2021 Orioles Prospect Power Rankings (Top 50)

[ChuckS]

53 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

McKenna should be with the org for our next winning stretch. He’s the perfect RH compliment to Mullins in CF, and his plus speed and defense make him a late game weapon. 

I view him as more of a fifth outfielder and I'd keep him on the shuttle between Norfolk and Baltimore as needed until his options run out.  With the game moving away from true DH's your fourth outfielder really needs to be able to hit a bit since they are likely to rotate through the DH.  I don't think Mullins needs a RH compliment for CF.  I'm playing him there every day and he's proven to be durable.  Hays on the other hand, may need a LH compliment for RF/LF.  Neustrom could be that guy. 

Zach Watson and Johnny Rizer are also coming up through the system with the same type of profile as McKenna.  The ones who hit the most will stick with the big league club.  

[RZNJ]

1 minute ago, ChuckS said:

I view him as more of a fifth outfielder and I'd keep him on the shuttle between Norfolk and Baltimore as needed until his options run out.  With the game moving away from true DH's your fourth outfielder really needs to be able to hit a bit since they are likely to rotate through the DH.  I don't think Mullins needs a RH compliment for CF.  I'm playing him there every day and he's proven to be durable.  Hays on the other hand, may need a LH compliment for RF/LF.  Neustrom could be that guy. 

Zach Watson and Johnny Rizer are also coming up through the system with the same type of profile as McKenna.  The ones who hit the most will stick with the big league club.  

I'm a sucker for a 1.000+ OPS even at AAA in 90 AB's.   I'd like to see McKenna get a true audition at the ML level.   100 AB's with sporadic time showed he was lacking but that's the first 100 AB's of his ML career.

[ChuckS]

6 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

I'm a sucker for a 1.000+ OPS even at AAA in 90 AB's.   I'd like to see McKenna get a true audition at the ML level.   100 AB's with sporadic time showed he was lacking but that's the first 100 AB's of his ML career.

I'm fine with that.  DJ can sit the rest of the way for all I care. 

[RZNJ]

Just now, ChuckS said:

I'm fine with that.  DJ can sit the rest of the way for all I care. 

Right.  Funny you mention D.J.  I think he put up a .950 OPS at Norfolk last year or the year before and I wanted to see him get a shot as well.  He's gotten his shot as far as I'm concerned and he brings very little to the table besides a bat that's really never gotten untracked at the ML level.   Personally, I'm ready to move on from D.J. Stewart and Richie Martin.   I listed 12 names on the current 40-man roster I would have no problem cutting and those were the last two names.

[ChuckS]

25 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

Right.  Funny you mention D.J.  I think he put up a .950 OPS at Norfolk last year or the year before and I wanted to see him get a shot as well.  He's gotten his shot as far as I'm concerned and he brings very little to the table besides a bat that's really never gotten untracked at the ML level.   Personally, I'm ready to move on from D.J. Stewart and Richie Martin.   I listed 12 names on the current 40-man roster I would have no problem cutting and those were the last two names.

Yep that was the season the juiced ball made its way to Triple A and Norfolk went from being an extreme pitchers park to something resembling the PCL.  DJ and Chance Sisco were both putting up video game numbers. 

I expect to see much more roster turnover next year and just increasing in 2023.  There will be lots of competition.  So hit or go home. 

[sportsfan8703]

12 minutes ago, ChuckS said:

Yep that was the season the juiced ball made its way to Triple A and Norfolk went from being an extreme pitchers park to something resembling the PCL.  DJ and Chance Sisco were both putting up video game numbers. 

I expect to see much more roster turnover next year and just increasing in 2023.  There will be lots of competition.  So hit or go home. 

Very good points on the juiced ball and Sisco/Stewart. McKenna seems like a team like the Dodgers or Rays would maximize. With a 26 man roster he has a spot on a “competitive” team. I’d let McKenna play in AAA until the end of the season and by then Hays or Santander will be hurt and shut down for the year, so McKenna can play LF/RF everyday. 

[Il BuonO]

1 hour ago, RZNJ said:

I'm a sucker for a 1.000+ OPS even at AAA in 90 AB's.   I'd like to see McKenna get a true audition at the ML level.   100 AB's with sporadic time showed he was lacking but that's the first 100 AB's of his ML career.

Yep, pretty small sample. He’s very toolsy, runs the bases aggressively, but not out of control and plays solid defense. 

The coaches like him, too. A lot of kudos coming out of ST.

[Frobby]

I am skeptical of McKenna’s bat, but because of his other tools he can be given some leash to show whether he can hit at the major league level.   

I want to be clear about one thing though.   If McKenna can’t OPS above .650 or so at the big league level, he really has no business being on a big league team despite his other skills.  And if he wants to start, he really needs to be over .700.   A good OF glove can only be carried so far.   
 

[RZNJ]

1 minute ago, Frobby said:

I am skeptical of McKenna’s bat, but because of his other tools he can be given some leash to show whether he can hit at the major league level.   

I want to be clear about one thing though.   If McKenna can’t OPS above .650 or so at the big league level, he really has no business being on a big league team despite his other skills.  And if he wants to start, he really needs to be over .700.   A good OF glove can only be carried so far.   
 

