TT: Major league ready minor leaguers

[Tony-OH]

As we get started into our offseason chatter, it's time to take a look at the deep depth that the Orioles have in the infield and outfield when it comes to minor leaguers who are ready for major league jobs. 

These are the major league ready guys coming into spring training:

Heston Kjerstad: (RF/1B/DH): It's all about the stick with him. Could be Santander's replacement if he's moved.
Colton Cowser: (CF/LF/RF): Bombed in his debut and questions about him hitting good velocity have now become an issue, but he's probably ready.
Joey Ortiz: (SS/2B/3B): Absolutely nothing left to prove in AAA. Can play every infield position well and should hit enough if given regular PAs.
Kyle Stowers: (RF/DH/): Easy to forget about him but despite his ML struggles and injuries, he put up a .875 OPS in AAA and will play at 26 y/o next year
Terrin Vavra: (2B/LF): Pretty much a lost year with injuries once again and probably will get traded or DFa'd this offseason
Connor Norby: (2B/LF): Nothing more to prove in AAA with the bat and now just needs a shot
Coby Mayo: (3B/1B): One of the Orioles top prospects, he only has 267 PAs in AAA, but once he made the adjustments he looked too good for AAA.

Maybe Ready:
Jackson Holliday: (SS/2B): I'm only putting him here because Elias said he has a chance to win a job in spring training, but with only 91 AAA and some defensive development that needs to happen, he may be ticketed back to AAA. 

Everyone of these guys, but Vavra, has the ability to be an everyday player and even Vavra might be able to hold an everyday 2B job in a second division team.

When add that to guys like:
Gunnar Henderson: (SS/3B)
Jordan Westburg: (2B/3B)

That's a lot of 2nd year players or rookies that are ready for major league action. Elias has quite the job ahead of him deciding who gets traded for pitching help or even packaged together for a legitimate MOO bat.

Oh, and Beavers and Basallo could be knocking on the door late in the year.

Guess it's a good problem to have.

[maybenxtyr]

20 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

As we get started into our offseason chatter, it's time to take a look at the deep depth that the Orioles have in the infield and outfield when it comes to minor leaguers who are ready for major league jobs. 

These are the major league ready guys coming into spring training:

Heston Kjerstad: (RF/1B/DH): It's all about the stick with him. Could be Santander's replacement if he's moved.
Colton Cowser: (CF/LF/RF): Bombed in his debut and questions about him hitting good velocity have now become an issue, but he's probably ready.
Joey Ortiz: (SS/2B/3B): Absolutely nothing left to prove in AAA. Can play every infield position well and should hit enough if given regular PAs.
Kyle Stowers: (RF/DH/): Easy to forget about him but despite his ML struggles and injuries, he put up a .875 OPS in AAA and will play at 26 y/o next year
Terrin Vavra: (2B/LF): Pretty much a lost year with injuries once again and probably will get traded or DFa'd this offseason
Connor Norby: (2B/LF): Nothing more to prove in AAA with the bat and now just needs a shot
Coby Mayo: (3B/1B): One of the Orioles top prospects, he only has 267 PAs in AAA, but once he made the adjustments he looked too good for AAA.

Maybe Ready:
Jackson Holliday: (SS/2B): I'm only putting him here because Elias said he has a chance to win a job in spring training, but with only 91 AAA and some defensive development that needs to happen, he may be ticketed back to AAA. 

Everyone of these guys, but Vavra, has the ability to be an everyday player and even Vavra might be able to hold an everyday 2B job in a second division team.

When add that to guys like:
Gunnar Henderson: (SS/3B)
Jordan Westburg: (2B/3B)

That's a lot of 2nd year players or rookies that are ready for major league action. Elias has quite the job ahead of him deciding who gets traded for pitching help or even packaged together for a legitimate MOO bat.

Oh, and Beavers and Basallo could be knocking on the door late in the year.

Guess it's a good problem to have.

In my opinion, the team will be doing a pretty big disservice to some of these players if they don't open up opportunities this off-season. 

 

Everyone that you highlighted here has done about everything you can ask of them...now its time to let them pay dividends.

[now]

If the general consensus is that the 2023 season was a failure because of the last three games against Texas, then I guess the door is wide open for an all-youth roster in 2024. Why not?

[Oriole1940]

48 minutes ago, now said:

If the general consensus is that the 2023 season was a failure because of the last three games against Texas, then I guess the door is wide open for an all-youth roster in 2024. Why not?

It is never a year of failure when a team wins over 100 games. A short term failure for not showing good in post season, but nearly all teams would take the Orioles failure in a heart beat.  However, this puts the onus on the Orioles to take the next step from a 100 win year, this coming year,  rather than waste 2024 and start over again in 2025.     

[wildcard]

1 hour ago, maybenxtyr said:

In my opinion, the team will be doing a pretty big disservice to some of these players if they don't open up opportunities this off-season. 

 

Everyone that you highlighted here has done about everything you can ask of them...now its time to let them pay dividends.

They won 101.  This off season's focus should be on winning the WS.   To not do that will be a disservice to the players, the organization and the fans.  

[btdart20]

2 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

Colton Cowser: (CF/LF/RF): Bombed in his debut and questions about him hitting good velocity have now become an issue, but he's probably ready.
Joey Ortiz: (SS/2B/3B): Absolutely nothing left to prove in AAA. Can play every infield position well and should hit enough if given regular PAs.

Both of these SSS had lackluster showings.  But I'm getting a different vibe from one to the other.  Feels like you trust Ortiz's bat a bit more than Cowser's.  Am I reading that correctly?   

