Early Guesses at 2014 Rosters

[Oldorioles]

I thought it might be fun to guess where our minor leaguers will end up playing at the beginning of the 2014 season. Of course, this is pure speculation. Much will change based on free agents signings, next year's draft, and there are always a few surprising cuts. I'm basing the player placement on previous performance, age, free agency status, injuries, and when the player was drafted. Promotions from the previous year will be in BOLD, the 2013 level of a player is based on wherever they had the most at bats/innings. (RS) means the player is a free agent and I think he will be re-signed.

BALTIMORE....NORFOLK.......BOWIE.....FREDERICK.....DELMARVA.....ABERDEEN

C- Wieters.........Snyder(RS)...Ohlman....Sawyer..........Sisco...........A. Murphy

1B- C. Davis........Liddi...........Walker.....Balog............Mancini.........Gassaway

2B- Roberts(RS)...Navarro(RS)..Adair.......Pena..............Boss..............Kemp

SS- Hardy...........Schoop......Rosa.........Marin.............Viele.............Breen

3B- Machado.......Wheeler(RS)..Mosby....Esposito........Hutter.............Veloz

RF- Markakis.......????.............Alvarez..Simpson....Yastrzemski.......M. Hernandez

CF- Jones..........Robinson....G. Davis....Lorenzo.......Bernadina.........Hart

LF- Pearce.........Hudson.....Ruettiger....Mummey.......Bierfeldt.........Lartiguez

DH- ???.............Joseph.......????...........Herbst..........Kimmel...........???

BMI- Flaherty.......????............????........????..........K. Richards..........????

BCI- Valencia....Britton........????..........Narron...........Caronia............????

BOF- Urrutia......????...........Bumbry.....Nathans.........Vega.............????

BC - Clevenger...Ward.......Chavez (RS)..Russell.......Wynns..............????

SP - Tillman.........McFarland...Wilson......Berry..........Kline..................Urban

SP - Gonzlaez......Wada..........D. Jones...Wager.........Harvey.............Crichton

SP - Chen...........S. Johnson...E. Rod......Parry.......Brault................Tarpley

SP - Norris..........Wright......Howard.....Rennie........Vader..............Keller

SP - Gausman....Gamboa....Davies.....Bridwell.......Horacek..............???

RP - O'Day.........C. Jones(RS)...Petrini.....Chalas.......Givens.............Rheault

RP - Hunter.......Belfiore...........Schrader...Beal.........Guzman...........Joseph

RP - Matusz.......Alderson (RS)..Pettit.......Marino.....Bill................Cunningham

RP - Patton.......Prado..........Beaulac...Rutledge....Santana.........Cortright

RP - Stinson.....Gurka...........Fowler......Taylor.....Hart...............Kellogg

RP - Britton......Bischoff......Tolliver......Hobgood..Severino...Bray/Scheurs/Isenia

CL - J. Johnson....Drake.........Price.......Beck........Yacabonis.........Delgado

DL:

........................................D. Bundy...............................

........................................B. Bundy................................

........................................Pomeranz..............................

Cuts:

- F. Rodriguez...Schlereth......Waring........Escat.........Torres.........Rivera

- Feldman........Asencio........Loman.........Z. Clark......Blackmar......Figuereo

- Hammel.........Russell.........Horton.........J. Rodriguez...Nivar........Richardson

- McLouth........Delcarman.....Romero.......San Miguel....Jacob........Louicio

- Morse...........Hendrickson...Baker.........Webb.........Upperman......T. Murphy

- Reimold........McCutchen....L. Martinez...Starr.........Weems.........Rust

- Casilla..........Loomis..........Zinicola......................Capellan........Barber

- Betemit........D. Johnson.....Bascom......................P. Perez........Castagnini

....................Pridie...............................................................Kalush

....................Dickerson.........................................................Graham

....................Exposito............................................................

....................Teagarden.........................................................