Crystal clear!

[sportsfan8703]

We have some CF depth with McKenna, Watson, Haskin, and Jarrett. McKenna isn’t very much older than Watson and Haskin, so if you consider them prospects then you must consider McKenna. 

[LookinUp]

56 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

We have some CF depth with McKenna, Watson, Haskin, and Jarrett. McKenna isn’t very much older than Watson and Haskin, so if you consider them prospects then you must consider McKenna. 

If the guys we have now are your definition of CF depth, I wonder when we didn’t have CF depth. Maybe not 4 guys like this, but I’d wager we usually had a couple.

To be clear, while there’s always a chance one of these guys clicks, the odds of this type of prospect being a first division starter aren’t all that high. But hey, I’d have said that about Mullins last year so what do I know?

[RZNJ]

6 minutes ago, LookinUp said:

If the guys we have now are your definition of CF depth, I wonder when we didn’t have CF depth. Maybe not 4 guys like this, but I’d wager we usually had a couple.

To be clear, while there’s always a chance one of these guys clicks, the odds of this type of prospect being a first division starter aren’t all that high. But hey, I’d have said that about Mullins last year so what do I know?

There is strength in numbers.   In years past we might have one of these type of guys.   I'd even throw Rizer into the mix with Watson, Haskins, and McKenna.  Way down we have Deson.   Some will be AAAA players, some bench players in the ML's but if you keep getting these type of guys the more chance you have of one of them overachieving and becoming something.   We do have depth, especially in outfielders but we have a lot of 2B /SS guys as well with Grenier, Vavra, Ortiz, Bannon, Westburg, Servideo, Burns.   The more legitimate, decent/not great prospects you have the more chances you get a guy who exceeds expectations.    We used to have one or two, not even one legitimate guy at each position.   Now I can come up with at least 2-3 guys at just about every position except maybe catcher.

[sportsfan8703]

59 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

There is strength in numbers.   In years past we might have one of these type of guys.   I'd even throw Rizer into the mix with Watson, Haskins, and McKenna.  Way down we have Deson.   Some will be AAAA players, some bench players in the ML's but if you keep getting these type of guys the more chance you have of one of them overachieving and becoming something.   We do have depth, especially in outfielders but we have a lot of 2B /SS guys as well with Grenier, Vavra, Ortiz, Bannon, Westburg, Servideo, Burns.   The more legitimate, decent/not great prospects you have the more chances you get a guy who exceeds expectations.    We used to have one or two, not even one legitimate guy at each position.   Now I can come up with at least 2-3 guys at just about every position except maybe catcher.

Even Catcher though. We have AR(aka #1 prospect), Creed Willems, and Samuel Basillo. We’ve spent the #1 overall pick, $1mm to sign Willems, and a big bonus for Basillo. Elias is trying. 
 

Our MIF depth has improved so much that Ortiz is hurt and we’re not complaining, plus Hernaiz and Grenier are competing for PT now. Iron sharpens Iron. Hitters need to produce or get passed. Previously they were just penciled in when healthy. 

[Sports Guy]

Mayo being in the top 10 is necessary and I would argue he should be higher.  His ceiling is pretty high.  Obviously it’s very early in his career and we need to see how he advances but my guess is he starts in Delmarva next year but he should be in Aberdeen quickly if he continues to hit well.  It’s not out of the realm of possibility that he is in Bowie this time next year.

He is definitely way up the list of prospects to be excited about heading into the offseason.

[Tony-OH]

2 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

Mayo being in the top 10 is necessary and I would argue he should be higher.  His ceiling is pretty high.  Obviously it’s very early in his career and we need to see how he advances but my guess is he starts in Delmarva next year but he should be in Aberdeen quickly if he continues to hit well.  It’s not out of the realm of possibility that he is in Bowie this time next year.

He is definitely way up the list of prospects to be excited about heading into the offseason.

He is definitely trending up. The more I've watched him at Delmarva the more I really think he may be something special. I just really like his ABs and for young inexperienced hitter, he really doesn't get fooled all that much. He has BIG time power that comes from a violent, but smooth swing.

Defensively he's got plenty of arm for the hot corner but still needs to work on his foot work on his throws. My biggest concern for him over there is his height. There are not many long time, 6-5 third basemans in MLB history. Kris Bryant is 6-5 and has played some third base, but they also used him in the outfield and first base. Alec Bohm is 6-5 but has been well below average defensively so far in the big leagues and may need to move to first base, 

Scott Rolen was 6-4 and played an effective 3B across his entire career, as well as Mike Lowell, but those guys are few and far between. Obviously Cal Ripken was 6-4 and some say 6-5 and ended up playing 3B effectively after moving there later in his career.

I haven't seen enough of him defensively to say he'll need to move so he certainly should play there everyday for now. 

Either way, I love the K-BB ratio combined with the huge power and the good arm combo. He's not going to win a ton of sprint races, but he's not base clogger so if he needed to move to the right field he would probably be fine speed wise. 

He has impressed me. He's the one guy on Delmarva that looks like a "can't miss guy" and he's the youngest. Not to say I don't like others there, but Mayo right now really has stood out to me.