Grenier enjoys Winter Meetings and reflects on first pro season

LAS VEGAS - Orioles shortstop prospect Cadyn Grenier lives 10 minutes from the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. He never had a reason to show up at the Winter Meetings until today.

Grenier conducted a few interviews with local media and hoped to meet later with executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias. Make a full day of it.

"It works out well for me that I live here, that they're coming in," he said. "And with Mike being the new GM and everything, to be able to be in the same place and meet him and get some face time would be awesome."

The Winter Meetings hadn't been held in Las Vegas since 2008, back when Grenier was 12 and lacking any interest.

"At that time I was like, 'Why do I need to go to the Winter Meetings?' " he said. "It's funny because my dad (Mark) worked for the Triple-A team here for 15 years and he got his start by going to the Winter Meetings in '84 or '85 and got a job here, so ever since, he knows all about the Winter Meetings. I had no reason to. Now I do."

The Orioles selected Grenier out of Oregon State with the 37th overall pick in last year's draft and gave him a $1.8 million signing bonus, enamored with his defensive skills and willing to remain patient as his bat lagged behind. He played in 43 games with Single-A Delmarva and batted .216/.297/.333 with 12 doubles, two triples and one home run over 162 at-bats.

Four hits in his last three games put a little weight into his average.

"It was an adjustment period," he said. "I had a pretty rough patch, but toward the back end I was really happy with the way that I played. I think for me that meant a lot because no matter how tired I was, toward the back end of the year I was able to pull through the struggles and get a lot better. And in instructional league I felt really good. So overall I was pretty happy with my year, just the growth process that I went through in a short amount of time."

Fresh off a championship at Oregon State, Grenier was met head-on with the usual adjustments at the professional level. The competition, the lifestyle.

"The baseball in terms of comparing it to the Pac 12 is about the same. A little bit more consistent with better pitching. But the baseball is baseball. It doesn't change," he said.

"In college, especially a school like Oregon State and the Pac 12, you get treated like a king. We stay in really nice hotels, we fly everywhere. And then to go to pro ball and you're on a bus for upwards of 12 or 14 hours and you've got to play a day later, it's quite a change in your lifestyle. Once you get adjusted to that, you're just back to playing baseball."

For Grenier, it also meant trying to avoid being stuck with an all-field, no-hit reputation. But also understanding how far defense can travel.

"Of course, you always want to try to get better and improve on what your weakness are, but I like to focus on my strengths a lot more," he said. "The better I can play defense, the more I'm going to be given a little bit of leeway to come along with the bat because it's a process.

"For me, I'd love to be a big league hitter right now, but I'll tell you, I've got some improvement to do and I'll keep working on it. But to have a strength like I do with my defense, it plays awesome for me because I can focus on that and do what I do with my glove and everything else will come along."

The instructional league enabled Grenier to take some of the tips back home and continue to work on that aspect of his game. Mental cues, as he called them, to get in the proper position to hit.

"So when I'm hitting in the offseason, I have some different things to focus on," he said. "That way, getting into spring training and obviously the rest of my career, hopefully expedite the process of becoming a better hitter and all that."

Grenier celebrated his 22nd birthday on Halloween and hasn't played a full professional season. He understands that a young kid in an organization that's going through a massive teardown and rebuild can grow with the team, can find opportunities which otherwise might be delayed or denied.

Especially when coming from a major college program.

"We know that the Orioles like to bring their guys up through the system," he said, "and for guys who are in the minor leagues right now, it's a great opportunity because we know that we're going to get a shot pretty soon to help rebuild the program."

Grenier could assist in scouting. The Orioles might grab one of his Oregon State teammates, catcher Adley Rutschman, with the first overall selection in June.

"I tell everybody, I would love to have Adley with the first pick and be in our organization," Grenier said. "I was just talking to somebody the other day. If we have me and him back together, that's a really good middle ... just to start. And with the guys that I've played with and some of the outfielders we have, you could create a real good middle of the field with me, Adley and a couple of those other guys.

"Rutsch is a beast. I can't wait to see what he's going to do this year and I hope to get to play with him soon. He's another guy. He's a great dude to be around the clubhouse. He had a lot of fun and works his butt off. And when the time comes to be serious, he can be as serious as anybody, but when we're off the field and stuff, he's just a good dude and I'd tell that to anybody."

One of Grenier's favorite beast mode stories about Rutschman involves a foul popup, a collision with the edge of the dugout and a tremendous catch.

"It was like a sharp corner of a concrete overhang and still caught the ball, so we ended up putting a padding around it," Grenier said.

"He does stuff like that all the time. You're kind of like, 'OK, come on, dude.' Mostly, his defense is incredible behind the plate and then add that to being a .400 hitter in the Pac 12 and being a switch-hitter, the dude is really impressive. I love the kid to death."