Orioles pitcher Tommy Milone is spending his days and nights working out and finding tasks to stay busy at his home in Santa Clarita, Calif., a city that's located about 45 minutes north of Los Angeles and known for its variety of roller coasters at the Six Flags Magic Mountain theme park.
Milone should be used to the ups and downs. But his first year with the Orioles has been a shock to the system.
How could the veteran left-hander have anticipated everything thrown at him? The coronavirus...
A sportswriter walks into a bar and ...
I'm not reciting the first line of a joke. I'm actually going somewhere with this.
The sportswriter was me and it happened many years ago - so long that I can't remember the exact location. I'm fairly certain that it was Sullivan's Steakhouse, a few blocks from Camden Yards. But this isn't the important part of the story.
I ducked inside the men's room before last call - the bar's, not the bathroom's - and saw Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter at one...
As we binge on mock drafts, fight the confusion and wish that we could gain some clarity, the Orioles are attached to multiple players depending on the hour and who's doing the predicting.
The consensus in my informal poll remains Vanderbilt third baseman/center fielder Austin Martin with the second overall pick. But there's some hedging.
Baseball America's Carlos Collazo and The Athletic's Keith Law, to name just two, have heard that the Orioles could go under slot.
Baseball America's 6.0...
The Orioles turned to social media today to join the chorus of teams speaking out against racial injustice in the country.
The club released a lengthy statement this afternoon on its official Twitter and Instagram accounts. The avatars have been altered as part of the Blackout Tuesday initiative, promoted by activists to observe and push for policy changes following George Floyd's death last week in Minneapolis.
Office Derek Chauvin has been charged with third-degree murder and...
The Orioles are supposed to be hosting a weekend series against the Astros, but the 2020 season remains on hold.
Fans were supposed to be gathering at Camden Yards to make trash can jokes and boo one of baseball's cheaters.
Or have we already forgotten the scandal that dominated spring training conversations until the shutdown? Until the coronavirus pandemic shoved it into darkness.
Major League Baseball delivered one of the harshest punishments in the sport's history after the Astros were...
Exactly one week remains before the start of the First-Year Player Draft and absolutely no one knows who's going to the Orioles with the second overall pick.
The Orioles must wait until the Tigers choose ahead of them and most likely will lose an opportunity to select Arizona State first baseman Spencer Torkelson. He's expected to be the guy if he stays on the board, but I probably have a better chance of staying in my 50s.
Assuming that Torkelson is gone, the Orioles must reach a consensus...
We'll reach a point, if the 2020 season is to be played, when rosters no longer will be frozen. The Orioles can chip away at their 50.
How much chipping is the question.
Take a 30-man roster with a 20-man taxi squad and you've got 50. The math is indisputable. But the taxi squad could include pitchers and position players who were optioned prior to camp shutting down or shortly after it happened. We are waiting for the rules and the plan to be explained to us.
People in the organization...
While owners and players keep digging in their heels and the threat remains that the 2020 season is going to be buried, I wonder about its structure if it can be salvaged.
I'm waiting for clarification on the taxi squad beyond the expectation that it would hold 20 players.
I'm waiting for clarification on the trade deadline. As in, will one exist?
Major League Baseball eliminated the Aug. 31 waiver deadline last year. The July 31 deadline could be pushed back due to the season's late start...
The length of baseball's shutdown is allowing players to heal and get deeper into their rehabs after sustaining injuries in spring training.
It isn't much of a silver lining, but let's try to stay positive today.
I've heard that reliever Evan Phillips, sidelined in early March due to a sore right elbow, is feeling much better. The long layoff and rehab process have brought positive results.
Phillips could progress to bullpen sessions in a few more weeks.
He was a certainty to begin the...
Because I've become quite adept at disappointing fans who seek answers from me during the coronavirus pandemic, I'm comfortable opening my latest "mailbag" and also putting the word in quotation marks.
With all of the binge-watching that's taking place in households around the world, I'm hoping that you'll happily accept my latest sequel. Try to fit it in between episodes of "Ozark" and "Tiger King."
