In August 2008, the Baltimore Orioles made an unpublicized signing that turned out to be one of their best in years when they acquired a skinny, 16-year-old shortstop from Curacao named Jonathan Schoop.
Unfortunately for the Orioles, the Schoop success story seems to be an isolated one.
The Orioles have an extraordinarily small scouting staff, and they simply don't have the manpower to effectively scout Latin America and find more players like Schoop.
The Orioles' scouting staff, which could be among the smallest in baseball according to industry sources, has only two scouts -- Joel Bradley and former Orioles pitcher Calvin Maduro -- dedicated to Latin America, according to the team's 2017 media guide.
