While many in sports media don’t seem to have noticed, the way the Baltimore Orioles conduct business, and especially the way they develop players, has changed significantly in the last couple of years
The refrain is a consistent one. This was during the College World Series in Omaha. Blaine Knight was pitching for Arkansas, and the ESPN announcers were discussing Knight’s abilities on the mound. “It’s just a shame he’s headed to the Baltimore Orioles!” Eduardo Perez blurted out.
The anthem is frequent. A couple of weeks prior, the annual June draft had taken place, and when the Baltimore Orioles made Texas high school righty Grayson Rodriguez the 11th overall selection in the first round, even the draft analysts mentioned how a high school pitcher would likely desire to go to any other organization than the Orioles. The theme is prevalent, and it’s clear – the Baltimore Orioles not only do not develop players well, but they especially do damage to pitchers.
Not to insert my “30 for 30” voice here, but what if everything we’ve been assuming about the Baltimore Orioles is badly outdated? What if the Baltimore Orioles have not just changed how they do things in development, especially pitchers, but also specifically in the development of pitchers?
Well, we’re in that moment right now. Just look at the recent responses to trades that the Baltimore Orioles have made in their attempt to rebuild and use the MLB trade deadline to do so:
Dillon Tate is the biggest loser in this trade because his career development as a pitcher is now in the hands of the Baltimore Orioles organization. https://t.co/DdNMPkj8Lp
— Spreadapedia (@Spreadapedia) July 25, 2018
congratulations to zach britton for getting off the orioles. condolences to dillon tate, josh rogers, and cody carroll for going to the orioles. there are truly worse things than death.
— Jason Cohen (@Jason00Cohen) July 25, 2018
And the hits could keep on coming without a lot of extra searching. Those sending those tweets aren’t just random social media users either, though that’s what we showed above. It’s the talking heads like Eduardo Perez in the College World Series, mentioning issues with the Baltimore Orioles development and offering condolences for players who are in the midst of that system.
Perhaps a new look is in need for many in media and around baseball, starting with the biggest misconception – pitching development…