THE ORIOLES

We've seen what the Orioles have done over the history of the draft through 1995, but it's difficult to put the numbers in perspective without comparing them to some of the team's competitors. The Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees have been the Orioles most consistent opponents over the past 3 1/2 decades--they're the only three clubs that have been directly competing with the O's for the league or divisional crown during that entire span and are, historically, the clubs against which the Birds measure themselves. Let's see how the BoSox and Yanks drafted during the same 31 year stretch.

For starters, we'll briefly recap the Orioles' history. For the sake of sanity, I've collapsed the two low-end categories (journeyman, cup of coffee) into one. The players in the two upper categories are identified, split into position player and pitcher groupings. Before anyone throws a hissy fit, I recognize that some of these categorizations will be somewhat controversial. I really had to hold my own nose a few times (including Billy Ripken and Steve Balboni in the "starting player" categories, for instance). Some players could move up as their careers are extended (Jorge Posada, Al Leiter, etc.). There are some other ostensible inconsistencies--how on earth, for instance, can John Shelby and Ben Oglivie be in the same category? Cecil Cooper and Steve Balboni? Don Hood and Bruce Hurst? In fact, a strong case can be made that a more thorough analysis would have broken the player types into a wider number of categories--perhaps five or more. I didn't do this because, quite frankly, I didn't want to take the time. This is something of a quick and dirty look, and that will have to suffice for now. It is, I believe, enough to draw some tentative conclusions, which I'll do below.

YEARS COVERED: 31 (1965-95) TOTAL MLB PLAYERS: 113
	STARS	STARTING POS./ CONTRIBUTING PITCHERS	OTHER
POS. PLAYERS	5	8	50
PITCHERS	3	8	39

Starting Pos./Contributing Pitchers: Al Bumbry, Doug DeCinces, Rich Dauer, John Shelby, Billy Ripken, David Segui, Ricky Gutierrez, Jeffrey Hammonds

Wayne Garland, Don Hood, Mike Boddicker, Storm Davis, John Habyan, Pete Harnisch, Arthur Rhodes, Ben McDonald

YEARS COVERED: 31 (1965-95) TOTAL MLB PLAYERS: 131
	STARS	STARTING POS./ CONTRIBUTING PITCHERS	OTHER
POS. PLAYERS	9	14	47
PITCHERS	3	12	48

Stars: Carlton Fisk, Dwight Evans, Jim Rice, Fred Lynn, Wade Boggs, Ellis Burks, Mo Vaughn, Jeff Bagwell, Nomar Garciaparra

Starting Pos./Contributing Pitchers: Amos Otis, Ben Oglivie, Cecil Cooper, Rick Miller, Rick Burleson, Ernie Whitt, Butch Hobson, Marty Barrett, Mike Greenwell, Jody Reed, Brady Anderson, John Valentin, Ray Durham, Trot Nixon

Ken Brett, Mike Garman, Lynn McGlothen, Bill Lee, John Curtis, Don Aase, Bob Stanley, Bruce Hurst, Oil Can Boyd, Paul Quantrill, James Baldwin, Aaron Sele, Carl Pavano

YEARS COVERED: 31 (1965-95) TOTAL MLB PLAYERS: 138
	STARS	STARTING POS./ CONTRIBUTING PITCHERS	OTHER
POS. PLAYERS	5	18	51
PITCHERS	2	11	51

Stars: Thurman Munson, Don Mattingly, Fred McGriff, Carl Everett, Derek Jeter

Starting Pos./Contributing Pitchers: Mike Heath, Dave Bergman, Willie Upshaw, Pat Tabler, Willie McGee, Steve Balboni, Greg Gagne, Otis Nixon, Mike Pagliarulo, Dan Pasqua, Hal Morris, Gerald Williams, Brad Ausmus, Russ Davis, J.T. Snow, Jorge Posada, Mike Lowell

Stan Bahnsen, Scott McGregor, Doc Medich, LaMarr Hoyt, Jim Beattie, Andy McGaffigan, Eric Plunk, Bob Tewksbury, Jim Deshaies, Tim Belcher, Al Leiter, Sterling Hitchcock

Conclusions: I don't think there's any doubt that the Red Sox have had the best of the drafting over the time span studied. They had more star players (12) than either of the other clubs, and a case could be made that several of the players who missed out on the star category belong there (Oglivie, Cooper and Hurst, most noticeably). What's more, the Red Sox stars really are stars. With the exception of John Tudor, and probably Ellis Burks, there's not a single player on the list who won't draw a significant number of Hall of Fame votes. Carlton Fisk is already in, Roger Clemens will be, five years after he retires, and Wade Boggs will be in a couple of years. Evans, Rice and Lynn have all drawn serious consideration, but won't likely be voted in, unless the Veteran's Committee does so some day. Vaughn still has a real shot if he can get healthy and put up a few more good years and while it's too early to say for Bagwell, Garciaparra and Schilling, all have legitimate shots, especially the former two.

Now, compare those stars with the Orioles...Murray and Ripken are in, when the time comes. But the only other potential HOF member on that list is Mike Mussina. As for the Yankees, they fare even worse. There's not a single member of the Hall on the list, though Jeter obviously is a potential candidate, as is Fred McGriff.

What the Yankees (and Red Sox) have done well is draft decent, contributing big league ballplayers. They lead in that category with 29, three more than Boston and a substantial 13 more than the Orioles. What New York has done consistently over the years is gone out and acquired, through trade or free agency, stars--Reggie Jackson, Roger Clemens, Rickey Henderson, Graig Nettles, Willie Randolph, Jimmy Key, Dave Winfield, Mike Mussina, David Cone, etc. The other two franchises have done this in spurts, but haven't made it a consistent strategy, at least until very recently.

The other thing that the Yankees have done better than both of their opponents--and this is indirectly related to the draft--is pluck good players out of Latin America. The Orioles, in the last 35+ years, have arguably signed exactly two players of big league significance from Latin America--Dennis Martinez (star) and Sidney Ponson (contributing pitcher). That's it. The Yankees, on their current 25-man roster, have Bernie Williams (star), Mariano Rivera (star), Ramiro Mendoza (contributing pitcher), Alfonso Soriano (starting position player), Orlando Hernandez (arguably a star), all of whom were originally signed to professional contracts by the Yankees. That's a mind-blowing contrast. The Red Sox haven't had much success signing players internationally either, but have been able to make up for the shortfall better than the Orioles with greater amateur draft success.

One other interesting thing of note re the Orioles--in 36 years of drafting, the Orioles have never, not once, selected a catcher who amounted to a starting caliber player at the big league level, nor have they signed one from overseas. The high points of the Orioles catcher drafts have been Dave Skaggs and Greg Zaun.