In a related story, I haven't seen either one. I actually thought the latter was a...
The weekend was supposed to conclude another month of baseball, most likely leaving the Orioles at the bottom of the division standings, but we'll never know.
We do know what happens when we assume.
It isn't about wins and losses in a rebuild, the reminders coming at us like line drives. However, we could have checked on the progress of some important players in the organization. Players who are supposed to be pieces rather than placeholders moving forward.
Under normal circumstances, if we...
The baseball shutdown keeps plowing through the month of May, as we knew it would, and the people who cover the sport are digging through a mountain of memories.
I've been fortunate to attend some historic moments in a working capacity, including the 1999 All-Star Game at Fenway Park, when players surrounded Hall of Famer Ted Williams during an emotional tribute in the infield - and I got stuck in the elevator afterward - the 2000 Subway Series that shifted between Yankee Stadium and Shea...
No matter what happens on baseball's major league side, the players swatting away another ownership proposal this week as if inhabited by the spirit of Dikembe Mutombo, it appears to be a certainty that the minors will remain shut down until 2021.
Fans keep wondering how the Orioles' prospects and the rebuild process are going to be impacted.
No one truly knows.
These are unprecedented times and there's no history to rely upon. All I can do is assume that it won't be good.
What happens with...
The last pitch thrown by Orioles reliever Miguel Castro on March 6 provided evidence that work done on the side, the late tinkering of his delivery, was producing the desired results. But could he keep it going so many miles from the spring training complex?
From his home in the Dominican Republic over the past two months?
Pitching coach Doug Brocail keeps checking on it while back at his residence in Texas. Again, the video technology that's keeping family and friends connected during the...
My optimism is growing that baseball will be played later this summer. Which in the past has meant nothing because I can become skeptical again in a matter of seconds. But it appears that progress is being made toward spring training 2.0 and an opening day in July.
Contingencies are in place in case it doesn't happen, which I've heard from people who are close to the game. Have to be prepared for both scenarios.
I'm still not buying the argument that fans will never return if there's no...
With the exception of the 37 minor league players released last week, the Orioles haven't done much with their personnel since returning home from spring training.
The sport is on hold and the camp roster is on ice.
Infielder/outfielder Ryan Mountcastle, pitcher David Hess, infielder Ramón UrÃas and outfielder Cedric Mullins were the last players cut, and those moves became official back on March 19. Five days after I boarded a flight out of Tampa.
Mountcastle received most of his work...
After offering a partial list of athletes who would interest me in a 10-part documentary, I wanted to pile on by including an obvious choice. One that must be near or at the top.
Hank Aaron would be an incredible watch.
Also a difficult one, given the ugliness that followed his pursuit of the all-time home run record. But racism isn't supposed to be comfortable.
Aaron has shown a willingness in the past to share his experiences, the stacks of hateful mail with threats and harassment that...
The Orioles hadn't made a final decision on shortstop Richie Martin prior to baseball's shutdown in spring training. He remained on the camp roster, which is frozen at 50 players. The club could have placed him in a utility role or, more likely, assigned him to Triple-A Norfolk in an attempt to further develop his skills.
They had the freedom to go in any direction with Martin no longer holding Rule 5 status.
Now what?
The minor league season is expected to be canceled due to the coronavirus...
Pitchers who are confined to their homes during the pandemic are challenged to find a mound and perhaps a willing partner to provide a target. Hitters are relegated to batting cages, if they have one built or access to a facility that's open, in order to stay sharp.
What's an infielder to do?
José Flores, who replaced Bobby Dickerson as Orioles third base coach and infield instructor prior to the 2019 season, is trying to teach and encourage from Puerto Rico. He doesn't know whether...
The shortages caused by the coronavirus pandemic haven't impacted the number of questions about baseball's attempts to play in 2020.
Spring training locations appear to be solved, with teams expected to work out in their home ballparks rather than the camp facilities. The Orioles won't have all those fields and bullpen mounds at their disposal, so they'll need to get creative while conducting their drills.
If they could train at Fort Lauderdale Stadium, they should be able to train...