[wildcard]

Rather frightening thought that Gausman would start in the majors. Seems like the failure to put an experienced 5th starter in the rotation in the first half last year should have taught the O's a lessen. Hope it did. Gausman should go to camp as a starter and have to earn a spot in the majors. He probably needs some time in the minors.

So Robers is re-signed but McLouth and Feldman are not. We'll see.

I want to commend you on a lot of work at many levels of the minors. Much more depth of knowledge than I keep up on. Congrats on the post.

[CharmCityHokie]

Some details about minor league free agents and guys we've resigned already from Melewski.

http://www.masnsports.com/steve_melewski/2013/10/checking-on-the-list-of-os-minor-league-free-agents-and-other-notes.html

[Enjoy Terror]

I honestly don't think anyone on the Orioles bench in 2014 is on the roster right now, short of Valencia and Flaherty splitting time at 2B. Outfield, catcher and a serviceable SS backup (maybe Schoop, but I'm thinking not likely) are all going to be free agent pick ups.

[Oldorioles]

Some details about minor league free agents and guys we've resigned already from Melewski.

http://www.masnsports.com/steve_melewski/2013/10/checking-on-the-list-of-os-minor-league-free-agents-and-other-notes.html

Thank you for the link, I've been waiting for this list to come out.

[Oldorioles]

Nice job but guessing the AAA position players at this point is impossible. Most of the guys listed like Liddi, Navarro, etc. will be minor league FA's this offseason. Schoop will most likely be at 2B. Caleb Joseph could be at catcher or 1B or on the bench. Henry Urrutia is likely to be in LF or RF. That's about it. I think ERod could make the AAA rotation. I don't see how Gregory Lorenzo makes Frederick as a starter coming off a very poor year at Delmarva. Minor nits and picks on some players but good job overall. I think Torsten Boss might be getting converted to OF (he's listed as an OF on the instructional league roster). Either way, I bet you see him in Frederick to start the year. I'd guess that Luc Rennie starts out at Delmarva next year after a cup of coffee there this year.

Good insight , as always. Yeah, the AAA is just for fun. I've been doing this the past several years before posting it this year and at the AAA level, these guesses are correct way less than 50% of the time...more like 20-25% correct. Just for fun.

I struggled with the Lorenzo placement (Simpson too for that matter) but there's a real dearth of OF's around that level. He's only 22 and stole 40 bases, so I don't think they give up on him despite his mediocre BA and awful OPS. Maybe he'll repeat at Delmarva, but then you have a new crop (Yastrzemski, Kimmel, Bierfeldt) coming up. Also Bernadina will probably repeat and Vega will be coming off an injury. Lorenzo may get promoted by default, who knows. Good observation about Boss, I saw that listing too. I'm leaving him at 2B until I hear more info, but that might be the answer right there.

[Oldorioles]

I honestly don't think anyone on the Orioles bench in 2014 is on the roster right now, short of Valencia and Flaherty splitting time at 2B. Outfield, catcher and a serviceable SS backup (maybe Schoop, but I'm thinking not likely) are all going to be free agent pick ups.

You may well be right. Urrutia may need more time in the minors. I think they like Clevenger since they traded for him and he's a local kid, but they may put him back in Norfolk too. Valencia made a strong case for a big league job, but you could be right. Just my guesses, and they're sure to change as the offseason proceeds.

[Enjoy Terror]

If you are just going with people on the team now, Urrutia, Clevenger, Schoop and Flaherty/Valencia are the obvious choices, but you can't deny that would be a horrific bench to start the season with.

[Enjoy Terror]

Some details about minor league free agents and guys we've resigned already from Melewski.

http://www.masnsports.com/steve_melewski/2013/10/checking-on-the-list-of-os-minor-league-free-agents-and-other-notes.html

I'd look to resign Navarro, Liddi, and Wheeler (and in that order). The rest is roster filler.

[Oldorioles]

Thought I'd provide an update. We still have a long way to go in the offseason, but I enjoy making these guesses - even though many are incorrect, especially at the AAA level.

