calm now that the pressure of being the latest number one pick is off. Showed better patience at the plate drawing a team high 61 walks and cut down his strikeouts from 123 in 1998, to 92 in 1999. Decent defensive outfielder who still needs to work on getting good jumps and routes to the ball while keeping focused. Will start the year in Bowie (AA). 7. John Stephens, SP, 20, (10-8, 3.22 at DEL) - No one had more intriguing numbers from last year then the 20-year right-hander from Australia. Overcame a career-threatening injury to post a remarkable season in the Sally League where he led the league with 217 strikeouts in 170.1 innings pitched while walking just 36. Allowed just 148 hits while holding opponents to a .229 batting average. Remarkably, he did all of this despite the fact his fastball was in the 82-83 MPH range. Uses a 60 MPH 12-6 curveball and a solid changeup along with impeccable control and pure pitching savvy. One of the smartest pitchers you will find who studies hitters and figures out and exploits the weaknesses of each hitter. If that's not exciting enough, Stephen's velocity has returned and he's now getting it up there in the high eighties. Keep an eye out for this one. 8. Edward Rogers, SS, 18, (.288,1,19 20 SB at GCL O's) - We can hear you asking, "Who?". How does an 18-year old Dominican shortstop rate this high after just one short-season in the Gulf coast League? When he's that good, that's how. The Orioles wonderchild shortstop is a five-tool talent that has an unlimited future. At just 17-years of age last season, Rogers hit .447 with three home runs in 13 Dominican Summer League games before coming over and leading the Gulf Coast Orioles in stolen bases with 20. Showed up in Sarasota much bigger then he was the year before which could mean added power to an already impressive stroke. Soft-hands, outstanding range and a solid arm combined with speed and power potential make him a future star. Suffered a hand injury in spring training, but is expected to start the season in Delmarva by late April. 9. Sean Douglass, SP, 21, (5-6, 3.32 at FRE) - Nothing wrong with being a 20-year old (His age on opening day) opening day starter on a Double-A club, now is it? Tall, lanky starter who throws in the low 90's with good movement to go along with a solid slider and change. Still needs to fill out and could easily add 3-4 MPH to his fastball. Could find himself in the big leagues come September 10. BJ Ryan, RP, 23, (1-0, 3.09 at ROC & 1-0, 2.95 at BAL) - 6'6" left-handed reliever acquired in the Juan Guzman deal. Immediately showed he was ready for the majors by striking out 32 in 23.1 IP at ROC before striking out 28 in just 18.1 IP with the Orioles. Held major league hitters to just a .150 average. Throws in the low 90's with a Jesse Orosco-like slider and a herky-jerky delivery that throws batters off. Will pitch out of the Orioles bullpen in 2000 and could be a closer in the future. 11. Keith Reed, OF, 21, (.254, 4, 25 at BLU and DEL) - Raw prospect who may have the highest ceiling of any prospect in the system. A five-tool talent who still is unpolished. Has tremendous power an outstanding speed. May take longer to develop but could be a 30-30 player in the majors. 12. Brian Roberts, SS, 22, (.240,0,21 17SB at DEL) - Outstanding defensive shortstop with good speed. The switch-hitter has a decent stick which will get better. Is defensively ready to be in the big leagues. His stick will decide how far he can go. 13. Juan Guzman, SP, 21, (9-5, 3.55 at DEL) - The results are coming for the Orioles latest catching convert. In his first full season as a pitcher, made the conversion from a reliever to a starter with good results. Throws 92-93 MPH but can top out in the mid-nineties. He's still working on an effective offspeed pitch but the slider is coming along good. Struck out an impressive 134 batters in 124.1 innings pitched. Compared to Nerio Rodriguez because of conversion from catcher, but actually has a much better arm. Will start the year with Stephens and Bechler at Frederick. 