Ryan Adams

[CamdenRevival]

Of all the hitting prospects in the Orioles farm system, I rarely hear much about Ryan Adams.

I hear that the kid has no glove and might not have a position, but he's a high draft pick that is putting Markakisian numbers at Bowie and is only 23. Other than one season, he's always had decent success in the minors. Now I've never seen him play--I've only seen box scores. Am I missing something? Why isn't he getting more hype? At the very least, couldn't he be another Mike Fontenot as the guy who is impressive enough to package for an All-Star (not that I am hoping for another Sammy Sosa deal, but we're gonna need trade chips if we want to find the big bat)?

[Jordan Tuwiner]

Of all the hitting prospects in the Orioles farm system, I rarely hear much about Ryan Adams.

I hear that the kid has no glove and might not have a position, but he's a high draft pick that is putting Markakisian numbers at Bowie and is only 23. Other than one season, he's always had decent success in the minors. Now I've never seen him play--I've only seen box scores. Am I missing something? Why isn't he getting more hype? At the very least, couldn't he be another Mike Fontenot as the guy who is impressive enough to package for an All-Star (not that I am hoping for another Sammy Sosa deal, but we're gonna need trade chips if we want to find the big bat)?

His defense has come a long way this season, and he's spent time at third as well. He's certainly established himself as a legitimate MI prospect and we will probably see him or LJ Hoes at 2B in a few years...

[BuckMagic]

His defense has come a long way this season, and he's spent time at third as well. He's certainly established himself as a legitimate MI prospect and we will probably see him or LJ Hoes at 2B in a few years...

Could Adams play 3B at all?

Adams > Hoes? Hoes' on-base skills put him ahead of Adams for me, and what he did in the Carolina League is pretty special for someone his age. But Adams power may put him above Hoes for some.

[Jordan Tuwiner]

Could Adams play 3B at all?

Adams > Hoes? Hoes' on-base skills put him ahead of Adams for me, and what he did in the Carolina League is pretty special for someone his age. But Adams power may put him above Hoes for some.

Adams won't be able to play 3B full time but should be able to start there when necessary.

Hoes is slightly above Adams for me as well. As the 2nd youngest player in the Carolina League his walk rate was pretty unbelievable. He could become a .400+ OBP guy down the line. His strikeout rate was below 15% for most of the season until he had multi strikeout games in the final stretch of the year.

[ZBall2131]

Adams defense certainly isn't Gold Glove caliber but if you take away his 52-error season in 2008, he's not too much worse than your average middle infielder. I take him at his word that that year simply got away from him. For a while there he seemed incredibly immature, and I think his improvement on defense this year is a testament to how much he has matured.

But...Cal Ripken he is not.

[ZBall2131]

Baseball America just put up a story on Ryan Adams and his strong second half.

It's a subscriber only piece, but the headline reads "If Ryan Adams is ever going to make it to the big leagues, it's going to be on the strength of his bat..."

That just about tells you all you need to know about their opinion of his defense.