No rush: O's look for catchers while they wait on Chance Sisco

Catcher Chance Sisco is the Orioles' No. 1-ranked prospect according to Baseball America and maybe is now positioned to rank among the top 100 prospects in baseball. He may be the future catcher of the Orioles, but right now the future can wait, as the club looks to add to its catching depth.

That is depth that is likely losing Matt Wieters via free agency. The Orioles still have Caleb Joseph and Francisco Pena on their 40-man roster behind the plate and they re-signed Audry Perez to a minor league contract.

Right now, it is clear the team is very high on Sisco, but at the same time not yet ready to bring him to the majors, not as a starter or a backup. He's played 131 games over the last two years at Double-A Bowie, but just four at the Triple-A level at the end of last year. He's close, but could use more playing time, seasoning and experience, especially on defense.

The Orioles seem open to giving a veteran catcher a two-year deal and it might take that to add a Welington Castillo, for instance. Right now, there is no inclination to rush Sisco. He is a prospect worth getting excited about, but the O's thinking here seems sound. For now, they have to wait on Sisco. How long, who knows for sure, but when the 2017 season begins, barring something unforeseen at this moment, the prized prospect will be playing for Triple-A Norfolk.

Manuel on Sisco: For this story in October, I asked Baseball America editor in chief John Manuel about Sisco and his rise to No. 1 prospect status.

"I do think it is a good sign for an organization when you have a true No. 1 prospect," Manuel said. "You have a guy that, for more organizations than not, Chance Sisco would be a No. 1 prospect. It is really hard to find a catcher in the minors with his offensive track record. Catching is a hard position. You have a premium prospect at a premium position with a career .402 on-base percentage.

"He also wasn't a consensus second-round pick where the Orioles took him - they were the high team on him. Kind of a bit of a gamble at a risky demographic with high school catching. I think that Sisco at the top of their system represents a win for their scouting department and their player development department. It's an Orioles success story."

Manuel told me that Sisco would easily fit into his personal list of the sport's top 100 prospects right now.

"Sisco, for me, is in the top 50 and I actually have him in the top 20 to 30 range for me," Manuel said. "I don't know a lot of hitters you can have more confidence in in the minor leagues. He's done it at every level and he controls the strike zone so well. He may also be a guy that comes into some power. Because his swing is so true, he's confident in his approach and he has some of the necessary arrogance you have to have. I'm pretty convicted in the bat with Sisco. The defense is harder to project."

More Schuerholz: Baltimore native John Schuerholz is a real pro and mostly seen as someone who is pretty reserved. But even Schuerholz could not hide his enthusiasm for his election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. No reason to be anything but joyous for such an honor.

Today's Game Era candidates Schuerholz and former commissioner Allan H. "Bud" Selig were elected to the Hall on Sunday night. Now the man that played high school baseball across the street from Baltimore's Memorial Stadium and who got his start in the O's front office in 1966 gets the highest honor in the sport. Schuerholz is grateful and proud - and he should be. What a career he has had and it continues, as he remains president of the Atlanta Braves.

When he was the team's general manager, Atlanta compiled some great pitching staffs. Schuerholz knows something about developing young pitching.

"It mostly takes good scouts, who are able to project the timeline development pattern of each guy," he said. "Who is going to move fast? Who is going to take longer? High school guys versus college guys. Latin guys versus non-Latin guys. So you rely on the expertise of the people who you've paid to make those judgments and projections. If you follow that pattern, you are going to be successful more times than not."

Schuerholz is a Towson University graduate and was inducted into the Towson Athletics Hall of Fame in 1974. The Tigers' baseball facility is called Schuerholz Park.

John Schuerholz will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on July 30, 2017. https://t.co/JteAlYUfOR

-- Towson Baseball (@Towson_BASE) December 5, 2016

"I love Towson. I played soccer four years and baseball four years and sang in a few musicals," he said. "You had to be multi-talented to be at Towson as a male student during those years. I enjoyed every bit of it. I'm very proud to be a Towson graduate."