BALTIMORE....NORFOLK.......BOWIE.....FREDERICK.... .DELMARVA.....ABERDEEN

C- Wieters.........Clevenger....Ohlman....Sawyer..........Sisco...........A. Murphy

1B- C. Davis........???.............Walker.....Balog............Mancini.........Gassaway

2B- Flaherty........???.............S. Schoop....Pena....... .......Boss..............Kemp

SS- Hardy...........Schoop........Rosa.........Marin.............Viele.............Breen

3B- Valencia......B. Britton.....Mosby....Esposito........Hutter.............Veloz

RF- Markakis.......Kang..........Alvarez.....Simpson....Yastrzemski.......M. Hernandez

CF- Jones..........Bermudez......G. Davis....Lorenzo.......Bernadina.........Hart

LF- Pearce.........Urrutia.........Ruettiger....Mummey.......Bierfeldt.........Lartiguez

DH- Reimold.........Joseph.......Baker........Herbst..........Kimmel...........???

BMI- Weeks........????............????........Nathans... .......K. Richards..........????

BCI- Phelps..........????........????..........Narron...........Caronia.... ........????

BOF- Peguero......Chiang......Bumbry.....Kneeland.........Vega.............????

BC - Monell........Ward.........Chavez.......Russell.......Wynns..............Weems

SP - Tillman.........McFarland...Wilson........Wager..... .....Kline..................Urban

SP - Gonzlaez......Additon...E. Rodriguez....Parry.........Harvey.............Crichton

SP - Chen...........S. Johnson...Howard......Taylor.......Brault................Tarpley

SP - Norris..........Wright.......Davies......Rennie........Vader.................Keller

SP - Gausman....Gamboa....Berry.........Bridwell.......Horacek..............???

RP - O'Day.........C. Jones.......Petrini.....Chalas.......Torres....... ......Rheault

RP - Hunter.......Belfiore........Schrader...Price... ......Guzman...........Joseph

RP - Matusz.......Alderson.......Pettit.......Marino.....Bill................Cunningham

RP - Patton.......Prado..........Gurka......Rutledge....Santana.........Cortright

RP - Stinson.....Brach...........Bischoff......Givens.....Hart...............Kellogg

RP - Webb.......Huntzinger......Tolliver....Hobgood..Severino...Bray/Scheurs/Isenia

CL - ???..........Drake...........Fowler.......Beck........Yacabonis.........Delgado

DL:

Machado...........................D. Bundy...............................

........................................B. Bundy................................

Cuts:

- F. Rodriguez...Schlereth......Waring........Escat.... .....P. Perez...........Rivera

- Escalona........Wada...........Pomeranz......Z. Clark......Blackmar.........Figuereo

- Hammel.........Teagarden.....Horton.........J. Rodriguez...Nivar........Richardson

- De la Cruz.....Snyder.........Romero.......San Miguel....Jacob...........Louicio

- Morse...........Hendrickson...Hudson.........Webb........Upperman......T. Murphy

- Casilla........McCutchen.....T. Robinson....Starr.........Capellan..........Rust

- Betemit..........Loomis........Zinicola.......Adair............................Barber

- ..................Exposito.......Bascom.........Beaulac.......................Castagnini

....................Dickerson.......................Beal.............................Kalush

................................................. ........................................Graham

[Oldorioles]

Ivan Dejesus is either the SS or 2B at Norfolk with Schoop at the other spot.

I think you're right, I'm just waiting on the signing to become official.

[skanar]

Ivan Dejesus is either the SS or 2B at Norfolk with Schoop at the other spot.

You're probably right, but what about Cord Phelps?

[waroriole]

Someone will start in BAL if Manny isn't ready.

[Oldorioles]

You're probably right, but what about Cord Phelps?

Phelps has no options, so we may lose him. Right now, I have him on the bench in Baltimore, but that's only because Machado may be hurt to start the year. Otherwise, there may be no room for him as DD seems to like Flaherty at 2B. Personally, I'd go with Phelps.

[Oldorioles]

Someone will start in BAL if Manny isn't ready.

Yep, in today's update post I have Valencia there until Machado is back.