Chris Davis began last season as the starting third baseman for the Triple-A Round Rock Express and Nolan Reimold began last year as the starting left fielder for the Triple-A Norfolk Tides.
Davis has 1,807 career at-bats in the minors and 1,005 in the majors. Reimold has 1,986 in the minors and 741 in the majors. Reimold has spent parts of the past three seasons in Triple-A, while Davis has spent time in Triple-A in each of the last four seasons.
Will 2012 be the year when both players get a...
If Dan Duquette is to make some actual lasting changes for the better for the Orioles' organization, some of it will likely begin to happen at the minor league level this year.
Upgrading the Orioles' player development and farm system is vital as the club tries to finally get better after 14 losing seasons. There are plenty of interesting angles and story lines to follow in the minor leagues this year. Over the next several weeks, I'll look to report on and address a few. Here are some to...
He is a submarine-style, right-handed relief pitcher and, if he reclaims the form he showed during an outstanding 2010 season with Texas, he could be a key piece to the 2012 Orioles bullpen.
The O's claimed 29-year-old pitcher Darren O'Day off waivers from Texas in November and now he wants to put last year, when he had surgery and missed a large part of the season, behind him.
O'Day went 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA in just 16 2/3 innings with the Rangers last year and also spent some time in the...
It strikes me that the MASNsports.com message boards were buzzing with a lot more positive talk this time last year. I remember the many, many fans that insisted the Orioles could be a playoff team last year, coming off their 34-23 finish in 2010.
The fans were also overwhelmingly in favor of bringing Vlad Guerrero in to serve as the DH, even at a $8 million price tag. The young pitchers finished real strong in 2010 and were ready to take the next step and the future was bright, many felt...
Part of Dan Duquette's restructuring of the Orioles' player development system was his hiring of Mike Boulanger as the O's minor league hitting coordinator. Boulanger will oversee the batting coaches and instruction of all the hitters on the O's farm. Boulanger brings plenty of experience to Baltimore as both a minor league coach and manager and has ties to both Duquette and manager Buck Showalter.
From 2000-2002, Boulanger was a minor league manager when Duquette was the Red Sox GM and he...
Here is a question to think about: Are all the top sluggers eventually going to wind up in the American League?
After Albert Pujols got a 10-year deal from the Angels and Prince Fielder got a nine-year contract from the Tigers, two of the game's most-feared sluggers have moved to the AL. Fielder was second in the National League with 38 homers last year and Pujols was third with 37.
While neither player was signed to serve as a designated hitter, just knowing the DH spot is there for those...
The Orioles are getting some criticism for signing Wilson Betemit to a two-year contract. Not only is it a two-year deal, but there is a vesting option for the 2014 season. This for a player that has never been a season-long regular for any team and has never had more than 373 at-bats in any one season.
Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com and MLB Network wrote this late yesterday via Twitter:
lost in huge day is how wilson betemit gets $3.25M guaranteed for 2 w/ $3.2M vesting option for '14 w/...
In the end, while the Detroit Tigers have come seemingly out of nowhere to get Prince Fielder, to me it's no surprise that Fielder ended up with a winning team and in the American League.
Any team willing to give a player those years and that money - and it's been reported as a nine-year, $214 million deal - better at least have the designated hitter spot ready for him at some point. I think that's an insane contract, but I felt the same way about the Albert Pujols deal with the...
If there is one player on the Orioles that was tracking the pitching additions executive vice president Dan Duquette made this offseason, it was catcher Matt Wieters. He will have to catch the new pitchers and, in some cases, communicate with players that speak little or no English.
"It's going to be a lot of work in spring training, that's for sure," the 25-year-old Wieters said. "Getting to know all the guys that have a chance to make the club or be up at some point during the year,...
I think we heard some comments at FanFest that helped answer some questions about spring training.
For one, Nolan Reimold appears to be the clear favorite to be the starting left fielder. It sure seems to be his job to lose, as they say. Buck Showalter confirmed that Mark Reynolds will be the third baseman with Chris Davis at first. And it was pretty much confirmed that Jim Johnson will be in the bullpen, likely as the closer. All of this is subject to a late change, especially pending any...
