2023 Orioles #2 Prospect Samuel Basallo - C/1B

[now]

2 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

That was Luis Jimenez after the 2002 season and while he did flame out, he actually did get 18 major league PAs and slashed .289/.367/.470/.837 in 1462 AAA PAs. So I might have gotten a little too excited over the bat when I went down and saw him in Bluefield, but he wasn't quite a big a miss as you suggested. 

Jimenez was a product of the Orioles system when they had no clue how to develop a prospect, especially an international prospect from Venezuela. 

I pretty sure the guy had some depression issues and even when he was killing it at Bluefield, he was the most depressed professional player I ever interviewed (through an interpreter). The Orioles quickly gave up on him (I believe for an off field issue if I remember correctly) and then brought him back years later and he killed it at Bowie too, but he had no position.

He was basically Calvin Pickering but with less game power.

BTW, look at that system when I named him #1: 2002 Orioles Farm system stats

Erik Bedard should have been the #1 prospects in the system and Jim Johnson #2. 

OMG that's a depressing list. That has to be the nadir of the dark age... two years past the great selloff of 2000, and ten years to go until the 2012 playoffs breakthrough. I'd wager that list has the lowest total WAR of any Orioles team ever. Just the name "Leslie Brea"... I'll stop it there. (Except I confess, I was prob'ly wearing Orange glasses then in spite of it all).

[Since1984]

Was way off on this projection! I usually follow the minors thread much more during the season, but the 2023 mlb club was too good a distraction.

looking forward to 2024 and congratulations to Basallo! 
 

Thank you Tony for all of this good analysis and information!

[RZNJ]

 

[deward]

On 11/19/2023 at 2:43 PM, Malike said:

When my girlfriend (Now my wife) and I were separated for work for a while in the 90's we used AIM as our main communication. That was back when cellphone bills would result in the thousands for making calls. Times, they have a changed.

My wife and I spent most of our engagement long-distance back in the late 90s and it was the same for us, AIM was our go-to outside of once a week long distance calls. The worst part about it was annoying my roommate by tying up the phone line. I still keep my old AOL address, mostly because I'm too lazy to go change it for all the sites and accounts I used it for back in the day. 

[Sports Guy]

 

[Tony-OH]

3 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

 

Yep. I don't think some people still realize how good a year Basallo had for his age. He hit for average, showed the ability to draw walks, did not have an extreme K rate, and was already tapping into his raw power during games. 

And he's got a plus plus throwing arm and improved his receiving and blocking behind the plate. 

Besides speed (he's not a base clogger by any means, but he's not that fast because of his size), he does everything really, really well. 

There's a reason I jumped him over Mayo and I really, really like Mayo. 

 

[btdart20]

4 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

 

Only Tatis was in AA in their age 18 season.  Pretty elite neighbors.  The bar is set for Salas in 2024.

[Sports Guy]

2 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

Yep. I don't think some people still realize how good a year Basallo had for his age. He hit for average, showed the ability to draw walks, did not have an extreme K rate, and was already tapping into his raw power during games. 

And he's got a plus plus throwing arm and improved his receiving and blocking behind the plate. 

Besides speed (he's not a base clogger by any means, but he's not that fast because of his size), he does everything really, really well. 

There's a reason I jumped him over Mayo and I really, really like Mayo. 

 

Yea, our top 3 guys in general are all incredibly impressive.

Someone on here comped Basallo to Yordano Alvarez and that’s really interesting especially since Alvarez, at age 18, had 60 at bats in the DSL. At age 19, he put up some subpar stats in A ball. In other words, Basallo is definitely ahead of him.

[Just Regular]

Carlos Delgado stays my favorite yardstick as long as we're still playing him at catcher.

Delgado stayed behind the dish 100% until his age 22 season.     He played LF when the Blue Jays first used him in 1994.     During 1995 1B replaced OF and then he never played anywhere else.

I do think he's a significant talent but don't want to overread into the results against AA pitchers winding down their seasons.

But sure, full ignition after a couple more months of domination the only names on those lists are very very special.

The brightest tint of orange colored glasses goes like Gunnar, Mayo and Basallo are nice kids, but what really drives these results is the Orioles' training.    Let's see how Braylin Tavera, Up Next does.

Basallo to AAA vs. Holliday to MLB could be a fun race - they are going to be teammates a long time, but I don't believe they've been teammates yet.

 

[LookinUp]

1 hour ago, Sports Guy said:

Yea, our top 3 guys in general are all incredibly impressive.

Someone on here comped Basallo to Yordano Alvarez and that’s really interesting especially since Alvarez, at age 18, had 60 at bats in the DSL. At age 19, he put up some subpar stats in A ball. In other words, Basallo is definitely ahead of him.

I get what you're saying, but it's kind of like bragging on your 7th grader that already hit puberty and is dominating the other small kids.

Alvarez definitely hit professional puberty. If Basallo turns out like him, we'll all be happy.

[RZNJ]

6 minutes ago, LookinUp said:

I get what you're saying, but it's kind of like bragging on your 7th grader that already hit puberty and is dominating the other small kids.

Alvarez definitely hit professional puberty. If Basallo turns out like him, we'll all be happy.

Not really.  It’s your freshman making varsity and being the best player on the team.

[LookinUp]

1 minute ago, RZNJ said:

Not really.  It’s your freshman making varsity and being the best player on the team.

He's an amazing guy to follow either way. He'll be in Baltimore in September if he has another year like last.

[sportsfan8703]

1 hour ago, btdart20 said:

Only Tatis was in AA in their age 18 season.  Pretty elite neighbors.  The bar is set for Salas in 2024.

I could see a September call up for Basallo this year. Let him keep his rookie status for all of 2025. Had it not been for Westburg, and the health of our other IF, I think we would’ve seen Holliday on that same path last year. 

3 straight ROYs could very well happen. 

[ChosenOne21]

If he hits anything close to those guys and sticks behind the plate, he's going to be a top 5 in WAR player

[Sports Guy]

1 hour ago, LookinUp said:

I get what you're saying, but it's kind of like bragging on your 7th grader that already hit puberty and is dominating the other small kids.

Alvarez definitely hit professional puberty. If Basallo turns out like him, we'll all be happy.

You are overthinking it. Just saying that Basallo was far more advanced at the same age as Alvarez.