Homegrown lineup

[glenn__davis]

Many on this board have followed the minor leagues and the prospect pages for quite a while.  There were times where that portion of the system was far more interesting than the MLB team.  Many also remember that the Orioles amazingly went from Cal Ripken Jr. to Jerry Hairston before developing a single every day position player through their system.

There have been many discussions about how you can't field a fully homegrown lineup and be competitive, and while I generally agree with that assessment the Orioles are pretty close to pulling it off:

C - Rutschman

1B - Mountcastle

2B - Holiday

SS - Gunnar

3B - Westburg/Mayo

LF - Hays/Cowser

CF - Mullins

RF - Stowers/Kjerstad

 

Not trying to push Santander out the door at all, he'll still get a lot of playing time, but it's amazing to think that soon it is very possible that the Orioles will be fielding an entirely homegrown lineup.

[Sports Guy]

Yep. The “every prospect doesn’t hit” stuff is true but damn, the Os have a really high BA in that department right now.

[ThisIsBirdland]

2026?

Holliday - 2B

Adley - C

Gunnar - SS

Mayo - 3B

Basallo - 1B

Cowser - LF

Kjerstad - RF

Westburg - DH

Bradfield - CF

[Spy Fox]

7 minutes ago, glenn__davis said:

Many also remember that the Orioles amazingly went from Cal Ripken Jr. to Jerry Hairston before developing a single every day position player through their system.

Is this true? Wow. I did not know this and was too young to really be following the minor leagues in the '90s. 

[Explosivo]

The Sig and Elias effect. Sig, the stat and models guy, Elias, the scout at heart, and together they form the best way to project talent. The rebuild took two years. Two stinking years. Jackson is at MLB while Jones is in high A. We are so blessed to have that team and we are blessed the Angelos family gave them the keys to the kingdom to have the success we will be seeing for the next ten years. Amazing time to be an O. Quite possibly the best time since the 60s and early 70s.

[Aristotelian]

It's a throwback to the Oriole Way (but an insanely modernized version of it). 

[RZNJ]

31 minutes ago, glenn__davis said:

Many on this board have followed the minor leagues and the prospect pages for quite a while.  There were times where that portion of the system was far more interesting than the MLB team.  Many also remember that the Orioles amazingly went from Cal Ripken Jr. to Jerry Hairston before developing a single every day position player through their system.

There have been many discussions about how you can't field a fully homegrown lineup and be competitive, and while I generally agree with that assessment the Orioles are pretty close to pulling it off:

C - Rutschman

1B - Mountcastle

2B - Holiday

SS - Gunnar

3B - Westburg/Mayo

LF - Hays/Cowser

CF - Mullins

RF - Stowers/Kjerstad

 

Not trying to push Santander out the door at all, he'll still get a lot of playing time, but it's amazing to think that soon it is very possible that the Orioles will be fielding an entirely homegrown lineup.

A year or so ago, just for fun, I posted a future all homegrown lineup.   So many were up in arms.  “Can’t be done”.   “Winners don’t operate that way”.    Oh well.

[RVAOsFan]

This weekend with the Brewers in town we are potentially going to see Holliday, Westburg and Gunnar starting on the Orioles infield and Ortiz starting for the Brewers.  Amazing how much talent was in this minor league system.

[Jim'sKid26]

Interesting that the OP is focused on the lineup.  What about pitching?  Hopefully this is the new frontier for orals player development.

[glenn__davis]

9 minutes ago, Jim'sKid26 said:

Interesting that the OP is focused on the lineup.  What about pitching?  Hopefully this is the new frontier for orals player development.

Elias and Co. have had a clear strategy that they think they get better return by focusing on position players.  The highest they've ever drafted a pitcher was Jackson Baumeister last year in the 2nd round with the 63rd overall pick.

[Bemorewins]

1 hour ago, glenn__davis said:

Many on this board have followed the minor leagues and the prospect pages for quite a while.  There were times where that portion of the system was far more interesting than the MLB team.  Many also remember that the Orioles amazingly went from Cal Ripken Jr. to Jerry Hairston before developing a single every day position player through their system.

There have been many discussions about how you can't field a fully homegrown lineup and be competitive, and while I generally agree with that assessment the Orioles are pretty close to pulling it off:

C - Rutschman

1B - Mountcastle

2B - Holiday

SS - Gunnar

3B - Westburg/Mayo

LF - Hays/Cowser

CF - Mullins

RF - Stowers/Kjerstad

 

Not trying to push Santander out the door at all, he'll still get a lot of playing time, but it's amazing to think that soon it is very possible that the Orioles will be fielding an entirely homegrown lineup.

I respect that this perspective is how some fans chose to follow the game when the Major League team was so terrible. And for some this is still near and dear to them.

As far as I am concerned, a "homegrown" lineup is not that important to me. If we have an all "homegrown" lineup/team doesn't win, that won't be worth much to me. 

What I care first and foremost about is the results on the field and us winning a pennant. I could care less if the players were from another planet, universe, all former Yankees, whatever/wherever; as long as we win. 

For me, at this point winning trumps everything else/all other sentimentalities.

 

[glenn__davis]

20 minutes ago, Bemorewins said:

I respect that this perspective is how some fans chose to follow the game when the Major League team was so terrible. And for some this is still near and dear to them.

As far as I am concerned, a "homegrown" lineup is not that important to me. If we have an all "homegrown" lineup/team doesn't win, that won't be worth much to me. 

What I care first and foremost about is the results on the field and us winning a pennant. I could care less if the players were from another planet, universe, all former Yankees, whatever/wherever; as long as we win. 

For me, at this point winning trumps everything else/all other sentimentalities.

 

No argument at all from me in terms of winning trumps everything else.  I'd rather have a winning team of mercenaries than an unsuccessful homegrown team.

But there's something extra-fulfilling about seeing guys have success in the majors that you've followed for years in the minors.  Nothing wrong with that.

[Sports Guy]

 

[EricK]

3 hours ago, Spy Fox said:

Is this true? Wow. I did not know this and was too young to really be following the minor leagues in the '90s. 

Position players like Billy Ripken, Craig Worthington, Larry Sheets, and maybe David Segui and Jeffery Hammonds could be considered every day players for awhile in that time frame.

[Roll Tide]

3 hours ago, Spy Fox said:

Is this true? Wow. I did not know this and was too young to really be following the minor leagues in the '90s. 

I think Jeffrey Hammonds was in between depending on your criteria. He had like 10 WAR. But we generally sucked from Ripken to the present group. I mean, we had a few guys Hoiles, Wieters but even though they were  regulars here they didnt live up to the hype. I remember we had a stretch where we drafted a SP in rd 1 and a good chunk never even made the majors

Edited April 10 by Roll Tide