Last week’s annual minicamp at the Ed Smith Stadium complex in Sarasota focused on a group of minor league pitchers, most of whom are working their way up to the top rungs of the Orioles minor league system. But the organization’s next group of talent is coming on fast right behind them.
It’s a group of players who don't have much professional experience under their belt, but the Orioles believe they possess not only the talent, but also the makeup, to be fast-tracked up the minor league ladder.
The Orioles have suffered through some difficult drafts over recent years, and some of that is because they chose to forfeit some of their top picks, like in 2014, when their first pick was the 90th overall because they lost their first two picks through the qualifying offer process by signing Ubaldo Jimenez and Nelson Cruz.