The Orioles, once again, boast top talent ready to make waves, but there’s not enough room
January’s arrival can mean only one thing around these parts: it’s time to rank minor-league prospects. Every team across the majors is selling hope to their fans: some are selling it in a more immediate fashion, in the form of active offseasons full of free-agent signings and trade acquisitions. Others, meanwhile, are selling it in the personage of prospects who could make the difference over the coming years.
CBS Sports will spend the next month examining the top three prospects in each organization. Our definition of “prospect” is simple: does that player have rookie eligibility remaining for the 2025 season? If so, they’re a prospect; if not, that’s probably why your favorite young player is absent from the proceedings.
As always, these lists are formed following conversations with scouts, analysts, player development specialists, and other talent evaluators around the industry. There’s a fair amount of firsthand evaluation, statistical analysis, and historical research mixed in, too. Plus a heaping of personal bias — we all have certain traits and profiles that we prefer over others; there’s no sense pretending otherwise.
Keep in mind that there’s no one right answer with these sorts of things. Besides, these are merely our opinions, meaning they have no actual bearing on the future. We already published our ranking of the top 25 prospects in all of the minors.
With all that out of the way, let’s get to ranking the top three prospects in the Baltimore Orioles system.
1. Samuel Basallo, C/1B
Top 25 ranking: No. 8
The short hook: Powerful lefty bat with positional questions
Basallo is a potential middle-of-the-order fixture, an imposing figure with the strength to match. That size, plus his spotty receiving and Adley Rutschman’s continued presence on the Orioles roster, has long swayed evaluators to discount his chances of remaining behind the plate. Sure enough, Basallo made more combined starts at first base and DH in 2024 than he did at catcher. It’s hard to know how much of that had to do with injuries he suffered (including a stress fracture in his throwing elbow) and how much of that had to do with the Orioles accepting his eventual relocation down the defensive spectrum as a fait accompli. Basallo’s bat is the drawing point regardless, and the reason he ranks so highly despite the uncertainty. MLB ETA: Late summer 2025
Top 25 ranking: No. 24
The short hook: Corner infielder with power, patience
As sure as night gives in to day, the Orioles’ best young hitters struggle during their first big-league foray. Mayo was no exception, punching out 22 times in 46 trips to the plate. Rest assured, he’ll get ample opportunity to turn his ship around. Mayo has both great strength (he recorded a 114.9 mph batted ball in Triple-A) and a healthy commitment to taking free passes. He does swing and miss a fair amount, but more often than not he’s kept his strikeout rate in check. Mayo’s defensive home has been a long-term question mark, in part because of his own athletic limitations and in part because the Orioles have a seemingly endless supply of budding infielders. Provided his bat ports in whole, it won’t really matter what positions he ends up staffing. MLB ETA: Already debuted
The short hook: Talented corner outfielder ready for primetime
Kjerstad experienced a bout of myocarditis after being drafted No. 2 overall in 2020, delaying his professional debut by more than a year. That helps explain why he’ll retain his rookie eligibility beyond his 26th birthday. He’s an enticing offensive prospect who boasts above-average power from the left side, to the extent that last season he homered more times to left and center field than right. Kjerstad does chase and swing and miss regularly (he whiffed on nearly 40% of the non-fastballs he saw in 2024), a combination that could see him strike out more than a quarter of his trips to the plate. He has more than enough going for him overall to envision him spending the season in a regular role for the Orioles. MLB ETA: Already debuted