14. Steve Bechler, SP, 20, (8-12, 3.54 at DEL) - . This 20-year old right-hander has struck out 178 in 202 minor league innings. "Bech" features a low 90's fastball and above average knuckle-curve and improving change. Struggled with consistency walking a team high 58 while throwing nine wild pitches. Second on the team in strikeouts (139) while holding opposing batters to a .239 batting average. Will start the year in Frederick. 15. Rick Elder, 1B, 20, (.600,2,4 at GCL& .329,10,40 at BLU & .083, 2,4 at DEL) - Injuries continue to hound the hulking left-handed hitting firstbase. Continues to show big league power (14 home runs in 204 at bats) but also continues to strikeout at an alarming rate (73 in 246 plate appearances). Missed part of spring training while tending to his ill mother. Can hit a ball a country mile but needs to cut down on his swing or pitchers at higher levels will carve him up. 16. John Parrish, SP, 22 (2-2, 4.17 at FRE & 0-2, 4.04 at BOW) - Getting suspended last season may have been the best thing for him and the Orioles. Rededicated himself to baseball with terrific results. Left-handed thrower with a 92-94 MPH fastball has been known as a thrower more then a pitcher for most of his career, but has begun to pitch this season. One of the hardest workers in spring camp. Could be a huge surprise this season. 17. Ivannon Coffie, SS, 23 (.185,3,23 at BOW & .283,11,53 at FRE) - Back to shortstop after a season at 3B. Still one of the sweetest swings in the organization. Was a decent SS with Delmarva. Relearned to hit at Frederick under current manager Andy Etchebarren. Needs a breakthrough season. 18. Jocobo Sequea, SP, 18, (4-6, 4.92 at Rock (Low-A/CIN) & 0-2, 3.90 at DEL) - 17-year old protégée was already in his second professional season when the Orioles acquired him along with BJ Ryan in the Juan Guzman trade. Reportedly has a mid-nineties fastball, but is still trying to harness his heat as evidence by his 60 walks in 119.2 innings. However, he did strike out 92 during that span. Still has a long way to go but any 17-year old with that type of heat has to be watched closely. 19. Josh Towers, SP, 23, (12-7, 3.76 at BOW) - Keep moving through the system despite the fact that few in the organization believe he's a real prospect. Don't tell that to Josh. At 6'0" 170lbs, he's definitely not going to intimidate many hitters but keeps them off balance with an assortment of pitches. Fastball usually clocked in the 86-88 MPH range, but did top out at 90 MPH a few times this season. Every year, some in the organization wait for the other shoe to drop, but after becoming the Baysox most consistent starter in 1999, maybe they'll see that he just may be a major league prospect. Actually learned to pitch better by throwing less strikes. Received the opening day assignment at Rochester. Don't let the nay-sayers let you believe he can't be successful. 20. Mike Paradis, SP, 22, (15.00 in 2 games at DEL) - Pitched just two games before hyper-extending his elbow last season. The Orioles top pick in 1999 throws in the mid-nineties. Players to Watch - Richard Stahl-SP, Tim Raines-OF, Jonathan Kessick-C, Ryan Kohlmeier-RP, Wady Almonte-OF, Juan Aracena-RP, Aaron Rakers-RP, Rodney Ormond-RP, Alex Gordon-OF, Matt Griswold-OF, Steve Salargo-OF, David Tavarez-SP, Eliot Tomaszewski-SP, Erik Bedard-SP, Matthew Tate-SP, Ben Knapp, Richard Negrette-P, Eddy Garabito-2B, Eddy Martinez-SS, Franky Figueroa-1B, Roberto Rivera-OF, Ntema Ndungidi-OF, Rick Bauer-SP, Maikell Diaz-SS, Joey Hammond-INF, Jeff Wilson-LHP, Richard Paz-2B, Randy Perez-LHP, Raymond Cabrera, Edwin Centeno-OF, Napolean Calzado-3B, Jeff Wilson-P, Pete Shier-SS Players to watch in first year- Sonel Sena-C, Quincey Ascencion-OF, Ruben Francisco-OF, Francisco Mejia-P, Elvis Montilla-P, Rleal Sendy, Felipe Perez-1B Players that could still surprise Rochester- Eugene Kingsale- OF, Gabe Molina- P, Willie Morales-C, 3B Ryan Minor, Howie Clark-OF, Mike McDougal-RHP Bowie- Rick Short-3B, David Gilbralter-1B Frederick- Charles Alley-C Delmarva- Willie Harris-2B, Matthew Riorden-OF, Mamon Tucker-OF, Matt Schwager-RP

