With two compensation picks after losing Corbin Burnes and Anthony Santander, a CBA pick from the Bryan Baker trade, and a CBB pick won in the competitive balance lottery, the Orioles had six of the first 69 picks, four beyond what the draft would normally give a team. Because of that, despite picking nineteenth in the draft, they had the largest bonus pool of any team by a whopping $2 million margin. With all those resources, they put together a fantastic class headlined by four bats at the top and seven bats in their first nine picks. I really like the talent they pulled in, with a few picks that I thought no way would they have a chance to draft. One interesting trend was small schools, including schools like Ashland University (OH), University of the Cumberlands (KY), Mineral Area JC (MO), Johnson County JC (KS), and many others. They also pulled in some fantastic names like Ike Irish, Wehiwa Aloy, Slater de Brun, Jaiden Lo Re, and KK Clark.
Full index of team reviews here. Full rankings here.
Note that the number before a player's name indicates their draft position. For example, "2-50" would indicate that a player was taken in the second round with the fiftieth overall pick.
1-19: C Ike Irish, Auburn
Slot value: $4.42 million. Signing bonus: $4.42 million ($2,500 below slot value).
My rank: #7. MLB Pipeline: #11. Baseball America: #13.
Letting Ike Irish get to the Orioles at pick #19 was a mistake, especially given his slot value signing bonus. There might not be a better pure bat in the class. Irish was a member of the vaunted Orchard Lake St. Mary's Prep team in Michigan that included Alex Mooney (Guardians), Nolan Schubart (Guardians), and Brock Porter (Rangers), where he earned interest in the top couple of rounds but stood firm in his commitment to Auburn. He hit the ground running on The Plains, and after three seasons and 160 games he can look back on 39 home runs and a .350/.435/.625 slash line for the Tigers. Irish sets up from a wide base and gets his barrel long through the zone, and while his flat swing was initially more geared for line drives, he has been getting it up in the air more and more with 6, 14, and 19 home runs in each of his three seasons, respectively. There is plus raw power in the tank that has gone from playing average to now above average in games. Previously a relatively aggressive hitter, he has trended in the right direction with his approach too and upped his walk rate from 9.5% to 10.6% to 12.8%. Getting better pitches to hit has helped him tap his power more in games, with his .469 on-base percentage and .710 slugging percentage both representing career highs in 2025. While you would think Irish a slugger, he actually stands out the most for his bat to ball, running excellent contact rates both inside and outside the zone and proving extremely difficult to strike out. In fact, he hit over .300 with an on-base percentage over .400 in a 62 game sample over two seasons in the elite Cape Cod League, proving one of the most professional bats in the class. His combination of big league physicality, hand-eye coordination, and improving loft and patience makes him a potential middle of the order masher in Baltimore. At peak, he could crush 25+ home runs per season while posting high batting averages. While his bat will play anywhere, Baltimore really hopes he can stick behind the plate. He's fringy back there for now with some clunkier actions, leading Auburn to play him primarily in right field in 2025, though he does have a strong arm. With robo-umps coming, Irish might have a better shot to stick, though he'll need to clean up the blocking. If not, his below average speed will make him a fringy but playable defender in an outfield corner. I am a big fan of this bat and frankly I think he'll be valuable even if he's a DH, which he won't be quite yet.
1C-30: C Caden Bodine, Coastal Carolina
Slot value: $3.11 million. Signing bonus: $3.11 million.
My rank: #37. MLB Pipeline: #32. Baseball America: #29.
The second straight catcher to start off the draft, Caden Bodine has a very, very different profile from Ike Irish. While Irish is a masher who may not stick behind the plate, Bodine is an ultra high contact bat who certainly will. His bat to ball is the stuff of legends. He consistently runs contact rates hovering around 90%, which is 70 grade territory, and he can go weeks without swinging and missing inside the strike zone. His strikeout rate in 2025 was a minuscule 7.7%, the third lowest of any college bat on my draft list (behind Jake Cook's 6.7% [Blue Jays] and Kane Kepley's 7.1% [Cubs]), the product of a simple, effortless swing that he repeats from both the left and right side of the plate with the utmost consistency. That was the case in the Cape Cod League as well, where he hit .382 and struck out just 12.6% of the time against some of the best pitchers college baseball has to offer. Now, that high contact approach comes with limited power. While he crushed eleven home runs as a freshman in 2023, he dropped to nine in 2024 and finished 2025 with just five. He runs pedestrian exit velocities and his stocky 5'10" frame is maxed out. This will not be a bat that challenges for double digit home run totals too often. Instead, it's more of a Mike Redmond-like profile that will get on base at a high clip for a long time. Meanwhile, Bodine is a sound defender who blocks well and really stands out for his framing, lauded as among the best in college baseball. So if we get robo umps, Baltimore is covered with Irish, and if we don't, Bodine will continue to steal strikes at a high clip. The South Jersey native has average arm strength, but it plays up because he gets rid of the ball quickly with accurate throws. To my eye, I see quite a few similarities to Kevin Bazzell coming out of Texas Tech a year ago, albeit with a slightly elevated profile all-around except in the power department, though Bazzell has struggled in the Nationals organization this year.
