Once the MLB concludes the amateur player draft, it’s time for the teams and players to get down and dirty with a contract. This process includes signing bonuses and minor league contracts. Once the contract is signed, it’s off to Sarasota, Florida for many of the newly drafted players. Regardless if you’re a first round pick or a sixth round pick, you’ll report to the Orioles Minor League Complex and begin your professional baseball career.
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For pitchers, the process is usually the same every day after the draft. You throw lots of bullpens. Although the organization scouted you, the coaches need to know every pitch you throw and how you throw it. For hitters and position players, you take a lot of batting practice and then get involved with intersquad games.
After workouts and bullpens, players will play in the Florida Gulf Coast League in Sarasota against other teams that currently call Florida home during spring training. The goal of these games is simply development – as you’re getting guys used to not only playing together, but for some, using a wooden bat.
For some draft picks, depending on their current level and development (mostly higher round picks and college players) – they will eventually be assigned to the New York-Penn League with the Aberdeen Ironbirds. The Ironbirds are the short-season affiliate of the Orioles and runs from mid-June to until early-September.
However, there are a few cases where polished players could skip Aberdeen completely, and make their professional debut with either Delmarva (A) or Frederick (A+). A good example of this is RHP Kevin Gausman, as he pitched with Aberdeen for a few starts and then finished the rest of the season with Frederick in 2012. This type of scenario depends on many factors such as how long it takes for a player to sign and the current development of a player.
Overall, the Orioles drafted a total of 41 players in this year’s draft. As you’ve probably already read, Baltimore went heavy on pitching in the draft, as 27 of the 41 players selected were pitchers. With the signing of RHP Yovani Gallardo during the off-season, the Orioles forfeited their first-round pick, but still had a pick at 27th overall due to the Miami Marlins signing LHP Wei-Yin Chen. The Orioles have a total of $6,706,900 to sign picks taken within the first ten rounds, with first round pick Illinois RHP Cody Sedlock earning a bonus slot of just over $2 million.
With the amateur draft complete, the Orioles will now turn their attention to international signings, which opens on July 2nd. As in previous years, the organization simply doesn’t value the international market, as their highest bonus to a player from the Dominican Republic or Venezuela was $100,000. Baltimore has an international bonus pool of $2,539,600, but they will likely not use much of that money on international talent.
Reggie Yinger has spent the parts of five seasons as a Player Development Coordinator for the Baltimore Orioles. He has extensive experience in computer programming and baseball.