Baltimore Orioles: How The Orioles Compare To Baseball’s Other Rebuilding Clubs

Current Major League Talent Signed Through 2022:

Comparing the Orioles and Marlins is a little tricky due to the fact the two clubs are constructed a little differently to due Miami playing in the National League and Baltimore being an American League club. However, there is something that helps us come to a verdict when deciding which team’s young major league talent is better. That would be pitching.

Outside of Means, the Orioles do not have a single pitcher on their current roster that has the fan base thinking they’ll be apart of the next playoff team in Baltimore. The Marlins, on the other hand, have some really talented young pitchers who have pitched well in the majors this season.

23-year-old Sandy Alcantara was an all-star this season, 28-year-old Caleb Smith has an ERA under four, 23-year-old Jordan Yamamoto has had outings where he’s been simply un-hittable, and even 24-year-old Elieser Hernandez has shown flashes of potential.

In the bullpen, the Marlins have promising arms such as former Tampa Bay Ray Ryne Stanek and 26-year-old Jarlin Garcia who has an ERA of 2.83 in 34 games.

On the offensive side of the ball, the Marlins have a young star in the making in Brian Anderson young bats such as Jon Berti and Isan Diaz who are making solid first impressions in the majors and Jorge Alfaro who has been a surprisingly great replacement for J.T. Realmuto behind the plate.

No, the Marlins are no powerhouse, but their young talent has a ton of potential and is just now reaching the majors meaning the results aren’t pretty yet, but surely might be later. Their current major league team that is already under contract for 2022 and beyond is almost a lock to be better than what the Orioles currently have in the majors locked up through that point in time.

Advantage: Marlins 

Minor League Offensive Depth:

The Miami Marlins have struggled to find a consistent offensive attack for several years including when Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich and Marcell Ozuna were still in town. Thus the bats in their minor league talent have a ton of pressure to succeed.

Luckily for Miami, they do have solid bats throughout the organization such as 2019 first-round selection JJ Bleday who is already in High-A with 13 RBI’s in 21 games. Miami also has the big bat of baseball’s 42nd best prospect Jesus Sanchez who’s in Triple-A batting .294 in his first nine games since being promoted. Finally, they have three other MLB top 100 prospects who are position players in newly acquired Jazz Chisholm, Diaz who’s now in the majors and Monte Harrison.

Outside of those bats Miami also has Lewin Diaz who some of compared to the legendary Fred McGriff, and Victor Victor Mesa who was once of one the biggest international prospects in the sport.

While Baltimore also has a ton of offensive talent in the minors, it doesn’t quite compare to the Marlins young bats.

Advantage: Marlins 

Minor League Pitching Depth: 

When it comes to minor league pitching depth both the Marlins and Orioles, have some big-name prospects such as the duo of Rodriguez and Hall for Baltimore and Sixto Sanchez of the Marlins who is baseball’s sixth-best right-handed pitching prospect.

As a whole, the edge goes to the Orioles. Sanchez is the Marlins top prospect according to MLB pipeline, and their next rated pitcher comes seventh in the organization (Edward Cabrera).

Hall and Rodriguez both rank among the Orioles top three prospects and Kremer, Michael Baumann and Zac Lowther all rank among the team’s top 10. In addition, Baltimore has former second-round draft pick Keegan Akin and former first-rounder Hunter Harvey a step away from the majors in Triple-A.

Thus, despite having the best overall pitching prospect among these two teams the Marlins minor league pitching staff does not have as much depth as the Orioles.

Advantage: Orioles

Who’s in better shape?

This one’s close but the Marlins are in slightly better shape than the Orioles right now. Miami’s farm system is loaded with big bats and has one of the game’s best pitching prospect in Sanchez. Their current major league roster has a handful of young players already proving they belong which is something the Orioles do not have much of.

While Baltimore has some mashers in their farm system and has more pitching depth on the farm than Miami, they only have one arm currently in the majors that looks like a future difference-maker while Miami has four or five.

If that doesn’t sell you, the Marlins also have the luxury of rebuilding in the National League where right now they and the Pirates seem to be the only two teams out of the postseason race while the Orioles are stuck in the same division where four teams may be making postseason pushes by the time their ready to compete.

Verdict: Marlins are a year ahead of Baltimore.