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Adley Rutschman

Orioles To Promote Adley Rutschman, DL Hall To Triple-A

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The Orioles are planning to promote two of their top prospects to Triple-A, as The Baltimore Sun’s Andy Kostka reports (Twitter link) that catcher Adley Rutschman and left-hander DL Hall will be on their way to the team’s top minor league affiliate.

Had it not been for a triceps strain suffered during Spring Training, it is quite likely Rutschman would’ve already been in the majors by now, perhaps even as early as Opening Day.  Rutschman already hit .312/.405/.490 over 185 plate appearances with Triple-A Norfolk last season, and he doesn’t seem to have much left to prove in the minors.  Even over 24 PA at the Single-A and Double-A levels thus far, Rutschman has a whopping 1.167 OPS.

Arguably the top prospect in all of baseball, Rutschman has been tabbed for a pretty quick ascension to the majors basically ever since Baltimore made him the first overall pick of the 2019 draft.  Considered both an outstanding hitter and defender, Rutschman is the crown jewel of the Orioles’ rebuilding plan, and he is widely seen as a star in the making.  It seems probable that Rutschman’s MLB debut will take place before May is over, and it might even just be a matter of days if the young catcher continues to tear up Triple-A pitching.

Hall was the 21st overall pick of the 2017 draft, and he has battled some injury problems throughout his pro career, including a stress reaction in his throwing elbow that limited him to 31 2/3 innings last season.  The Orioles were somewhat cautious with Hall to begin the season, but moved him to Double-A after a single outing in high-A ball, and Hall is now heading for Triple-A after only one outing for Double-A Bowie (that start came today, with Hall allowing two runs over 3 2/3 innings).  The focus might still be on getting Hall fully ramped-up, so it remains to be seen if he could be on Baltimore’s radar as a late-season call-up before the 2022 season is out.

Adley Rutschman Shut Down 2-3 Weeks Due To Triceps Strain

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Orioles catching prospect Adley Rutschman recently suffered a right triceps strain, the team informed reporters (including Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com). The club is shutting him down from activity for the next two to three weeks.

With the MLB season set to begin in 22 days, it seems as if the injury will keep Rutschman from being ready for Opening Day. He presumably won’t jump right back into game action once he’s again cleared to begin baseball activities. Getting him back up to game speed could take some time, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him open the year on the injured list.

Rutschman is the sport’s most promising farmhand in the estimation of each of Baseball America, FanGraphs, MLB Pipeline and The Athletic. There’s no indication the injury poses a long-term concern, but the O’s will surely be cautious with a player they envision as a central piece of the future.

That’s all the more true because the injury could give the team a justification for keeping Rutschman in the minor leagues for the first few weeks. The 24-year-old is not yet on the 40-man roster, meaning he’d go on the minor league injured list if an IL stint is ultimately required. Rutschman wouldn’t accrue major league pay or service time for any time spent on the MiLB IL. The front office is obviously keenly aware that keeping him in the minor leagues for an extra couple of weeks could delay his path to free agency until the 2028-29 offseason.

Given those service time considerations, it seemed unlikely the rebuilding Orioles would break camp with Rutschman even were he healthy. Yet the injury could provide them some cover against backlash that may have arisen from the fanbase for holding him down to start the year, akin to Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s Spring Training injury back in 2019. It’s hard to argue Rutschman isn’t ready for the big leagues on merit after he combined for a .285/.397/.502 line between Double-A and Triple-A last season.

The new collective bargaining agreement made some efforts to deter service time manipulation. Teams are eligible to receive extra draft choices for carrying players who later go to win major awards on their Opening Day rosters. The top two finishers in Rookie of the Year voting in each league will “earn” a full year of service time no matter how many days they spend on the active roster, so Rutschman could still play his way into a full season of service even if he doesn’t break camp. At present, Robinson Chirinos looks likely to open the year behind the plate for manager Brandon Hyde.

Extension Candidate: Adley Rutschman

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Within the last four years, Luis Robert, Eloy Jimenez, Evan White, and Scott Kingery all signed their first multi-year Major League contracts before even debuting in the Show, as clubs began to increasingly explore the idea of the “pre-career” extension.  The logic is simple — if a team thinks it has a can’t-miss prospect, signing that prospect to an extension before his service clock begins can give the team both cost-certainty over the player’s arbitration years, as well as control over at least a few free agent years via club options.

