The Baltimore Orioles might not only be dealing with players departing this offseason.
They’ve already decided to move on from multiple coaches, and according to Andy Kostka of The Baltimore Banner, Orioles scout Ken Guthrie has left the organization to join the New York Mets.
“Ken Guthrie, the Orioles scout who helped sign Jackson Holliday, Heston Kjerstad and Creed Willems, has departed the organization for a position with the Mets, two sources said.”
Joining the Mets should be a good opportunity for Guthrie, as they also look to be a team that could make noise in the foreseeable future. However, their farm system could use more talent, so he’ll fit in perfectly.
Losing a scout who helped bring in the talent he has is certainly a blow to Baltimore. However, their farm system seems set for the future, and while that doesn’t suggest that they don’t need to continue adding young talent, this would’ve been a much bigger issue a few years ago.
Guthrie has done an excellent job evaluating talent and has been around the league for a very long time.
When he scouted Heston Kjerstad in college, he knew Kjerstad would once be a Major League Baseball player, showing his eye for talent.
“That was the first time I really considered Heston was a MLB prospect,” Guthrie said, according to MLB.com. “When I was in the clubhouse prior to his freshman spring season, I was sitting down with [then-Razorbacks pitching coach Wes Johnson], who is now the pitching coach of [the] Minnesota [Twins], and Heston walked in. He looked like a completely different person. I knew then and there I probably underestimated what his power tool was going to be. He proved my notion right.”
The team has yet to announce who they plan to replace him with, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see them keep the job in-house and give it to an existing member of the organization.
Many of the players he scouted and helped the organization land may not be on the roster in 2025. This Orioles team needs to improve, and trading some of their top prospects gives them a good opportunity to do so.
It’ll be interesting to see the effects this has on the farm system, as Baltimore wants to ensure they continue to have players coming up who could make an impact.
This could be one of those small moves that leads to a big change in a ball club.
