Steve Melewski
Steve Melewski

The case for the defense

The case for the defense
Here are two things I feel are quite true about baseball: * Defense is often underrated. * Defense is very hard to statistically quantify. I have heard Buck Showalter talk often enough about run prevention to realize he values defense. I think most managers understand a run saved is pretty much equal to a run knocked in. We hail a player with a two- or three-RBI game, but sometimes overlook the outfielder that made the diving catch in the fifth inning that kept two runs from scoring. You can...
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Steve Melewski

A take on Pujols, Luke and the Duke

A take on Pujols, Luke and the Duke
Three Tuesday quick takes for your reading enjoyment: * Albert Pujols has become the latest baseball player to sign an amazing megabucks free agent contract with a new team and then say it wasn't about the money. This came after the Los Angeles Angels introduced Pujols on Saturday after he signed a whopping 10-year, $254 milion deal with the club. "To tell you the truth, it wasn't about the money. I'm going to die saying that, because it wasn't about the money. It was about the...
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Steve Melewski

A scouting report on Ryan Flaherty

A scouting report on Ryan Flaherty
The Orioles added to their infield depth and got a versatile player recently when they selected Ryan Flaherty from the Cubs organization in the Rule 5 draft. A left-handed hitter, Flaherty, 25, is a career .278/.346/.462 hitter in four seasons for the Cubs after being selected out of Vanderbilt with the 41st overall pick in the 2008 First-Year Player Draft. He batted .280/.347/.478 with 53 extra-base hits and 88 RBIs in 132 games for Double-A Tennessee (83 games) and Triple-A Iowa (49 games)...
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Steve Melewski

Callis on Duquette, the farm, O's future and more

Callis on Duquette, the farm, O's future and more
In reviewing some notes from the Winter Meetings, I found some quotes from an interview in Dallas with Jim Callis of Baseball America that had not yet been published here. I know many fans love to hear Callis' insights, and I do, too. So here are some topics we covered there. Callis said that when Baseball America puts out its next list of the top 100 prospects in all of baseball, both Manny Machado and Dylan Bundy could be in the top 10. "We haven't put those lists together yet, but yes,...
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Steve Melewski

Expanding their presence in Venezuela could be big for Orioles

Expanding their presence in Venezuela could be big for Orioles
The day the Orioles hired Fred Ferreira as their executive director of international recruiting, Ferreira told me he plans to add international scouts and also that he would look into the possibility of the Orioles adding an academy in Venezuela. The Orioles have never produced a major league player from Venezuela, although the club has some promising young talent from there in the lower minors now, with players like catcher Gabriel Lino and pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez. Ben Badler, who covers...
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Steve Melewski

Could Nolan be rollin' as the starter in left field?

Could Nolan be rollin' as the starter in left field?
As Orioles fans wonder who will start at certain positions for the 2012 Birds, there are indications that manager Buck Showalter prefers Nolan Reimold as his starting left fielder next year. No one from the club - Showalter included - has said with certainty that Reimold is the starting left fielder moving forward. But in an interview at the Winter Meetings with Mel Antonen of MASN's "The Mid-Atlantic Sports Report," here is what Buck said about Reimold: "(I want him) just to continue to...
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Steve Melewski

Tyler Henson: Switching coasts, switching teams

Tyler Henson: Switching coasts, switching teams
He was drafted by the Orioles out of an Oklahoma high school in the fifth round in 2006. After playing in 622 minor league games with 2,338 at-bats representing the Orioles, Tyler Henson will now find out what it's like with another team. Last week, Henson and pitcher Jarret Martin were traded to the Dodgers when the Orioles acquired pitcher Dana Eveland. Henson was working for the family business when he found out about the deal last Thursday, on the final day of the Winter Meetings. "I...
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What defines a true Orioles fan?

What defines a true Orioles fan?
I noticed on one of the comments on a recent blog here where one reader, when responding to another, said he was a "real fan." It got me to thinking. What makes for a good and true Orioles fan? This is one very subjective topic and, of course, there is no right answer like there would be to a math problem. What impresses someone about one fan, may not another. To take the subject a step further, what defines a true Orioles fan after 14 years of losing? Over the years I have heard a lot of...
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Steve Melewski

Ben Badler's take on Yoenis Cespedes

Ben Badler's take on Yoenis Cespedes
The Orioles were expected to have a contingent, including manager Buck Showalter and new international scouting guru Fred Ferreira, in the Dominican Republic this weekend to scout Cuban-born Yoenis Cespedes. Cespedes is a 26-year-old right-handed hitting outfielder who defected from Cuba in 2011. He batted .333 with 33 home runs and 99 RBIs during the 2010-2011 season with the Cuban national team. He has yet to officially establish residency and become a free agent, but that could happen any...
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Steve Melewski

Video: Steve and Roch wrapping it up in Dallas

Video: Steve and Roch wrapping it up in Dallas
Even if the Orioles didn't make a lot of moves, the group from MASNsports.com had an eventful run at the Winter Meetings in Dallas. We set records for readership, so thanks for that, and we had fun covering and blogging about anything and everything. Before we left Big D, we finally saw the sun come out, and Roch and I had time for one last video to discuss what did happen, what didn't and what still could. Check it out here.
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Home from Dallas and fans are wondering about O's moves

