The Baltimore Orioles Collection of Middle Infielders

Jul 29, 2015; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Orioles first baseman Ryan Flaherty (3) throws to first base for the force out during fifth inning against the Atlanta Braves at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

The Baltimore Orioles are growing quite a collection of middle infielders who could break the spring training camp in 2016 as utility players behind J.J. Hardy and Jonathan Schoop.

If you Google search the phrase “you can never have too many ____,” the next words that comes up are, in order, “friends, guitars, shoes, and books.”  After that, the next option is “statistics in a speech.”  I would replace that final phrase with “statistics in a baseball article.” And I agree with three of the first four choices — who wouldn’t want friends, I am a guitarist, and having a Ph.D., I do tend to be fond of books. But shoes? That’s a girl thing.

But Dan Duquette (kinda like Imelda Marcos and her love for shoes) would say you can never have too many utility infielders. (If you don’t understand the reference or are too young to remember, you’ll just have to look it up.)

The anticipation of the 2016 roster already raises the question as to how the Orioles will sort between Ryan Flaherty and Paul Janish; and now the O’s have added a couple of new names to the mix (Steve Tolleson and Osvaldo Martinez), along with others already in the fold (Rey Navarro and Garabez Rosa).

Let’s look at each of these six players over the next three slides in groups of two each …

Next: Are we headed toward a fifth season with Ryan Flahery?