Oldorioles

Thanks for checking!

Really, really good work here. I love the level of detail and the regular updates. Please keep it up! I just had a couple of minor questions. Could you please recheck the options remaining for Andrew Velazquez and Paul Fry? You have them both down as having three options remaining. It looks like Velazquez was optioned on 3/10/2019 and didn't come back up until 4/21/2019. He was again option on 5/30 last year until 7/3. Shouldn't those count as one option used for 2019? Similarly, Paul Fry was optioned by the Orioles on 4/26/2017, he was then outrighted but not until 6/4 of that year. He finally had his contract purchased on 6/29/2018. I think that counts as one option used for Fry. Again, overall, awesome work!

Enjoy Terror - thanks for the feedback, it's always welcomed. RZNJ - I think we are of the same mind. We love putting together this stuff, it's fun to guess. I really enjoyed going through your list. I'm sure there will be spring training injuries, etc., that we can't anticipate but I enjoy comparing my list to yours. It's a fun exercise each spring.

POS BALTIMORE NORFOLK BOWIE FREDERICK DELMARVA ABERDEEN SP Means Akin Jannis GrayRod Stauffer Lyons SP Cobb Baumann Sedlock Wilson L. Rodriguez Peek SP Wojo Wells Hall Fenter Magee Brnovich SP LeBlanc Lowther Bradish Vespi Lucas Prizina SP Bailey Kermer Hanifee Rom Litscher Elliott Zimmermann Peralta Conroy Zebron RP Harvey Tate Naughton Bautista Strowd Montgomery RP Rucker Mattson Matson Hammonds McCarty Farmer RP Carroll Alvarado Hayes Echevarria H. Roth N. Roth RP Armstrong Lakins Perez Joyner Constante McSweeney RP Fry Phillips Burke Knight Perkins Emund RP Castro Stewart Jimenez Bishop Hammer McGinness RP Bleier Cervenka Gonzalez Almengo Gillespie Stambaugh RP Givens Sulser Erwin Nolasco RP Scott Pendergast Comments: Really stacked, especially starters - so I think there will be some 6-man rotations. Bleier has to be in there, I'm guessing both Rule 5's make it. Not sure what to do about Hess, but I don;'t see any room for him barring injuries. Scott has to be in AAA until he can control the incredible speed he has. Jannis has to be included. They just converted Vespi to a starter last year and he did well, I think he'll be in a rotation and not the pen. Peek and Brnovih haven't played a professional game yes, so I have them at Aberdeen...plus, Delmarva's rotation is full.

POS BALTIMORE NORFOLK BOWIE FREDERICK DELMARVA ABERDEEN C Severino Wynns Cervenka Rutschman Handley Yett 1B Mancini Valaika Palmeiro Escarra Daschbach Herrera 2B Alberto Herrera Santiago Hall Fregia Hernaiz SS Iglesias Martin McCoy Grenier Ortiz Henderson 3B Ruiz Bannon Dorrian Reyes Welk Putzig RF Santander Diaz Jarrett Neustrom Stowers Tavarez CF Hays Mullins McKenna Rizer Watson Fontana LF Smith Jr. Mountcastle Nichting Thornburn Turchin Lewis DH Nunez Stewart Cumberland Curran Encarnacion Janvirn Bench Sisco Rondon Valentin Ferguson Cespedes Carmona Davis Holaday Ripken Ogren Torres Burgess Williams Billingsley Roberts Cannon Kehe Urena RZNJ - really good summary, here are some minor differences I have: Norfolk roster needs to include Valaika, so I guess 1B, even though that's not his natural position. Cervenka should share C with Cumberland at Bowie. Not sure what to do about Canelo, but I like Santiago at 2B in Bowie. Have to have McCoy as a regular somewhere. I think Dorrian beats out Reyes, who's kind of been spinning his wheels. Welk won't make the big jump, unfortunately, to start the season. Can't see Watson at Frederick yet until he makes more contact, so Thorburn (ugh) gets one more chance. Curran is your DH at Frederick, he was born to DH. Henderson and Hernaiz won't make the big jump either, so look for Fregia and Joey Ortiz at Delmarva.

I don't think Vespi and Wilson are going to the pen. Both were effective left handed starters last year after being converted by the new regime. Why would they put them back in the bullpen, where they were in 2018 after having great years (and being more valuable) as starters in 2019? I agree that there's a glut of pitchers (especially starters) here, but that's a good kind of problem to have. If I had to guess, I would say they'll go with a six-man rotation of Rodriguez, Wilson, Fenter, Vespi, Rom, and Ofelky. Not sure what happens to Knight and Bishop, who had subpar seasons at Frederick last year (especially Knight).

Agreed...great move.

I've never answered my own post before, but I just saw hes now listed on the GCL roster, and they start games tomorrow. Not sure why he's there but at least he has been found.

Any word on JJ Montgomery? I saw he was originally listed in the Opening Day Program for Aberdeen (along with Jimmy Murphy). I thought they may start him this year like they've done with some of the Ironbird relievers from last year (e.g. Ryan Conroy and Kevin Magee). He is no longer listed on the roster and I haven't seen him involved in any other transactions? Is he hurt? Is he in Ext Spring Training still? Anyone know? Thanks.

