pittbaster

Hey folks! I'm going to start posting some minor league stuff to my blog, a place all the O's fans on these boards can come to get info on just how the farm is going. I figured since I was going to start following the minors more closely, and since the team sites are all separate, I would consolidate some information in one place. I'm coming into this somewhat blind since I haven't payed much attention to the minors in the past. The info might be a little sketchy to begin, but I'm going to try to get better as I go.

I'm starting by doing annotated rosters. I got the roster info from each team's official site, or minorleaguebaseball.com, and I added a blurb about each player mentioning what I know about them, or could find with a quick search. I also have divided players into four categories: New faces for the rebuild, old faces who are part of the rebuild, new faces to fill holes, and holdovers who are not really meant as part of the long term plan. (See what I did with the key, there?) The situation is fluid between those categories, and some guys can play themselves from one to the other. Some are already straddling two. The categories aren't meant as an evaluation of talent, rather the reasoning I think we had in getting/keeping the player. AAA Norfolk is up first, below:

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Catchers:

Chris Heintz This is a guy who's been around we picked up in case Quiroz doesn't perform. Not really part of the rebuild.
Omir Santos Came over from the Yanks organization, where he was held in high regard. He could be second on the
ML depth chart in 2011.

Infielders:

Travis Brown Patient hitter who's spent a lot of time in Frederick, but doesn't really hit for average. I don't think he's an answer.
Mike Costanzo Piece from the Tejada trade and part of the movement. Let's watch this guy closely.
Mike McCoy He's never made it past AA till now, and he hit .259 down there. Also pitched in two games. Defies category.
Alex Cintron Cubs played games for Roberts with him. Signed for now to pressure the young infielders at the ML level.
Oscar Salazar Not part of the solution. Castoff from everywhere who doesn't impress me.
Eider Torres We've all seen this guy; and none of us wanted to.

Outfielders:

Sebastien Boucher Played for team Canada. Visa problems delayed his progression, but I think this gentleman could be a
surprise talent. We got him for John Parrish.
Tike Redman He impressed me last year by overachieving. If he gets through the rebuild as a backup outfielder it would be OK.
Chris Roberson Another young outfielder meant to revitalize that part of the organization.
Adam Stern this guy never met his potential, and IMHO will likely be gone soon.
Luis Terrero Another underachiever. I think he'll get squeezed out because we're actually pretty deep in the outfield.

Pitchers:
Jim Johnson A prospect from inside the organization. I think it would be best for him to send him elsewhere, because I just
don't see him emerging past all the other prospects.
Radhames Liz I'll just let everyone make up their own. We know Liz.
Craig Anderson Another young pitcher putting up good minor league numbers. He isn't heralded like many of the others, though.
Jon Leicester I guess he's part of the rebuild in terms of volume of prospects. Injury has kept him down, and I doubt he'll
amount to much in the long run.
Bob McCrory Reliever with tremendous upside. could be a closer if Ray doesn't recover well from surgery.
Lance Cormier Grabbed from the Atlanta organization to compete for that 5th rotation and/or longman spot.
A long-shot to emerge, but still eant as part of our pitching movement.
Roberto Novoa A reliever from the Cubs org. who had a promising 2006 but missed 2007 with injury. Go MacPhail.
Garrett Olson Another kid we know all about.
Hayden Penn Sigh. I hope this kid stays healthy so we can find out how good he actually is.
Esteban Yan Absolute LOL. not sure he'll ever see MLB again, but welcome back geriatric reliever. Can we say Jesse Orosco?
Andy Mitchell A reliever I know next to nothing about. Little help, anyone?

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It's worth noting that there are three additional pitchers on the AAA DL: Cory Doyne, Fredy Deza, and Sean Tracey. I've heard alternately good and bad things about all of these guys, and any of them could end up contributing to this deep rebuilding movement. Beyond the obvious (pitching) we don't have a whole lot at the AAA level in terms of the future. We do have three outfielders (Boucher, Redman, and Roberson) who I like but I see them more as potential future bench players (solid bench players, but still not starters). There's also Omir Santos, who I like to eventually back up Weiters. In terms of infielders we really only have Costanzo as far as legitimate prospects go. I think he's the least likely of the ten players from our two big trades to amount to anything.

So, we're certainly deep at both SP and bullpen, have a few bright spots in the outfield, and are sorely lacking in infielders at the AAA level. I guess that's what everyone's been saying, but there it is broken down.