A look at O's potential pursuit of undrafted players

Over the years, there have certainly not been many players signed after the First-Year Player Draft. Not when it was 40 rounds - or before that, 50 rounds. All the good talent was long since scooped up.

But this year is very different. The draft is just five rounds. There will be 160 players drafted, or 13 percent of the 1,217 taken in 2019. Some real good talent will be available that won't be taken. But teams will have only a max bonus of $20,000 to offer.

Will players that would have previously gotten $200,000 or more take that small of a bonus? Some might, if only to get into pro ball ahead of what should be a much more stacked 2021 draft, with players carrying over from this year. That draft, it has already been announced, will be at least 20 rounds.

The 2020 draft will be conducted Wednesday and Thursday, and then there will be a 48-hour quiet period before teams can sign undrafted players starting Sunday.

Brad Ciolek, the Orioles' supervisor of domestic scouting operations, said the club will be aggressive in pursuing these undrafted players. How many will they look to sign?

"We don't have a firm number yet, as far as guys that we're looking to sign," he said. "Ultimately, we just want to add the most talented players available that are out there. The goal has always been to find the most talented guys and use whatever resources we have available to find those players. We will be aggressive after the draft, once that quiet period ends, because we do want to continue to build in our system on the foundation we already have.

"It is kind of hard to have a crystal ball and determine who is going to go in a five-round draft. But we do have around 500 players ranked and we're going to cut that list down to 300 for our draft board. For those guys not selected, we'll reach out to some of them and make them an offer. We'll try to get as many players as we think can play at the next level."

Here are some reasons an undrafted player may go with a specific team:

* Some may go to the best teams.

* Some may go to the worst teams, where they could theoretically get to the majors sooner.

* Some may choose teams that develop players the best.

* Some may go to a team because of a strong relationship with the club's area scout.

* Some may go to teams that do well with later-round talent.

* Some may go to teams they root for. Some players hope they get drafted by their hometown teams; now they can make that choice.

This may essentially turn into a college recruiting-like situation. With all teams able to offer the same money figure, teams may choose to provide reasons for a player to pick them. And that is how this will work. Some good players will no doubt get many offers - maybe one from all 30 teams - and then they'll pick one club to sign with.

Ciolek feels the Orioles had a strong 2019 draft and that those players have had a good experience in their first year with the Orioles. He believes that is a selling point for the club when they pursue undrafted talent in a few days.

"Matt Blood (director of player development) and Chris Holt (director of pitching) and our player development have done a great job. We've seen tremendous growth already. Things are definitely going in the right direction. It's an exciting time to come on board in the Orioles organization," Ciolek said.

Could the O's take him again?: In round 38 of the 2018 draft, the Orioles selected high school right-hander Slade Cecconi as a "contingency sign". He was taken with the No. 1,135 pick, but was ranked as the No. 79 prospect by Baseball America. He fell due to signability concerns and he was hurt as a high school senior. As expected, he didn't sign and went on to play at the University of Miami.

Now he's a draft-eligible sophomore, touching 96-97 mph, and is rated as the No. 31 prospect by MLBPipeline.com and No. 32 by Baseball America. In four starts for the Hurricanes in this shortened season, he went 2-1 with a 3.80 ERA. Over 21 1/3 innings, he walked seven and fanned 30, allowing a .190 average against.

If the O's do go with a position player like Vanderbilt's Austin Martin with their No. 2 overall pick, they could add a pitcher or two with either or both of their No. 30 and No. 39 picks. Could they draft this guy for the second time in three years?

Yesterday, I posted an entry with Ciolek where he discussed several aspects of the O's draft and it included a video interview. Click here to see that.