Baltimore Orioles Continue to Sabotage Themselves
By David Hill
Another international signing period, and another year that the Baltimore Orioles ignore the market. In doing so, they continue to sabotage their future.
Over the past few years, the Baltimore Orioles farm system has been mediocre at best. Ranked just 25th heading into the 2017 season, Chance Sisco is mainly the reason as to why the Orioles are ranked even that high. It is a system that appears to be devoid of a true cornerstone prospect, pinning their hopes upon the likes of Sisco or their 2016 first round pick, Cody Sedlock.
Obviously, given the Orioles success over the past few years, and their appearances in the postseason, it is going to be difficult to build their farm system during the draft. They will need to hit on those later picks, and maybe find a couple of diamonds in the rough, in order to have any tangible improvements in their rankings.
That is, unless the Orioles enter the international free agent market. There, unless a team faces penalties due to their overspending in prior years, a team can overhaul their farm system in a hurry. Everyone has a chance at those players; it is just a matter of getting them to sign on the dotted line.
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However, the Orioles avoid the international free agent market like my seven year old twins avoid cauliflower. They routinely send their international signing bonus slots away for middling prospects, instead of dipping their toes into those waters themselves. In fact, as this year’s international signing period began, the Orioles made a pair of trades to send that money elsewhere.
In doing so, the Orioles are only damaging their future. With Zack Britton, Manny Machado, and Adam Jones all set to become free agents after 2018, there is nothing ready to replace those players. Those future building blocks simply are not there.
While the international free agent market can be fraught with pitfalls and potential disappointment, it is also a place where some of the best players in the game can be had. In reality, there is just as much risk in the draft, or in trading for prospects. The only real difference is that, in theory, any team can land any number of top international players.
By essentially ignoring an entire segment of the market, the Orioles are merely hurting themselves. While they are getting something for the money, these middling prospects are mainly depth pieces. For a team that is in need of finding their next cornerstone players, the Orioles are basically refusing to acknowledge that there is another avenue to locate these players.
The Baltimore Orioles could be in trouble after the 2018 campaign. By refusing to invest in the international free agent market, they are only sabotaging their own future.