Oriole prospects attracting attention; Basallo, Beavers reflect on their 1st season

Oriole prospects continue to attract attention. Five Orioles were named in Baseball America’s Top 100 prospects list while three were cited in MLB Pipeline’s Top 100.

On Monday, The Athletic’s Keith Law named five Orioles to his top 100.

Catcher/first baseman Samuel Basallo and outfielder Dylan Beavers were named in the Baseball America and MLB Pipeline lists, which is important because the Orioles would receive a Prospect Promotive Incentive draft pick if either player wins the American League Rookie of the Year award or finishes in the top three in the Most Valuable Player award before they’re eligible for arbitration.

While Law’s list is widely followed, it doesn’t count towars a PPI pick. A player must be named in two of the three lists MLB uses, Baseball America, MLB Pipeline and ESPN.com. The ESPN.com list for this season has yet to be announced.

Basallo, who was ninth on the Baseball America and eighth on the MLB Pipeline list, is also eighth on The Athletic’s.

Beavers is not among Law’s top 100.

Outfielder Nate George, who was named the organization’s top minor league player in 2025, is the only other Oriole on all three lists. He’s 86^th on Baseball America, 93^rd on MLB Pipeline and 78^th on the Athletic.

Shortstop Wehiwa Aloy, who was selected 31^st in the 2025 draft, and catcher/outfielder Ike Irish, who was the 19^th overall selection last year, are ranked 73^rd and 85^th by Law. Outfielder Enrique Bradfield Jr., who was the Orioles’ first-round pick in 2023, is 97^th.

Basallo and Beavers received six-week auditions with the Orioles last season but didn’t accumulate the 45 days service time or the 130 at-bats that would disqualify them from rookie status.

Basallo, who hit .165 with four home runs and 15 RBIs in 31 games, impressed the Orioles enough that he received an eight-year, $67 million extension with an option for 2034 just five days into this major league career.

At Friday’s Birdland Caravan event at the Warehouse, Basallo said he was looking forward to his first camp as a big leaguer.

“I don’t know how it’s going to feel yet, but I’m looking forward to going out there every day, working hard to earn my spot and do what I can to help the team,” he said through a team translator.

At 21, Basallo handled his first major league opportunity with poise, though he was disappointed with his stats.

“It helped me learn the things that I wanted to attack in the offseason, the things I wanted to get better at, so I do think that the time I spent up here helped me going into the offseason,” he said. “Some things that I … failed offensively that I wanted to work on, also working on my body, getting into good shape going into this next year.”

Basallo thinks the team has improved over the offseason.

“I think the team had a lot of injuries last year,” he said. “I think this team is much more prepared. I think we’re feeling healthy and ready to go. I think we’re looking a lot better.”

Beavers, who hit .227 with a .775 OPS, four home runs and 14 RBIs in 35 games, doesn’t want to assume he has a regular outfield position.

“I try not to look too far into that,” he said. “I just control what I can control. If I show up prepared and play well this spring, the chips will fall where I like them.”

He didn’t want to assign himself a grade for his first big league season.

“It was good. I  was happy with how it went,” he said. “I think there’s stuff I learned, and I think there’s things I did well. I was just happy to get the opportunity and experience.

“I definitely want to continue to get stronger, hit the ball harder, do some more damage in the gaps.”

A year ago, Beavers, Bradfield and Jud Fabian were all invited to camp, but their time in major league camp was brief.

“I know now, but then I didn’t, I thought I was trying to get a spot, too,” Beavers said.

“It wouldn’t have mattered. I would have been back in the minor league to start the year anyway. This year, I feel I have more of a chance to break with the team than I may have last year, so going to try to do well in the spring and get ready for the season.”

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