O's are expect to have two rookie teams in the GCL

[wildcard]

O's are expected to not have a team in the short season A-  NY-Penn League per the baseball contraction but are adding another Rookie League team.

Quote

The Orioles are expected to field two teams in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League to go along with the four full-season affiliates. One affiliate is going to be dropped, with its identity expected to be known as early as Wednesday.

https://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2020/12/elias-on-virtual-meetings-shortstop-starting-pitching-and-more.html

To me this looks like Elias does not agree with the contraction but per MLB rules he has to follow their direction to drop the NY Penn League.   He apparently can still control how many GCL teams he has and adding one will allow his to keep they same number of players in the O's minor leagues.

[hoosiers]

Some nice praise for McKenna.  2021 is shaping up as an interesting year as more prospects get their first major league opportunities and we get our first real look in two years at our accumulated prospect talent.

[wildcard]

2 minutes ago, hoosiers said:

Some nice praise for McKenna.  2021 is shaping up as an interesting year as more prospects get their first major league opportunities and we get our first real look in two years at our accumulated prospect talent.

McKenna has to hit.   Hasn't hit well at AA yet.   By most reports an above average defender with plus speed.  But that will not keep him in the majors.  He has to hit.  Happy talk about him is just that. Its up to him.

[eddie83]

1 hour ago, wildcard said:

O's are expected to not have a team in the short season A-  NY-Penn League per the baseball contraction but are adding another Rookie League team.

https://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2020/12/elias-on-virtual-meetings-shortstop-starting-pitching-and-more.html

To me this looks like Elias does not agree with the contraction but per MLB rules he has to follow their direction to drop the NY Penn League.   He apparently can still control how many GCL teams he has and adding one will allow his to keep they same number of players in the O's minor leagues.

Houston was a franchise that promoted the idea of fewer MiL teams. Doesn’t mean Elias agrees but worth mentioning. 
 

I think we will see more players stay back at extended spring training and then be added to these teams.  

[Sports Guy]

I personally like the idea of fewer teams from a pure baseball sense.  The lower, instructional leagues can have several teams but I don’t see the need for multiple A level teams.

Once you start getting to that point, you are either a prospect or not.  Start thinning out of the herd.

[Frobby]

Could just be a one-year thing to try to clear some of the backlog in our system.

[eddie83]

1 minute ago, Frobby said:

Could just be a one-year thing to try to clear some of the backlog in our system.

Yeah. Have to see how many teams are doing this and whether it lasts beyond one season. 

[owknows]

The greatest potential beneficiaries of MiL contraction are teams with weak farms. Or teams just entering a ML rebuild who haven't yet strengthened their farms.

The team squeeze ultimately translates to player squeeze... which will create surplus... which will ripple upward through the MiL and ML systems.

The teams most negatively impacted will be teams who have just packed a bunch of young talent into the front of their MiL baseball system... Like your Baltimore Orioles. Some of the negative impact could be mitigated by graduating players up through all levels up to and including the majors. The O's are in a better situation here than many, given their relatively thin ML roster.

A long term strategy to deal with contraction might be to start pulling AAA and advanced AA talent into the majors a touch earlier than you might have... and filling that vacuum by pushing upward at all levels. This should make it easier to cherry pick the low MiL player surplus and turn it into a benefit.

[eddie83]

My guess is we will see teams run similar camps that we saw last year the first half of the MiL season. Perhaps someone like Mayo could be a player in that camp. Then they go out to GCL or Low A.  
 

Have a player struggling at Low A ball, send him to Sarasota camp for instruction. Things along those lines. The whole way player development works could see massive changes. 

[wildcard]

1 hour ago, owknows said:

The greatest potential beneficiaries of MiL contraction are teams with weak farms. Or teams just entering a ML rebuild who haven't yet strengthened their farms.

The team squeeze ultimately translates to player squeeze... which will create surplus... which will ripple upward through the MiL and ML systems.

The teams most negatively impacted will be teams who have just packed a bunch of young talent into the front of their MiL baseball system... Like your Baltimore Orioles. Some of the negative impact could be mitigated by graduating players up through all levels up to and including the majors. The O's are in a better situation here than many, given their relatively thin ML roster.

A long term strategy to deal with contraction might be to start pulling AAA and advanced AA talent into the majors a touch earlier than you might have... and filling that vacuum by pushing upward at all levels. This should make it easier to cherry pick the low MiL player surplus and turn it into a benefit.

This sounds like the opposite of what Elias does.   He has held the best O's prospects back or at least does not rush them to the majors.

[LookinUp]

1 hour ago, owknows said:

The greatest potential beneficiaries of MiL contraction are teams with weak farms. Or teams just entering a ML rebuild who haven't yet strengthened their farms.

The team squeeze ultimately translates to player squeeze... which will create surplus... which will ripple upward through the MiL and ML systems.

The teams most negatively impacted will be teams who have just packed a bunch of young talent into the front of their MiL baseball system... Like your Baltimore Orioles. Some of the negative impact could be mitigated by graduating players up through all levels up to and including the majors. The O's are in a better situation here than many, given their relatively thin ML roster.

A long term strategy to deal with contraction might be to start pulling AAA and advanced AA talent into the majors a touch earlier than you might have... and filling that vacuum by pushing upward at all levels. This should make it easier to cherry pick the low MiL player surplus and turn it into a benefit.

I think that you think there's less fat in the MiL system than I think there is. I think most (all?) systems can cut 25 players out with very little difficulty.

I think one byproduct might be a touch more position flexibility, as teams are less likely to carry as many complete non-prospects just to cover a position

[Frobby]

55 minutes ago, LookinUp said:

I think that you think there's less fat in the MiL system than I think there is. I think most (all?) systems can cut 25 players out with very little difficulty.

I think one byproduct might be a touch more position flexibility, as teams are less likely to carry as many complete non-prospects just to cover a position

I agree with this.    No real prospects will need to be cut.    

[Tony-OH]

The second GCL team will allow the Orioles to bring over their ready DSL players and get a better look at them. The NY-Penn League was really supposed to be for the college guys who were just drafted, but honestly, they should be able to compete in Low-A anyways.

I really see them pushing the number of draft picks back significantly. Realistically 20-30 is all you need and can sign free agents after that.