Orioles' 2011 Draftees Signing Tracker

[MurphDogg]

Honestly though, if a player is not good enough to play at Aberdeen after a year in the GCL, is he really a prospect anyways? Very few prospects develop that slowly anyways. The only thing where I think it hurts is with a few pitchers, but at the end of the day, these guys should be ready to compete at Aberdeen by 19 or they are starting to get behind the prospect curve. Real prospects tend to identify themselves very quickly. Saying that, I would have preferred to have ditched the GCL team and kept the Appy League team because it's a little more advanced and the GCL league is really a brutal environment with the sun, humidity and t-storms.

I agree, I was talking about the guys we drafted this year that might be better suited for Bluefield rather than the GCL, not players who have already played in the GCL. This may be offset by the advantage of getting acclimated to the rigors of professional baseball in the GCL where there are more coaches and less travel.

[Skywalker76]

Any news on the draft signing front? Didn't they mentioned we had already two top 10 draftees signed?

[Tony-OH]

Any news on the draft signing front? Didn't they mentioned we had already two top 10 draftees signed?

Jordan has gone black. I texted him but haven't heard back yet.

[Tony-OH]

The Sun reports Trent Howard - LHP (7th) and Adam Davis - C (11th), have signed.

[Skywalker76]

That's what I need after these late tough losses. Some positive news from the draft. Thanks Tony!

[SrMeowMeow]

Jordan has gone black. I texted him but haven't heard back yet.

You won't. They never go back.

[Tony-OH]

You won't. They never go back.

Just to clear here, I meant black like the term used when a covert operative doesn't communicate back.

[SrMeowMeow]

Just to clear here, I meant black like the term used when a covert operative doesn't communicate back.

In the continuing interests of clarity, I was just making a "once you go black, you never go back" joke.

[NixBirds]

How is it that a few teams have already signed 30 or more draft picks, and Jordan has only signed 6. What is the front office doing?

[JDubs]

How is it that a few teams have already signed 30 or more draft picks, and Jordan has only signed 6. What is the front office doing?

6 confirmed, not 6 actual. We don't really know how many players have been signed.

[eb45]

How is it that a few teams have already signed 30 or more draft picks, and Jordan has only signed 6. What is the front office doing?

Picking quality players rather than players who will be easy to sign?

[psk3170]

I think the Orioles will be slow to sign players this year because they have two less teams and not many open slots on their rookie teams and want to get one last look at some guys before releasing them and replacing them with new signings. I foresee alot of late July and early August signings this year for the 2011 draftees after they see how the players already in the system do. I also think the guys they choose to sign will be more about quality than quantity. I also think they sign a lot less players from this draft but get the guys they want like Delmonico who will be hard to sign. I also think many of the HS guys will be signed to 2012 contracts like they did with Esquivel and announced on August 15.

[blazer]

According to Melewski, 19th Round pick, LHP Dustin Ward has signed as well.

http://www.masnsports.com/steve_melewski/2011/06/updating-townsend-and-mummey.html

[Tony-OH]

I think the Orioles will be slow to sign players this year because they have two less teams and not many open slots on their rookie teams and want to get one last look at some guys before releasing them and replacing them with new signings. I foresee alot of late July and early August signings this year for the 2011 draftees after they see how the players already in the system do. I also think the guys they choose to sign will be more about quality than quantity. I also think they sign a lot less players from this draft but get the guys they want like Delmonico who will be hard to sign. I also think many of the HS guys will be signed to 2012 contracts like they did with Esquivel and announced on August 15.

Well they really have one less team as they were not about to send guys from the draft to the other DSL team they shared. None of this should effect the college signings, but I could see some of the high school guys not being signed until later in the year as the Orioles evaluate them in their summer leagues. There will definitely be less signings this year since there is one less team to fill out which means some of the later round college guys might not get offered contracts unless they play a position of need. You also probably won't see too many of the later round high school signed either.

Honestly, the draft should be 30 rounds, not 50.

[psk3170]

Tony,

I agree the 50 round drafts are silly. 30-35 is where I would stop it as well.

I wanted to clarify my point that the loss of the second DSL team to me impacts the timing of the draft signings because some of those players that would have played on the other DSL team may be on the GCL roster instead taking up otherwise open spots. That to me will result in less international signings (is that possible???) and less draft signings or more August signings of draftees to basically debut in 2012

Just look at the roster of Aberdeen and many of those 19 years olds (Sawyer, Bridwell, Narron) along with Esquivel, and Bywater (where is he???) signed late last year or signed 2012 contracts and are basically debuting this year. My point is Jordan signs the rookie league guys in the August of the prior year to combat the stalling that goes in the draft signing process now.

I do not mind this strategy if it means we get more of the quality than quantity players we want like Delmonico.