A look to see if Orioles farm system depth is better than advertised

Is it possible that the Orioles farm system is in better shape than some believe it to be? If you look at the recent Baseball America top 10 O's prospects list, you find some pretty good prospects that did not even make that top 10.

To review, here is the O's top 10 per BA that was released Dec. 14:

1) RHP Dylan Bundy
2) RHP Hunter Harvey
3) C Chance Sisco
4) 3B Jomar Reyes
5) RHP Mychal Givens
6) LHP Chris Lee
7) SS Ryan Mountcastle
8) 1B Trey Mancini
9) OF DJ Stewart
10) RHP Mike Wright

There are some fans concerned that the Orioles will once again be ranked quite low when national publications and analysts release their organizational rankings.

They were ranked low last year and probably will be again. But keep in mind that these are cyclical, and can and do change fast. Two years ago, the Orioles were ranked No. 10 by ESPN and No. 12 by Baseball America. Last year, they were No. 22 by ESPN and No. 29 by Baseball America.

In its write-up on the Orioles, Baseball America said: "Baltimore has dropped in the prospect rankings for several reasons, most importantly the graduations of Kevin Gausman and Jonathan Schoop, both contributors to last year's AL East champions. The system also saw prospects such as catcher Michael Ohlman and pitcher Suk-Min Yoon flame out (neither is still an Oriole), while trades (Eduardo Rodriguez) and attrition sapped the system's depth."

Two years ago, when the Orioles were rated higher, they had four pitchers ranked in most national top 100 prospects lists in Bundy, Harvey, Gausman and Rodriguez. Four top 100 pitchers is going to propel your organization to an overall higher ranking. Now the Orioles are down to two, if that, and they have been hurt, so the club fell overall.

But back to another reason for some optimism on the farm - those players that did not make the O's top 10:

* That group includes flame-throwing lefty Tanner Scott. A sixth-round pick in 2014, he fanned 60 in 42 1/3 innings last season. Then his fastball touched 100 mph in the Arizona Fall League. For Peoria of the AFL, he went 0-1 with an ERA of 2.00 in eight games. Then he was named to the league's Top Prospects team.

* Right-hander David Hess had a huge second half for the Orioles, one that saw him move to Double-A Bowie from Single-A Frederick. With Bowie, he pitched a couple of big games in the playoffs. Hess pitched to an ERA of 1.61 over his last 15 starts of 2015 and went 2-0 with an 0.64 ERA in the Eastern League playoffs.

* First baseman Christian Walker dropped out of the O's top 10 as his overall numbers fell last season. But he had a strong second half, one where he slugged .515 with an OPS of .856 for Triple-A Norfolk and hit 13 homers in 206 at-bats.

* Right-hander Tyler Wilson made the majors last summer for the first time and had three quality starts in five outings for the Orioles. His fastball that is sometimes in the high 80s to low 90s seems to work against him on these prospects lists. But he will battle for a big league job in spring training.

* Right-hander Oliver Drake was named the best reliever in the International League by Baseball America for a 2015 season when he had an ERA of 0.82 for the Tides. In 15 2/3 big league innings, he fanned 17.

These players did not make the O's top 10. Nor did Dariel Alvarez, Jason Garcia or two pitchers the O's added to their 40-man roster in November, Parker Bridwell and Andrew Triggs.

So this could show there is more depth than some feel there is on the farm. It could also show some players were ranked too low on the list. There were also players in the top 10 that some scouts felt should have been ranked higher, and Mountcastle and Mancini come to mind.

But at a time when the Orioles minor leagues get criticized, there are those that see players not ranked in the team's top 10 and see more quality and depth there than we may realize.