The Orioles have a new front office and new dugout leadership. And now, the club has a new top prospect after officially selecting star Oregon State catcher Adley Rutschman with the first overall pick of the 2019 Rule 4 amateur draft.
Though the Baltimore organization kept things quiet in the build-up to the draft, it would have rated as a major surprise had the club gone in a different direction. Rutschman checks all the boxes you want to see in a 1-1 draft selection.
Rutschman is widely considered the best overall prospect available this year. He’s a highly accomplished collegiate catcher who helped his team to a national championship last year. (Indeed, he was named the most outstanding player of the College World Series.)
Scouting reports on Rutschman, an Oregon native, read like a creat-a-player dream list from a video game. He’s a switch hitter who has walked more often than striking out in college even while delivering outstanding power. Scouts also grade him as a top-tier defensive performer behind the dish.
It’s a momentous decision for an Orioles club that has fallen on hard times after a questionable call to attempt to contend in 2018. The team’s new front office will look to assemble as much talent as possible and ramp up toward a return to glory, with Rutschman’s timeline likely to be a key factor.
The first overall pick comes with a $8.42MM bonus allocation. The O’s have the second-highest overall pool allocation. While the Diamondbacks won’t choose until the 16th overall pick, they added a pair of compensation picks that significantly boosted their overall availability.
He was made in a lab lol
Then I’d say that’s a very solid pick
Dunno about that. Jerry Mejia was made in a lab too.
Not breaking him now is the hard part.
The next Matt Wieters.
Hope Not
Matt Wieters is his floor.
Matt Wieters has 17 fWAR over his career, and nearly 10 in a 2 year peak. Absolutely no draft prospect has that as a floor.
Oooh, let’s hope not for the rooks sake
Congrats to the O’s fans, nice cornerstone piece for years to come
Awesome!
Welcome to the Orioles Adley!
No matter what he’s got about $7 million coming to him I’m sure for years in Oregon state holds a pretty nice degree
Go Beavs!
Go Beavs!
Wieters couldn’t hold a bat for this guy. He will be a 30-35 homer guy in the majors with multiple gold gloves.. Too bad he didn’t make it to the D’Backs
Go Beavs!
Anyone else notice how the ball has a different kind of “pop” this season. most fly outs are leaving the park with effortless swings. And how it ricochets off the walls, hence the HR record set for past month.
I suspected something was up when Gregory Polanco was half efforting a double off the wall vs the dodgers early this season. He had that look of “kidding me?”
These thinner more athletic generation of players aren’t sending out the same ball Bonds and McGuire were.