Baltimore Orioles: Three Takeaways From Mike Elias Interview

The Baltimore Orioles will likely protect “four or five” guys from the Rule 5 draft.

I watched over 200 Baltimore Orioles minor league games last season (and still work through Aberdeen Ironbirds games when I have free time and there’s nothing on tv) and the one thing every broadcast team loved to talk about was the development of legitimate pitching prospects in the organization. No matter how many times you hear it, it never gets old hearing people glow over Orioles pitching prospects.

The same goes for Thursday night’s conversation with Elias. “We have some guys who look very special to me,” said Elias when talking about his pitching prospects. Most will flame out and never reach the big leagues, but there’s real potential that a Grayson Rodriguez, Dean Kremer, DL Hall or another Top 30 arm develops into a valuable major league starter. Just saying that to myself brought a smile to my face.

Elias expects to see Keegan Akin and Dean Kremer in the majors this season and had particularly high praise for Akin, despite his high walk total. The first wave is coming and it should be a fun ride.

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However, the final big takeaway from this interview revolves around the Rule 5 draft. Elias expects to protect “four or five” prospects from the Rule 5 draft. The deadline to protect players is November 20th.

We discussed all of the Rule 5 options a few weeks ago and had four guys on our “locked” list. Akin, Kremer, Ryan Mountcastle and Cody Sedlock seem like the guaranteed picks. We just mentioned Akin and Kremer, Mountcastle is the reigning International League MVP, and Sedlock has become sort of the poster boy for how successful this new player development can be in Baltimore.

Other names to watch closely are outfielder Ryan McKenna and pitchers Gray Fenter and Steve Klimek. Klimek is a bit of a reach, but Fenter could legitimately become a major league bullpen piece down the road. McKenna was the hot prospect to talk about around the water cooler last year but went cold in Double-A this year. His elite speed may not be enough to protect him.

You can view the full interview here via Facebook. If you missed it, I highly encourage you to take a listen. Once you do, let us know your thoughts!