Robert’s six-year, $50MM pact with the White Sox (that could be an eight-year, $88MM deal if Chicago exercises a pair of club options) in January 2020 represents the high-water mark for pre-career deals, yet it is worth noting that the Astros were something of a pioneer with this tactic.  Jon Singleton signed a five-year, $10MM contract in June 2014 before playing his first MLB game, and Houston also notably explored such a contract with George Springer prior to the future All-Star’s big league debut.  This period overlaps with Mike Elias’ time (2012-18) in the Astros’ front office, and now that Elias has since moved on to run his own team as the Orioles’ executive VP and general manager, it is worth wondering if Elias might attempt locking up his own blue-chip prospect.

Adley Rutschman is widely expected to not only make his MLB debut in 2022, but also get the bulk of playing time as Baltimore’s starting catcher.  Jacob Nottingham and Anthony Bemboom were recently signed to minors deals to provide at least some Major League experience in the team’s catching ranks, but either will just be a placeholder until Rutschman gets the call to the big leagues.  Whether this debut happens on Opening Day or a few weeks into April may hinge on whether or not the service-time manipulation issue is addressed in the next Collective Bargaining Agreement, but an extension for Rutschman would make that question moot, and guarantee that Baltimore fans will get to see Rutschman as soon as possible.

The first overall pick of the 2019 draft, Rutschman has done nothing but reinforce that pedigree during his brief pro career.  Rutschman already received two promotions up the ladder (to A-ball) in his first season in 2019, and after working out at the Orioles’ alternate training site in 2020 due to the canceled minor league season, he tore up the farm system in 2021.  The catcher hit .285/.397/.502 with 23 home runs over 543 combined plate appearances with Double-A Bowie (358 PA) and Triple-A Norfolk (185 PA).

An argument can be made that Rutschman could use a bit more seasoning at the Triple-A level, particularly since he’ll be taking over a position that requires so much extra work in terms of pregame preparation and working with pitchers.  However, as noted in Baseball America’s scouting report, Rutschman may be a bit ahead of the curve in this respect, due to his time spent with veteran pitchers, catchers, and Major League coaches at the 2020 alternate training site.  Plus, Rutschman was already seen as a strong defender even in his college days at Oregon State, and BA now gives him a strong 60 grade on the 20-80 scouting scale (to go along with an eye-popping three 70 grades in hitting, power, and throwing arm.)  Both BA and MLB Pipeline rate Rutschman as the best prospect in all of baseball.

In short, Rutschman seems like the kind of cornerstone prospect that any team would covet, especially an Orioles club that has been grinding through a top-to-bottom rebuild during Elias’ entire tenure.  The O’s already see Rutschman as the next face of the franchise, and an extension would only cement that status.  Given that the Orioles have almost literally no money on the books beyond the 2022 season, there’s plenty of payroll space to commit to a hefty contract for the burgeoning star.

For Rutschman and other star prospects presented with pre-career extensions, the question is simple.  Does the player feel comfortable in taking a big payday now and locking in at least one eight-figure fortune from his baseball career, or does the player feel like betting on himself to perform as expected in the majors?  The latter route carries more risk, but potentially sets the player up for even more money down the road, either through rising arbitration salaries, bigger free agent money once he hits the open market, or even a later extension with his current team.

From a pure dollars perspective, Rutschman has already achieved some solid financial security, via his $8.1MM signing bonus from the draft.  This isn’t necessarily an indicator that he would be less open to an extension — Robert, for instance, already had a $26MM international signing bonus in the bank prior to his extension with the White Sox.

The added wrinkle in this case is Rutschman’s position.  No catcher has ever signed a pre-career extension — expanding the list to players with less than a year of service time, the Royals’ February 2012 deal with Salvador Perez represents the earliest pact ever given to a backstop.  Needless to say, Rutschman won’t be signing for a contract similar to Perez’s five years and $7MM in guaranteed money, though Perez did end up doing much better in two subsequent extensions with Kansas City.