https://web.archive.org/web/20000305162150/http://www.orioleshangout.com/99minors/99minors.html I was looking at this and realized how much of this stuff I used to make. Damn, I had a lot of energy back then. I scanned that picture of Pickering in then cut it to fit in there. I also made the banner using paint I believe. Kind of fun to poke around and see all the stuff I provided before that stuff was readily available.

Can't find the 1997 list but here's the Mid-season top 20 and my end of season Top 50 1998 lists: https://web.archive.org/web/20000226134422/http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/8533/mid20pro.html https://web.archive.org/web/20000304210752/http://www.orioleshangout.com/99minors/50pros.html Funny thing is two of my "where did they go?" guys (Howie Clark and Rick Short) actually ended up making the majors. And yes, I was a fan of Pickering as well. I think he would have been given more chances nowadays.https://web.archive.org/web/20000305234001/http://www.orioleshangout.com/99minors/99picker.html

Not sure how I feel about this. While it sounds cool, I worry about taking prospects out of their routine and having them suddenly try and showcase themselves vs trying to work on things to get ready for the season. I mean it's not as bad as the WBC during spring training, but I'm still not a huge fan.

What an odd combo of positions he choose. Basallo moves well for a huge man but you have to imagine that's going to slow down as he gets into low to mid-20s. He certainly has the arm to play 3B, but if they're going to try him in the outfield, it will certainly by RF, not LF.

Perez is working some magic down there.

This would be a great development, especially if he swapped because he believes in the Orioles ability to develop him. Most likely the Orioles may have had extra money to offer him and he "reneged" on his Yankees commitment, but it would be very cool if it was development related. That would be a great sign for future signees.

They need to play Alcorn State every night! That was fun to watch. Maybe it will jump start the outside shooting?

Definitely think Wells or Irvin ends up the number 5 if Elias is unable to land a a good starter.

Welcome, nice 1st post.

Then scroll past. Stop with all the little comments. We always loosen up the rules in the main thread in the offseason when it's slow. Last I checked, you are not a moderator.

Thanks Rick. You are such a huge part of our message board community then and now and I'm glad you've made this your online home!

There was a few different iterations of the board, but I do think I had the first one started up in 1997 or 1998. I know it was pretty popular by the time 2000 rolled around because that's when we went under the Rivals network.

One aspect of this that was not mentioned, or at least I didn't see it as I perused the thread so if I missed it I apologize, but this is one of the limitations of the draft strategy that ignored pitchers in the top three rounds until this year. Acquire the bats and trade for the arms makes sense, except that everyone knows that's your strategy. The other thing is that pitching tends to weed itself out through more injuries than position players so there are less guys available to acquire. Established starting pitchers who's had a at least one TOR year and are available are going to cost multiple top prospects, but Elias 9perhaps rightfully so) is reluctant to trade them and probably prefers to trade from the Norby, Stowers, Ortiz types. unfortunately, they don't seem to the the types of players other teams covet. I was happy to see Elias change their philosophy last year because the position player bubble has gotten to the point that they are backed up in AAA and either Elias is risk adverse in trading them or is not getting the deals he wants because teams know they are backed up. From a business standpoint, it makes sense to have Norby, Stowers, Cowser-types sitting in AAA ready to go, but at some point, these guys are going to get frustrated knowing they should be playing in the major leagues somewhere. Hopefully Elias will makes some trades because with all the guys he tendered contracts to, either he's planning on bringing basically the same team back or building his depth so he can actually makes some trades.

