3 Orioles players fighting for their futures ahead of 2024 season

Oct 10, 2023; Arlington, Texas, USA; Baltimore Orioles second baseman Jordan Westburg (11)
Oct 10, 2023; Arlington, Texas, USA; Baltimore Orioles second baseman Jordan Westburg (11) / Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
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The Orioles' farm system has consistently been ranked at No. 1 in the major leagues this offseason, and now they have MLB's No. 1 overall prospect and four more listed in MLB Pipeline's top 100 to show for it. Already in the majors are multiple young success stories who helped propel Baltimore to their 101-win season last year: Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, Ryan Mountcastle, Dean Kremer, and Grayson Rodriguez among them.

All five of the Orioles' top-ranked prospects are in spring training and are looking to give the major leaguers a run for their money. Not only them, though — non-roster invitees in Sarasota will also have to work their ways around these young and very talented upstarts.

Organizational depth is a blessing, a privilege, and so on, and the Orioles are lucky that they're spoiled for choice. However, it inevitably means that a lot of players are going to miss out on a trip to the majors.

3 Orioles players fighting for their futures ahead of 2024 season

Nick Maton

By the time he was DFA'ed and traded to the Orioles, Tigers fans had a distate bordering on enmity for utility man Maton. He was only with the organization for a season after being traded from the Phillies at the beginning of 2023, and was called up to help the Tigers with their chronic infield problems. He hit .173/.288/.305 and was optioned to the minors in June after a lead-blowing and ultimately game-losing error. He only stayed there for a few weeks before he was back in Detroit, but he didn't look any better at the plate and was in Triple-A to end the season.

He was DFA'ed in early February and traded to the Orioles for cash, following the exact footsteps of former Tigers teammate Tyler Nevin, who was DFA'ed then traded to Baltimore for cash in late January. Nevin is faring well in spring training, but Maton definitely isn't. In his first seven games, he walked three times but didn't drop a single hit down.

At this point, with the amount of top Orioles infield prospects backed up in the pipeline and edging toward a debut (Jackson Holliday, Coby Mayo, Connor Norby), Maton should be very worried about his place within the organization.