Rutschman is enough of a top-tier prospect that the Orioles probably won’t have much concern over guaranteeing a big long-term deal to a catcher.  From Rutschman’s perspective, taking a big contract now might have some appeal as a hedge against potential injury, simply because catchers inevitably receive so much wear and tear (even if the DH or a potential move to first base down the road can help).  Plus, unless the next CBA adjusts when players are eligible to reach free agency, it will be quite some time before Rutschman can hit the open market.  He turns 24 in February, so if his debut is indeed pushed off to mid-April for service-time reasons, Rutschman won’t be scheduled for free agency until he is entering his age-31 season.

So while there are some valid reasons why Rutschman might be open to an extension early in his career, that doesn’t necessarily mean he would take a deal before his career gets underway.  It can be assumed that a Rutschman extension would top Robert’s record, and yet Rutschman might have eyes on a bigger target — such as the 11-year, $182MM deal Wander Franco just signed with the Rays in November.

Since Joe Mauer is the only catcher to sign a deal worth more than $182MM, Rutschman won’t top Franco’s number.  Plus, Franco is both younger (turning 21 in March) and plays shortstop, so he is more of a safer long-term play for an extension, even for a lower-payroll club like the Rays.  However, while Rutschman and his representatives likely wouldn’t be aiming to top Franco’s contract, the deal does serve as a reminder of the greater riches that can await a star prospect if he exhibits even some of that early promise at the MLB level.  While no reports surfaced whether or not Tampa explored a pre-career extension with Franco, had he inked such a contract, it would have been worth much less than his eventual $182MM guarantee.

Obviously, matching Franco’s excellent 2021 performance is no small feat for any player, especially a rookie like Rutschman.  But, just staying on the field and performing pretty well in 2022 would represent a nice showcase for Rutschman, and give the Orioles even more confidence in committing a major sum closer to the $100MM mark than simply a bump over Robert’s $50MM pact with the White Sox.

Given Rutschman’s status as an elite prospect, it is quite possible an extension akin to Robert’s deal could be on the table next winter anyway even if he doesn’t quite hit the “performing pretty well” threshold.  Barring a major injury or an unusual amount of struggles at the MLB level, the Orioles would likely still have interest in extending Rutschman prior to his sophomore year, considering all of his widely-touted potential.

A Rutschman extension would also have no small amount of symbolic value for the franchise.  Simply promoting Rutschman might have that same galvanizing effect on the long-suffering Baltimore fans, so Elias and the front office don’t necessarily need to rush into things just yet.  However, officially planting the financial flag on a new era of Orioles baseball would set a clear direction that the rebuild is almost over, and the organization will again start spending and looking to play some competitive baseball.

Orioles Notes: Rutschman, Severino, Mateo

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The Orioles have promoted catcher Adley Rutschman from Double-A to Triple-A Norfolk, the team announced last night. (MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubtako first reported he’d be moving up a level.) Rutschman, who now ranks as the No. 1 prospect in all of baseball at Baseball America and MLB.com following Wander Franco’s graduation from the list, opened the year at the Double-A level and posted a .271/.392/.508 batting line with 18 home runs, 16 doubles and nearly as many walks (15.4 percent) as strikeouts (15.9 percent). That slash was good for a whopping 144 wRC+ in the a very pitcher-friendly Double-A setting — the tenth-best mark of any qualified hitter in Double-A this season.

While he’s now technically just one step from the big leagues, it’s hard to imagine Rutschman would be summoned to the Majors before season’s end. The Orioles have just a 38-72 record on the season, and they’d gain another year of control over Rutschman by waiting until the third week of the 2022 season to promote him to the big leagues, barring any changes to service time structure in collective bargaining talks between MLB and the MLB Players Association. The current CBA expires on Dec. 1, and service time issues such as this are widely expected to be a talking point.

