Tony-OH

A Stotle Sighting! Nice to see ya stop by Nick!

Assuming Kremer is in the next four all together of course! I will say this just for fun and to see who is paying attention, one of these guys is not in the next four.

Something to consider here, the next four guys on the list are pretty similar prospects in my mind. We could build a case to switch any of the four around to make one over the other, but as always, we have to make a final call and if players have close ceilings, you go with the guy that is more ready.

Here's what you know then..... He's not #5.

I understand the concerns by some on Mountcastle's approach, and honestly, it's true that he gets himself in bad counts too often because he doesn't have a pitch he doesn't think he can't hit hard. He just needs more maturity at the plate and have the patience to let pitches go that might be hittable, but not be the pitch he can do the most damage on. Mountcastle has tremendous plate coverage and is similar to Vlad Guerrero in that he'll hit pitches that he shouldn't hit, but end up barreling them. From the reports I got on him, he's an intelligent guy (may not come across that way to the media because he's not comfortable with the media) and he showed some ability late in his AAA season of being able to show that patience more. I love the fact that he hits for a high average and will take a .300 hitter who walks 30 times a year over a .275 hitter who walks 50 times a year. The game is changing and we're going to start seeing more and more players with bigger BB/K splits, but if they can hit for average that offsets the lack of walks for the OBP. I looked up guys that flamed out who were similar prospects (some even more highly nationally ranked) with similar K-BB rations, and in every case Mountcastle hit for a much higher average then they did. Honestly, I think there is little doubt he's going to end up a quality major league hitter, but his ability to continue to make adjustments and have a better plan with experience will determine just how impactful he will be.

In my mind, if I'm grouping guys into talent level and ability to be impact players, the top four are in a group by themselves. It's not that the next guys don't have potential, but from here on out we get to guys with solid every day regulars as ceilings (nothing wrong with that) or middle-back to the rotation guys. I do think this top-4 may be the best four the Orioles have had since I've been doing these lists.

I definitely think out my choices to throw people off, so whether a guy was on a list or not may or may not have any bearing on whether he's the next selection. I also switch it up where the choices do give you some indications. Basically, I try to give as little away as possible with the choices other than to make people think and to discuss the possibilities!

Not saying he's here or not, but at the end of the day, he hasn't "proven" anything in the majors yet so I'm fine with him still being a rookie. Plus, he'll get an entire year as a rookie and hopefully will be in the rookie of the year conversation like Means will be this year.

My only clue, if I had to guess, the majority will not get this one right.

I like when people take my cues from other threads! nice!

Who will be the #5 and #6 prospects?

https://www.orioleshangout.com/2019/11/06/ryan-mountcastle-lf-1b/ How does an even better Trey Mancini sound?

https://www.orioleshangout.com/2019/11/06/orioles-3-prospect-dl-hall-lhp/?preview=true&_thumbnail_id=9735 He was really 2A if we're being honest, but only his lack of command dropped him slightly below Rodriguez. Lots to like with this young man though.

Add two points for the following people: DirtyBird 23 hours ago John Welch 23 hours ago Satyr3206 23 hours ago MarCakes21 23 hours ago Ripken 23 hours ago The Goob 23 hours ago LookinUp 23 hours ago UpstateNYfan 23 hours ago Greg Pappas 23 hours ago Sydnor 22 hours ago weams 22 hours ago canonfaz 22 hours ago MurphDogg 22 hours ago Absltgreek 22 hours ago wildcard 22 hours ago Frobby 22 hours ago eddie83 22 hours ago Number5 22 hours ago TGO 21 hours ago HarlowFan 21 hours ago ChosenOne21 21 hours ago Pickles 21 hours ago gold21030 21 hours ago Pushmonkey 20 hours ago Mountain Bird 20 hours ago ReclaimTheCrown 20 hours ago ShaneDawg85 20 hours ago WalkWithElias 20 hours ago jkrout 19 hours ago Lefty0315 19 hours ago Spl51 19 hours ago luismatos4prez 19 hours ago rudyrooster 19 hours ago Corolla35 19 hours ago Too Tall 18 hours ago olddogger 18 hours ago maybenxtyr 18 hours ago SilverRocket 18 hours ago VaBird1 16 hours ago Cavspider 15 hours ago calsmanystances 15 hours ago ChuckS 15 hours ago dabirds 14 hours ago oriole 14 hours ago Jagwar 13 hours ago Camden_yardbird 13 hours ago 24fps 12 hours ago NCRaven 11 hours ago leftygrove 10 hours ago hgizzle 9 hours ago cnmilton 8 hours ago sportsfan8703 4 hours ago ScGO's 51 minutes ago Triple Crown 30 minutes ago NJOsFan 18 minutes ago

