Last night was a good one for Zach Britton. He had not pitched well in his previous two outings and came out strong last night. Mark Reynolds has been secretly good with the bat over the past 28 days with an 844 OPS. We need to score more runs though. We keep hovering around .500, but our run differential is about 50 runs worst than the next closest team in the AL East.
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| Bluefield is now part of the Blue Jays' system |
When I look over the draft, I wonder how many players will actually be signed to contracts. A concern when the Orioles eliminated Bluefield from the minor league system was that there would be fewer chances for a player chosen later in the draft to prove himself. However, that wound up seeming like an expense with a minimal return. Later round picks signing for near minimum are highly unlikely to be useful pieces. The exception are overslots, but those guys are committed to and do not need to prove themselves in rookie ball. The contract keeps them.
The players that are hurt most by the elimination of Bluefield are going to be the later round, less competitive college guys. Players such as the recently released Brian Conley might be a good example. He was an older college player with good plate discipline. That sort of player might have no role with the team these days. Several players are sitting back in extended spring training and waiting for Aberdeen to open up. The Gulf Coast League Orioles have only so many slots with Dominican Summer League players taking a couple of them.
So, my ballpark figure would be the team signs at most 25 of this year's picks.
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