Some more notes out of Baltimore…

  • While Rutschman is the hopeful future at catcher for the Orioles, it’s been Pedro Severino there more often than anyone else over the past couple of seasons. The 28-year-old has batted .245/.316/.400 over the past three seasons in Baltimore (94 wRC+), but his bat has dipped slightly in 2021. Kubatko suggests that Severino, who’ll be a due a raise on this year’s $1.825MM salary in arbitration over the winter, is likely to instead be non-tendered by the O’s. Severino has been a solid bat relative to other catchers around the league, but defensively, he’s had his share of struggles. He’s been roughly average in terms of caught-stealing rate over the past few years, but Severino draws poor pitch-blocking ratings at Baseball Prospectus, sub-par framing marks and checked in at -19 Defensive Runs Saved since coming to the O’s in 2019.
  • The Orioles are open to eventually playing Jorge Mateo in the outfield, writes Nathan Ruiz of the Baltimore Sun, but manager Brandon Hyde also added that the team’s hope is to get the recently claimed speedster comfortable playing in the middle infield. Baltimore claimed the 26-year-old Mateo off waivers from the Padres just four days ago — a move that could finally give the former top prospect a path to regular playing time in the big leagues. Mateo originally signed with the Yankees but was traded to Oakland in the Sonny Gray swap and then to the Padres for a player to be named later. Mateo is 3-for-11 with a double, a triple and a pair of steals to begin his Orioles tenure. The Padres acquired Mateo on June 30, 2020, but on a win-now club with a crowded roster, he never had much of an avenue to playing time. He appeared in 79 games with San Diego from 2020-21 but only recorded a combined 121 plate appearances in that time.

Examining The Orioles Rotation

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For the first time in a few years, the Baltimore Orioles plan to begin the 2021 season with a rotation that fans can dream on. They’re not quite ready to challenge the Yankees or the Rays for the division, but neither will their roster be flooded with journeymen and July trade candidates – at least not entirely.

Make no mistake, the Orioles will count as a surprise if they don’t finish in fifth place in the East, but songs of progress are sung in many different keys. The Orioles are entering Year Three under GM Mike Elias, which under most circumstances should call for the beginnings of the organization’s on-field transformation. Last year’s 25-35 record was a step in the right direction after back-to-back 100-loss seasons, but that still put them on a roughly 95-loss pace over a full campaign.

Progress for the Orioles this season begins in the rotation where youngsters Dean Kremer and Keegan Akin plan to slot behind John Means and Alex Cobb, per MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko. Means and Cobb hardly make for a bone-chilling front of the rotation, but there ought not to be much question about their ability to stick in the rotation for a full season.

Means has been worth roughly 2.2 bWAR per 150 innings over his first two seasons, though there’s a stark contrast between his first half of 2019 and the time since. The 33-year-old Cobb, meanwhile, returned to form in 2020 with a 4.30 ERA/4.87 FIP in 52 1/3 innings over 10 starts. He’s a back-end starter at this point and could serve as eventual trade bait, but at least for the first half of the season, he ought to help protect the bullpen from overuse.

Where Means and Cobb secure the floor, Akin and Kremer raise the ceiling. The right-handed Kremer made four starts in 2020 with a 4.82 ERA/2.76 FIP. He struggled a bit with command (5.8 BB/9), but a high-spin fastball deployed up and a cutter with 4.4 inches of horizontal movement helped him secure 10.6 K/9 in his first taste of big league action. Kremer came to the Orioles as part of the Manny Machado package, but his slider looked like a difference-making pitch at the time, and his arsenal has shifted in the years since.

What that means isn’t yet clear. There’s been some question about whether Kremer has stuff enough to stick in the rotation long-term, but the Orioles are going to give the soon-to-be 25-year-old a chance. Internally, he might be their best chance for a first-division rotation type before prospects like Grayson Rodriguez and DL Hall start arriving in a couple years.

The southpaw Akin boasts a similar profile, but from the other side. Both pitchers surrendered hard contact in 2020, but they still showed enough to manage a spot in the rotation. If either one can build on their 2020 performance to take firm hold of rotation innings, the Orioles could continue to grow their win totals in 2021. On the other hand, none of the front four seem particularly likely to develop into a frontline arm. They still seek high-impact talent in that department. The Orioles rotations ranked 19th in fWAR, 23rd in ERA and 24th in FIP, so they’ll need to improve to make much hay in the American League.

