Spring Training Autographs- Minor Leaguers

Now that I've been back from my Spring Training trip for well over a month and the regular season is nearly three weeks old, I think it's about time that I make it through all of the autographs I got in Spring Training. So here is another post that is heavy on pictures and light on words.

Don't act like you mind. 

I'm gonna start off with some players who have actually played for the Orioles at some point over the years. 

Jack Cust was a late Spring signing who headed directly to minor league camp and never had much of a shot to make the O's. He was attempting a comeback but I think might have retired after being cut.

T.J. spent the 2013 season in the O's bullpen as a Rule V pick from the Indians but is back in the minors attempting to stretch out and become a starter down the road. 

Henry also spent some time in Baltimore last year but was edged out of the OF competition during Spring Training. 

This group of players were all at the O's camp during Spring but didn't make the team. 

You've most likely already seen signed custom Orioles OMC cards of most of they players here and I don't have much more to say about them.

 Stupid chrome cards. I even "prepped" this one. Obviously not well. 

I have to give Quintin props, he is a good signer.

 Two consecutive players with B.B. initials whose signatures largely consist of two large B's. Just an observation.

Kelvin's stock in the organization seems to have dropped pretty quickly. He signed a Major League deal, but has since been outrighted off the roster and is sporting an 11.37 ERA through six appearances with the AAA Tides. 

Now that's a proper chrome card signature. 

Could this be the year that Caleb makes the jump to the Majors? At least he's already progressed to AAA after a bunch of years at AA.

Johnny is another good signer, and I like to give respect where it's due. 

Xavier didn't seem like much of a fan of signing, but I still got him a few times. 

I heard from some other collectors that Eduardo was tough but I've never had problems with him. 

Jemile was sooo close to making the O's roster, but David Lough avoided a DL trip. 

The players below all signed for me on my one morning spent at minor league camp.

For whatever reason, Kalina has already decided that Ronald is the player she is going to root for at Bowie this year. 

Chih-Hsien is also with Bowie. 

That's a nice orange uni. 

And these two guys are already out of the organization.

Thanks again for taking the time to sign Alfredo!

Scott, we hardly knew ya!

Spring Training Autos Ready to Join the Collection

Today's focus is on the autographs that I got on my Spring Training trip that are ready to plug into my collection if and when these players debut for the Orioles this season. I've tried to list them in the order of likelihood that they end up in Baltimore at some point, starting from the most likely down to the least. 

I have a pretty good feeling that Evan Meek will be on the 25 man roster that breaks camp. Looks like Evan agrees with me. 

If Meek isn't the last member of the bullpen that breaks camp, then I'm pretty sure it will be Alfredo, who is out of options while Meeks isn't, but Meeks has pitched better. This one should be interesting. 

I'm pretty sure that Brock was merely a victim of the roster crunch, and that he impressed Buck enough to eventually make it to Baltimore this year. 

Almanzar is an interesting case since he is a Rule V pick from the Red Sox, if that wasn't the case, he would be much further down this list. He is currently injured, which seems to even further muddy the waters on this, so really only time will tell. I am pretty sure that the O's would like to keep him in the system if it's a possibility.

 

The O's seem to be intrigued by Berry's speed and could certainly use a pinch-running stolen base threat, so he will likely make an appearance at some point.

Eddie and his knuckleball was likely another victim of the roster crunch, but he also seems to have impressed Buck this spring. And I know that the creator of these awesome Old Man Cards is certainly in his corner! (My dad has run into Eddie's dad each spring the past three years, and they seem to have hit it off.)

We have officially entered crapshoot territory, I'm not really sure about the chances of any of the rest of these guys. Depending on injuries with the big league club and their performance, anything is possible. 

Ivan seemed to battle some small injuries this spring and struggled to make his way into games. Who knows?

I'm pretty sure that Tim will play for the Orioles someday in the future, but I'm not convinced it will be during the 2014 season. 

I really don't know what to make of Xavier's chances; he played in the late innings of a lot of games, but I don't know what he brings to the table that some of these others do not.

Chris was injured for a vast majority of the spring and never made it into a big league game. If he can stay healthy and put up a strong season, it's possible he could make it to Baltimore.

I have an inkling that Cord Phelps might be the 2014 version of Russ Canzler, knocking on the big league door but never quite cracking the club. 

Johnny Monell is currently in DFA(designated for assignment) limbo after being taken off the 40 man roster to make room for David Adams. He lost the spring back-up catcher competition to Steve Clevenger and would likely stay at Norfolk if he stays in the system.

 Fabio spent a good chunk of the Spring at big league camp, but worked mainly in mop-up type duty. I would be surprised to see him in Baltimore. Side note- I got to use my rudimentary Spanish skills to ask Fabio to personalize this card for me.

Jonah has a good shot to play in Baltimore down the road, but is probably a few years away at this point.