Baltimore: O is for Optimistic

Baltimore's farm teams fared only slightly better as a group than the parent club this season, but some of the individual performances were definitely worth noting, giving the Orioles reason to be optimistic. Look no further than Nick Markakis, who dominated in the Carolina League and then jumped to the Eastern League, where he quickly became one of the circuit's most feared hitters. Another half season like that in 2006 and he'll be in Baltimore giving American League pitchers headaches.

While the O's were still smarting from losing Rice product Wade Townsend last summer, Adam Loewen looks like he may finally be developing into a bona fide big league starter. The lower levels had more than their share of talent, so after a strong draft in 2005, the O's appear poised to receive major contributions from their system over the course of the next two or three seasons.

2005 Organizational Record
LEVEL AAA AA A (Adv) A R R	LEAGUE INT EAS CAR SAL NYP APP VSL	TEAM Ottawa Bowie *Frederick Delmarva Aberdeen Bluefield VSL Orioles TOTAL:	W 69 74 79 72 27 31 34 386	L 75 68 61 65 48 36 27 382	PCT .479 .521 .564 .526 .463 .360 .557 .503
* Won the Carolina League Championship
2005 Organizational Leaders
Average Home Runs RBIs Stolen Bases ERA Wins Strikeouts Saves		.405 26 111 41 2.19 12 174 18	Rene Aqueron Mario Delgado Jason Fransz Bernie Castro Juan Escorcha James Johnson James Johnson D.Haehnel/C.Ray
Complete MiLB statistics

At the start of the season, MLB.com identified five prospects to keep an eye on. Here's how they fared in 2005:

Adam Loewen, LHP
The former first-rounder from Canada continued to have control problems, finishing second in the Minor Leagues with 86 walks in 142 innings. He was 10-8 with a 4.12 in 28 games (27 starts) for Class A Frederick, though he showed improvement after an erratic first half. Loewen was 8-2 in his last 11 appearances (10 starts) with a 3.35 ERA, and that included a two-game lapse in which he allowed 12 earned runs. If he can harness his wildness, Loewen may wind up at Triple-A or the Major Leagues before all is said and done in '06.
Closing out Futures Game is as easy as 1-2-3

John Maine, RHP
There was some talk during the spring about Maine possibly getting more of a chance this season at the Major League level, and that happened for a stretch in August and another in September. While he went 1-1 with a 2.70 ERA in four games (two starts) in August, his September has turned into a train wreck. He's 1-2 with a 7.84 ERA in five games, which was only surprising if you looked solely at his earlier effort with the O's. He was 0-7 with a 7.46 ERA in his last 10 starts for Triple-A Ottawa.
Maine fans his first in a 10 K game

Nick Markakis, OF
Markakis started the season at Frederick but after proving he was more than capable of handling the Carolina League -- 12 homers, 62 RBIs, .300 in 91 games -- he was bumped up to Bowie and fueled their run at an Eastern League playoff berth that lasted through the final weekend of the regular season. He hit .339 in 33 games and though he had only three homers, he drove in 30 runs, proving that the Double-A pitching wasn't any more of a problem than the hurlers he faced in Class A. Odds are he'll begin next season in Ottawa, but don't be surprised if he's in Baltimore by midseason.
Markakis wows the crowd in the All-Star Game Home Run Derby

Hayden Penn, RHP
Penn spent the bulk of the season in Bowie but had three separate stints with Baltimore, going 3-2 with a 6.34 ERA in eight games. He was much more effective as a starter with Bowie, going 7-6 with a 3.83 ERA in 20 games (19 starts). Penn fanned 120 in 110 1/3 innings while walking only 37, so he's not facing control issues like Loewen. His ERA over his final five starts for the Baysox was 1.97. He fanned 44 and walked seven during that 32-inning stretch. There's a good chance he'll get a longer-than-average look in Spring Training. Otherwise he'll head to Ottawa.

Eli Whiteside, C
After a six-game stint with the O's in July, he's back with the parent club again, though he didn't have the kind of year folks in the organization had hoped he would, hitting .233 with 27 RBIs in 95 games for Ottawa. He still may develop into the player the Orioles thought they had when they chose him in the sixth round in 2001. Whiteside may have peaked offensively, though.
Whiteside drives home a run for Ottawa

Cinderella Story

Mario Delgado, 1B
After spending two seasons playing in the independent Northern League, this former 14th-round pick by the Phillies (2001) signed on with the O's and had big season at Frederick, hitting 26 homers and driving in 86 runs. He had 16 homers in four seasons in the Philly system before hitting 23 homers and driving in 104 runs last season with Schaumburg. Sure, he's 26 years old, but he also hit .306 and had a .552 slugging percentage for the Keys and may have put himself in position to have a future as a left-handed bat off the bench.

