49THERE ARE A handful of teams—the Royals,
Tigers and Pirates join the Orioles on this
list—that have fallen on hard times after
fielding a run of contenders in the mid-
2010s. Of that group, the O’s are the furthest
from being good again. But they have made
progress down on the farm. They now have
a top-10 prospect in switch-hitting catcher
Adley Rutschman, the No. 1 pick in ’19. He
won’t get to the majors until ’22, but when
he does, he’ll be to Baltimore what Buster
Posey was to last decade’s Giants. Behind
Rutschman are the team’s previous two
first-rounders, righty Grayson Rodriguez andlefty DL Hall, giving the O’s a credible farm
system for the first time in nearly a decade.
At the big league level...hey, how about
those prospects? The Orioles lost 108 games
last year after losing 115 in ’18 and are in line
to lose 110 again—especially after trading
two of their best players, infielder Jonathan
Villar and righthander Dylan Bundy. They
did at least retain (for now) outfielder/first
baseman Trey Mancini after his career year
(.291/.364/.535, 35 homers).
Mancini’s breakout wasn’t the only bright
spot in 2019: Lefty John Means made the
All-Star team as a rookie, and journeymaninfielder Hanser Alberto challenged for the
batting title. The ’20 Orioles will be looking
to unearth similar finds. Can rookie Austin
Hays hold down centerfield? Is this the
long-awaited year that Ryan Mountcastle
will take the third base job? Will Chance
Sisco become the everyday catcher? Even
the worst team gets to distribute 6,000
plate appearances and 1,400 innings, giving
talent a chance to prove itself.
No, it’s not a pennant race, but for the
first time in a while, O’s fans should see
players who will be there the next time the
team makes a run.Baltimore has dropped all pretense of trying in the majors. Get ready for another dreary
56 season from not just the O’s you’ve never heard of, but also the ones you have.MOVING UP
HUNTER
HARVEY
1.42 ERA | 0.18 WPA
Six years after
being drafted
at No. 22, the
oft-injured
righthander
finally debuted
for Baltimore
last August
with a fastball
averaging
98.4 mph.MOVING DOWN
CHRIS
DAVIS
60 OPS+ | -1.0 WAR
The less Davis
plays, the
more valuable
he becomes—
Davis was
actually 1.8
WAR better
in ’19 (-1.0 in
352 PAs) than
’18 (-2.8 in
522 PAs).| ADLEY RUTSCHMAN| C | Remember what Matt Wieters (the
No. 5 pick in ’07) was supposed to be? That’s what Rutschman has
been: an elite receiver and patient hitter with a swing that’s identical
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power did. Now in the twilight of his prime, he will lose some of his
defensive value with the umpires’ signing off on an electronic strike
qfe\#ÓeXccpg\ijlX[\[X]k\iXcck_fj\ZXkZ_\ijc\k]XjkYXccjjX`cXk
Ángel Hernández as payback for years of missed calls.2030 PREDICTION
ORIOLES
AL EASTG FIUME/GE T T Y IMAGES
The O’s have a credible farm system
for the first time in nearly a decade.
At the big league level...hey,
how about those prospects?