1C-31: SS Wehiwa Aloy, Arkansas
Slot value: $3.04 million. Signing bonus: $3.04 million.
My rank: #24. MLB Pipeline: #17. Baseball America: #16.
Judging by most public rankings, I was one of the lower guys on Wehiwa Aloy and even I look at this as a steal. Aloy seemed more likely to hear his name in the teens than to drop into the thirties, yet the Orioles scooped him up at #31 and didn't even have to go over slot value to sign him. He began his career at Sacramento State, where he was named WAC Freshman of the Year and was a near-consensus First Team Freshman All-American, picking up the honor in virtually every publication but Baseball America. Transferring to Arkansas for his sophomore season, he couldn't quite replicate the success against SEC pitching as his batting average fell over one hundred points and his slugging percentage nearly two hundred. However, he showed extremely well on the Cape that summer (.309/.352/.642) and rode that success to a huge junior year in 2025, hitting .350/.434/.673 with 21 home runs in 65 games on his way to winning college baseball's most prestigious award – the Golden Spikes Award. Aloy is a ballplayer, to say the least. Clocking in at a listed 6'2", 200 pounds, he quietly taps plus raw power with a leveraged swing that he keeps under control and deploys to all fields. That power has given him 49 home runs in 181 career college games, plus eight in 21 games with wood bats on the Cape. He is an extremely aggressive hitter that has upped his walk rate from 5.7% as a freshman to 9.1% as a sophomore to 10.3% as a junior, but he's up there to hack. Aloy gets into trouble expanding the zone and has pretty consistently run strikeout rates in the 20% range virtually everywhere he's gone, which is a tad high for a first round college bat, but it simply has not impacted his production at all and no matter the caliber of arms he faces, the results seem to be the same – loud. He does not get cheated in his at bats and if he's going to come up empty, he'll come up empty three times on three "A" swings. Usually, he connects with one of them and he's finding extra bases. The feel for the barrel is excellent even if he swings and misses a fair amount, especially outside the zone. Sooner or later the aggressive approach may catch up with him, so the Orioles will watch for that as he reaches the upper levels of the minors and beyond. Aloy can move pretty well but lacks the plus speed of many big league shortstops, instead relying on improving glovework and a strong arm to get the job done. At this point, the Hawaiian has made enough progress defensively that he looks the part of a big league shortstop that can pick it with the pros, and if a Gold Glover forces him to second or third base, he could be a plus defender at either. The ultimate projection here could be 25+ home runs annually, though the on-base percentages could really end up anywhere.
CBA-37: OF Slater de Brun, Summit HS [OR]
Slot value: $2.63 million. Signing bonus: $4 million ($1.37 million above slot value).
My rank: #26. MLB Pipeline: #24. Baseball America: #30.
After signing college bats to slot value bonuses with their first three picks, the Orioles went way over slot value to give Slater de Brun a $4 million bonus and divert him away from a Vanderbilt commitment, money that represents roughly the value of the #22 pick. There has been a recent trend of undersized, powder keg prep outfielders from west of the Mississippi coming through following Jett Williams (Mets) and Slade Caldwell (Diamondbacks), and de Brun fits that mold. Generously listed at 5'10", 185 pounds, de Brun like Williams and Caldwell plays well above his size. He has a quick, adjustable left handed swing geared for line drives, and when combined with advanced plate discipline he is constantly finding his way on base and battering pitches all around the zone. There is solid pure bat to ball in the profile as well, and he had no trouble with Oregon high school pitching this year. Once he gets to two strikes, he widens his stance and limits his stride so as to make for one of the toughest strikeouts in prep baseball. While he's undersized, he has worked hard to pack strength onto his smaller frame and came out this spring looking pretty chiseled, giving what was previously well below average power a chance to get to fringy. It may not sound like much, but a potential .300 hitter with high on-base percentages knocking 10-15 home runs per season is an All Star. That's especially true when you consider de Brun's plus-plus speed and plus glovework in center field, giving him a shot to steal bases in bunches while competing for Gold Gloves out there. The Bend, Oregon native is a high-IQ baseball player with excellent instincts, strong makeup, and a high energy style of play that will endear him to Orioles fans quickly upon his arrival in a few seasons. To top it off, he is relatively young for the class and only turned 18 a month before the draft. Baltimore hopes it has its leadoff man and center fielder of the future here.
