SARASOTA, Fla. — Three weeks ago nobody would have reacted to the idea that Orioles rookie outfielder Austin Hays would open the season with the team’s Triple-A farm team. The message had been delivered long before — young talent will be treated like fine wine and not served before its time.

Then came the announcement March 17 that Hays was one of six players optioned to Norfolk and the reaction from the O’s fan base was predictably negative. Suddenly, the idea of a total rebuild, which also includes a total breakdown, didn’t sound as interesting as it did back in December, when new general manager Mike Elias made it clear winning games at the major league level would not necessarily be indicative of improvement within the organization.

Just in case that message might have been missed, it was reaffirmed again yesterday. Building an elite pipeline of talent at every level, the organization’s new mantra, means bringing prospects through the system one step at a time.

The day of players making the jump from Double-A Bowie to Baltimore is in the rearview mirror and is likely to stay there as long as the current regime is in place — which is to say for the foreseeable future.

It could be argued, and convincingly so, that Hays has been the best player in the Orioles’ spring training camp. There might not even be a debate. Or an argument even from Elias.

By many accounts Hays projects as the Orioles’ center fielder of the future. Just not the immediate future.

For now, Cedric Mullins, who had a decent if not overwhelming MLB debut last year, is the man in the middle of the outfield picture. How well he hits major league pitching will determine how long he stays there.

Hays has enough tools to play center and enough power to be positioned at a corner outfield spot, but what he does not have is experience at the highest level of the minor leagues. Mullins does — and right now that is the only difference between the two that matters.

It could be argued that Hays, and Anthony Santander and maybe even Cody Carroll for that matter, are being held back to delay their “big league clock,” the timepiece that leads to arbitration and eventually free agency. But Elias makes a valid point that the clock for those players has already started, in Hays’ case maybe prematurely. That most likely will make whatever time they spend in the minor leagues this year irrelevant.

Unless, of course, they continue to make progress without advancing, something Elias indicated would not happen. The proposed “pipeline” is designed to produce elite talent at every level — but it will not include an express lane to the major leagues.

That’s the lesson learned today — by Hays and the O’s constantly frustrated fan base.

Jim Henneman can be reached at JimH@pressboxonline.com

Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox