Catching Up With Sig Mejdal
Sig Mejdal recently took a break from his busy schedule as Assistant General Manager & Vice President of Analytics to sit down with Orioles broadcasters Geoff Arnold and Brett Hollander in this week’s episode of “Inside the Yard.” They discussed building the of Minor League rosters, the technology used in the player development system, and potential changes coming to the game of baseball.
Mejdal is in his 17th season in Major League Baseball and his third with the Orioles. He’s also in the midst of improving his analytics group to keep up with the speed of the rest of the league.
“From what we had when we came here two and a half years ago, it’s going very well,” he shared.
Recently, MLB Pipeline updated their farm system rankings, with the Orioles ranked as the No. 1 farm system in the game. Additionally, Baseball America released their mid-season update, with the Orioles organization ranking second-best. It marks the highest Baltimore has ranked in the publication’s 38 years of ranking farm systems.
“It’s a testament to Mike Elias and the consistent direction he’s had about bringing in young talent,” Mejdal exclaimed. “At the same time, it’s the great work Matt Blood (Director of Player Development) has done, and first and foremost, our coaches at the Minor League level,” he continued.
“It’s great to see third parties recognize that we have a lot of talent in the pipeline.”
Mejdal spoke specifically on the Orioles recent acquisitions from the 2021 First-Year Player Draft, Colton Cowser and Connor Norby, saying “what we really hope for is an open mind, and a hard worker who knows he’s not Major League ready now, but wants to do everything he can to get better. And it’s really rare that you have a Minor Leaguer who is not interested in getting better.”
Hollander asked Mejdal about some of the rule changes that could be coming to MLB in the near future, specifically ones that have already taken effect in the minors and the MLB Partner League.
“Obviously it would be prudent for us to keep in mind, and to keep an ear out on what might be coming,” Mejdal stated. “For instance, if an automated strike zone comes and catcher framing goes away, we need to consider that and how that changes the evolution of our players and the time we spend on different skills.”
Personally, Mejdal loves to see balls put into play rather than constantly being hit out of the park, so he would welcome changes that encourage players not to swing for the fences every game.
Mejdal explained, “I think it makes for a more interesting game… The majority of fans out there may think differently.”
They finished their discussion with their “Fun Five” where Mejdal dug into his statistical background and his love for numbers, along with his fascination of the clubhouse meals while on the road.
You can listen to Mejdal’s episode above or wherever you stream podcasts.