John Sickels Ranks Our Prospects

by Scott Christ on Mar 13, 2005 12:33 PM EST in Minors & Draft

Over at Minor League Ball, John Sickels posted his top 20 Orioles prospects, so give that a look. As expected, he sees the system as very thin, which it is, and thinks there are but a few real prospects, which there are.

John has Nick Markakis and Val Majewski on top of his list, which I wouldn't argue with. Val hit fairly well at Bowie last year (.307/.359/.490) before making a quick jump to the bigs for a cup of coffee. It'll be interesting to see what he does when he gets back from the torn labrum that's going to keep him out this year.

Markakis is further back, just 21 years old. He hit very well at Delmarva of the Sally League last season, coming in at .299/.371/.470, which shows some encouraging patience for a player so young. Jeff Fiorentino comes in third.

John's next three are all RHPs: 20-year old Hayden Penn, Chris Ray, and John Maine, who also had a short stint with the O's last season and got rocked around in one start after a mediocre season in Ottawa that came after five nice starts at Bowie.

Of course I'm rooting for Walter Young, a 6-5, 300-pound first baseman that has yet to climb above Double-A. Young crushed the ball in the Sally in '02 and crushed it again at Bowie last year, but struck out a ton and didn't walk much. Who can't root for a big fat guy, though?

My personal top 10, which isn't much different than John's:

Nick Markakis, OF
Jeff Fiorentino, OF
Hayden Penn, RHP
Val Majewski, OF
John Maine, RHP
Chris Ray, RHP
Adam Loewen, LHP
Tripper Johnson, 3B
Walter Young, 1B
Nate Spears, 2B/SS

I have Spears up there because I really like him as the sleeper in our system. He's a little guy (5-11, 155), bats lefty, and hit 11 triples at Delmarva last season. He may become nothing, but he's a lot more intriguing (in my mind) than a lot of the other guys in the same range in our system. Could be another Brian Roberts-type, though it's hard to compare because at 19, Roberts was playing at South Carolina. At 21 with the Shorebirds, Roberts hit .240/.349/.323, which is well below Spears' .275/.358/.407 at 19. Still, though, a tricky comparison.

But our system is still very weak, which it has been forever. The good news? It might be slowly improving. Maybe. Got any good news?

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Comments

fairness to ponson's gut

"Who can't root for a big fat guy, though?"

A big fat guy hitter, maybe.

by thecubsfan on Mar 14, 2005 2:24 PM EST reply actions

oh right

That's a good clarification, actually. Boomer Wells assists Ponson in lending accuracy to it. Outside of Rod Beck and El Guapo I can't think of any big fat guy pitchers I like/d, though I'm sure there are some.

by Scott Christ on Mar 14, 2005 2:34 PM EST up reply actions

Matos Etc,

Sc-Do you think Matos has turned the corner
on the injury jinx.I,m a big Matos fan
& he seems to have gotten his hitting
straightened out.Since his recovery Luis
seems to have his balance at the plate &
is back in the groove.
I also like Gomez better then Wilson.It
is my feeling that Riley is a hopeless
case.

by hagersbush on Mar 19, 2005 6:03 AM EST reply actions

Re: Matos, etc

I think there's no reason as young as Matos still is that he can't get back to his 2003 numbers over a full season. If he does it's going to be a plus for our OF defense with him in center more than anything, but as a bottom of the order hitter Matos could do some damage getting on for what should be a really good top of the order with Roberts/Mora/Tejada as our first three.

Riley's only 25 so I'm still holding out hope there. I think he'll either have a couple strong years as a starter (possibly not in Baltimore) or end up a fine lefty reliever. We all know he can pitch, but is he going to is the question now. I think more and more people are starting to see him as a project than a prospect. Flanagan likes him, but, well - Flanagan likes a lot of things.

by Scott Christ on Mar 19, 2005 12:11 PM EST up reply actions