 

 

[maybenxtyr]

3 minutes ago, wildcard said:

They won 101.  This off season's focus should be on winning the WS.   To not do that will be a disservice to the players, the organization and the fans.  

I know 101 wins will be the main response by some, but that really doesn't matter next year. There have been teams that have enjoyed a really great season one year and then take a pretty big step back the next year. I'm not trying to predict the 2024 record before the off-season really begins, but there will have to be some changes if anyone believes that the goal is a WS or bust.

[Frobby]

32 minutes ago, maybenxtyr said:

I know 101 wins will be the main response by some, but that really doesn't matter next year. There have been teams that have enjoyed a really great season one year and then take a pretty big step back the next year. I'm not trying to predict the 2024 record before the off-season really begins, but there will have to be some changes if anyone believes that the goal is a WS or bust.

Isn’t this pretty simple?  Either the AAA players will show they are ready to be better than the major league incumbents, or they won’t.   You don’t play them just to “give them opportunities.”   You play them if you think they’re better (or will be over the course of 162 games, even if they’re not better on day one).   That requires professional judgment, not a blanket approach.  

[maybenxtyr]

3 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Isn’t this pretty simple?  Either the AAA players will show they are ready to be better than the major league incumbents, or they won’t.   You don’t play them just to “give them opportunities.”   You play them if you think they’re better (or will be over the course of 162 games, even if they’re not better on day one).   That requires professional judgment, not a blanket approach.  

So do you believe if any of the rookies show that they are better than the incumbents they'll be the Opening Day starter if they don't trade anyone during the off-season?

[Frobby]

7 minutes ago, maybenxtyr said:

So do you believe if any of the rookies show that they are better than the incumbents they'll be the Opening Day starter if they don't trade anyone during the off-season?

I think changeovers will happen more gradually than that.  If the team stands pat (and I don’t know if they will or won’t), there will be more opportunities in the infield than the outfield.  

[RZNJ]

1 hour ago, wildcard said:

They won 101.  This off season's focus should be on winning the WS.   To not do that will be a disservice to the players, the organization and the fans.  

Then someone should tell you that they are going to do a disservice to all above.  If the focus is really winning a WS in 2024 then they should sign the best FA pitcher available, trade 3-4 top ten prospects for a middle of the order bat, and sign someone like Josh Hader.

[connja]

Surprised nobody talking about Bradfield.  A chance he is our starting CF by end of the year.

Edited November 2, 2023 by connja

[forphase1]

1 hour ago, connja said:

Surprised nobody talking about Bradfield.  A chance he is our starting CF by end of the year.

I think that chance is INCREDIBLY small.  110 PA in the minors so far,  highest level being 5 games in high A.  I doubt we see him in the majors until 2025 at the earliest. 

[Since1984]

7 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

As we get started into our offseason chatter, it's time to take a look at the deep depth that the Orioles have in the infield and outfield when it comes to minor leaguers who are ready for major league jobs. 

These are the major league ready guys coming into spring training:

Heston Kjerstad: (RF/1B/DH): It's all about the stick with him. Could be Santander's replacement if he's moved.
Colton Cowser: (CF/LF/RF): Bombed in his debut and questions about him hitting good velocity have now become an issue, but he's probably ready.
Joey Ortiz: (SS/2B/3B): Absolutely nothing left to prove in AAA. Can play every infield position well and should hit enough if given regular PAs.
Kyle Stowers: (RF/DH/): Easy to forget about him but despite his ML struggles and injuries, he put up a .875 OPS in AAA and will play at 26 y/o next year
Terrin Vavra: (2B/LF): Pretty much a lost year with injuries once again and probably will get traded or DFa'd this offseason
Connor Norby: (2B/LF): Nothing more to prove in AAA with the bat and now just needs a shot
Coby Mayo: (3B/1B): One of the Orioles top prospects, he only has 267 PAs in AAA, but once he made the adjustments he looked too good for AAA.

Maybe Ready:
Jackson Holliday: (SS/2B): I'm only putting him here because Elias said he has a chance to win a job in spring training, but with only 91 AAA and some defensive development that needs to happen, he may be ticketed back to AAA. 

Everyone of these guys, but Vavra, has the ability to be an everyday player and even Vavra might be able to hold an everyday 2B job in a second division team.

When add that to guys like:
Gunnar Henderson: (SS/3B)
Jordan Westburg: (2B/3B)

That's a lot of 2nd year players or rookies that are ready for major league action. Elias has quite the job ahead of him deciding who gets traded for pitching help or even packaged together for a legitimate MOO bat.

Oh, and Beavers and Basallo could be knocking on the door late in the year.

Guess it's a good problem to have.

Thank you Tony!

I am curious to see how this off-season plays out with the ML and MiL depth and need for pitching. I could see a Urias, Norby and top 30 prospect trade for a mlb ready RP reliever (with options) and high ceiling SP/RP prospect to relieve the 40 man roster.

This offseason is the most interesting of all consider such a strong farm system and low payroll.

[wildcard]

10 hours ago, RZNJ said:

Then someone should tell you that they are going to do a disservice to all above.  If the focus is really winning a WS in 2024 then they should sign the best FA pitcher available, trade 3-4 top ten prospects for a middle of the order bat, and sign someone like Josh Hader.

The Orioles are a development team and they have been successful at developing top talent like Gunnar, Adley, Bradish.   Its a good bet that will continue in 2024 with Holliday, Mayo, Kjerstad,  Cowser, GRod, Ortiz and Westburg.    Wells, Hall and Cano at the back of the pen.   Means return is a big add.

They need to add a 4th starter and a solid right-handed reliever.   This is a World Series contending team.