2-58: LHP Joseph Dzierwa, Michigan State
Slot value: $1.6 million. Signing bonus: $1.5 million ($100,600 below slot value),
My rank: #53. MLB Pipeline: #74. Baseball America: #50.
Pivoting to their first pitcher of the class after four straight bats, the Orioles also began to slowly recoup the seven figure hole they dug themselves into with their bonus pool after taking Slater de Brun in the competitive balance round. Joseph Dzierwa is a very interesting under slot candidate and one which I will enjoy following. A native of tiny Haskins, Ohio, about fifteen miles southwest of Toledo, he headed north to Michigan State for college and almost immediately jumped into the front of the Spartans rotation. After two solid seasons, he broke out with a massive 2025 in which he put up a 1.42 ERA, a 0.83 WHIP, and a 137/22 strikeout to walk ratio over 118.2 innings, enough to earn Big Ten Pitcher of the Year accolades. Perhaps his most impressive outing came on May 2nd, when he tossed a complete game, three hit shutout against eventual #12 national seed Oregon, striking out eleven against zero walks. Dzierwa is not a power pitcher, instead combining his size, handedness, and command to keep hitters perpetually off balance. The fastball sits in the low 90's and scrapes 95 at peak, but plays up with huge running action and extension. He works between a big, diving slider and a tighter cutter, while his above average changeup gives him a weapon against right handed hitters. There is no plus pitch in the arsenal and he'll especially need to sharpen up his breaking ball a bit, but he dots everything with plus command of all of his pitches, staying ahead of the count and in control of at bats. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that he stands 6'8". That makes the entire at bat that much more uncomfortable for opposing hitters, especially lefties who see his three quarters arm slot firing the ball from behind their backs. If Dzierwa can add a couple ticks of velocity and sharpen his breaking balls, he has mid-rotation starter upside. There is a ton to work with in this profile and Baltimore's pitching development will certainly have fun helping the lanky lefty reach his ceiling.
CBB-69: RHP JT Quinn, Georgia
Slot value: $1.22 million. Signing bonus: $1.15 million ($76,300 below slot value).
My rank: #129. MLB Pipeline: #127. Baseball America: #144.
While Josep Dzierwa was the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year, JT Quinn might have flown a bit more under the radar on the national scene as a swingman at Georgia, though he had local scouts pounding the table for him especially down the stretch. He put up some strong performances in May then dominated in his three starts in the Cape Cod League just before the draft (2.57 ERA, 25/2 K/BB in 14 IP). Standing 6'6", he's nearly as tall as the 6'8" Dzierwa, but that is where the similarities end. Quinn was a well-known prospect out of high school and could have gone in the top five rounds if he was signable, but he instead opted to attend Ole Miss. Splitting time between the rotation and the bullpen, he carried a 7.35 ERA over two seasons and transferred to Georgia, where he really put it together down the stretch as stated above. Quinn is a power arm with a mid 90's fastball that reaches as high as 98 in short stints, while his power slider as been refined into a true plus breaking ball. He's much more consistent with the slider than he is with his curveball, which he struggles to get down in the zone. Unlike most college pitchers who at least show a changeup from time to time, Quinn works entirely without one. He is extremely physical with an over the top delivery and ultra high release point, putting angry downhill plane on his pitches. The Tampa native has been honing his command as of late and walked just two of his 58 opponents on the Cape, lending a real possibility that he could start. He'll have to add a changeup and stay healthy in order to do so, but it looks much more likely than it did a few months ago. If not, he has shown he can be nasty as a fastball/slider power arm out of the bullpen.
3-93: OF RJ Austin, Vanderbilt
Slot value: $826,400. Signing bonus: $823,900 ($2,500 below slot value).
My rank: #104. MLB Pipeline: #112. Baseball America: #189.
Two years ago, the Orioles picked up a speedy, high baseball IQ outfielder out of Vanderbilt in Enrique Bradfield. They're doing it again with RJ Austin. Like Ike Irish and JT Quinn, he was a highly regarded prep prospect that could have gone in the top couple of rounds, and over the past three seasons he has started 181 of Vanderbilt's 184 games. While he went through an abysmal slump in 2025, at one point going hitless for nearly three straight weeks (0-27 in 8 games) and finishing with unremarkable numbers, his under the hood numbers were better than the surface stat line and he remains an extremely fun player to watch go to work. Austin makes a ton of contact both inside the strike zone and out of it, slashing at the baseball with a quick right handed swing that is most certainly not geared for power. Still, he packs a lot of twitch into his 5'11" frame and produces solid exit velocities, lending hope that he could tap into some fringy power if he starts to elevate the ball more. For now, that's not his game and he actually dropped from seven home runs as a freshman to five as a sophomore to just two as a junior in 2025. Despite Austin's struggles at times in 2025, the Orioles remain convinced his combination of bat to ball, all fields approach, and sneaky pop could help him flirt with .300 batting averages in the majors. The Atlanta native did show well over two summers on the Cape (.325/.404/.433 in 44 games) and has shown the ability to make adjustments in the past. He is also a plus runner and knows his way around the outfield, giving him a shot to play center field or at least fill in there from time to time. However, his below average arm will push him to left field if he's pushed out of center. Austin is a high energy ballplayer that constantly finds ways to help his teams win games and will make for a great fourth outfielder at his median projection, with the potential for more if he can tap a little bit of power and stick in center field.
