Baseball America's 2014 O's Top 10 Prospects

[VeveJones007]

http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/2014-baltimore-orioles-top-10-prospects/

I don't follow the minors as closely as some, but I'm surprised by some of the placement of players on this ranking.

1) Bundy

2) Gausman

3) EdRod

4) Harvey

5) Schoop

6) Berry

7) Urrutia

8) Wright

9) Ohlman

10) Sisco

Berry being ranked 6th instead of Wright is the biggest head-scratcher to me.

[Can_of_corn]

http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/2014-baltimore-orioles-top-10-prospects/

I don't follow the minors as closely as some, but I'm surprised by some of the placement of players on this ranking.

1) Bundy

2) Gausman

3) EdRod

4) Harvey

5) Schoop

6) Berry

7) Urrutia

8) Wright

9) Ohlman

10) Sisco

Berry being ranked 6th instead of Wright is the biggest head-scratcher to me.

Expected to see Harvey at three and not four.

[Frobby]

Note that the list was done by Steve Melewski. His comments on the top 10 can be found on MASN's site: http://www.masnsports.com/steve_melewski/2013/12/a-look-at-the-baseball-america-orioles-top-10-prospects-list.html

[Can_of_corn]

Note that the list was done by Steve Melewski. His comments on the top 10 can be found on MASN's site: http://www.masnsports.com/steve_melewski/2013/12/a-look-at-the-baseball-america-orioles-top-10-prospects-list.html

Looks to me like he put more stock in AFL performance then most people do.

[Frobby]

OH: Bundy, Gausman, Harvey, Rodriguez, Schoop, Ohlman, Davies, Wright, Sisco, Alvarez

BA: Bundy, Gausman, Rodriguiez, Harvey, Schoop, Berry, Urrutia, Wright, Ohlman, Sisco

BP: Gausman, Bundy, Harvey, Rodriguez, Schoop, Wright, Berry, Davies, Sisco, Hart

Not a lot of dissent between these lists. Everyone agrees on who is 1-2, who is 3-4, that Schoop is 5, that Wright ranks somewhere between 6-8, and that Sisco is 9-10. So, 7 of the top 10 are unanimous among these three, though the order varies slightly.

The non-common denominators are Davies (OH and BP), Ohlman (OH and BA), Berry (BA and BP), Alvarez (only OH), Urrutia (only BA), and Hart (only BP). OH has Urrutia and Berry ranked 11 and 12, so it's not like BA and BP really differ much from OH there, either. I find it odd that BP would exclude Ohlman and include Hart, but otherwise, everything on these three lists seems pretty plausible.

[Can_of_corn]

Could Hart be getting a bump due to where he was drafted?

[Frobby]

Could Hart be getting a bump due to where he was drafted?

Well, yes, definitely. Hopefully next year he shows why the O's drafted him that high.

[wildcard]

So if you add the three ranking up and give 10 points for #1, 9 for #2 and so on:

1. Bundy 29

2. Gausman 28

3. Harvey 23

4. ERod 22

5. Schoop 18

6. Wright 10

7. Berry 9

8 tie. Davies 7

8 tie. Ohlman 7

10. Urrutia 4

[Camden_yardbird]

My question is would Delmonico have made this list?

[Tony-OH]

Really surprised BA has Melewski doing their top 10. They usually actually have a guy who has done some scouting or at least is more than a reporter. No offense, but that really takes BA down a notch in my opinion.

Everyone is allowed an opinion though so more power to them. Unfortunately though, BA now has a guy employed by the Orioles doing their top prospect report. Makes me wonder who they have covering the other teams and honestly, this could be a great opportunity for Baseball Prospectus if this is how BA plans to do their "analysis" now.

[Slade-OH]

Just a little surprised to see Ohlman down at 9. They don't discount the possibility of him staying at catcher. He was among the best hitters in the Carolina League and performed very well in the AFL in limited AB's. Very surprised to see Tim Berry at #6. Frankly, I'd at least flip flop him and Ohlman.

Agreed, I'm not understanding how Tim Berry fits in the top ten when he had some trouble getting righties out consistently this year at Frederick and hasn't yet proved at the AA level whether or not that could be a legitimate issue going forward.

[Slade-OH]

According to Mewlewski in the chat, neither Hader or Delmonico would have made the top 10. He also sounded like Peguero would be closer to 30 than to the top 10 which I find odd considering that Peguero was #8 as recently as last year for San Fran. Also said Kline would have a chance to make Frederick's rotation, which is also odd, considering he only threw 35 innings at Delmarva and wasn't very good there, for the most part.

Peguero is still young enough and has enough upside (in my opinion) that he'd definitely be somewhere in the 11-15 range for me.

[hoosiers]

Very disappointed this was done by Melewski.

The results may not be THAT different than prior years when a BA analyst/editor probably obtained the list from someone in the Os front office, but BA implied that they had spoken with scouts in and out of the organization as well as Os coaches and opposing coaches. The BA analyst really showed off this knowledge from chat. Maybe John Manuel would not have answered the chat questions so differently, but it just feels different and less comprehensive coming from Melewski.

I would lean to agreeing that Ohlman should be higher on the BA list, but not such a biggee as long as he in in the Top 10. Regardless of rating, it is really the 2014 on the field performance in AA that will be important for MO. AA will be a real proving ground for Ohlman - if Ohlman can keep up the xbhs and show minor improvement on both sides of the K/BB ratio, MO could really jump up this list. Opportunity is knocking for MO in 2014.

[Frobby]

Really surprised BA has Melewski doing their top 10. They usually actually have a guy who has done some scouting or at least is more than a reporter. No offense, but that really takes BA down a notch in my opinion.

Everyone is allowed an opinion though so more power to them. Unfortunately though, BA now has a guy employed by the Orioles doing their top prospect report. Makes me wonder who they have covering the other teams and honestly, this could be a great opportunity for Baseball Prospectus if this is how BA plans to do their "analysis" now.

I was surprised, too. It's notable that Jim Callis has left BA to go work for MLB.com and MLBPipeline.com.

[Tony-OH]

I was surprised, too. It's notable that Jim Callis has left BA to go work for MLB.com and MLBPipeline.com.

It is very notable. Sounds like BA is struggling to keep it's real talent and hiring a reporter to do their top prospect list show how far they have fallen IMHO. Melewski does a good job of reporting the minor league news, but he's never been a guy I'm looking for analysis from. Like Hoosiers said, everyone assumed BA was talking to scouts in and out of the organization and the guy doing the list was not being paid by the organization.

I honestly may not buy their prospect handbook for the first time in 10 years. I've noticed the last few years they were really getting lazy. I mean, they had some embarrassing players in the top 10 over the last few years like Wynn Pelzer and Xavier Avery when it was clear they were no longer the players who were initially touted.