New Aberdeen skipper ready for the challenge of pro ball

When you talk to Roberto Mercado, a new member of the Orioles front office and player development staff, his excitement to work for the club in 2022 comes through.

It's going to be a big adjustment for the 42-year-old Mercado. He was the head coach of New Britain (Conn.) High School from 2011-2021 with a record of 139-80 and dean of students at the school since 2004.

But his baseball experience also includes time spent as an assistant coach in the summer wood bat Cape Cod League, one of the most prestigious summer leagues, featuring top college prospects. There, with the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox from 2014-2021 Mercado worked with some up and coming college players from around the United States who were locking to improve or cement their draft stock each summer in the Cape.

Mercado also was head coach for the U.S. team in the Goodwill Series from 2017-2021 in New Zealand and Australia.

He's been around in the game, has a few coaching mentors and got a strong recommendation to join the Orioles from several people, including Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin. He led his Vandy squad to College World Series titles in 2014 and 2019.

Now Mercado will bring that experience and the ability to speak Spanish to the pro game for the first time this season when he will manage the high Single-A Aberdeen IronBirds.

During a recent Zoom interview you can watch following this entry, Mercado told me what expectations the front office in Baltimore might have for him this season.

"Biggest thing was create a positive learning environment," he said. "Get guys prepared. We want to be their biggest supporter, but also biggest critic as well. Push those guys to the limit and get the most of out of them is what any manager or coach wants. The biggest thing is to create great learning environments where guys can fail and it's OK and just grow from it.

"At the end of the day in minor league baseball, we want guys to continue to move up - that's our end goal. It's not necessarily about if we win or lose, but there is a balance and it's important for guys to learn how to win but also put them in positions that may be uncomfortable. We might face a tough lefty one day and the analytics will say some lefties should sit. But we have to put those guys in there and get them ready to move up and ultimately to Brandon Hyde and the Orioles. Excited for this opportunity and the Orioles and their staff have been great."

Mercado took part in one mini-camp in January at the Ed Smith Stadium complex in Sarasota, where his new coaching teammates were ready to help with whatever he needed.

"It's been outstanding," he said of those interactions. "I was fortunate enough to go to the camp in late January for a week and get to know coaches there and a couple of the managers that were there, Kyle Moore and Buck Britton. Got to know the staff and the players there. Got my feet wet and started to know the players little by little. It was a great atmosphere and any questions I asked were answered, and it's been a pleasure already."

Working with high-level college talent in the Cape might have well prepared him for the level of player he will see in Aberdeen. Mercado also feels getting to know his high school kids over the years, seeing what makes them tick and how they approach baseball might also be big for him.

"I think it will (serve me well)," he said. "Just in being dean of students, we have a pretty big school, 2,400 kids. You know, lot of kids with different backgrounds and different lives and trying to get them on the right path. Those experiences, those conversations with both my players and those students will help me help our players in Aberdeen grow.

"Create a plan for each guy. Making sure we are doing the best for every single player. Sometimes students struggle and we have to help them get on the right path. In baseball, we deal with adversity and guys will struggle at times; that is expected. We need to make sure they have the right mindset to overcome those things and to continue to grow as a player and person. Building those relationships and building that trust with guys where guys can be vulnerable and understand they'll make mistakes - yeah, I'm excited. The experiences in high school and being on the Cape has been instrumental in my development."

The Cape Cod League games and summers spent sometimes sharing a host family house with several of his own players, give Mercado confidence now as he is about to start his pro career.

"I've been blessed and was fortunate enough to coach there since 2014. I was around some wonderful coaches and players that have come through there," Mercado said. "The first thing was building trust with guys and building relationships. I still keep in contact with many of the players and some have hit me up with congratulations on this job with the Orioles. The Cape was outstanding, I'm going to miss it. But there will be some familiar faces I will see through the Cape."

Even more Mercado: If you want to get know Roberto even more, check out these two stories. My colleague, Roch Kubatko, wrote this excellent entry where Mercado talks about his career, how he came to work for the Orioles and his mentors. I wrote this with him recently about his experiences in the Cape Cod League.

Here is the Zoom interview we recently shot.