Revisiting the 2020 Orioles draft class

On the night of June 10, 2020, Major League Baseball was not yet playing regular-season games, but was set to host its First-Year Player Draft. The draft would be limited to five rounds. That night the Orioles selected University of Arkansas outfielder Heston Kjerstad with the No. 2 overall pick in the first round.

That selection created some initial confusion, frustration and angst around Birdland.

They did not select Vanderbilt's Austin Martin, as many fans had read they would in pre-draft speculation, and many were already planning on it. It appeared that while the Orioles liked Kjerstad a lot, they might also be able to sign him for an underslot deal, allowing more money for players later in what was, for the Orioles, a six-player draft.

It played out exactly that way, and if you read the pulse of the fans on this blog at that time, many believed the Orioles made a poor move.

Fast forward to this week, when young infielder Coby Mayo, who got one of two big overslot bonuses from the Orioles in that draft, was ranked among the top 100 prospects in the game by ESPN. He was the sixth O's player listed in that top 100, coming in at No. 98.

Not bad for Mayo, drafted out of a Florida high school in round four with overall pick No. 103. Mayo just turned 20 in December and could start next season by either going back to low Single-A Delmarva or moving on to high Single-A Aberdeen. It is not out of the question to see him reaching Double-A at age 20.

So how does Birdland feel about that draft now?

Yes Kjerstad, in dealing with myocarditis, has yet to play a minor league game. He has fallen out of most top 100 lists but last year was ranked as high as No. 62, by Baseball America. So this draft for Baltimore has already produced two players that have been in a top 100, and no doubt Jordan Westburg, taken No. 30 overall that June, is close to the top 100.

The Orioles have high hopes for the other three players from that draft. Outfielder Hudson Haskin was taken No. 39 overall and is a full-go for next year after dealing with a fractured thumb in August. Infielder Anthony Servideo, selected No. 74, had sports hernia surgery last summer. Pitcher Carter Baumler, taken No. 133, is on the comeback trail from Tommy John surgery.

This small class could produce three or four top 100s before it's all said and done.

That June, Kjerstad, with a slot amount at No. 2 of around $7.8 million, was signed for $5.2 million. Savings went mostly to the high school kids Baumler and Mayo, but Servideo got just over $100,000 over slot as well.

Mayo's slot amount in round four was $565,000 and he got a bonus of $1.75 million. Baumler's slot amount for round five was $422,300 and he got a bonus of $1.5 million.

The other two from that draft - Westburg and Haskin - signed for exact slot amounts.

Initial outrage among the "they went cheap" crowd was off base from the start. The Orioles were always going to spend their total allotted amount. It was how they used that money and would spread it around that was their choice.

Looking back, was Kjerstad really that much of a reach at No. 2? In pre-draft rankings he was No. 7 on FanGraphs.com's list, No. 9 on ESPN, No. 10 by MLBPipeline.com, No. 11 by The Athletic and No. 13 on the Baseball America pre-draft listing of available talent.

Kjerstad, 21 on draft day, had put together a very strong 16 games in 2020 before the pandemic canceled the rest of the college season. He had hit .448/.513/.791 with five doubles, six home runs and 20 RBIs. He hit .327/.400/.575 with 13 doubles, one triple, 17 home runs and 51 RBIs in 300 plate appearances as a sophomore, and .332/.419/.553 with 16 doubles, 14 home runs and 58 RBIs in 313 plate appearances in his first season in the college game.

As a true freshman in 2018, Kjerstad was named the Southeast Conference Freshman of the Year, along with being named to the Southeastern Conference All-Freshman Team and the All-SEC second team, after helping lead Arkansas to the College World Series.

And now he is ready to take the field as a healthy minor leaguer when the season begins in April. He took part in a couple of hitting mini-camps in Sarasota last month and reports soon with the rest of the minor league players.

"Oh yeah. I'm ready to go, definitely," he told my colleague Roch Kubatko recently in this entry. "Feeling good. Feeling really good, actually. Whether it's swinging it or defense-wise, my body and athletically, I feel great."

The story of the Orioles' 2020 draft class has few chapters written thus far. Long way to go here. But with Mayo's huge 2021 and ascension to a top 100 ranking, and high hopes for Baumler too, not to mention for Kjerstad, obviously, perhaps some of the initial criticism is going to prove to have been quite misguided.