Commentary

Org Watch: Nowhere but up

Baltimore has young talent, but no hitting help. Seattle and Houston are also a mess.

Originally Published: May 19, 2010
By Kevin Goldstein | Baseball Prospectus

Each week, The Org Watch will take a deep look inside the minor league systems of three organizations. It will look at the progress of top, surprise and sleeper prospects and see whether help that may be needed for the major league club can be found within the rosters of its minor league squads. Today, we start at the bottom with the three worst records in baseball.

• The Baltimore Orioles have some young pitching talent already starting to perform at the major league level, but where their runs will come from over the next handful of years -- at least from the system -- is a mystery.

• The Houston Astros have an aging lineup that could find a lot of the top talent with anything left in the tank -- Roy Oswalt, Lance Berkman -- on the trade market. Too bad the system offers little help, and potentially for a while.

• The Seattle Mariners are all about run prevention, but their opponents are finding that concept particularly easy. Even Dustin Ackley, the surest of bats, isn't hitting. Where has this system gone wrong?


For Goldstein's take on where the Orioles' system is lacking, the trouble with the Astros pipeline, and questions about Dustin Ackley's growth in Seattle, become an ESPN Insider.

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