Baltimore Orioles Announce their 60-Man Player Pool

It’s Sunday and that means the Baltimore Orioles had to announce their preliminary 60-man player pool for the 2020 reopening.

The Baltimore Orioles included a number of familiar names and a few notable omissions.

The list was shared on the Orioles Twitter and was neatly organized into categories like pitchers, infielders, and outfielders.

So you don’t have to count the numbers, the Orioles announced:

• 26 pitchers
• 4 catchers
• 10 infielders
• 4 outfielders
• 1 60-day IL

If you’re thinking to yourself, “Wait, that’s only 45 players.” You aren’t wrong. The Orioles only have 45 players on the list, and if you look closely there are several notable omissions. This is not a mistake, especially if you read the fine print: “Additional Players To Be Added in the Coming Days”

Who Wasn’t on the List?

The notable omissions include several of the top prospects, like Ryan Mountcastle, Dean Kremer, Keegan Akin, Grayson Rodriguez, and Yusniel Diaz. Top draft picks like Adley Rutschman and the lasts 2020 crew were also omitted from the list. Remember that not all of the 2020 draft picks have been officially signed yet.

WIll They Be Put on the List?

As no news about the minor leagues is on the horizon, prospects will only get reps through time in the Major Leagues. But, the MLB recognized this issue and created a solution: the Alternative Training Site. Most likely, the top prospects will end up here, but what they do there has yet to be announced.

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Will they play against other Alternative-Training-Site teams? Will they just practice and scrimmage within their own squad of players? The only way to get better at baseball is to play more baseball under the watchful eyes of qualified coaches. So, it is in the Orioles best interest to get these guys time at the plate, on the mound, and in the field.

What Are the Roster Rules?

Eventually, the Orioles will have to commit to a 60 players, but they are not locked in for the season. All of the same moves can happen in the 2020 season that happen in a typical season. All teams will trim their rosters to 26 for single-headers and 27 for double-headers. And, they will need a three-man taxi squad.

So what will happen with the prospects? It depends on what the Orioles front office was planning. Most likely, they will have to option the minor league players to the Major League roster, just like they would in the regular season. You’ll notice that Austin Hays is on the current list, because he was on the 25-man roster during Spring Training in February and early March.

The other prospects who were omitted from the 45-man list on the Player Pool Tweet were not. But, don’t worry. Once the Orioles get through the first deadline, there should be some action adding the players you want to see.