Orioles' goal: Turn highly rated farm into major league wins

Within a span of about eight days in August, the Orioles farm system got some major recognition from the two top outlets that cover prospects and player development. Their farm system was rated No. 2 by Baseball America in mid-August. Then, in late August, the Orioles were ranked No. 1 in organizational rankings by MLBPipeline.com.

In was part of a steady rise for the O's farm system. In the 2020 MLBPipeline.com preseason rankings, the O's were rated No. 13 and then they moved to No. 8 by midseason. Before 2021 in the preseason ranking they had moved up to No. 5 and now they are No. 1.

It is a first in the history of the Orioles and these rankings.

Seattle is ranked second and Miami third following Baltimore on MLBPipeline.com. Tampa Bay, the previous No. 1 organization, is now No. 6, with Boston No. 12, Toronto No. 14 and the New York Yankees No. 19.

But here is what O's fans really want to know: Will this ranking lead to major league wins? That is the real goal, of course - to win at the major league level and not just produce a highly rated farm.

"One thing working against them is they are in the AL East and all those teams are set up well for the future," MLBPipeline.com's Jim Callis said this week. "You need luck with pitching, but I could see the Orioles being over .500 in 2023 if things break right.

"If you go back and look at teams that have been ranked No. 1 by us, a lot of them have gone on to win the World Series within the next couple of years. We had the Dodgers No. 1, we had the Red Sox No. 1, we had the Astros."

Callis did some research for this story and went back to see which clubs had been ranked at the top by MLBPipeline.com, which does organizational rankings in the preseason and then again during the season since 2015.

"Since we started doing this, the Cubs won a World Series; they were No. 1 preseason 2015. Red Sox won and they were midseason 2015. Dodgers won a World Series and they were 2016," Callis said. "Next team was the Brewers. They haven't won the World Series, but have a long streak of some playoff success. Then it was the Braves, who just won a World Series. White Sox haven't, but they are on the rise. It was the Padres four years in a row. This year was not great, but they're on the rise. Then it was Tampa Bay - three rankings in a row and they went to a World Series.

"Before we started official rankings, I wrote that the Astros had the best farm system around 2013 or '14, even though it was not an official ranking. Baseball America has been ranking systems since like '83 or '84. The only team of these two places I have worked at that had the No. 1 farm system that didn't like make the playoffs within a couple years and have some success was the '97 or '98 Pirates. They are the exception. The others pretty much went on to have a nice run because of it."

So Callis could see something similar for the Orioles, and he can see them starting to turn the corner in the next season or two.

"I don't think that 2022 is going to be the year we talk about the Orioles returning to contention," said Callis. "But catch a couple of breaks with pitching and you know they might sneak up on some people in 2023. When you talk about the teams having one of the top farm systems in baseball, those teams often contend like a year earlier than you expect. I wouldn't be shocked if the Orioles, especially with expanded playoffs, make a run in 2023. They could be a very entertaining and interesting club."

I recorded a long interview with Callis and recorded two Zoom interviews that you will soon be reading about and seeing here. We discussed the club's 2021 draft and also some of the top players on the Baltimore farm. Be looking for both entries here soon.