TOP TEN PROSPECTS 1. Manny Machado, ss 2. Zach Britton, lhp 3. Xavier Avery, of 4. L.J. Hoes, 2b 5. Dan Klein, rhp 6. Wynn Pelzer, rhp 7. Mychal Givens, ss 8. Ryan Adams, 2b/3b 9. Ryan Berry, rhp 10. Jonathan Schoop, ss BEST TOOLS Best Hitter for Average Manny Machado Best Power Hitter Brandon Waring Best Strike-Zone Discipline Brian Conley Fastest Baserunner Glynn Davis Best Athlete Xavier Avery Best Fastball Zach Britton Best Curveball Dan Klein Best Slider Zach Britton Best Changeup Dan Klein Best Control Ryan Berry Best Defensive Catcher Caleb Joseph Best Defensive Infielder Manny Machado Best Infield Arm Billy Rowell Best Defensive Outfielder Matt Angle Best Outfield Arm Matt Angle Replacing their manager got all the attention, but the Orioles are making modifications throughout the organization to try to reverse a 13-year run of losing seasons since their last playoff appearance in 1997. Dumping Dave Trembley became an obvious move after Baltimore got off to a 15-39 start in 2010, and interim replacement Juan Samuel was little better at 17-34. Hiring Buck Showalter at the end of July brought the team instant credibility, however, and he won more games in his two months at the helm, 34, than Trembley and Samuel had in four. Showalter also got credit for bringing a more professional approach, discipline and confidence to the major league club, and the Orioles' young players responded to the new outlook. Rookie lefthander Brian Matusz, for example, went 3-11, 5.46 before Showalter was hired, then went 7-1, 2.18 the rest of the way. The changes went deeper than just the manager. Baltimore reassigned farm director David Stockstill at the end of spring training, essentially having him switch jobs with his brother John, who had been director of international scouting. John Stockstill wants to oversee a return to The Oriole Way, the uniform instruction of fundamentals at every level of the system. That philosophy became the foundation of the organization in the 1950s and carried the team through the rest of the century. The Orioles will have fewer roving minor league instructors, choosing instead to have an extra coach at each level in hopes of bringing greater consistency to the daily instruction players receive. Stockstill himself will focus more directly on personnel than farm directors traditionally do, working with players in the majors as well as the minors in hopes that young big leaguers will continue to develop rather than stagnate. To that end, Baltimore also will have longtime batting coach Terry Crowley move into a new system-wide hitting evaluation job, working with both major and minor leaguers. Showalter will hire a new hitting coach, and the rest of the major league and minor league staffs could see significant changes as the hiring process continues through the offseason. The Orioles dropped their longtime affiliation with Bluefield after sending players there for 53 seasons. The organization decided that its resources were spread too thin with seven affiliations and opted to go with one Rookie-level club in the Gulf Coast League instead. The GCL team will play in new digs in 2011, as a $33 million renovation project nears completion in Sarasota, Fla. Baltimore moved its big league spring-training operation back to Sarasota in 2010, putting their major and minor league complexes in the same city for the first time since 1995. Both facilities are getting complete makeovers, and the team has a 30-year lease to stay in Sarasota for the foreseeable future. Because of the renovations, the team could not hold a traditional instructional league program in the fall, so it brought 15 of its top position players to Camden Yards for 10 days of focused instruction and other programs, such as dealing with the media and learning Orioles history. Still, the Orioles face an uphill battle to compete in the American League East. The farm system has thinned out despite the addition of Machado, with numerous graduations in the last couple of seasons as well as an inordinate number of injuries to top prospects in 2010. -- Do they still play the blues in Chicago When baseball season rolls around When the snow melts away Do the Cubbies still play In their ivy-covered burial ground --

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