Some first-round picks of the Baltimore Orioles have found success elsewhere, but many haven’t found much success anywhere.
OF Mark Smith
The Orioles went out west for their first-round pick in 1991, selecting OF/1B Mark Smith out of the University of Southern California with the ninth overall pick. Smith would go on to play in parts of eight major league seasons, three of which were with the Baltimore Orioles.
Appearing in only 67 games, Smith hit .233 with seven home runs, seven doubles, and a .682 OPS in Baltimore. He would eventually be traded to the San Diego Padres in January of 1997 for minor leaguer Leroy McKinnis. McKinnis played one season with the Frederick Keys before leaving the game. Smith bounced around the majors and even spent time in Japan and Korea before calling it a career.
C Brandon Snyder
Currently with the Washington Nationals, Brandon Snyder was selected 13th overall in the 2005 draft by the Baltimore Orioles out of Westfield High School in Virginia. He played in just 16 games at the major league level for the Orioles, collecting nine hits in 33 at-bats. He was traded to the Texas Rangers for cash considerations in January of 2012.
Snyder has since signed with the Boston Red Sox, the Orioles again, the Atlanta Braves, Washington Nationals, Tampa Bay Rays, and Nationals again. In that span, Snyder owns a career .240 average with a .270 OBP and nine home runs in 122 major league games.
LHP Chris Smith and IF Mike Fontenot
The Baltimore Orioles had the 7th and 19th overall pick in the first-round of the 2001 draft, but missed on both picks. With their first pick, the Orioles selected LHP Chris Smith out of Cumberland University. Smith struggled during his brief time in the minors, never reaching above Single-A ball with the Delmarva Shorebirds. He as 2-4 with a 7.52 ERA and 2.18 WHIP in 24 minor league appearances.
Fontenot was a respectable utility player in the big leagues for a few seasons, just not with the Orioles. Just before spring training in 2005, Fontenot was packaged along with Jerry Hairston and minor leaguer Dave Crouthers in a deal with the Chicago Cubs for Sammy Sosa. Sosa hit .221 that year for the Orioles and failed to reach at least 20 home runs for the first time since the 1992 season.
Fontenot was worth 3.8 bWAR in his five seasons with Chicago and finished his seven-year big league career with a .265/.332/.401 batting line and 27 home runs.
RHP Beau Hale
Selected with the 14th overall pick in the 2000 MLB draft, Hale never reached the major leagues in Baltimore and is the highest selected player we have yet to discuss who did not reach the big leagues.
Hale was one of the hardest throwing pitchers in college at the University of Texas but was unable to live up to his promise as a professional pitcher. He pitched in 109 total games as a minor leaguer (74 starts), posting a 25-28 record, a 4.31 ERA, and 332 strikeouts, failing to reach higher than Double-A.
The Baltimore Orioles have the second overall pick in the 2020 draft and are hoping that this pick doesn’t join the above list as the organization continues to rebuild.