Another FanFest has come and gone. It was a fun day with around 9,000 fans, slightly fewer than last year, attending at the Baltimore Convention Center. FanFest always gets you ready for another season after a day of talking baseball and talking with Orioles players, coaches and front office staff.
Over the next week or two, I'l continue to post some interviews, quotes and stories from the day. For today, here are some quotes from FanFest.
Dan Duquette on his fan forum and meeting fans: ...
Brady Anderson was officially hired this week as special assistant to Dan Duquette, even though he has been doing some work for the club before that and did some work for the Orioles last year.
"Last year, I had a condo at Triple-A (in Norfolk). You need to go everywhere. We have minor league affiliates close to Baltimore and you have to be willing to grind it out and go back to the minors. I like being in the trenches," he said.
"I was around (the big league club) quite a bit last year...
No pun intended but here are some FanFest nuggets from Buck Showalter and his latest get-together with the reporters here.
Buck on the DH spot in the lineup: "It's a question mark because a guy that has to anchor down there and do nothing but that is not there. I look at that as almost an asset, but if the right guy rears his head we'd go there. But it also allows us to move people around and keep people healthy.
"Wieters will be able to DH some and (we can) put some bats in the lineup we...
Orioles right-hander Jake Arrieta said at FanFest that he continues to make very good progress after having bone spurs removed from his right elbow on Aug. 12.
"I felt as good as I expected to. I haven't had any setbacks, just routine throwing program soreness but outside of that I've been 100 percent healthy and very encouraged with my progress," he said.
Arrieta, who went 10-8 with an ERA of 5.05 in 22 starts last summer, said the bone spurs would bother him at times last season.
He...
Orioles center fielder Adam Jones knew when he saw reporters today that someone would ask him about all the trade talk in which his name has surfaced in recent weeks.
"I knew that question was coming. No one has ever talked to me about it, so I think, rumors are what they are. Leave it at that, nothing more I can say about it," Jones said.
Jones was asked if he was open to discussing a contract extension if the Orioles approach him this winter.
Adam Jones addresses his contract situation...
The first fan forum of the day at FanFest is over. Manager Buck Showalter and Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette were on the main stage. They addressed several topics and here are some of their answers.
Showalter on the battle for rotation spots this year: "Last year, it was last man standing. Now, it's about the competition and that always brings out the best in people. Last year, we had six or seven guys competing and this year we have 11 or 12, and if you know anything about...
When Mike Boulanger was hired yesterday as the Orioles minor league hitting coordinator, he was reunited with executive vice president Dan Duquette and manager Buck Showalter.
From 2000-2002 Boulanger was a minor league manager for Boston when Duquette was the Red Sox GM and he later served as Triple-A hitting coach and manager for Showalter when Buck managed at Texas. He had a record of 497-496 in nine seasons with Minnesota and Boston as a minor league manager, taking three teams to the...
Rick Peterson has 12 years of experience as a major league pitching coach, most recently with Milwaukee in 2010. Yesterday, he officially joined the Orioles as the club's director of pitching development. Peterson will oversee the organization's pitching development program.
With Peterson now on board, Orioles pitchers, at both the major and minor league levels, are going to become familiar with something called biomechanical analysis. It's a little more involved than "work fast and throw...
Former Oriole Brady Anderson was officially named today as special assistant to Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette. Even though Anderson has the same title as the recently hired Lee Thomas, Duquette said the duties will not be the same for both men. He also was asked if it was fair to describe Anderson as an assistant general manager.
"We don't have a GM, so we don't have an assistant GM," Duquette said on a conference call with Baltimore reporters. "I don't know that you can...
New Orioles outfielder Jai Miller has had about two weeks now to adjust to the news which came on Jan. 3. He was traded from Oakland to Baltimore for cash considerations.
"When I found out, there was some initial shock," Miller said this week. "But then I was excited. It's always good to be wanted. Now I'm ready to move forward. The Orioles are getting a player that is excited to be in the organization and is ready to go."
Miller said he got a call from executive vice president Dan...