Notes on Pedro Alvarez, position rankings and prospect rankings

Providing a few thoughts on a few different topics today:

Is Pedro Alvarez still a fit for the Orioles?: Probably only in the sense that they could use another left-handed bat. But when Chris Davis re-signed, that put a real dent into the possibility of Alvarez as an Oriole - unless the O's are OK with a lineup of Davis at first, Mark Trumbo in right and Alvarez at DH or one that would leave Trumbo on the bench. It seems pretty unlikely that Alvarez would ever use his glove much as an Oriole.

Alvarez hit .243/.318/.469 in 150 games with Pittsburgh last year, with 18 doubles, 27 homers, 77 RBIs and a .787 OPS. He has hit 27 or more homers three times over the last four years, with 111 in that time.

Were he to join the Orioles, they could feature a lineup of six players that have hit at least 30 homers in a season- Davis, Manny Machado, Adam Jones, J.J. Hardy, Trumbo and Alvarez.

Alvarez was the second overall pick in the 2008 draft out of Vanderbilt, the same school that produced Ryan Flaherty and Mike Yastrzemski. He has a career .794 OPS against right-handed pitching and a .601 OPS against left-handers.

Right now, he doesn't seem like a good fit for an Orioles team that leads the majors with 854 homers since 2012. The O's seem headed for another 200-plus homer season in 2016. Alvarez would add even more power to an already powerful lineup. But a marriage seems unlikely at this point.

Manny is No. 1: The writers at CBSSports.com recently rated Machado No. 1 among third basemen in the majors. In a field loaded with talent, they rate Machado as the player they would most like to have at third in 2016.

Of Machado, they write: "Machado is a bona fide superstar at a ridiculously young age. An ironman, he played all 162 games, hitting 35 homers while stealing 20 bases and again looking like the best defensive player in baseball at the hot corner. The improved plate discipline helped him to a .359 on-base percentage and 131 OPS+. Continued improvement is likely, meaning that fourth-place MVP showing might be surpassed this season."

In other position rankings, Davis was listed No. 5 at first base, Jones No. 6 in center field and Matt Wieters No. 13 at catcher. Neither Hardy nor Jonathan Schoop were listed among their top 15 at short or second base.

O's players scarce on prospects lists: MLBPipeline.com released its top 100 prospects list on Friday and the Orioles placed just one player on that ranking, with pitcher Hunter Harvey at No. 85.

Earlier, the same outlet ranked the top 10 prospects among left- and right-handed pitchers, along with players at first, second and third bases, shortstop, catcher and among outfielders.

The O's had just one player make all those lists, with third base prospect Jomar Reyes ranked No. 9. Boston had five players make those lists, Tampa Bay had four and the New York Yankees had three. Like the Orioles, Toronto had just one player ranked.

This doesn't mean some players have not done quite well on the O's farm. They certainly have, and names like Trey Mancini, Chance Sisco, Tanner Scott, Chris Lee, David Hess, Mychal Givens, Ryan Mountcastle and Reyes come to mind. Last year, two O's farm teams made the playoffs and Double-A Bowie won its first Eastern League championship. That was a real positive.

But the Orioles are not considered to have many high-end prospects right now. If other teams around the majors agree with that assessment, it could obviously provide the Orioles with fewer sought-after trade chips. Trades and promotions to the majors have thinned out the club's minor league ranks.

The O's used their farm system to help win at the major league level over the last four years and acquire players for the majors. That is exactly what you want the farm system to do. But they have not replenished the system as well as some other organizations - at least not according to the national analysts.

If nothing else, this could provide yet more motivation for some players to try to prove they are better than some analysts believe. But for now, fans concerned about or questioning the farm can point to the lack of Orioles on these lists as evidence that there concerns are legit.

We'll see if the O's players, staff and teams can take steps forward to command more national respect in the next year.

Is the lack of highly-ranked O's players by national analysts just an opinion to be considered or a real reason to be concerned?