On the offensive end, Adley Rutschman has the chance to be the kind of impact player an organization can rally around. The former first overall draft choice will begin 2021 in Double-A, noted Kubatko. As Rutchschman nears, Elias should feel some pressure to field a competitive team around him. Even if Akin and Kremer aren’t exactly Johnson and Schilling, they can begin to lay the groundwork for a professional roster.

Prospect Faceoff: Bart vs. Rutschman

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The parallels between the Giants’ Joey Bart and the Orioles’ Adley Rutschman are plentiful. Both were standout catchers at reputable Division-I schools –Bart at Georgia Tech and Rutschman at Oregon State. Bart was in the running for the No. 1 overall pick in 2018 but went second overall to San Francisco. A year later, in 2019, Rutschman went No. 1 overall to Baltimore. Both draw significant praise for their defensive skills — each received a 60-grade on the 20-80 scale at both FanGraphs and MLB.com — as well as their raw power (again, both 60s). They’re widely considered to be the top two catching prospects in the game.

Joey Bart | Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

Bart 23, is about 14 months older than Rutschman and has already climbed as high as Double-A on the minor league ladder. He spent most of the 2019 season in Class-A Advanced, hitting .265/.315/.479 (116 wRC+) before a 22-game stint in Double-A where he finished on a tear: .316/.368/.544 (163 wRC+). Bart went on to the Arizona Fall League and hit .333/.524/.767 with four homers in 42 plate appearances before a broken thumb cut his AFL stint short. He could stand to improve his plate discipline (6.2 percent walk rate), but Bart also didn’t strike out at a particularly alarming rate (21 percent).

Behind the plate, Bart posted a rather pedestrian 27 percent caught-stealing rate across those two minor league levels before absolutely owning the run game in the AFL, where he caught nine of the 13 runners who attempted to take a base against him. Scouting reports praise his receiving and framing abilities as well as his ability to block pitches in the dirt — all things you’d expect for a catcher who was named ACC Defensive Player of the Year prior to being drafted in 2018. With Buster Posey’s contract winding down and his production waning, it’s not out of the question to think that Bart could debut in 2020 if the season is able to get underway at some point. If not, a 2021 debut should be considered likely, barring some major injury.

The 22-year-old Rutschman, meanwhile, is obviously further from the Majors but offers many of the same skills. He’s touted as a high-end defensive catcher with a strong arm behind the plate and plenty of pop with the bat. Rutschman hit .254/.351/.423 with a hearty 13 percent walk rate through 154 plate appearances in his pro debut, topping out with Class-A Delmarva. He struck out in just 17.5 percent of those plate appearances, although it’s worth pointing out that he really hasn’t faced any pitching that’s older and more experienced than he is just yet.

Adley Rutschman | Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Unlike Bart, Rutschman is a switch-hitter. He has power from both sides of the dish even if most reports agree that his left-handed swing is superior to his right-handed swing. He threw out seven of the 11 hitters who tried to steal against him in his limited pro debut and, by all accounts, should be adept at controlling runners, calling a game, blocking pitches in the dirt and framing. It’s reasonable to expect that he’ll be in the Majors by 2022 — and a 2021 debut isn’t all that far-fetched (depending on any service time games the Orioles do or don’t feel like playing).

Given that Bart and Rutschman were elite college catchers who went within the first two picks of a draft class in consecutive seasons, this likely isn’t the only place you’ll see the two of them compared in the coming years. Rutschman is generally ranked more highly on prospect lists, although not by much in some cases. He’s No. 4 to Bart’s 14 at MLB.com and No. 5 against Bart’s 10 at FanGraphs. Other publications have a bit more distance between them, including Baseball America (Rutschman at 5, Bart at 32), Baseball Prospectus (Rutschman at 4, Bart at 25) and The Athletic (Rutschman at 10, Bart at 44). Prospect rankings are in a constant state of flux, though, and the pair is close enough that the consensus opinion could easily change in a few months’ time.

