An infield in transition in Baltimore (plus a trade with Miami)

The Orioles may be headed for a transition year with their infield. The players that take the field on opening day on Friday in St. Petersburg will surely be pushed from behind by some of the club’s top prospects.

How soon those prospects arrive is an open-ended question, but surely the Orioles have them - both in quantity and quality - and the infield on opening day 2023 could look very different. Or maybe sooner than that.

Ramón Urías has cemented a starting infield spot this spring, a spring he began with a leg up on the competition after batting .279/.361/.412/.774 in 85 games last year. That produced an OPS+ of 111, and he is still youthful at 27. It’s just a matter of where he plays, with second, short and third all possible. Just not all at once.

The rest of the group, to be nice, lacks much in the way of big league stats, but Jorge Mateo, no doubt, intrigues with his blazing speed, and he did produce a .748 OPS in 116 O’s plate appearances last year. Rougned Odor and Kelvin Gutiérrez are in the mix, and Odor could start at second with Gutiérrez at third. Chris Owings, Shed Long Jr. and Richie Martin remain on the camp roster, and Martin has certainly hit well under the Florida sun.

But it’s the infielders on the rise that probably most excite Birdland. There are a few top 10 prospects and a decent group that will be at Double-A or Triple-A, not to mention a few ranked players expected to begin at high Single-A Aberdeen as well.

There are six top 30 prospects that will likely begin the year at Bowie or above in Gunnar Henderson (No. 3), Jordan Westburg (No. 6), Terrin Vavra (No. 14), Joey Ortiz (No. 15), Jahmai Jones (No. 22) and Adam Hall (No. 28).

A level below that could see Coby Mayo at third on a roster that may also include César Prieto and Connor Norby, as I projected earlier. So that makes potentially nine top 30 infielders at Aberdeen or above.

Westburg made two starts during spring games, went 4-for-8 at bat, and looks like he belongs already. Sure, it’s too soon for him. He played just 30 games and then a few more in the playoffs at Bowie last year. But he probably begins this year close to making Triple-A, and his polish, hitting approach, solid glove and leadership skills all point to him being likely the closest among the infield prospects to major league-ready.

Henderson may have the biggest upside or ceiling. He has that big arm and a power bat to go with it. He has already shown all-fields power, and he’ll start the year in Double-A at age 20. If he cuts down on the swing-and-miss and makes small gains in plate discipline he’ll get close to that exciting ceiling. This kid knows the game and is already soaking up the data and tech that will help him hit his max potential. Just a fun player to watch.

Injuries limited Ortiz and Vavra to 16 and 40 games, respectively, at Bowie in 2021. We tend to forget about them at times because of that. We shouldn’t do that. Both begin the year very much in the mix for the future Baltimore infield.

Hall, once ranked as the club’s No. 13 prospect, dropped a bit on these lists when his OPS dropped last season at Aberdeen to .672. But he played through some injury issues and came to camp looking improved.

Prieto, 22, was an O’s international signing in January and is soon to play his first game for his new organization. I have projected he will start in the Aberdeen infield, and a move to Double-A or higher late in the year is surely possible. Add him to the mix of prospects on the infield, a player that batted .379/.452/.533 in the Cuban pro league in 690 plate appearances the last two seasons with 68 walks to 34 strikeouts.

The Orioles like to use the phrase “rising tide” for their farm system. It may be just a matter of time before some of the infielder waves start crashing on shore.

The late night trade: The Orioles made their trade with Miami official a bit before 10 p.m. last night. The club traded relievers Tanner Scott and Cole Sulser to the Marlins for minor league outfielder Kevin Guerrero, minor league lefty Antonio Velez, a 2022 Competitive Balance Round B draft pick and a player to be named later.

The draft pick is No. 67 overall right now, and last year the bonus slot for that selection was $976,700. That amount or something in that neighborhood will be added to their bonus pool this summer.

Velez, 25, went 7-2 with a 2.55 ERA last year, mostly at high Single-A ball, and could end up this season at Double-A Bowie. Guerrero, 17, played in the Dominican Summer League in 2021.

In the latest Marlins top 40 prospects list, per Baseball America, Guerrero is ranked No. 29 and Velez No. 34.

The moves reduced the O’s current 40-man roster to 38 and their current spring training big league roster to 40. Read here for more on the deal.