These 6 Orioles are in the running for a spot on the All-MLB team

On Wednesday evening, Major League Baseball released its nominees for the All MLB teams. One player from each defensive position (three outfielders) as well as one DH will be selected along with five starters and two relievers to comprise the fifth annual All-MLB team. There are 780 players on active major league rosters (until September when rosters expand) with as many as 1,040 on 40 man rosters. Who knows how many more get added to rosters throughout the majors during the season.

Of all of those people, only 121 players (Shohei Ohtani was nominated as a DH and a starter) received nominations for the All-MLB team (nine catchers, seven first basemen, eight second basemen, 10 third basemen, nine shortstops, eight DH’s, 26 starters and 24 relievers), and only 32 of those nominated will be selected. Six of the players selected came from the Baltimore Orioles.

6 Orioles players could end up on the All-MLB team

Birds fans can probably guess which players were nominated but they are Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, Anthony Santander, Kyle Bradish, Felix Bautista and Yennier Cano. The only part of the list that was a little bit surprising was that Henderson was nominated as a shortstop.

While he played shortstop and third base almost evenly, he did make one more appearance and play 10 more innings at third base than he did at shortstop. However, his numbers are slightly better as a shortstop, so it may work to his advantage.

Rutschman has already cemented himself as one of, if not the best all around catcher in baseball and should be selected. Bradish, who was selected as a finalist for the players choice AL Outstanding Pitcher award, finished fourth in ERA, tied for third in WHIP and seventh in BAA among all MLB starters, should be a lock for the first team rotation. Bautista should also be a lock for the first team as he was garnering Cy Young consideration until an elbow injury shut him down. Not finishing the season lowered his stats and may cost him some votes, but he definitely deserves to be there.

Santander was very productive for the Orioles this season, but the outfield is full of MVP candidates and playoff heroes who will make it an uphill climb for Santander to be elected. Henderson and Cano, who were both already elected to the MLB All Rookie first team, are in similar positions to Santander.

Henderson will likely be the AL Rookie of the Year, but an ice cold start to his season brought his overall numbers down. Cano was arguably the biggest surprise in all of baseball with his success this season, but he was primarily a setup man. His stats are deserving but not as eye popping as the big time closers, and half of the vote comes from the fans.

Fans are allowed to vote once a day here until 8 P.M. ET on November 19. The winners will be announced December 16.