I continue to root for Lowther (first syllable rhymes with 'cow', often mistakenly pronounced like opposite of 'high'). He's a perfect example of being able to have success without a blazing fastball. I was able to talk to him on multiple occasions at Aberdeen when he was charting pitches on his offdays. He's incredibly cerebral. He knows what he wants to do on the mound, and it's very much a game of wits for him....which he usually wins. Amazing makeup for his age. When he was drafted, I remember many folks saying he stuff won't play at the higher levels because fastball rarely registers above 90 MPH. He really maximizes the tools that he does have. I couldn't be happier for him and I expect him to have continued success at Bowie and beyond.

I went to almost every Ironbirds home game last year and JC is definitely someone to watch who can hit for average and power. He's a leader on the field and a very athletic first basemen. In high school, he mainly played third base. When he got to college, they had him switch to catcher. After attending Florida International, the O's moved him to first base, so he's quite versatile. BTW - couldn't be a nicer guy as well, great attitude. Unfortunately, for JC, when he was drafted the O's went with Seamus Curran and Ryan Ripken to man first base at Aberdeen (in 2017), so he had to play in the GCL. Last year, he was promoted to Aberdeen and tore it up - winning the club MVP award. He was old for the league (23 yo), but that's not his fault. You can only do your best where they put you...and he did. Thankfully, the new regime realized his potential and leapfrogged him right to Frederick, where he's already hit two homers in the first five games. I expect his power to show through this year (especially playing half his games at Nymeo field). More and more people are starting to pay attention to this previously underrated gem. Just my $.02.

Brandon Bonilla is on Demarva's IL.

He'll be at Aberdeen. We are a host family with them and were just informed he'll be staying with us, beginning tomorrow (Saturday).

I can confirm that 6th round pick, Mason McCoy, has signed. We are a host family for the Ironbirds and we've just been informed he's staying with us. He will arrive tomorrow.

Keep it going!

The scout can say all he wants, doesn't mean he's right. It's just an opinion. My opinion on the subject is that he's someone to get excited about. Results matter and he's been great. This year is not a fluke, he's pitched well for several years for us, it's just that he's taken it up a notch this year. I can tell you this much, he'll be quite high on my end-of-the year O's prospect list. He's a starter with a 1.100 WHIP (did that last year too at Aberdeen) who strikes out more than a guy every inning. Beautiful 5.6 K:BB rate too. All this while he;s almost a full year younger than the league average age. Hop on board, it's not too late!!

what a season he is having! He just does not get the publicity of some others in the system but all he does is produce. He's simply dominating at Delmarva. Can't wait for him to move up.

BUMP... Now that all the regular seasons for each minor league team are over I thought I'd see how we did. Lots of you nailed it and I'm going to spread the rep around for you folks who picked a player in bold. Here's a quick recap of the players in the order they came up in this thread (remember, they couldn't be on the OH top-30 last year): Esquivel - At Aberdeen most of the year, moved to the pen. A little wild and a little overmatched. Can't really say he "broke out". Wilson - Tyler pitched very well at Frederick, and was lights out at the end of the season. I'd say he qualifies. Vader - Pitched in the Aberdeen rotation as a 20 yo. Don't let the W-L record fool you, he did a good job. I'd say 'yes' on him. Tolliver - Hurt in Spring Training, on the DL all year. Nivar - Pitched out of the bullpen at Aberdeen. Still walks way too many guys and at 23, he was one of the oldest pitchers on staff. Webb - Struck out a lot, but put up big numbers at Delmarva. Promoted to Frederick and he didn't miss a beat. Yes to him. Baker - Really hit the ball "with bad intentions" at Frederick, loved the power. Too bad he got hurt after Bowie promotion. Excited for him next year. Yes. Hobgood - Pre-season surgery and then the DL all year. Ryan Berry - Nice rebound year for him at Frederick. Yes. Mummey - Hurt much of the year, and when he was on the field I think that affected him .228/.320/.336 (656 OPS). Sawyer - First full-season club. Struggled offensively to a tune of .221/.316/.288 (604 OPS). Leonora - Started at Aberdeen, moved to Delmarva. Really, really struggled with the bat. Capellan - Came stateside to the GCL after two season in the DSL. Struggled and got hurt, but he's only 18. Veloz - Hit well in the GCL, then given a nice bone and promoted to Aberdeen at the end of the year. Yes. Bennett Parry - Great pick. He tore up the GCL and more than held his own at Aberdeen. Yes. Ohlman - Another great pick. Didn't start out that way. He got in the accident, then was suspended. But man did he come back at Delmarva!! Yes. Ruettiger - Played at Delmarva, Frederick (mainly), and Bowie. Much like Mummey, couldn't shake the injuries but he hit better. He did OK, but not a breakout. Nice going OHers!!!!

It's very, very early but I like to look back on these kinds of posts and so far I'd have to say your pick was right on the money.

I thought it might be interesting if people chimmed in on who a minor league player or two they thought would have a great year in 2012. To make it interesting, let's only pick from guys who were not included in the OH's top 30. Let's see if we can find any nuggets in the system... I'll go on record for picking two guys: Jamie Esquivel - His teammate, Eduardo Rodriguez, has gotten most of the headlines, but I'm certainlky intrigued by Esquivel. Now these are GCL stats, but they don;t get much better than this. His ERA was 1.03, his WHIP was 0.880. He stuck out a batter/IP, gave up a hit less than every two innings, and had a 2.5K:BB ratio. This begs for further attention. Tyler Wilson - Wilson had a great year in college and continued at Aberdeen. He may be looked at as having limited upside, but all he does is put up great numbers and I think you continue to move him through the system until that stops. He started eight games at Aberdeen and had a 1.91 ERA. In 33 IP he only walked FIVE guys, while striking out 27. His WHIP was 0.727. I can't wait to see what he does in a full season league.