Duquette talks up Alvarez and Yastrzemski during one-on-one interview (with video)
SAN DIEGO - In his daily video interview today with MASNSports.com at the Winter Meetings, I asked Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette about minor league outfielders Dariel Alvarez and Mike Yastrzemski.
Alvarez has been ranked as the organization's No. 5 prospect by Baseball America and Yastrzemski is No. 9.
Duquette says both have a chance to impact the big league roster in 2015.
"We like Alvarez. I mean he had a great year last year. Made good contact, hit over .300 at Double-A and Triple-A. Had 17 homers, 83 RBIs," Duquette said. "Mike Yastrzemski had as good a year as anybody in our system. He was up for our minor league Player of the Year. Showed extra-base power, could steal a base with excellent defense and a good arm.
"He showed he's a five-tool player and Alvarez also showed that he could be a five-tool player. That is exciting to have two young players like that in the minors. Granted they need more seasoning, but they could come up and make a contribution to the major league team in 2015."
Duquette was not specific when I asked him if that impacts the club's current pursuit of outfielders via free agency or trade. Does that lead the Orioles toward free agents they can sign to one-year or short-term deals with some minor league outfielders making their way to Baltimore?
The reality is that prospects are just that - prospects - until they actually do something at the big league level.
"Prospects are still prospects, but I'm encouraged by the contact that Alvarez made at Triple-A and how Yastrzemski has really improved and shown power since he signed," Duquette said. "That was just Yastrzemski's first full year and Alvarez's first full year since he signed coming out of Cuba. But both these players in their first full year showed all the skill and ability to be good major leaguers."
Duquette told reporters today that he feels good about adding players by the end of the Winter Meetings on Thursday. Of course, he did not share any names of which players that might be.
"We've been getting a lot sharper focus on the market for outfielders and also pitchers and a backup catcher," he said. "So we met with the agents of several of those players today and we got an idea of what the market is and we should be able to move and hopefully sign a couple of players for the O's."
I asked Duquette if the departures of Nick Markakis and Nelson Cruz provide him an opportunity to do some reshaping of the offense. Is there a chance to maybe add some speed and on-base capability to a team that has hit over 200 homers in three straight seasons?
"We need to add players that can get on base and we also need to add players that can drive the ball with power," Duquette said. "But there are some good possibilities for us. I like the depth of our lineup if we can add a couple of pieces here."
"We like Alvarez. I mean he had a great year last year. Made good contact, hit over .300 at Double-A and Triple-A. Had 17 homers, 83 RBIs," Duquette said. "Mike Yastrzemski had as good a year as anybody in our system. He was up for our minor league Player of the Year. Showed extra-base power, could steal a base with excellent defense and a good arm.
"He showed he's a five-tool player and Alvarez also showed that he could be a five-tool player. That is exciting to have two young players like that in the minors. Granted they need more seasoning, but they could come up and make a contribution to the major league team in 2015."
Duquette was not specific when I asked him if that impacts the club's current pursuit of outfielders via free agency or trade. Does that lead the Orioles toward free agents they can sign to one-year or short-term deals with some minor league outfielders making their way to Baltimore?
The reality is that prospects are just that - prospects - until they actually do something at the big league level.
"Prospects are still prospects, but I'm encouraged by the contact that Alvarez made at Triple-A and how Yastrzemski has really improved and shown power since he signed," Duquette said. "That was just Yastrzemski's first full year and Alvarez's first full year since he signed coming out of Cuba. But both these players in their first full year showed all the skill and ability to be good major leaguers."
Duquette told reporters today that he feels good about adding players by the end of the Winter Meetings on Thursday. Of course, he did not share any names of which players that might be.
"We've been getting a lot sharper focus on the market for outfielders and also pitchers and a backup catcher," he said. "So we met with the agents of several of those players today and we got an idea of what the market is and we should be able to move and hopefully sign a couple of players for the O's."
I asked Duquette if the departures of Nick Markakis and Nelson Cruz provide him an opportunity to do some reshaping of the offense. Is there a chance to maybe add some speed and on-base capability to a team that has hit over 200 homers in three straight seasons?
"We need to add players that can get on base and we also need to add players that can drive the ball with power," Duquette said. "But there are some good possibilities for us. I like the depth of our lineup if we can add a couple of pieces here."
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