It's hard to give a guy a TOR projection until we see him at high age holding his stuff into 90-100 pitches. When and if he checks that off, a mid-rotation "most likely" is a safer bet. His ceiling is a TOR though.

And as Luke and i have pointed out before, it's more important that the "Most Likely" and Ceilings are correct then who is #3 vs #4. But, everyone likes lists so we really do try and use my system of, "If I can only have one, who would I take." Sometimes they are the exact level of prospect but they may have one thing that puts them minutely over the other.

You are not alone in having Hall over Rodriguez. Honestly, they are 2 and 2A for me but I just think the pitchability of Rodriguez puts him slightly ahead of Hall. I wouldn't pitch a fit if someone had Hall over Rodriguez over particularly because he's left-handed. I'm glad the Orioles have them both.

Haha, well no lists are perfect, but of course we mean being right as "being the same as our list."

The list has started so you can still post your lists but can't take credit for being right from here on out.

Who will be the #3 and #4 prospects?

Two points for the following people for getting #1 and #2 right! (You can keep you own overall score as it goes up! cnmilton 23 hours ago murph 23 hours ago MarCakes21 23 hours ago Plutarch 22 hours ago O's84 22 hours ago wildcard 22 hours ago UMDTerrapins 22 hours ago Pheasants 22 hours ago Greg Pappas 22 hours ago weams 21 hours ago MCO'sFan 21 hours ago Mountain Bird 20 hours ago ChuckS 20 hours ago orioles119 20 hours ago Lefty0315 20 hours ago Absltgreek 19 hours ago SilverRocket 19 hours ago doccat 19 hours ago OrlandoO 19 hours ago Number5 18 hours ago ChosenOne21 18 hours ago Philip 18 hours ago gold21030 18 hours ago Aristotelian 18 hours ago Cavspider 18 hours ago George Zuverink 17 hours ago Going Underground 17 hours ago jkrout 16 hours ago canonfaz 16 hours ago MGH5208 15 hours ago thiscat41 14 hours ago Morgan423 14 hours ago Jagwar 14 hours ago olddogger 13 hours ago 86this 12 hours ago linedrive 11 hours ago connja 11 hours ago Pushmonkey 9 hours ago leftygrove 9 hours ago Pickles 8 hours ago mazarelo 3 hours ago WarehouseChatter 2 hours ago

