Latin American Scouting

One critique of the Orioles' front office of late has been the lack of scouting, activity, and signing in Latin America by the Orioles. Keith Law, was one critic who specifically claimed that the Orioles' lack of activity contributes to the diminished state of their farm system. While the state of the farm system is debatable, the fact that the Orioles are stagnant in Latin America is not. From a BaseballAmerica report as of March 1, 2010, the Orioles rank 28 out of 30 in the number of Latin American prospects in the system. Among these included Luis Lebron, Pedro Florimon, and Gabarez Rosa. It is of note that Jonathan Schoop, a prospect out of Curacao, was not on the list, bumping the number of prospects from three to four. The list includes Jesus Montero, Aroldis Chapman, Jose Iglesias, and Starlin Castro, all top tier prospects out of Latin America.

While Schoop (Green) is an impressive athlete, and has potential for a 19 year old, he's no Jesus Montero. Unfair comparison, I know, but the point stands. I hate to make comparisons to the Yankees, but they have done quality work in Latin America producing both catcher Jesus Montero, and rising pitcher Manuel Banuelos, but the Orioles, who spend only 1.18$ Million in the international markets, have no comparable prospects. Front Office was only slightly outbid by the Twins for top Dominican prospect Miguel Sano, who while only 17, is one of the top prospects in the Twins organization.

I'm not saying that the Orioles' farm system is in shambles, but they could definitely use some improvement  in the Latin American realm. There is a supposed Dominican training facility, but it doesn't seem to show many results. In the mean time, hope can be held out for Luis Lebron, if he returns to 2009 form where he posted a 1.98 ERA over 24 appearances, he could possibly find himself in the Orioles' bullpen.