Home from Dallas and fans are wondering about O's moves
Even with the Orioles not making many moves and not generating many rumors, somehow the Winter Meetings still seemed very busy for those of us on the MASN team covering the Orioles and Nationals in Dallas the last few days. It's nice to be home. I hope the readers here enjoyed the coverage and videos that we featured in this blog the last few days. I was sitting in the press room between Roch Kubatko and the Baltimore Sun's Peter Schmuck. Yes the barbs were flying fast and furious with a...
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Orioles add Loomis and Sweeney in minor league phase of Rule 5 draft

Orioles add Loomis and Sweeney in minor league phase of Rule 5 draft
DALLAS - The Orioles today added two players in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 Draft, getting lefty pitcher Andrew Loomis of the Phillies organization in the Triple-A portion of the draft and infielder Matt Sweeney of the Rays organization in the Double-A portion of the draft. The 26-year-old Loomis is 10-10 with a 3.34 ERA in 133 career games in four minor league seasons. A 16th-round selection by the Florida Marlins in the 2008 First-Year Player Draft out of Purdue, Loomis went 1-2...
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Video: One on one with Duquette on Eveland, his next move and more

Video: One on one with Duquette on Eveland, his next move and more
DALLAS - In our last one on one video interview of the Winter Meetings with Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette, I asked him about several topics, including the club's acquisition of lefty pitcher Dana Eveland in a trade with the Dodgers. But I also asked the question many fans are asking today: Do the Orioles still have a chance for some bigger moves this offseason either with trades or through a free agent signing, or is Duquette resigned to the fact the Orioles can't or won't...
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Steve Melewski

Duquette talks about the Orioles Rule 5 selection (updated)

Duquette talks about the Orioles Rule 5 selection (updated)
DALLAS - Here is what Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette said about infielder Ryan Flaherty, the player the Orioles selected from the Cubs organization today with the fourth pick in the Rule 5 draft: "He's got a good bat. He can play third base and second base. He's a left-handed hitter and he has some power. He was a high draft pick (41st overall in 2008) which identifies his value and skills. He comes from a really top quality program, Vanderbilt," Duquette said. "We like...
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Steve Melewski

The Rule 5 draft is set for today

The Rule 5 draft is set for today
DALLAS - Baseball's Rule 5 draft will be held this morning at 10 a.m Eastern time and the Orioles will have the fourth pick. Any player selected in this draft must remain on the selecting team's 25-man roster for the entire big league season or be offered back to his original club. Players are eligible for selection in the Rule 5 draft who are not on their major league organization's 40-man roster and: * Were signed at age 19 or older and have been in the organization for four years; or *...
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Steve Melewski

Duquette on the young pitchers: "We are holding onto them"

Duquette on the young pitchers: "We are holding onto them"
DALLAS - In today's one-on-one video interview with Dan Duquette, the Orioles executive vice president indicated he is getting closer to making one or more trades and it could happen before the Winter Meetings end tomorrow. "Well, I mean, we are a little further down the track on a couple of deals that we hope to close," Duquette said. "It takes a little time to get things together but hopefully we will have a couple more players to talk to the Oriole fans about by the end of the week. We...
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After long run with Milwaukee, Castro joins O's as bullpen coach

After long run with Milwaukee, Castro joins O's as bullpen coach
DALLAS - Bill Castro was hired today by the Orioles as their bullpen coach. He joins the club after 37 seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers organization, the last two as pitching advisor for Latin America. Castro spent 18 seasons on the Brewers' major league coaching staff, including the first part of the 2009 season as pitching coach. He previously served as bullpen coach from 1992-2008 and was the pitching coach for the Dominican Republic during the 2006 World Baseball Classic. "It means a...
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Video: Jim Callis talks about the Orioles' farm system

Video: Jim Callis talks about the Orioles' farm system
DALLAS - I had a chance to interview Jim Callis of Baseball America today here at the baseball Winter Meetings in Dallas. He spent quite a long time discussing the Orioles and their farm system with me. It's no secret that right now, the Orioles have a farm system ranked by just about everyone in the bottom third of all teams in baseball. I asked Callis what he thought the issues were for the Orioles recently in struggling to produce better prospects. "I don't think it's necessarily been...
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O's should tread lightly when thinking about dealing young pitchers

O's should tread lightly when thinking about dealing young pitchers
If it's true that the White Sox seek young pitching for a player like Baltimore native, pitcher Gavin Floyd, the Orioles may not be the team for them to match up with. You would have to wonder why the Orioles would trade, say, a Brian Matusz for Floyd. There is a lot more at work here than if you think Floyd is simply better than Matusz and you would make that trade. Please realize it's total speculation and no one is saying or reporting that Matusz for Floyd is being discussed, but the Sox...
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Steve Melewski

For Duquette it's .500 or bust

For Duquette it's .500 or bust
Dan Duquette provided an interesting quote yesterday, one that I suspect will be controversial with some fans. When asked last night if he feels the team has a reasonable chance of finishing better than .500 in 2012,the Orioles executive vice president said, "We want to be .500 or better this year. We want to build, but we definitely want to be over .500." Later, when I had the chance to interview Duquette one on one for a video here on MASNsports.com, I asked him more about that...
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