The Baltimore Orioles are a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise based in Baltimore, Maryland. They play in the American League East division. Since the institution of MLB's Rule 4 Draft, the Orioles have selected 60 players in the first round. Officially known as the "First-Year Player Draft", [1] the Rule 4 Draft is MLB's primary mechanism for assigning amateur baseball players from high schools, colleges, and other amateur baseball clubs to its teams. The draft order is determined based on the previous season's standings, with the team possessing the worst record receiving the first pick. [1] In addition, teams which lost free agents in the previous off-season may be awarded compensatory or supplementary picks. [2]
Contents
Of the 60 players picked in the first round by Baltimore, 30 have been pitchers, the most of any position; 21 of them were right-handed, while 9 were left-handed. Twelve outfielders, eight shortstops, seven catchers, two third basemen, and one second basemen were also taken. The team has never drafted a player at first base. [3] 16 of the players came from high schools or universities in the state of California, and Florida follows with five players. [3] The Orioles have also drafted two players from Canada, Ntema Ndungidi (1997) and Adam Loewen (2002). [3] The Orioles have not drafted any players from their home state of Maryland. [3]
Two players have won a championship with the team; Bobby Grich (1967), who was a part of the 1970 World Series championship team, and Rich Dauer (1974), who was a part of the 1983 World Series championship team. [4] [5] Mike Mussina (1990) is the only of the Orioles' first-round picks to have been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. One pick, Gregg Olson (1988), has won the MLB Rookie of the Year Award; he won the award in 1989. [6] The Orioles had the first overall selection three times in the draft, which they used on Ben McDonald (1989), Adley Rutschman (2019), and Jackson Holliday (2022). Jayson Werth (1997) was originally drafted as a catcher, but was converted to a right fielder, and primarily plays that position in the major leagues. [7]
The Orioles have made 11 selections in the supplemental round of the draft and six compensatory picks since the institution of the First-Year Player Draft in 1965. [3] These additional picks are provided when a team loses a particularly valuable free agent in the previous off-season, [2] [8] [V] or, more recently, if a team fails to sign a draft pick from the previous year. [9] The Orioles have failed to sign two of their first-round picks, Brad DuVall (1987) and Wade Townsend (2004). They received the 28th pick in 1988 and the 48th pick in 2005 for failing to sign DuVall and Townsend, respectively, as compensation. [3]