Breakout year

Jason Fransz, OF
If you play in low-A ball long enough, you're bound to catch up with the pitching sooner or later, and that may be what happened this season with Fransz, who finished his second season in the South Atlantic League after playing a year and a half in the Midwest League. Still, it's difficult to argue with the numbers the well-traveled 24-year-old put up in his first full season with Baltimore after getting released by the Cubs last summer. Fransz hit .308 with 22 homers and a Sally League-leading 111 RBIs.

James Johnson, RHP
A fifth-round pick in 2001, Johnson meandered his way up the organizational ladder, spending all but one game with Frederick this year. After winning 15 games combined in his first four years, Johnson collected 12 victories this season -- second-most in the Carolina League -- and posted a 3.49 ERA, which was third-best in the circuit. He pitched in one game at Double-A Bowie and tossed seven shutout innings while earning a no-decision. He fanned 174 in 166 2/3 innings, held the opposition to a .231 batting average and even picked up a save in his last outing en route to earning the Carolina League's Pitcher of the Year laurels.

Chris Ray, RHP
It took Ray less than two years from the day he was drafted to make it to the big leagues. A year ago, he was a starter at Class A Delmarva and Frederick. In 2005, he went to Double-A Bowie, where he returned to the closer role and flourished, saving 18 games and posting a 0.96 ERA while striking out 40 batters in 37 1/3 innings. The 2003 third-round pick made the jump to Baltimore in June and, with the exception of a nine-day span in August, has been there ever since, posting a sub-3.00 ERA and continuing to strike out over a batter per inning.

2005 draft recap

1. Brandon Snyder, C
The gritty backstop from Westfield High (Va.) impressed as many people with his attitude and approach as he did with his bat. The son of a former Major Leaguer, he has poise and polish to go along with a solid bat. He hit .271 with eight homers and 35 RBIs in the Appalachian League before hitting .393 with six RBIs in eight New York-Penn League games at Aberdeen.

2. Garrett Olson, LHP
A thinking man's hurler, Olson has three pitches -- fastball, curve and change -- that he uses effectively, a fact that was evident after the O's grabbed him in the second round from Cal-Poly. He went 2-1 with a 1.58 ERA in 11 games (six starts) with Aberdeen before moving up to Frederick. He had 19 strikeouts in 14 1/3 innings in the Carolina League to go a long with a 3.14 ERA.

3. Nolan Reimold, OF
Reimold was a powerhouse at Bowling Green and didn't seem to have any dropoff once he signed. He split the season between Aberdeen and Frederick, hitting 15 homers and driving in 41 runs in 83 games. He hit a combined .285 and showed a good eye, racking up 29 walks at Aberdeen, where he had a healthy .392 on-base percentage.

4. Kieran Pope, OF
The Georgia high school product didn't have nearly as successful a debut as the three players chosen ahead of him. Pope hit .228 with five homers and 22 RBIs in 41 games at Bluefield. He struck out 62 times in 149 at-bats and drew only eight walks. He needs to tame his free-swinging attitude if he is to move up the ladder.

5. Reid Hamblet, RHP
The Biola University product had a solid first season, adjusting well to life in the New York-Penn League. He appeared in 22 games, four of which were starts, and went 4-4 with a 3.93 ERA. He uses four pitches well and seems to have the poise that young pitchers often lack.

2004 draft recap

How the top three from 2004 fared in their first full season of pro ball.

1. Wade Townsend, RHP
The Rice product had a rough first year in pro ball but his struggles came for Tampa Bay not Baltimore. The O's couldn't get Townsend signed so he went back into the draft this year and was chosen by the Devil Rays in the first round before going 0-4 with a 5.49 ERA in the New York-Penn League.

2. Jeff Fiorentino, C
He spent the bulk of the season in Frederick, where he hit .286 with 22 homers and 66 RBIs. He also had a 13-game audition in May with Baltimore and held his own, hitting .250 with a homer and five RBIs. His 12 stolen bases suggest some speed and could lead to him being a top-of-the-order guy. He batted either first or second 65 times this year for the Keys and did well enough, posting a .346 on-base percentage.
Frederick's Fiorentino fakes out Warthogs in seven-run rally