Agree completely. Yes, Reimold's minor league numbers are impressive. He's been in pro ball longer than Weiters, took a little more time to develop. Looking at the potential of Reimold, Jones and Markakis--and all are 25 or under--the Orioles may be putting together the best outfield I have ever seen. Each of them can hit for power and average, field and throw. Jones is the only one with base stealing/CF type speed, but the other two can play either left or right. They have bullet arms and their speed is OK. Weiters gives them a fourth impressive very young bat, and solidity in one of the hardest positions to fill, catcher. His arm is so strong that his college coach at Ga Tech said he could have been a power pitcher, throwing in the low-mid 90s. But his bat was too strong, and switch hitting power catchers are even harder to find than 90-95 mph pitchers.
But then there's pitching. The traditional (going back decades) strength of the Orioles is their current big Q. The three guys they have brought up all show potential, although Hernandez may be the only one to show No. 1 type potential. But they have 3 guys in the minors who each show No. 1 type potential. Chris Tillman will probably be brought up later this year, he's doing well in AAA (Norfolk). Matusz and Arietta may be called in Sept, but probably will start next year in AAA, and likely won't be ready for the bigs until the middle of next year or even 2011. There are also a couple of relief pitchers in the minors who are potential closers/set up relievers that the O's are excited about. But of course you're right--Cabrera is just one example of a guy with a lot of potential who didn't pan out. Ben McDonald was another one who everyone thought was a can't miss pitcher who never lived up to his potential.
We'll see. It's been a loooonnnnnnggggggg decade for O's fans. We would love to see a repeat of the 60s/70s glory years.
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