Yeah, it was a ridiculously hitter favorable stadium and league. You could not take almost anything from the stats put up there besides plate discipline for hitters. The poor pitchers were usually shelled shocked after pitching there! Despite a lack of real prospects, the team slashed .292/.376/.451/.827. Jesse Garcia ended up the best prospect that played there that year and he had just 273 major league PAs slashing just .216/.241/.304/.545. He was obviously known for his defense.

Can we just marvel at the fact that Ohtani, although an amazing player, has never played on a winning team in major league baseball? If these huge contracts have proven, they are rarely worth it on the field and few suddenly make a team that much better. Over the last 11 years, really since they decided to start spending insane amounts of money on salaries, the Dodgers have come in 1st place in 10 out of the last 11 years. They have ONE World Series win to their credit over that time and that one came on the COVID shortened 2020 season. So yeah, I do believe bloated ridiculous payrolls will win you a majority of your regular season games (most of the time), but it also goes to show you how much of a coin flip a 5 or 7 game series can be regardless of your payroll. Maybe the Dodgers were just feeling bad that the Padres out spent them last year? Either way, MLB continues to allow big market teams to spend whatever they want and clearly, they can afford to spend this money so business must be pretty good. Then again, as long fans are willing to shell out the high prices to see one of 162 games like they've been doing, then players will continue to get these insane contracts.

Haha. He does crowd the plate which is why he's able to get hit as much. I'm not sure it really translates to the majors though. I hope the young man can stay healthy as well and maybe he'll surprise us a bit. I'll root for him as an Orioles fan.

It's kept him off the field, but I don't believe it's affected his tools. Now, we don't know how the hip surgery will affect him and that certainty is a valid question, but even from the first time I've seen him he just is not all that impressive tools wise. Especially not for a guy who was a $1.9 million 2nd round pick. Now again, he was selected during the COVID shortened 2020 draft, so I think Elias and his scouts were thinking his new found plate discipline would project into the minors. Unfortunately, those early games in the season are usually against smaller schools so he probably did not see a ton of top pitching and he did only hit one home run in his 84 PAs before his season was cut short. The issue with Haskin from a prospect point of view is that he just doesn't have the plate discipline or pop to really project as a regular. And while he does have above average speed, he's nothing more than an adequate defender in LF with a below average arm and a below average CF. Now injuries have certainly kept him off the field and that regard, you could make the argument that it's hurt his development. He's not an awful hitter though he's very pull heavy at times. Unfortunately for him though, his good OBP is driven largely by a Chance Sisco-like ability to get hit by pitches rather than an above average hit tool. Saying all that, I'm not ruling out him developing into a 4th/5th outfielder type if he can stay healthy and maybe develop a little more consistent power.

He doesn't get credit for building it, he gest credit for hiring Mike Elias to build it. The issue is will he now allow him the resources to acquire or sustain the players needed to make this team a perennial contender and occasional World Series winner, or will the team end up like the Rays? You will get no argument from me that he's better than PA who meddled way too much in baseball operations, but or course, PA at was willing to open up the purse, something John has yet to show any willingness to do.

The Banner seems to be the one publication nowadays that does actual journalism.

I don't know a ton about Eve and what she does, but if roster management, transactions, player evaluations and acquisitions fall under her realm, and that includes the trading deadline, I have some concerns. Grant it, the Orioles gave up very little in the Fuji and Flaherty trades, neither were very successful with the Orioles. The lack of successful veteran starter with playoff experience to me was a part of the Orioles sweep in the playoffs, and why Elias has said that's a goal of his this winter. Now I don't think she's solely the decision maker in these acquisitions but more of the person who provides the info to Elias who makes the final calls. But that's just my opinion on how things run in the warehouse, not any inside information.

Dammit.. Looks like Mr. Grinch McScrooge Angelos just poured water on everything!