It’s clear that both are expected to become high-end catchers with All-Star potential, but let’s open up the debate (link to poll for Trade Rumors mobile app users)…

Latest Notes On Orioles’ Offseason

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Unsurprisingly, it has been another rather quiet offseason for an Orioles organization that is still focused primarily on improving behind the scenes and building up its talent base for the future. There’s still no reason to anticipate anything approaching a blockbuster move this winter. But there could be some further additions before Spring Training opens. And O’s camp is now set to feature an especially intriguing piece of the future.

The latest from Baltimore:

  • In an update on the Orioles’ offseason efforts, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports that the club’s trade talks have gone “quiet.” That’s not terribly surprising. We haven’t seen much action on Trey Mancini or Mychal Givens, who are perhaps the club’s two most plausible trade pieces. In both cases, the club has multiple years of control remaining and needs not be in any rush to make a move. As ever, though, it’s possible that late-developing interest could spur some chatter.
  • Beyond that, Kubtako says that the O’s are only “willing to hand out one more major league contract this winter.” That limits the open-market possibilities — not that it ever seemed likely the team would do more at this stage. Buttressing the rotation and infield seemingly remain the two chief goals. Kubatko says the club has dabbled in both 40-man and non-roster deals at both positions.
  • While the Baltimore front office works to fill out its slate of candidates at the MLB level in 2020, it has also added a fun twist to the Spring Training festivities. Elite prospect Adley Rutschman has received an invitation to participate on the big league side of camp, per MLB.com’s Jon Morosi (via Twitter). The exciting young backstop won’t be challenging for a job in the majors, obviously, but he will get a taste of the future at the outset of his first full year in the organization. When he was drafted with the top overall pick last summer, Rutschman was billed as both a highly talented and highly polished player. Just how fast he’ll move remains to be seen, but this decision tends to suggest the Orioles anticipate a relatively swift run through the farm.

Orioles Sign Adley Rutschman

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5:04pm: Rutschman’s deal is official, Rich Dubroff of BaltimoreBaseball.com tweets. He signed for under slot at $8.1MM, according to Callis, who notes it surpasses the record $8MM the Pirates gave No. 1 overall pick Gerrit Cole in 2011.

9:27am: The Orioles are close to a deal with No. 1 overall draft pick Adley Rutschman, reports Jon Heyman of MLB Network (via Twitter). The former Oregon State catcher’s No. 1 overall slot carries a value of $8.42MM. Rutschman isn’t the only top O’s pick on whom there’s news today, however; MLB.com’s Jim Callis reports (also via Twitter) that the team’s second-rounder, Gunnar Henderson, has agreed to a deal worth $2.3MM. A high school shortstop out of Alabama, Henderson will receive a bonus that is well north of his No. 42 selection’s $1.771MM slot value.

Rutschman, 21, entered the draft as the consensus top talent on the board. The switch-hitter posted a ludicrous .411/.575/.751 batting line with 17 home runs, 10 doubles and a triple through 266 plate appearances in his junior season with the Beavers. Rutschman’s eye-popping batting average and considerable power numbers almost overshadow his plate discipline at first glance, but his 76-to-38 BB/K ratio is every bit as impressive as the rest of his numbers — if not more so.

Baseball America, MLB.com, Fangraphs and ESPN all ranked Rutschman as the top player in the 2019 draft. ESPN’s Keith Law noted that Rutschman’s defense and plus power give him a high floor with the ceiling of a repeated All-Star, while BA’s report touts him as a potential .300 hitter with plus defensive tools and “excellent” makeup and leadership abilities. Rutschman was the only player in the draft that Kiley McDaniel and Eric Longenhagen tabbed as a 60 FV (future value) player on the 20-80 scouting scale. Over at MLB.com, Callis and colleague Jonathan Mayo note that while some players who enter a season as a projected top talent struggle with that pressure and spotlight, Rutschman thrived and elevated his game en route to further cementing himself as this year’s best draft prospect.

Broadly speaking, Rutschman is regarded as a plus defender with power from both sides of the dish, strong plate discipline and a strong enough hit tool to post high batting averages as well. If all of that pans out, Rutschman has the makings of a franchise catcher for the new-look Baltimore front office.

