The Orioles are preparing for an array of scenarios at the top of the 2020 MLB Draft, with five players remaining in serious discussion for Baltimore's selection with the No. 2 pick, executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias said. Speaking on a conference call Monday afternoon, Elias said that no decision has been made yet with that selection, and that one was unlikely to come before the day of the Draft.

The Orioles have six picks, including four of the first 74 in this year’s truncated five-round Draft, which begins tonight at 7 p.m. ET. Their $13,894,300 bonus pool gives them the most spending power of any team. Elias emphasized that the club would target the best players available with their top picks, as has become more customary rather than drafting for need.

• Who will Orioles take with No. 2 Draft pick?

“We have not made up our mind about our top two players on the board,” Elias said. “We have choices that we like and we are trying to pick between players that we like. That is a good thing and important thing, but we have not made a decision yet on how we are going to finalize that grouping. ... There are some that are more unlikely than others at this point. We are keeping alive five possibilities at this point in time.”

Those possibilities, in order of likelihood, per industry and team sources: select Vanderbilt INF/OF Austin Martin, considered the top pure hitter in this year's class; select the top pitcher available in Texas A&M lefty Asa Lacy; go under slot value for New Mexico State infielder Nick Gonzales or swing deals with outfield options Heston Kjerstad or Zac Veen. The Orioles are expecting the Tigers to take Arizona State first baseman Spencer Torkelson at No. 1, where he’s been a staple in most mock drafts.

MLB Pipeline's Jonathan Mayo has Baltimore taking Martin at No. 2 in his latest mock, with the theory being that the O’s could then tap into this class’ pitching depth with their picks at Nos. 30 and 39. Many have speculated that teams will shy away from high-risk demographics like pitching and high school players high in this Draft given its condensed nature, the lack of amateur baseball played this spring and the degree to which teams relied on video and older data in curating their Draft boards in the age of video conference call scouting.

The Orioles’ additional competitive balance pick, the pitching depth of this year’s class and the checkered history of top-pick pitchers has many believing the O's prefer to go with a hitter at No. 2. Baltimore is targeting at least nine different pitchers for their next two picks, per sources, including college arms Tanner Burns, Bobby Miller and Cole Wilcox.

“We want to do well with the [No. 2] pick,” Elias said. “Even when you’re picking high, there are no guarantees, and the odds of your pick returning no value are enough that you need to consider that possibility. Too high in the Draft, we don’t think much about positional need or context like that. We are trying to make the best investment that we can.”

Asked about the possibility of going under slot value at No. 2 to spend big later, Elias confirmed the possibility with the caveat: “We feel it's important that if you’re taking a guy with the high pick that he’s your favorite guy.

“I think the short Draft will constrain your ability to spread bonus pool money around, or at least the opportunity to do so,” Elias said. “If a team does sign their first pick for less than slot [value], they’re going to be under more pressure to apply that savings in the first few rounds, where as in a normal Draft, if you don’t sign one player with all of that money with an early pick, you can gradually spread it out through the rest of the Draft. That is something that we’re having to think about.”

Elias and assistant GM for analytics, Sig Mejdal, have a history of going under slot value high in the Draft. They did so in 2012 with the Astros, taking Carlos Correa first overall instead of prospects like Max Fried, Byron Buxton and Mark Appel, who were all expected to command higher bonuses. The Astros were able to spend bigger on Lance McCullers Jr. with the No. 41 overall pick that year as a result, and both Correa and McCullers grew into All-Stars for the 2017 champion Astros.

Elias and Mejdal’s history also includes hitting on position players like Correa and Alex Bregman in 2015 (and selecting Adley Rutschman No. 1 overall in a position-player heavy top of the 2019 Draft), but missing on pitchers like Mark Appel (2013) and Brady Aiken (2014) at the top of the Draft. This year, the No. 2 overall selection has a slot value of $7,789,900.

“We are focused on taking the guy we feel is the best player for us, the best investment and we will listen to and consider signability factors, but it's important that we maximize our Draft class,” Elias said. “Getting that first pick right is the most important part of that.”