Stacey Long: Taking respite in O's minor leagues, draft

With the advent of blogs such as my own and those that belong to the other fine writers taking up this space, there is more being written about, well, everything. In our case, it's the Baltimore Orioles. From the traditional media to those of us who have our own platforms online to the masses on Twitter who take to the Internet daily, it's mind-boggling just how much is being said about the Orioles on a daily basis. Because the Orioles are a losing team, and have been for so long, this means looking at the team from angles previously not often discussed. Pages are devoted on the Internet to the minor leagues, when not that long ago, the average fan would be hard-pressed to name more than a few players in the farm system. The upcoming draft, in which the Orioles have the fourth overall pick, is being talked about with fervor as the fans hope the next great prospect will land in the O's system. The minor leagues and the draft are a great place to take refuge when you're a fan of a team like the Orioles, a team that so consistently disappoints on the major league level. They both provide hope for the future and a reason to remain optimistic. The Orioles just lost their fourth in a row, but Josh Bell hit a home run and took a walk for the Norfolk Tides. Jake Arrieta couldn't get out of the third inning, but several mock drafts have the Orioles taking Dylan Bundy next month, who has the tools to be an ace pitcher. The great thing about the future is that it's not written and therefore full of possibility. And after four tough West Coast losses (and 13 losing seasons), it's fun to focus on something that isn't miserable the way the Orioles have been. Some great places online to read about the minors and draft are Camden Depot, Orioles Nation and, of course, Steve Melewski's blog right here on MASNsports.com. Over at Camden Chat, our resident draft guy is James Feldman, and he's written a draft preview and an update in preparation for draft day June 6, his favorite day of the year. Stacey Long blogs about the Orioles at Camden Chat. Read Long's Orioles observations as part of MASNsports.com's season-long initiative of welcoming guest bloggers to our site. All opinions expressed are those of the guest bloggers, who are not employed by MASNsports.com but are just as passionate about their baseball as our roster of writers.