American League
● A White Sox top prospect sets his sights on Chicago PAGE 49
● An Astros catcher works on versatility this offseason PAGE 50
● Rangers catcher gets schooled by ex-big leaguer PAGE 52
BALTIMORE ORIOLES
The Orioles have set the number of desired candidates for the rotation: eight. They used the Rule 5 draft to reduce the starter shortage.
Righthander Brandon Bailey was selected from the Astros organization with the second overall pick in the major league phase and will be given an opportunity to compete for a job. The 25-year-old’s lack of experience beyond Double-A won’t discourage the Orioles from auditioning him.
“Bailey has a strong track record of performance everywhere he’s been, including at the Double-A level in a starting capacity,” pro scouting director Mike Snyder said.
“He has a full assortment of weapons to lefthanded hitters and to righthanded hitters, and we’re excited to see what he can do in the spring.”
Bailey was the Athletics’ sixth-rounder in 2016 out of Gonzaga. He joined the Astros after the 2017 season in a trade for Ramon Laureano.
Bailey made 22 appearances (17 starts) in 2019 at Double-A Corpus Christi and posted a 3.30 ERA and 1.22 WHIP in 92.2 innings. He walked 41 batters and struck out 103.
Over four minor league seasons, Bailey has registered a 3.07 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and .208 average while failing to reach Triple-A. That should not deter the Orioles, a team that has broken camp in past springs with Rule 5 players from the Class A level.
“It’s a difficult jump for anybody to pitch in the major leagues, no matter where you come from,” Snyder said.
The Orioles were already familiar with Bailey prior to conducting their research for the Rule 5 draft. Executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias worked for the Astros before the Orioles hired him in November 2018 and he brought assistant Sig Mejdal and minor league pitching coordinator Chris Holt with him.
Veteran righthander Alex Cobb and lefthander John Means are the only pitchers assured of rotation spots. Asher Wojciechowski will be given a chance to join them, but the Dylan Bundy trade created an opening for other pitchers.
—ROCH KUBATKO
BOSTON RED SOX
When the Red Sox acquired outfielder Marcus Wilson from the Diamondbacks for Blake Swihart last spring, the organization saw a player with a chance to provide out-field depth at the upper levels of the minors.
Yet the transition between organizations proved sufficiently jarring to challenge that outlook.
Wilson, a 2014 supplemental second-rounder out of high school, opened at Double-A Portland but hit just .161 while striking out 44 percent of the time in 19 games. Worried that he would become overwhelmed, the Red Sox demoted him to high Class A Salem.
There, Wilson caught his breath and excelled against Carolina League competition. In 45 games, he hit .342/.413/.603 while lowering his strikeout rate to 28 percent. He reclaimed the plate discipline—in concert with good outfield range that played in both center and right field—to re-establish his prospect
