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.

Jordan Westburg

Westburg was the Orioles' pick in Round A of the 2020 Competitive Balance Draft, 30th overall and the second for the Orioles after Heston Kjerstad, the No. 2 overall pick. Westburg got a head start in the minors when myocarditis delayed Kjerstad's start by an entire year, but they did both make their MLB debuts in 2023. Westburg appeared in 68 games (to Kjerstad's 13) and hit pretty decently for it being his first venture into the majors (.260/.311/.404). He's expected to be the Orioles' primary second baseman this year, at least until Jackson Holliday gets to the majors.

Holliday is gunning for a spot on the Opening Day roster and, despite the fact that Westburg has more major league time and has been hitting okay in spring training, there's little doubt the Orioles would make him cede second base to accommodate Holliday, MLB's No. 1 overall prospect this year. Westburg is definitely fighting for survival in the big league club, but some of it may also be out of his hands. After a slow start to spring training, Holliday's seeing more of a resurgence. If that continues, Westburg could be sitting on Opening Day.

Kyle Stowers

Stowers' swift and sudden fall from grace has been one of the bigger letdowns for the Orioles' system. After being ranked the organization's No. 8 prospect by MLB Pipeline in 2022 after a great 2021 season from High-A to Triple-A, he dipped his toes into major league waters and came out okay after 34 games, but he fell off Pipeline's radar entirely in 2023 and hit .067/.152/.067 in 14 major league games in April and May. He went unranked again in 2024 but still made it to Orioles spring training.

He's been hitting .263/.300/.737 in spring, with three home runs and five RBI. As an outfielder, he doesn't have Holliday to worry about fighting with, but he does have Kjerstad, Colton Cowser, Cedric Mullins, Anthony Santander, and Austin Hays potentially blocking his path to a full-time position with the Orioles. They clearly still have some amount of faith left in him, but if he can't give Baltimore some reason to give him more of a drive in the majors, he could be facing the life of an Orioles farmhand or a trade away from the organization altogether.

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