Baseball America's Top 10 for O's

[Sports Guy]

I'm assuming SG meant Zach Britton. Nice comments on Britton by BA - hinted at good stuff, but being brought along slowly by the Os.

Yea, Britton is who I meant.

[UMterp08]

Wow! Our system has been so bad for so long! It is good to see it getting better. We have to continue to go over slot though or we'll not make up much ground.

I agree completely. I think this is crucial. It's just as important, if not more important than getting good returns on Bedard, Tejada and Roberts. This cannot be overlooked. I'm going to be very nervous come this year's draft.

[Jammer7]

For me, the most surprising write-up was on Snyder. They refer to him as a "good athlete with decent speed, but he's not a basestealing threat." They also said he stays well on breaking balls and call him the best hitter for avg. in the system. That sounds like a completely different player than the one we heard about last off season. He's obviously made great strides and he's on the right track.

Way to go Brandon!

[Jammer7]

I think Rowell's evaluation is interesting at #5. He's athletic, but a below average runner. No doubts about his bat and basically gets a pass on an injury plagued first season in low-A ball. I agree with the giving him a pass. What is the rush to move him off 3B though? They said he made good progress with his footwork and arm. Unless Henson has already outgrown SS and needs to switch there, I put Rowell back there at Delmarva for atleast the first half of 2008. Let him get his feet on the ground and have the kind of success he expects of himself.

If he does move off third, I agree with John and put him in LF to see if he adjusts well. 1B should be the last resort with him.

In the chat, his attitude came into question again. Will Lingo didn't dismiss it, but he did say he heard much less about it this year than last. It doesn't sound like a problem.

[oriolescrew]

Just wondering where Angle came from..haven't heard much about him and he is listed as 2011 CF starter...Any info?

[whatdoiget000]

Love reading the rankings and future projections, but I couldn't resist whipping out my 2005 Baseball America handbook to see the opening day 2008 lineup they predicted for the Orioles then:

(warning - it ain't pretty)

C - Eli Whiteside

1b - Walter Young

2b - Brian Roberts

3b - Tripper Johnson

ss - Miguel Tejada

lf - Larry Bigbie

cf - Val Majewski

rf - Nick Markakis

dh - Melvin Mora

ace - Sidney Ponson

sp2 - Hayden Penn

sp3 - Adam Loewen

sp4 - Erik Bedard

sp5 - Daniel Cabrera

closer - B.J. Ryan

*************************************************

O's #1 prospect 1995-2004 by Baseball America

95 - Armando Benitez

96 - Rocky Coppinger

97 - Nerio Rodriguez

98 - Ryan Minor

99 - Matt Riley

00 - Matt Riley

01 - Keith Reed

02 - Richard Stahl

03 - Erik Bedard

04 - Adam Loewen

What was the top 10 from that year?

[cwebb24]

Just wondering where Angle came from..haven't heard much about him and he is listed as 2011 CF starter...Any info?

http://forum.orioleshangout.com/forums/showthread.php?t=55230&highlight=matt+angle

[Goop]

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/features/265361.html

Thanks for posting.

[oandb21]

Albers was projected as Houston's #2 and Patton #4.

We have a lot of depth at SP...so much that you could create another rotation of Penn, Olson, Patton, Spoone, Erbe (Hernandez, Arrieta, Beato, Bascom)

Another thing I just noticed, our best athlete is Tyler Henson. Look for him to breakout this year and become a very good prospect.

I have been trying to talk up Henson for some time now, but noone listened

I see him as our future at 2nd base, he played short most of last season, and actually did well.

[tywright]

I have been trying to talk up Henson for some time now, but noone listened

I see him as our future at 2nd base, he played short most of last season, and actually did well.

I think he has a decent shot to be a 3B when Rowell moves to 1st.

[Stotle]

Just wondering where Angle came from..haven't heard much about him and he is listed as 2011 CF starter...Any info?

Drafted out of Ohio St in '06 -- CF with decent tool set -- great speed, good defense, little power, good bat for average. Should see time in Frederick this year. I don't know a ton about him, maybe someone else could correct me or give more details.

[Frobby]

Drafted out of Ohio St in '06 -- CF with decent tool set -- great speed, good defense, little power, good bat for average. Should see time in Frederick this year. I don't know a ton about him, maybe someone else could correct me or give more details.

I think the only thing you left out was high OBP. He had a line of .301/.421/.352 at Aberdeen and in college his career OBP was in the .435 range.

Oh, and he was a 2007 draftee, not 2006.

[Stotle]

I think the only thing you left out was high OBP. He had a line of .301/.421/.352 at Aberdeen and in college his career OBP was in the .435 range.

Oh, and he was a 2007 draftee, not 2006.

Yeah, I meant last season -- thanks. Thanks for the OBP heads-up; wasn't aware it was that high.

[Baltimoron]

For the sake of comparison, here is Goldstein's (BP) take on the O's:

Five-Star Prospects

1. Matt Wieters, C

Four-Star Prospects

2. Chorye Spoone, RHP

3. Radhames Liz, RHP

Three-Star Prospects

4. Jake Arrieta, RHP

5. Nolan Reimold, OF

6. Billy Rowell, 3B

7. Brandon Erbe, RHP

Two-Star Prospects

8. Garrett Olson, LHP

9. Pedro Beato, RHP

10. David Hernandez, RHP

11. James Hoey, RHP

No Snyder in the top 10, but he agrees that Rowell is behind Reimold. He is a lot more favorable of Spoone too.

Goldstein did an update today

1. Matt Wieters, C

2. Chorye Spoone, RHP

3. Radhames Liz, RHP

4. Jake Arrieta, RHP

5. Troy Patton, LHP

6. Nolan Reimold, OF

7. Billy Rowell, 3B

8. Brandon Erbe, RHP

9. Garrett Olson, LHP

10. Pedro Beato, RHP

11. Mike Costanzo, 3B

The Orioles made their one big deal by finding a taker for Tejada, but compared to the hauls some other teams have received this winter for big players, this one seems kind of light. Patton has very good command of average stuff, but his inability to miss bats at the upper levels is a major concern. Costanzo has plenty of power and patience, but he also strikes out far too much and is an absolutely miserable defensive third baseman. If (more like when) he's forced to move across the diamond, power and patience aren't enough–-you have to hit too.

link

[hoosiers]

I agree with what you wrote here, but to be fair, two of the four players received (Albers & Sarfate) CAN'T rank on this sort of prospect list because they have too much ML service time. Sarfate is unlikely to turn out to be much, but Albers certainly should be bring to the club.

I can remember if it was the 06 or 07 BA Prospect Handbook, but Sarfate was a team's (Brewers?) 20th rated prospect. He clearly has some potential.