#7: Baltimore Orioles
Adley Rutchsman, Austin Hays, Cedric Mullins, Ryan Mountcastle, Ramon Urias, and a possible extension for Trey Mancini would give this squad potentially six good to great level players in the lineup. With the potential for others to either grow into the open roles, or acquire other players. Gunnar Henderson, Terrin Vavra, and Kyle Stowers all look like they could come up and contribute in the Majors very soon.
If everyone currently in the Majors can maintain their level of play and if the prospects coming up can stay on their current trajectories, they could have a very consistent lineup all the way through in just a season or two.
On the pitching side, John Means is the only real bright spot on the current MLB roster. He performed well in 2021, but his expected numbers show that there will probably be some regression in 2022. However, there are some potential top of the rotation guys coming up in Grayson Rodriguez, D.L. Hall, and Kyle Bradish. Hall and Bradish worry me because of their control problems but both have shown tremendous stuff in the minors. Rodriguez looks to be the most MLB-ready as he has performed amazingly at each minor league level so far.
Money is no problem for Baltimore as the team payroll is currently under $30 million. I think a Trey Mancini extension should be in line as he has typically been an above average hitter and would be a good story for the team as well given Mancini’s recent medical history and tie to the fans.
They most likely will not be spending a lot of money in free agency once the offseason starts back up again but I think taking a flyer on a guy like Chris Archer to start again could help out a very thin rotation.
A lineup that could be very consistent, a rotation that could be one of the best in baseball and money to play around with are all good things to see for the future. Whether the young pitchers hit their ceiling and the team decides to spend money will be the determining factors of how good the Orioles could be very soon.