Talking player development: The O's team that did it well while losing

If you look at the job of any minor league organization, its biggest task by far (but not the only one) is to develop players. Coach, teach, instruct and provide a framework for players to get better so they can one day reach the bigs and help the major league team win games.

If you can win games on the farm while doing the first job, all the better. But make no mistake, when it comes to developing players or winning, the first is much more important than the second.

Let's look at some players from the 2016 Double-A Bowie Baysox:

* Catcher Chance Sisco hit .320, led the Eastern League in on-base percentage at .406, got better on defense and is now the Orioles' No. 1 prospect.

* First baseman (not yet outfielder) Trey Mancini began the year with Bowie, raked to the tune of an OPS of 1.112 in 17 games and quickly moved onto Triple-A Norfolk.

* Outfielder Mike Yastrzemski hit .268 in 33 games and also moved onto Triple-A.

* Third baseman Drew Dosch hit .261. But in the second half, he hit .306/.364/.514.

* Lefty reliever Donnie Hart, a 27th-round pick, went 3-1 with a 2.72 ERA in 40 games, moved up to Baltimore and posted an ERA of 0.49 over 22 games with the Orioles.

* Lefty Jayson Aquino, acquired for cash considerations from St. Louis, went 5-10 with a 3.90 ERA, moved among the Orioles' top 30 prospects and now is a candidate for the Baltimore rotation.

* Right-hander Stefan Crichton, selected in Round 23, went 2-6 with a 3.73 ERA and then this spring got into eight games with the Orioles throwing eight scoreless innings. He's now firmly on the radar and begins this season with Norfolk.

* Right-hander Jimmy Yacabonis, a Round 13 selection, went 2-2 with a 2.03 ERA, showed a mid-90s fastball and has moved this year to Norfolk.

* Lefty Chris Lee, acquired for international bonus slots, went 5-0 with a 2.98 ERA as a starter before getting hurt. He is now a candidate for the Baltimore rotation.

That Baysox team also saw pitcher Bobby Bundy have a solid and healthy season, Tanner Scott flash his at-times 100 mph fastball, and pitchers Matthew Grimes and John Means advanced to Bowie to got their feet wet in a Double-A rotation for the first time.

So that Baysox squad saw multiple players take steps forward and advance their careers - in other words, it was strong player development. Again, it was a lengthy list of names including Sisco, Mancini, Yastrzemski, Dosch, Hart, Aquino, Crichton, Yacabonis, Lee, Bundy, Scott, Grimes and Means, and we probably missed or overlooked a few.

But that 2016 Baysox team went 56-86, a year after Bowie was 79-63 and Eastern League champions. They developed a host of players but didn't win. In fact, quite the opposite. Years from now if some of these players become key members of winning Orioles teams, no one will remember they spent a key development season playing for a Bowie team with a terrible record.

The Baysox's leader is manager Gary Kendall, who is Bowie's all-time winningest skipper and someone who truly bleeds orange and black. In the organization for his 18th season, he's a Baltimore guy (in the Hall of Fame at Sparrows Point High) and his love for the Orioles runs deep.

Some of his best days are when he gets to tell a player he is moving up in the organization - to Norfolk or sometimes even directly to Baltimore.

"I love it," Kendall said of promoting players. "I just like to be part of it. The players do it. You try to develop them as best you can. But once they leave here, you just wish them nothing but the best.

"It tickles me to do death to watch Mancini (on opening day). He put the hacks on pitches against a very good bullpen Toronto has. Then he stayed on a two-strike pitch and got a single up the middle. I got goosebumps. That is what it's all about for me. To just be a part of it and put players in the best situation you can before they leave here."

One of the facts of life in the minors is a team and its fans wants to see players improve and help their team win. But sometimes once they do that, they leave. Promoted to a higher level. In the last two years, pitchers like Hart and Mychal Givens were promoted directly from Bowie to Baltimore. But it is all about upward progress, whether Kendall sends players south to the International League or north to the American League.