4-124: SS Colin Yeaman, UC Irvine
Slot value: $605,300. Signing bonus: $602,800 ($2,500 below slot value).
My rank: #71. MLB Pipeline: #97. Baseball America: #172.
This has a chance to be a really sneaky good pick. Back east, we don't always think too much about the smaller West Coast programs, but those California mid-majors can really play some sound baseball and Colin Yeaman exemplifies that. He spent two years at the College of the Canyons in his hometown of Santa Clarita, where he torched California JuCo pitching to the tune of a .417/.510/.729 line. JuCo pitchers were thrilled when he transferred across the Los Angeles area down to UC Irvine, where at one point he put together back to back hitting streaks of 13 and 21 games. He is extraordinarily patient at the plate to the point where he can get too passive at times and allow pitchers to get ahead of him in the count, but that does mean that he almost never chases and won't get himself out. He has a very simple right handed swing with a slight uppercut that helps him not only make consistent contact, but make the most of his fringy raw power. You often hear about hitters with plus raw power that plays down in games, but he's the opposite with his fringy raw playing up into average game power. When Yeaman makes contact, you know that it will be his pitch and his A swing. Meanwhile, he possesses fringy supplemental tools that may push him to second base in the long run, where his bat could still carry him to an everyday role. The Orioles drafted him as a shortstop and he may have just enough arm strength and range to make it work, at least in a utility role. He projects for 15 home runs per season and high on-base percentages at his ceiling.
5-154: SS Jaiden Lo Re, Corona Del Sol HS [AZ]
Slot value: $452,000. Signing bonus: $562,500 ($110,500 above slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: unranked. Baseball America: #413.
Going off the beaten path a bit, the Orioles grabbed Jaiden Lo Re off a loaded Corona Del Sol High School program that also included the more famous Brett Crossland, who spurned draft offers and is on his way to play for the Texas Longhorns. Lo Re is yet another ultra high contact type that slashed his way through strong Phoenix-area pitching with a linear right handed swing that gets on plane early and stays long through the zone. He easily sprays line drives around to all parts of the park, but at a smaller 5'11" and without much tendency to lift the ball, he has below average power. Unless the Orioles change up his approach in a major way, he likely does not reach double digit home runs, but he's yet another candidate to hit .300 in the majors. Lo Re plays shortstop now and has enough defensive explosiveness to profile there in a part time role, though like Colin Yeaman he might be stretched there if he has to play there every day. He could end up at second or third base, where his average defensive tools fit better. Like other players in this Orioles class, he has been described as a high energy player on both sides of the ball. His signing bonus was nearly a round above his slot value and he'll come to Baltimore rather than play for BYU.
6-184: LHP Caden Hunter, Southern California
Slot value: $347,100. Signing bonus: $344,600 ($2,500 below slot value).
My rank: unranked. MLB Pipeline: #149. Baseball America: #261.
The Orioles are getting a development project in Caden Hunter. Like Colin Yeaman, he spent two years in the California JuCo ranks, though his Sierra JC in Northern California never played Yeaman's College of the Canyons down in SoCal. He transferred to Southern Cal in 2025, where he pitched to inconsistent results but piqued teams' interests with a velocity bump late in the season. Typically sitting in the low 90's with his fastball and topping out around 95 early in games, Hunter hit 97 in some shorter outings leading up to the draft. The fastball plays up further with high riding action from a three quarters, crossfire slot. Hunter has a below average slider that backs up on him more often than it bites, while his average changeup gives him a somewhat reliable secondary offering. With some extra movement in his delivery including some rocking back and forth and a crouch as he delivers across his body, his command can get inconsistent and he walked 11.4% of his opponents in 2025. Still, there are reasons to like this pick. The 6'2" lefty is plenty physical and has the build to handle a full season in a major league rotation, and he moves well on the mound despite the average stuff. If the Orioles can streamline his delivery a little bit and find a breaking ball for him, he has a very decent shot to become a left handed back-end starting pitcher. If not, he likely winds up as a fastball/changeup long reliever.
