Nolan Reimold is one of the more debated prospects in the Orioles system. Coming into the 2007 season, SBN prospect guru John Sickels had Reimold graded as a B prospect, ranked third in the O's system. With the addition of Matt Wieters and the emergence of Chorye Spoone and others, I can't see ranking Nolan third anymore.
Baseball Prospectus had this to say in the 2007 book:
It doesn't speak well for Reimold. And it's very true -- a guy his age with back trouble is bad news. That's a red flag. Take into account that he's a big dude (6'4", 207 listed) and a bad outfielder, and you're looking at a guy that may need to move to first base, which is, of course, the eventual destination of Billy Rowell.
Reimold, now a fresh 24 years of age, has had an inconsistent young career.
Year Team (Level) AB AVG OBP SLG HR RBI BB K
2003 Bowling Green (NCAA) 140 .329 .414 .393 1 17 16 21
2004 Bowling Green (NCAA) 171 .404 .493 .749 13 57 25 25
2005 Bowling Green (NCAA) 178 .360 .496 .770 20 62 40 36
Aberdeen (A-) 180 .294 .392 .550 9 30 29 44
Frederick (A+) 83 .265 .371 .554 6 11 12 27
2006 Frederick (A+) 415 .255 .379 .455 19 75 76 107
2007 GCL Orioles (Rookie) 30 .233 .410 .433 0 8 6 4
Bowie (AA) 186 .306 .365 .565 11 34 17 47
Phoenix (AFL) 63 .270 .378 .492 4 11 8 22
The numbers in Phoenix are fair enough, though hardly anything to really get excited about. His sample size results in Bowie are sort of encouraging -- the power is good and his average spiked, but his OBP dropped a hair along with it.
I don't know what, exactly, I make of Reimold, but I think it'd be an upset if he wound up being an effective major leaguer in the long term. I think, at best, he'll be similar to Kevin Mench, maybe better plate discipline.
I do think he'd probably be worth checking out in spring training, really giving him a shot to win the left field job. Jay Payton is a bum and, if healthy, Reimold could've put up his numbers with relative ease at a fraction of the cost this season. But I also think Jeff Fiorentino could have. And lots of guys.