"Actually, it is big to tell them they are going to Norfolk," he said. "Some guys have not been there and it is one step from the big leagues. Anything can happen. Promoting a player or seeing a guy do something maybe in the middle of the year that he wasn't doing early in the year. Seeing him progress. That is probably the biggest satisfying thing."

The 2016 Baysox, that team with the terrible record, promoted more than players. Not one, but two Baysox coaches now work on manager Buck Showalter's staff at Camden Yards. Alan Mills, Baysox pitching coach the last two seasons, is now the Orioles bullpen coach. Howie Clark, the Baysox hitting coach, is now the Orioles assistant hitting coach.

The 2016 Baysox promoted players and coaches. Not a bad job for team that was 30 games under .500. The next time someone tries to equate the number of prospects a minor league team or organization has to its win-loss record, don't do it. Just don't. It is not the best barometer, not nearly.

Kendall is pleased with the individual success for players on his 2016 team, but this is also a guy with a burning desire to win. So for him, 2016 was equal parts uplifting and deflating.

"I have to admit, it was very frustrating for me. As far as the record goes, to keep up morale when you are 20 or 25 games out. You want to compete and win. I know development is first, but you hope that with development comes winning. Hopefully we don't have another season like that. But the development of those players is first and foremost as our job here and we are proud of that."

Showalter's take: For top management of the Baltimore Orioles, like Showalter, they appreciate what has gone on in recent years on the O's farm. Seeing players like Manny Machado, Jonathan Schoop, Kevin Gausman, Dylan Bundy, Givens, Hart, Mancini and others make it to Baltimore and help the Orioles win.

They feel the Orioles' farm system gets a bad rap. They certainly understand that the Orioles currently rank low in organizational rankings because of a lack of so-called "elite" prospects. But they see good things happening and hope we all take a deeper look.

Showalter feels, for instance, that one reason the Orioles have acquired so many pitchers that seem to be on the border line between the majors and minors is because they have faith in their minor league coaches and think they can get them over the hump. Pitchers they've added included in this group are Gabriel Ynoa, Logan Verrett, Aquino, Lee, Jesus Liranzo and most recently Andrew Faulkner and Miguel Castro.

"It shows how much confidence Dan (Duquette) and all of us have in our player development system," Showalter said. "I think our instructors down there are the best in baseball. I really do. We've put together a who's who group down there and if it's (major league talent) there, it will come out.

"I feel real comfortable putting guys in the environment they will be put in. Players that come in here - not that it didn't happen somewhere else - in some cases, they are going to be in an environment that they haven't been in."

Showalter recently talked at length about the quality of coaches the Orioles have built up on the farm. He was asked how satisfying it must be for long-time coaches to see players promoted to the majors.

The Orioles have a host of long-time employees on the farm to include their full season managers in Norfolk (Ron Johnson), Bowie (Kendall), Frederick (Keith Bodie) and Delmarva (Ryan Minor).

They have a host of other coaches or instructors that have been around for years. Men that have put in countless hours over years with minor league players - the most of which will never see a day in the big leagues.

This is just a partial list of those coaches and staff: Director of player development Brian Graham along with coaches like Mike Griffin, Kennie Steenstra, Blaine Beatty, Justin Lord, Scott McGregor, Milt May, Jeff Manto, Dave Schmidt and Don Werner. As I said, we've listed just a few names here and no doubt have left some good people out.

"I think our organization does a good job of doing what it takes to keep those people," Showalter said. "Yeah, they would like to be in the big leagues. But they have a passion for what they are doing. I think morale in our minor league system is as high as its ever been. Because they know how impactful what they are doing is for us.

"Everybody is on the same page and we communicate a lot between each other. There is a continuity there that doesn't come in many places. The same Triple-A manager, Double-A manager and Single-A managers. Pitching coaches, hitting instructors. There is a consistency and we are getting a great return for that at the major league level.

"But you have to do what it takes to keep those people when you get them. There is big turnover in most organizations and there hasn't been with ours. There is a reason why."