Another lost weekend for Orioles during baseball's shutdown

Another lost weekend for Orioles during baseball's shutdown
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...
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Doing more with draft as Orioles decide on second overall pick

Doing more with draft as Orioles decide on second overall pick
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...
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More questions pertaining to Orioles roster

More questions pertaining to Orioles roster
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...
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Dealing with baseball's trade deadline

Dealing with baseball's trade deadline
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...
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This, that and the other

This, that and the other
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...
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Because You Asked - I Want to Believe

Because You Asked - I Want to Believe
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...
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More of what we're missing without the majors

More of what we're missing without the majors
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...
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More memories from the Orioles beat

More memories from the Orioles beat
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...
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Wondering how prospect development works in 2020

Wondering how prospect development works in 2020
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...
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Adjustment in Castro's delivery monitored from long distance

Adjustment in Castro's delivery monitored from long distance
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...
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This, that and the other

This, that and the other
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...
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Flores on Mountcastle's defense and Núñez at third base

Flores on Mountcastle's defense and Núñez at third base
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 Urías 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...
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Leftover nominations for breakfast

Leftover nominations for breakfast
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...
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Flores on Martin and the positive influence of Iglesias

Flores on Martin and the positive influence of Iglesias
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...
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Flores doing his teaching from Puerto Rico

Flores doing his teaching from Puerto Rico
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...
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Limited clarity to a proposed 2020 season

Limited clarity to a proposed 2020 season
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...
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Other ideas for 10-part sports documentaries

Other ideas for 10-part sports documentaries
The conclusion of "The Last Dance" 10-part documentary on Michael Jordan is going to leave a big void in my television viewing. It was must-see programming with its behind-the scenes access. Perhaps ESPN could milk it a little bit more and give us "Jordan: The Wizards Years." I'll admit that I initially thought 10 parts might be excessive. Once again, I was wrong. Is there anyone else who could hold my interest in a 10-parter, assuming that it's done as well as the Jordan documentary? *...
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What happened to Orioles one year ago today?

What happened to Orioles one year ago today?
The Orioles did an admirable job last season of preventing the losses from breaking their collective spirit. There were some chips and cracks, but nothing they couldn't repair. It might have been done with a win or the stubborn nature they'd exhibit in defeat, battling until the final out and whittling away at the deficit. But there also was the game exactly one year ago in Cleveland that reminded them of the distance between a contender and a team in the early phases of a teardown and...
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Cobb left waiting for rematch with Twins

Cobb left waiting for rematch with Twins
The Orioles are supposed to be in Minnesota today to start a three-game series. They're supposed to be putting last year's failings behind them. In a big pile that could bury them if it toppled. Three games against the Twins at Camden Yards produced three losses. Three games at Target Field produced three losses. All of them coming in April, with a series win against the White Sox nestled in between. Alex Cobb made only three starts in 2019 and the last two came against the Twins before the...
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Losing baseball hasn't been a total loss

Losing baseball hasn't been a total loss
The pandemic and absence of sports leaves many of us lamenting losses that, when kept in proper perspective, aren't really that important. They hurt but they don't do irreparable harm. This isn't a lecture. Maybe more of a reality check. I've got my health and my job. Same with my fiancée, sister, daughter and niece. My mother is doing the best that she can in isolation on the Eastern Shore Other people have it much worse and I remind myself of it each time that I look in the mirror and...
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