Mound Talk

1. Matt Wieters, C, NCAA. With a devastating combination of power and hitting ability, the switch-hitting catcher has all the tools to succeed. His defense is good with a great arm and accuracy. However, he needs to work more on his ability to block pitches. His footwork could be more fluid behind the dish as well. He should move pretty quickly.
2. Radhames Liz, RHSP, MLB. Liz spent nearly all of 2007 in Double-A where he showed very good potential, but failed to show signs of improved command. His fastball is good, working in the 94-98 range and moves well. He has a very good curve and change but doesn’t have the command on either pitch. Liz could be a good #2 pitcher, or turn into a complete bust. It all comes down to command with him.
3. Troy Patton, LHSP, MLB. Patton came to Baltimore from Houston in the Miguel Tejada trade. He has very good stuff with great command. His fastball sits in the low-90s with good movement. He’ll mix in a second fastball in the upper-80s that also has good movement. he’ll also use a weak slider and a decent change-up. However, Patton has struggled with injuries and hiding his pitches. He projects more as a #4 than anything else and should get a chance to show his stuff in the big leagues in 2008.
4. Billy Rowell, 3B, A. Rowell the traditional scouting positives: good body, nice swing, projectability and so on. But an early injury, a slow offensive start, defensive struggles and poor production season long have diminished Rowell’s star. Expect a better season in High-A than he had in Low-A from Rowell.
5. Nolan Reimold, OF, AA. Reimold has had a number of injuries over his career that have kept him off the field but it doesn’t seem to have affected his development. He has good power derived from a nice swing with natural drive to it. He makes good contract and plays a solid defense. He’ll project well as a 30 home run hitter in left with a good arm. He does have a couple glitches in his swing but they should be worked out.
6. Chorye Spoone, RHSP, A+. Spoone had a very good season in 2007. He works with a mid-90s fastball, plus-curve and a change-up that has a very solid base. He needs to be more consistent and he’ll have three plus pitches.
7. Jake Arrieta, RHSP, NCAA. Arrieta didn’t play for an O’s affiliate after signing but showed good potential in college. He worked on a low-90s fastball with movement and a tight slider. He has a few mechanical problems, specifically, he doesn’t move in a consistent line towards the plate during his delivery. Keep an eye on his home run total in 2008 as it will be a good indication of whether or not he’s been able to correct a flaw that causes him to leave the ball up in the zone.
8. Garrett Olson, LHSP, MLB. Olson struggled upon his promotion to the big leagues but did show good potential over the past two seasons at High-A, Double-A and Triple-A. Olson is a good fantasy baseball candidate who shouldn’t walk too many batters and will strikeout about eight batters per nine innings. He does tend to be susceptible to home runs though.
9. Brandon Erbe, RHSP, A+. He has very good stuff including a 92-95 mph fastball, a plus slider and a decent change-up. His delivery is ok and could use a little improvement. That might be a factor in his command struggles. Regardless, Erbe needs to improve his command to fully utilize his pitches.
10. Jim Hoey, RHRP, MLB. Hoey has struggled in the big leagues but over the past two seasons has dominated at every level from A to AAA. Hoey could compete for the closer role if Baltimore doesn’t go out and spend money on an overpriced middle reliever.
Flier. Luis Jimenez, 1B, AAA. Jimenez has shown good power, hitting 22 home runs in 271 AA at-bats this year, but he was 25 and spending his third straight season in AA. He has good on-base skills and good power. That said, he was very old for the level and repeating that level for a third time.

The Orioles have revamped an empty farm system with the addition of Troy Patton, Jake Arrieta, Matt Wieters and a couple guys not included on this list like Mike Costanzo. Nonetheless, with pitchers like Liz, Spoone and Erbe, they could have a tremendous system if these three develop some command. But as things stand right now, they are all high upside, low downside guys. Compare them to other pitchers with good stuff and good command and most will prefer the latter whose ceiling is lower but floor is significantly higher. If Baltimore continues to invest in the draft, and stays away from the higher risk pitchers in favor of less risky options, they’ll be looking at a pretty good system in two years.