Orioles Fans Hope The MLB Draft Helps With The Team's Rebuild
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- On the day of the MLB Draft, the Orioles are in a bad stretch of baseball but that's to be expected. But where there are expectations, breeds superstars. In Boston, there's Devers. Guerrero Jr. in Toronto.
The Orioles have the 3rd youngest team in the bigs with names like Rutschman, Hall, Rodriguez and Henderson in the minors waiting their chance, but who is next?
Catcher Henry Davis has some scouts projecting him as an outfielder. Jack Leiter - the hard throwing righty from Vanderbilt. He has the pedigree with his Dad, Al, in his ear with 18 years of pro experience.
Mike Elias is the Orioles General Manager.
"It's not easy to project from the amateur level all the way to the major league level but you look at the big aces around the big leagues and they tend to be early first round picks," he said to the media.
DL Hall fits the mold. He was a first rounder in 2017.
Grayson Rodriguez was selected in 2018. His stuff has been electric in Bowie.
Last year's 2nd overall pick, Heston Kjerstad, has been a mystery, while he battles injuries. The O's signed him for an under slot bonus of 5.2 million dollars.
Brad Ciolek is the Supervisor of Domestic Scouting.
"We have to make a decision who will make the best fit for our organization, who's the best player for our organization and ultimately, what happens after that depends on who we take for our first overall selection and kind of build a road map from there," Ciolek says.
The road map has brought All-Star Cedric Mullins, Trey Mancini and Ryan Mountcastle.
It's the MLB Draft. Anything can happen, but for the Orioles, and their fans, it's time to show this rebuild is for real.