It's that time of year once again where we give you an in-depth view of the Orioles system. We will be doing our top 30 once again, but this year we will give you a new grading system so you can quickly see where the player is currently in development, where they will most likely end up, and their ceiling if everything breaks for them. This will help you determine the closeness of the player to the big leagues as well as the toolsy guys with bigger ceilings but who are farther away. We developed this list after doing our own scouting, analyzing statistics, and after analyzing comments from players development personnel and professional scouts inside and outside of the organization. As with last year, I worked in collaboration with Luke Siler to develop the list. Our official list listed here is the collaborative result of our analysis. 2018 Prospect List New Grading System: Grade Hitters Starters Relievers 80 HOFer HOFer #1 75 Top 1-2 Top 1-2 #1 70 Top 5 Top 5 #1 65 All-Star All-Star #1-#2 60 Plus #2-#3 Elite Closer All-Star 55 Above AVG #3-#4 Mid-Closer 50 AVG Regular #4-#5 Low-Closer/Elite Setup 45 Platoon/Utilty #5-Swingman Setup 40 Bench Up/Down Middle/Long relief 35 Up/Down Emergency Up/Down 30 Org (AA/AAA) Org (AA/AAA) Org (AA/AAA) 25 Org (AA) Org (AA) Org (AA) 20 Org (A Ball ) Org (A Ball) Org (A Ball) Rank Name Current Grade Future Grade Ceiling Grade 1 Adley Rutschman 50 70 70 2 Grayson Rodriguez 40 60 70 3 DL Hall 30 60 70 4 Ryan Mountcastle 50 60 65 5 Austin Hays 50 55 60 6 Yusniel Diaz 40 50 55 7 Mike Baumann 40 50 55 8 Zac Lowther 40 50 55 9 Gunnar Henderson 20 50 60 10 Hunter Harvey 50 55 60 11 Dean Kremer 40 45 50 12 Keegan Akin 40 45 50 13 Alex Wells 40 45 50 14 Drew Rom 25 45 50 15 Brenan Hanifee 30 45 50 16 Darrell Hernaiz 25 45 55 17 Adam Hall 25 45 50 18 Kyle Stowers 25 40 50 19 Ryan McKenna 35 40 45 20 Bruce Zimmerman 40 40 45 21 Rylan Bannon 35 40 40 22 Adam Stauffer 25 40 50 23 Zach Pop 30 40 45 24 Leonardo Rodriguez 25 40 45 25 Gray Fenter 25 40 45 26 Dillon Tate 40 40 40 27 Cody Sedlock 35 40 40 28 Griffin McLarty 25 40 45 29 Toby Welk 25 40 45 30 Brett Cumberland 30 40 40

How does a 19-year old four-pitch pitcher with a mid-90s fastball sound? https://www.orioleshangout.com/2019/11/05/grayson-rodriguez-rhp/

Little surprise here to start off the list. Rutschman has a chance to be a generational talent. Age: 21 2019 Level: R-/S-R/A- http://orioleshangout.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/image-2-1024x143.png Tools (current/future value) Hit: 50/70 Game Power: 60/60 Raw Power: 60/60 Run: 45/40 Glove: 55/60 Most Likely Future Role: Starting Catcher, occasional All-Star Ceiling: Starting Catching, Perennial All-Star What we know: The first overall pick in the 2019 draft by the Orioles, Rutschman is a rare plus offensive and defensive player at an up the middle defensive position. Rutchsman brings plus tools across the board outside of running speed and is advanced enough to move quickly through the minor league system. After slashing .411/.575/.751 at Oregon State, he was slowed a bit by mono in his pro debut though he did have a red hot streak at Aberdeen that gave him some good numbers there. Rutschman has an advanced approach allowing him to get deep in counts rarely chases pitches out of the zone. He has power to all fields and has shown the ability to hit for power without sacrificing average. Defensively, he's a plus thrower who threw out 64% of the runners who attempted to steal in his pro debut. An intelligent and mature player for his age, he's a leader on the field, works well with his pitchers, and already shows an advanced feel to call games. What we don't know: As advanced a player Rutschman is for this stage of his career, we still don't know how he will handle upper level pitching. Rutschman has plenty of bat speed to hit upper level velocity, but it's still an unknown how he will handle upper level and major league offspeed pitches. What we think: Rutschman has all the makings of being a franchise type player who will end up a plus bat and defender as a catcher. Although he could probably be ready for the majors at some point next year, the Orioles will be in no rush to bring him up and start his controllability clock. Depending on how the new collective bargaining agreement ends up, Rutschman should be the starting catch by some time in 2021 or 2022 at the latest. Another Take: Really not much to add here, a historically good college performer in a tough conference who has the tools and make-up to back it up. Only question for me is how the body holds up behi https://www.orioleshangout.com/2019/11/05/adley-rutschman-c/

Let's just say, to each is own. The list is pretty out there, but if that's how they feel, more power to them.