Infielder Richie Martin's fractured right wrist must have healed. He's playing winter ball.
Confirmation that doesn't require industry sources. Just access to a roster and statistics.
Martin is in Puerto Rico with Criollos de Caguas. In his first four games, the former Rule 5 pick was 3-for-15 with two doubles, an RBI, a walk and three runs scored.
He was 2-for-6 in his first two games and 2-for-11 after three. The third must have been rough.
Martin should be full-go in spring training based...
The Orioles took a deliberate approach to filling their 40-man roster, but the deed is done. It's stuffed like a holiday turkey.
Just don't assume that it's staying that way.
Anyone who signs a major league contract is going to bump a player off the roster, and the Orioles are at least willing to consider it.
In the meantime, it's impossible to make an exact prediction about the roster when you wake up in the morning and find pitchers Ashton Goudeau, Mac Sceroler and Tyler Wells on...
Ben McDonald and his nephew chatted last weekend in Louisiana about two of their favorite topics, the hunting and baseball seasons intertwined.
McDonald, the first-overall selection in the 1989 amateur draft who spent nine years in the majors. Mac Sceroler, a former fifth-round selection of the Reds out of Southeastern Louisiana who was the fifth player chosen Thursday morning in the Rule 5 draft.
A former high-profile Orioles pitcher and current MASN analyst, and a close relative who will...
The normal Winter Meetings would have wrapped up yesterday following the Rule 5 draft. The virtual version, however, keeps rolling along.
No checkout times, stops at the front desk or luggage to be dragged through the lobby and toward the exits, where fresh air is breathed for the first time in four days.
What I miss most is my annual lap around the lobby after filing my Rule 5 story. The sense of calm as media and executives race to the airport. The thought in my head that whispers, "Well,...
The Orioles again made two selections in today's Rule 5 draft and they again focused on pitching.
The fifth overall pick turned into right-hander Mac Sceroler, the nephew of former Orioles pitcher Ben McDonald. The Orioles took right-hander Tyler Wells in the second round to fill out their 40-man roster.
Sceroler, 25, came from the Reds organization, where he posted a 3.69 ERA and a 1.111 WHIP in 26 games (20 starts) at high Single-A Daytona in 2019 and averaged 9.8 strikeouts per nine...
The Rule 5 draft begins at noon today and the Orioles, as usual, are going to participate. It's what they do. It should be named after them.
Executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias appeared on "MASN All Access" on Monday afternoon and offered confirmation.
"I would expect some activity in the first round of the Rule 5 draft," he said.
That's good enough for me. But he doubled down in a Zoom conference call with the media.
"If there are only four players that we feel are worth...
Today's virtual Winter Meetings activity for the Orioles on its third day impacts the scouting department, the kind of behind-the-scenes move that's common during the traditional in-person gatherings.
According to an industry source, the Orioles are hiring Quincy Boyd as an area scout.
Boyd has served as a national scouting supervisor with the Red Sox since February 2018. He was promoted to regional crosschecker in December 2012 after working as an area scout for North Carolina and South...
The absence of in-person Winter Meetings leaves us with one more burning question during hot stove season:
Does agent Scott Boras make house calls?
It still wouldn't replicate the circus atmosphere that unfolds in hotel lobbies. Or, in one instance, a hallway with Boras pressed against a gift shop glass window while a nervous security employee attempted to herd the group to a less-congested area.
Good luck with that.
The scene resembled the one that closed "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," with...
The virtual Winter Meetings are making Orioles executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias yearn for the standard setup, which couldn't exist in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Elias couldn't meet with beat writers in his hotel suite this afternoon, instead dispersing the usual nuggets of information via a Zoom conference call.
"It's not the same," Elias said. "I think all of us take the Winter Meetings for granted and we groan about some of the repetition of it, but I think...
The Orioles made their first virtual Winter Meetings move this afternoon by claiming right-hander Ashton Goudeau off waivers from the Pirates and outrighting catcher Austin Wynns to Triple-A Norfolk.
The 40-man roster still holds 38 players heading into Thursday's Rule 5 draft.
Goudeau, 28, made his major league debut this summer with the Rockies. He allowed seven runs and 15 hits in four relief appearances covering 8 1/3 innings.
The Royals selected Goudeau in the 27th round of the 2012...
The Orioles aren't expected to be nearly as busy retooling the roster this week, which has been advertised as some sort of virtual Winter Meetings, as they were in 2010.
Still a tough act to follow.
They're in a different place, and I don't just mean home compared to Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
They needed a shortstop, as they do now, and traded for J.J. Hardy after almost finalizing a deal for Jason Bartlett - one of the best decisions in franchise history. They also were linked to Cardinals...
The elimination of in-person Winter Meetings reduces one longstanding debate.
Do they technically begin on Sunday or Monday?
This isn't a heated discussion and it's more likely to be confined to my own head.
I considered Sunday to be a travel day, though news could break - such as the Blue Jays targeting executive Dan Duquette for their president position, which we learned while on the same flight, or the Orioles nearing an agreement with veteran reliever Darren O'Day - and on occasion the...
The mailbag is getting full again, which sends me scurrying to find answers and a new sequel title.
You know the drill. You ask, I respond, you ask again, I respond again and our relationship grows stronger.
Curiosity killed the cat, but it keeps this blog alive through the dog days of winter.
Any surprises at the non-tender deadline? Such a negative person. You could have referred to it as the "tender deadline." Anyway, catcher Pedro Severino went from vulnerable to recipient of a $1.825...
The free-agent market has gained a former Orioles starter.
Thomas Eshelman cleared waivers yesterday and was outrighted to Triple-A Norfolk. The Orioles announced this morning that he elected free agency rather than remain in their system.
Eshelman, 26, has a previous outright assignment, which gives him veto power. The Orioles designated him for assignment on Sept. 2, 2019 while activating Mark Trumbo from the 60-day injured list.
The willingness of the Orioles to part with Eshelman this week...
The Orioles whittled their list of unsigned arbitration-eligible players to five this morning by reaching agreement with infielder Yolmer Sánchez on a 2021 contract, according to an industry source.
Sánchez is signed for $1 million and waiting to learn whether he's a candidate to start at second or third base. He could land in the utility mix, with his arrival perhaps having a domino effect on the roster.
Hanser Alberto could be impacted. Pat Valaika could be impacted. They're also...
