AGRI Biz

How does any team replace a player who has averaged 46 doubles over the last six years, 39 stolen bases over the last four, and made two All-Star appearances? More importantly, how do you replace a guy like that when you are the Orioles, and the player in question is Brian Roberts? That is the dilemma currently facing the Orioles as they draw ever closer to Opening Day 2010. Roberts has been sidelined ...

It's been a long strange road, but the Orioles Top 30 prospects, my little "rip-off" of Baseball America's version, has finally come to a close. And without a doubt, there is no better prospect to top it all off than Brian Matusz. Don't let those 45 innings he pitched last season fool you, the lanky lefty still qualifies as a rookie. This means the Orioles have their first legit full-season Rookie ...

You have to give credit to Andy MacPhail. This past season, the Orioles desperately needed more production from the third base position. So, instead of trading for some other over-the-hill, middle-aged player, the O's GM traded away the O's most valuable bargaining chip, and in return got the future face of the hot corner. It doesn't hurt that Josh Bell also has "light-tower power" as the baseball geeks like to call his ...

It's hard to believe, but the 2007 trade that sent Miguel Tejada to the Astros and brought Luke Scott, Mike Costanzo, Matt Albers to the Orioles, was mostly about Troy Patton. The 24-year old lefthander was a footnote of the deal due to the fact that he was forced to end his 2007 season early because of a torn labrum. That same torn labrum robbed Patton of his entire 2008 season, ...

In the summer of 2008, Decatur, GA product Xavier Avery found himself in a very precarious situation. The two-way star could have signed a letter of intent to play football at the University of Georgia, where he would have led a very talented backfield. On the other hand, the star outfielder also had a $900,000 signing bonus awaiting him from the Baltimore Orioles, should he chose to give up his ...

The run on infielders continues with 2009 draftee and newly appointed "shortstop of the future" Mychal Givens coming in as the 12th best prospect in the Orioles system. You may remember Givens from his tenuous, down to the last minute draft-deal days. Many, including Dave Stockstill, Joe Jordan and Andy MacPhail had given up on getting a deal done with Givens before the draft deadline. And yet, there was the news, ...

Coming into the 2008 season, Jerome Hoes was a UNC commit, with a very strong verbal agreement to play with the Tar Heels. He was part of a stellar recruiting class that included flame-throwers and fellow top draft picks Tim Melville and Jason Knapp. Luckily for the Orioles, all it took was $490,000 to sway Hoes away from the collegiate ranks and to a professional career. Hoes was a two-way player ...

You have to go back a good long ways to find a guy who made as big a jump from nobody to somebody like Pedro Florimon Jr. did in 2009. For starters, the scrawny shortstop didn't even make the mentionables in Baseball America's 2009 Prospect Handbook. He also came into the season coming off a year in which he hit .223 with zero home runs, only 27 walks and nearly ...

D.C. area fans have become accustomed to hearing chants of "COOOOOOOOLLLLEEEEEEEY!" at Washington Redskins. By the time this big Florida Atlantic grad hits Baltimore there will most certainly be chants of "COOOOOONNNEEEEEEY!" And be certain, Brandon Cooney is most certainly on his way. Cooney is one of many Florida Atlantic alum who have found great success with the Orioles. Chris Salberg and Jeff Fiorentino have both made their mark, and now ...

Prospect #16 comes in the form of a athletic outfielder who has drawn comparisons to a guy who hit over .320 his rookie year and has two 25 home run seasons to his name. Prospect #16 is Ronnie Welty Welty was a 20th round draft pick by the Orioles in 2008. At the time he was rated as the 5th best junior-college player in the nation. Welty was drafted in the ...