Headlines

  • Orioles Acquire Cole Irvin From A’s
  • Astros Name Dana Brown General Manager
  • Rays Extend Jeffrey Springs
  • Royals, Red Sox Swap Adalberto Mondesi For Josh Taylor
  • Red Sox Designate Matt Barnes For Assignment
  • Scott Rolen Elected Into Baseball Hall Of Fame
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2022-23 MLB Free Agent List
    • Top 50 Free Agents
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2023
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Arbitration Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Amateur Signing Bonuses: Orioles

By Mike Axisa | October 16, 2010 at 5:42pm CDT

Let's continue our look at the five largest bonuses each team has given to amateur players with the Orioles…

  1. Matt Wieters, $6MM (2007)
  2. Manny Machado, $5.25MM (2010)
  3. Adam Loewen, $3.2MM (2002)
  4. Brian Matusz, $3.2MM (2008)
  5. Matt Hobgood, $2.422MM (2009)

Wieters was the fifth overall pick in the 2007 draft but was arguably the top talent available along with David Price. He destroyed the minors (.343/.438/.576) before making his big league debut last May. Wieters hasn't had the immediate impact the O's hoped for, but perspective is important here. There's nothing wrong with a 24-year-old catcher hitting .266/.328/.393 in his first 887 plate appearances while throwing out 27.6% of attempted basestealers in the AL East.

Another one of the talented young players on Baltimore's big league roster right now is Matusz. He was the fourth overall pick in 2008 and like Wieters he crushed the minors (1.91 ERA, 9.6 K/9, 2.5 BB/9) before debuting in the show. After an eight start cameo in 2009, Matusz's coming out party in 2010 was rock solid for a 23-year-old lefty in that division. His overall numbers won't wow you – 4.30 ERA, 7.3 K/9, 3.2 BB/9 in 175.2 innings – but he was superb down the stretch, posting a 1.57 ERA with a .178/.237/.282 batting line against in his final eight starts. Matusz and Wieters are two biggest pieces in the Orioles' rebuilding effort.

Machado was the third overall pick this past June and didn't sign until the August 16th deadline. He hit .306/.359/.472 in just 39 plate appearances this year, his pro debut. Hobgood was the fifth overall pick last year and has been good but not great so far: 4.48 ERA with 5.6 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in 120.2 innings. He just turned 20 in August.

Loewen was the product of the now defunct draft-and-follow process. The O's took him fourth overall in 2002 but didn't sign until a year later, after he spent a season with Chipola College, a two-year school. Loewen cruised through the minors and debuted with Baltimore in 2006. He threw 164 innings with the O's over the next two seasons (5.38 ERA, 7.4 K/9, 5.8 BB/9) but his pitching career was derailed by chronic elbow issues. Loewen went the Rick Ankiel route and transitioned to an outfielder, and he's now working his way back to the big leagues in the Blue Jays system.

The Orioles have never been a big time player on the Latin American free agent market, but they opened a state-of-the-art academy in the Dominican within the last few years. Expect their presence in the international market to jump significantly in the coming years.

Share 0 Retweet 6 Send via email0

Amateur Signing Bonuses Baltimore Orioles

Manager Roundup: Brewers, Blue Jays, Cubs
Main
Odds & Ends: Listach, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Hill
View Comments (7)

Comments

  1. Dave_Gershman

    12 years ago

    I have to say, having seen Adam Loewen play a lot this summer, I can tell you that he really is turning in to a good hitter. The power is starting to come and he did a better job of getting on base this summer than last. He’s also really fast. With his power and if he can only hit for a higher avg., he reminds me of the exact same player as Jayson Werth just left handed. I’m not going to say that Merchants Auto.com Park didn’t help his swing, but he definetly has the power to hit 25-30+ home runs in a MLB season, but he is 2-3 years away from being MLB ready as a hitter.

    Reply
    • Sniderlover

      12 years ago

      Would surprise me if he still became a starter but I think he could become a bench player but he needs to do it soon and his best chance would be to impress everybody in the upcoming in spring training.

      Reply
  2. Brandon G

    12 years ago

    Adam Loewen’s minor league hitting numbers look exactly like Rick Ankiel’s professional numbers. Seems fitting that they were both top lefty pitching prospects at one time. Maybe he could be a 4th outfielder someday, but he K’s too much and soon to be 27. So his time may be running out. Still a pretty good story…

    Reply
  3. DaWolfMan

    12 years ago

    machado was drafted 3rd overall (james Tallion was drafted by the pirates 2nd overall)

    Reply
  4. Henry Castellanos

    12 years ago

    Manny Machado is my favorite draft pick in years. He has A-Rod potential(without the PEDs)

    Reply
    • MetsEventually

      12 years ago

      I was going to say the same thing! Definitely my favorite draft pick.

      Reply
  5. bigpat

    12 years ago

    I thought the Orioles were going to break out this year, they played much better once Showalter took over, but I think it will still take another year or so for their young talent to establish themselves. They also have massive holes at first (easiest position to fill), third, and short.

    Looking at this team, I can’t help but to draw comparisons to the Rays, so much good young talent, but a few of these young guys will have to really break out and become quality players. Adam Jones will also have to fulfill his potential, as he’s shown a lot of tools but can’t seem to put everything together.

    Chris Tillman has also been awful in the majors so far, and they really need a pitcher to compliment Matusz who I feel will become a star in this league very soon. They will need to ease him into a role next year but if he’s still struggling, they need to do something with him while he still has some value.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.
Log in Register

ad: 300x250_1_MLB

    Top Stories

    Orioles Acquire Cole Irvin From A’s

    Astros Name Dana Brown General Manager

    Rays Extend Jeffrey Springs

    Royals, Red Sox Swap Adalberto Mondesi For Josh Taylor

    Red Sox Designate Matt Barnes For Assignment

    Scott Rolen Elected Into Baseball Hall Of Fame

    Red Sox Sign Adam Duvall

    Brad Ausmus Reportedly Among Astros’ GM Finalists

    Mike Clevinger Under Investigation For Domestic Violence Allegations

    A’s To Sign Jesús Aguilar

    Arte Moreno No Longer Pursuing Sale Of Angels

    Twins Acquire Michael A. Taylor From Royals

    Padres Sign Nelson Cruz To One-Year Deal

    Sal Bando Passes Away

    Twins, Marlins Swap Luis Arraez For Pablo Lopez In Four-Player Trade

    Marlins To Move Jazz Chisholm To Center Field

    Pirates Sign Andrew McCutchen

    Mariners Sign Tommy La Stella, Designate Justus Sheffield

    Royals To Sign Aroldis Chapman To One-Year Deal

    Twins Sign Chris Paddack To Extension

    Recent

    Orioles Acquire Cole Irvin From A’s

    Orioles Designate Darwinzon Hernandez For Assignment

    Marlins Outright Daniel Castano

    Mets To Sign Michael Perez To Minor League Deal

    Astros Name Dana Brown General Manager

    Orioles, Austin Voth Avoid Arbitration

    Dodgers Sign Wander Suero To Minor League Deal

    Pirates Outright Miguel Andujar

    Red Sox In Talks With Roberto Perez

    Read The Transcript Of Our Chat Hosted By Former MLB Pitcher Cory Wade

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Offseason Outlook Series
    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Go Ad-Free
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2023
    • 2022-23 MLB Free Agent List
    • MLB Player Chats
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    ad: 160x600_MLB

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • Feeds by Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    hide arrowsFOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top
    Close

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version