Henderson, meanwhile, has yet to turn 18. Scouting reports were reflective of a split camp as to whether he can remain at shortstop or will need to move to third base down the road. MLB.com (No. 27) and Baseball America (No. 30) pegged him as a late-first-round talent, while ESPN (No. 40) and Fangraphs (No. 41) had him a bit lower. Henderson was Gatorade high school player of the year in Alabama and draws praise for his above-average power and the potential for an above-average hit tool. Henderson is young for his graduating class and still filling out his 6’3″ frame, leading to varying projections about his power potential and eventual defensive home. Even reports who project him to move to third base, though, suggest that he has the tools to be a quality defender there.

Draft Notes: Leiter, Mets, Allan, Cubs, Rutschman

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The Yankees called a familiar name with their 20th-round selection, drafting high school pitcher Jack Leiter.  The right-hander is the son of former Yankees pitcher and broadcaster Al Leiter, and is considered one of the top arms of the entire draft class.  Were it not for the younger Leiter’s commitment to attend Vanderbilt in the fall, he “would have gone [in the] top 10 picks, easy” a scout tells MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link).  (The consensus among pundits wasn’t quite that lofty, though he was seen as a high-end draft prospect.) It isn’t unusual for teams to take a flier of a pick on such prospects just to see if they could be enticed to begin their pro careers early, and despite the past ties between the Yankees and the Leiter family, both Baseball America’s J.J. Cooper and MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand believe Jack Leiter will indeed head to Vanderbilt.  Cooper doesn’t think the Yankees have the bonus pool budget available to offer Leiter anything close to his asking price to forego his college commitment, while Feinsand counters any suggestion of a possible wink-wink deal between Leiter and his dad’s old team by noting that the senior Leiter currently works for the Mets as an advisor in the baseball ops department.

As the draft officially comes to an end for another year, here’s more news and notes from the 2019 class…

  • The Mets selected high-school right-hander Matthew Allan with the 89th overall pick, an intriguing part of a strategy by the team to focus their efforts “into largely a three-player draft,” J.J. Cooper writes for Baseball America.  Allan is another of the draft’s top high-school arms, but reportedly wanted a $4MM bonus (greater than the slot price for all but the top 14 picks) to turn pro rather than attend the University of Florida.  The 89th overall pick only carries a $667.9K recommended price, though the Mets drafted all college seniors (who have less negotiating leverage) in rounds 4-10 to potentially carve out space in their bonus pool.  By saving money on those picks and perhaps even on first-rounder Brett Baty, the Mets could have enough to meet Allan’s price.  Matt Ehalt of Yahoo Sports also reports that Allan’s actual demand is “not near the $4MM that has been thrown out,” so the team could have even more breathing room.
  • The Cubs haven’t had much success in developing their own pitchers in recent years, and their pick of right-hander Ryan Jensen with the 27th overall selection represents how the team is adjusting its thinking in trying to solve this problem, MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian writes.  “Ryan Jensen certainly hits the nail on the head in terms of things that I’ve talked about that we probably avoided,” Cubs senior VP of player development and amateur scouting Jason McLeod told Bastian and other reporters.  Jensen has had mechanical issues during his time at Fresno State, and at only 6’0″ tall and 180 pounds, the righty doesn’t cut an imposing figure on the mound.  The young hurler had two important supporters, however, in Cubs area scout Gabe Zappi and pitching coordinator Brendan Sagara, plus McLeod was himself impressed watching one of Jensen’s starts in person on May 16.
  • Reports from the night prior to the draft suggested that the Orioles were still considering multiple options as the first overall pick, and GM Mike Elias indeed told reporters (including MLB.com’s Joe Trezza) that “the first four picks were all under significant discussion from us at one point or another.”  Rather than take Bobby Witt Jr., Andrew Vaughn, or JJ Bleday, the O’s instead stuck to expectations and chose top-rated prospect Adley Rutschman.  “There are pros and cons with every player profile and every player. We like to work our way through all of that and ultimately decided for the long-range benefit of the organization that this was the right pick,” Elias said.  It’s hard to argue with the choice, given that Rutschman was widely seen as the top talent available in this year’s class (and perhaps in many years).  Elias praised his new player as “a team leader on and off the field” and “a future fixture for this organization.”

Orioles Select Adley Rutschman First Overall

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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.

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