The Baltimore Orioles' farm system has been highly rated over the last few years, and it doesn't look like it will change anytime soon. When it comes to finding prospects and developing them, the O's just know what to do.
That much is clear after the Orioles' farm system has been ranked no. 1 by The Athletic in its latest rankings of MLB teams. What makes the assessment even better is the fact that Baltimore recently traded top prospect Joey Ortiz to the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for Corbin Burnes.
While some would expect that Ortiz's departure would be a significant hit to the Orioles' farm-system ranking, that's not the case at all. That speaks volumes of how deep they are.
Here's what Keith Law of The Athletic said when defending the Oroles' ranking on his list:
The Orioles’ system has become ridiculously deep in position players now that the players they’ve signed in international free agency the last few years are bubbling up, with that particular group led by No. 20 overall prospect Sammy Basallo. They have so much depth in the infield that they were able to trade shortstop Joey Ortiz (No. 58) — who looks like a 3 WAR player right now — for Corbin Burnes and still have more infielders than they can possibly play. There’s also some more pitching coming even though they have largely eschewed drafting arms with high-round picks, with their top two pitching prospects coming via trade and several other international free-agent pitchers now on their top 20 list.
They’ve drafted well and developed well and continue to find value where other teams might miss it. For all of the hype the Orioles’ system has received in the last five years, it might be better than ever right now.
For what it's worth, it's not only The Athletic that has ranked the Orioles' farm system as the best in the MLB among all 30 teams. ESPN and Baseball America released their farm system rankings early this February, and in both instances, Baltimore got the no. 1 spot.
It's the third straight year the Orioles were no. 1 on ESPN, and second in a row on Baseball America.
In all cases on The Athletic, ESPN and Baseball America, the same player was ranked at no. 1 on their Top 100 prospects: Orioles shortstop Jackson Holliday. On The Athletic, two more Baltimore prospect were in the Top 30, with Samuel Basallo and Coby Mayo at no. 20 and 27, respectively.
Can the Orioles keep that farm system thriving in the years to come? Now that's a question for next year, though they are certainly on the right path.
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