Good problems - Where does everyone play?

[RZNJ]

There are going to be quite a few instances of this in our minor league system.   Of course, some could be alleviated by injury and the strike (if 40 man roster players don't filter down to AAA).   Right off the bat though we have Cesar Prieto who is primarily a 2B.   The 22 yo Cuban figures to start at Aberdeen or Bowie based on his experience and achievements in Cuba.    However, it's likely that we already have  Hederson, Westburg, and Ortiz, rotating between 2B-SS-3B in Bowie.   At Aberdeen, Connor Norby is a strong possibility to start at 2B although SS is much less certain with Darrell Hernaiz and Anthony Servideo (not to mention Tony Graffanino) with Adam Hall also likely to return there.    So, even if you play it conservative and have Servideo and Hernaiz return to Delmarva, you still have Norby at 2B.   Could Prieto play SS at Abereen?   Possible.    Could the Orioles make an aggressive play and push Westburg or Ortiz to AAA to start the season?    We have a lot of similar questons with outfielders as well.   I will get to them a little later.

[sportsfan8703]

It’s a good problem to have considering the IF depth was non existent when Elias took over. 

[luismatos4prez]

Norfolk: 

2B/OF J. Jones and Vavra

3B Dorrian

SS Grenier

Bench McCoy, Martin

Bowie:

2B Ortiz

3B Westburg

SS Henderson

Bench Cullen, Welk (A. Hall in the OF)

Aberdeen:

2B Norby

3B Mayo

SS Prieto

Delmarva:

2B: Servideo

3B: Ramirez

SS: Hernaiz

Bench: De Leon, Burns

My stab at this.

[Aristotelian]

^Very well done. I thought Westburg is more likely at SS than Henderson, that will be really interesting to watch. The Bowie and Aberdeen groups both look really strong. 

[wildcard]

Grenier, Dorrain, Martin, McCoy, Cullen and Adam Hall all eligible for the MLB Rule 5 draft yet to occur.

[Sports Guy]

If they start Prieto at Norfolk, that makes this a little easier.

[emmett16]

24 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

If they start Prieto at Norfolk, that makes this a little easier.

That would be incredibly exciting.  I guess there is a chance.  Perez said mid to upper minors.  I know the org likes to give guys a taste of success before throwing them into the fire so it’s probably not likely, but would be awesome if it happened.  

[luismatos4prez]

I just realized I forgot to include Rylan Bannon. He'll be in the AAA mix to start the year as well I guess. But he's also in the Yusniel Diaz "I'm not holding my breath" category. Very disappointing return on trading our best player since Cal.

4 years ago, Tony had only 3 infielders in the Top 30 (Mountcastle, J. Reyes, A. Hall). Now there are 8 and a number of fringe guys. Plus Prieto might crack the list if he re-did it now.

[waroriole]

Hopefully Ortiz or Westburg can move up to Norfolk quickly. They should both be getting every day reps at SS. 

[RZNJ]

42 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

If they start Prieto at Norfolk, that makes this a little easier.

Sure but I would be shocked if he started there.  I'm guessing Aberdeen with a quick promotion, or just start him at Bowie.   I would be surprised but not as shocked if they just started Westburg at Norfolk.   Then you'd have Ortiz at 3B/SS sharing with Henderson 3B/SS, with Prieto at 2B.   That actually makes more sense to me because Prieto is probably only a 2B while Henderson, Ortiz, and Westburg are potentially all SS's.

What they might do is start Prieto at Aberdeen and promote if to Bowie when they promote Westburg to Norfolk.  I think that's the most likely scenario.

[Sports Guy]

15 minutes ago, emmett16 said:

That would be incredibly exciting.  I guess there is a chance.  Perez said mid to upper minors.  I know the org likes to give guys a taste of success before throwing them into the fire so it’s probably not likely, but would be awesome if it happened.  

Bowie is probably the right place to start him but at bats shouldn’t be taken away from Westburg or Henderson.

I don’t think they start Westburg in AAA although he should be there soon, so I wouldn’t have an issue if they did.

[emmett16]

1 minute ago, Sports Guy said:

Bowie is probably the right place to start him but at bats shouldn’t be taken away from Westburg or Henderson.

I don’t think they start Westburg in AAA although he should be there soon, so I wouldn’t have an issue if they did.

That was my thinking…Westburg to AAA.  But that isn’t how they’ve played the promotions during Elias’ tenure.  Maybe things start to speed up just a little bit.  Here’s to hoping.  Bowie does seem like the ideal spot.  He dominated in Cuba which is supposed to be on or with High A ball.  

[Sports Guy]

20 minutes ago, emmett16 said:

That was my thinking…Westburg to AAA.  But that isn’t how they’ve played the promotions during Elias’ tenure.  Maybe things start to speed up just a little bit.  Here’s to hoping.  Bowie does seem like the ideal spot.  He dominated in Cuba which is supposed to be on or with High A ball.  

I’m wondering if they change how they have done promotions now that so many of these guys are close.  
 

He had 112 AA at bats.  He struggled in the beginning and then started to hit better.  If they continues, he shouldn’t need much more than a month or so in Bowie.

But if they wanted to be aggressive for the sake of players getting at bats and development, im fine with him going to AAA.  I don’t think it’s going to hurt his development.

[RZNJ]

7 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

I’m wondering if they change how they have done promotions now that so many of these guys are close.  
 

He had 112 AA at bats.  He struggled in the beginning and then started to hit better.  If they continues, he shouldn’t need much more than a month or so in Bowie.

But if they wanted to be aggressive for the sake of players getting at bats and development, im fine with him going to AAA.  I don’t think it’s going to hurt his development.

I don't think it would hurt him either.  He's show he can handle adversity.   It could happen but if I were a betting man, I'b bet on Westburg starting at Bowie to get another 100 AB's down there.    I'm guessing Prieto either sharing 2B/DH with Norby or possibly Prieto dividing time at all three infield spots for a month to gauge if A+ is too easy for him or just to get the rust off, if he has any.

[Sports Guy]

Just now, RZNJ said:

I don't think it would hurt him either.  He's show he can handle adversity.   It could happen but if I were a betting man, I'b bet on Westburg starting at Bowie to get another 100 AB's down there.    I'm guessing Prieto either sharing 2B/DH with Norby or possibly Prieto dividing time at all three infield spots for a month to gauge if A+ is too easy for him or just to get the rust off, if he has any.

Yea I would agree that this is the most likely option.