If baseball were indeed 75% pitching, the Orioles' future would look very bright. Fortunately for the home club, it is not.
Position Players
With Nick Markakis' promotion to the major leagues, the Orioles minor league system is relatively thin in the field. Outfielders Val Majewski, Jeff Fiorentino and Nolan Reimold give them good depth and a variety of talents there, and catcher Brandon Snyder is an interesting if raw prospect, but the team lacks for middle infielders. Only Reimold is off to a good start. Here are their 2006 statistics, with links to prior year statistics:
| Player | Level | Age | AB | BA | OBP | Slug. | W | K | SB | CS |
| Majewski | AAA | 25.2 | 37 | .162 | .205 | .405 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| Fiorentino | AA | 23.0 | 69 | .188 | .288 | .420 | 9 | 12 | 4 | 0 |
| Reimold | HiA | 22.6 | 100 | .320 | .424 | .560 | 16 | 27 | 7 | 3 |
| Snyder | LoA | 19.5 | 92 | .228 | .283 | .413 | 7 | 33 | 0 | 0 |
Pitchers
The Orioles are rich in pitching, with Hayden Penn, Adam Loewen, Radhames Liz and Brandon Erbe leading the way. Check out the K/IP ratios on these guys, although it is important to bear in mind that the early season environment this year has definitely tilted the playing field in the pitcher's favour.
There will probally be better days ahead for Leo Mazzone in Baltimore. In addition to these top four prospects, there are several other good pitching prospects, of whom Garrett Olson is one.
| Pitcher | Level | Age | IP | G | GS | ERA | W | K | HR |
| Penn | AAA | 21.5 | 17.0 | 3 | 3 | 1.59 | 6 | 17 | 1 |
| Loewen | AA | 22.1 | 32.2 | 6 | 5 | 3.03 | 14 | 36 | 3 |
| Liz | HiA | 22.9 | 32.0 | 6 | 6 | 1.41 | 14 | 50 | 0 |
| Olson | HiA | 22.5 | 32.2 | 6 | 6 | 3.31 | 10 | 29 | 2 |
| Erbe | LoA | 18.4 | 24.0 | 6 | 5 | 3.00 | 4 | 30 | 1 |
Overall
The Oriole system is in fair shape, with the absence of infield prospects the major issue. It would be very nice for the Os to have a shortstop ready to go when Tejada needs to move to third and Mora is DHing or pinch-hitting, but it looks like that they will be in the trading market for that particular asset.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20060509101755244