Here are two questions worth pondering and discussing: Should the Orioles sign one player to handle most of the at-bats at the designated hitter spot this year? Should that player be Johnny Damon?
The Orioles appear to have at least some interest in the former Red Sox, Ray, Yankee, Tiger, Royal and Athletic.
We've been hearing rumblings that manager Buck Showalter would prefer to not have one player take up most of the DH at-bats like Vlad Guerrero did last year and Luke Scott the season...
Now that the Orioles have drafted Oklahoma high school pitcher Dylan Bundy, now comes the development part of the equation, where the organization will work on getting Bundy to the major leagues at a proper pace that will allow the best chance for him to have lasting success.
Easy to say, but hard to do. Many fans are skeptical, with some justification, about the O's ability to develop young pitchers after so many have come up short of expectations and/or gotten injured in recent years.
As a...
Since it's now the dead of winter and the holidays are long since over, I should probably be more down with all the negativity about the Orioles. The Yankees got two pitchers, Tampa is still loaded with pitchers, Toronto is on the rise and Boston is still pretty good, I bet.
But after a weekend of reading more doom and gloom, I looked outside to see if the sun had come up and it had.
I checked with myself to see if it would be OK to see something good about the ballclub for a few minutes and...
This weekend, I'm taking a look at some Orioles minor league topics that will be on display and a look back at the Yankees big night of acquiring pitching.
* Orioles first-round draft pick Dylan Bundy appears likely to begin next season pitching for the Single-A Delmarva Shorebirds. As he begins his first pro season in 2012, he will almost certainly be on an innings limit of around 120 or so.
That will lead to the club having to decide how they go about having Bundy get those innings. A...
Back in mid December, new Orioles scouting director Gary Rajsich hired Danny Haas to serve on his staff as one of his two national crosscheckers. The 35-year-old Haas had been a scout with Boston since 2002.
In recent years, he served as Boston's southeast, east coast and upper midwest/northeast crosschecker. Red Sox major league players signed during that time include Ryan Kalish, Ryan Lavarnway and Kyle Weiland. Haas was named Red Sox amateur Scout of the Year in 2004. He signed Sox pitcher...
A lot of fans are wondering why the Orioles have yet to begin talks on a contract extension with Adam Jones. After four seasons and 551 games with the Orioles, the 26-year-old Jones can be a free agent after the 2013 season.
Jones was voted as the Most Valuable Oriole last year when his 16 outfield assists led all major league center fielders and he set career highs in doubles (26), homers (25), RBIs (83), stolen bases (12), extra-base hits (53) and slugging (.466).
When I asked Orioles...
Skipping around the baseball world today with some random thoughts on random topics.
Are the Orioles sending their young pitchers a message?: With the signings of Dana Eveland, Tsuyoshi Wada and Wei-Yin Chen, it is getting crowded in the Orioles' rotation. Depending upon who you considered a candidate for the starting five, there are now a dozen or so candidates for starting rotation spots on this team.
Seems to me the message is clear to the young guys like Jake Arrieta, Brian Matusz and...
Sometimes, when national analysts contend the Orioles lack a lot of solid hitting prospects in their minor league organization, they overlook Tyler Townsend, a third-round pick and first baseman out of Florida International in 2009.
Not so much because of a lack of good numbers, but a lack of consistent at-bats. Townsend has been dogged by hamstring issues in his left leg the last two years that limited him to 52 games in 2010 and 67 last summer.
But consider these numbers: In three seasons...
With the offseason additions of pitchers Dana Eveland and Tsuyoshi Wada, the Orioles don't seem to have any shortage of candidates to make their opening day starting rotation.
Since they have not added anyone to the back end of the bullpen, many are assuming that pretty much means Jim Johnson will stay as a late-inning reliever, likely the closer, and not get a shot to be a starter this year.
Since we have not heard an official word from the team on this, I wonder how Buck Showalter and Dan...
For the most part, I agree with a lot of what national baseball columnist Rob Neyer has had to say over the years. He really knows the game and writes interesting and often thought-provoking columns.
When I read his piece yesterday about why the Orioles haven't traded Adam Jones, he really caught me off guard when he called Jones "a disappointment." I guess he is saying in relation to what some thought he would become.
His story is here.
But I find it hard to call a solid-fielding center...
With a career record of 4-15 and ERA of 5.48 in 158 innings since the Orioles selected him with the fifth pick in the 2009 draft, right-hander Matt Hobgood has gotten plenty of criticism from fans and he has come to expect that to be the case.
He continues to work to rehab his right shoulder and said he hasn't felt right and completely healthy with the shoulder for even one day since he first pitched for Rookie League Bluefield in 2009.
Last year, he went 0-6 with an ERA of 8.76 between the...
Some fans that have commented on this blog in recent days have had a similar refrain: "Why not blow it up and start over?"
Basically, those fans advocate a total rebuilding of the Orioles. Rather than sign a player like Adam Jones to a long-term contract, they prefer to see him and other key players traded to add prospects to rebuild the farm system and, eventually, the major league team.
These fans reason that if the Orioles traded players like Jeremy Guthrie, J.J. Hardy, Jones and others,...
Here's wishing Brandon Snyder well with the Texas Rangers. He is someone I first met while broadcasting Aberdeen IronBirds games and he played there briefly in 2005 and 2006.
When Snyder had that big first half with Double-A Bowie in 2009, he looked like he was on his way to one day being the Orioles' regular first baseman. But he never did put up big numbers at Triple-A Norfolk, some fans began to doubt him and he didn't seem to be too high on Buck Showalter's list last year...
After playing in 720 games in the Orioles' organization, Brandon Snyder, the club's first-round pick in 2005, today was traded to the Texas Rangers for cash considerations.
Snyder got a call from an Orioles official around noon and found out he would be leaving the only organization he's ever played for.
The 26-year-old Snyder got 20 at-bats with the O's in 2010 and 13 last year, batting .273 in his brief big league time.
"I feel like my opportunities with the Orioles were getting less...
Yes, some of us were burning the midnight (and early morning) oil with rumors of a possible Orioles acquisition of free agent outfielder Coco Crisp.
Now his O's acquisition seems unlikely but fans sure rushed to Twitter and message boards, including MASNsports.com last night, to discuss this.
Most had one key question: What would that mean for Adam Jones? Would he move to left field? Would he be traded?
Whenever there is talk of trading a key Oriole like Jones, some fans always ask a...
I have been reading that free agent pitcher Edwin Jackson wants a four-year contract and it's no surprise that Scott Boras is shooting for the moon here.
This is a pitcher that has already played for six different teams and has a career ERA of 4.46. Jackson did have a solid 2011 season, going 12-9 with an ERA of 3.79 between the White Sox and Cardinals.
But he gives up a lot of hits and his WHIP of 1.437 last year (better than his career number of 1.476) would have ranked second among O's...
There can be no doubt that many Orioles fans are frustrated and they are beaten down by 14 straight losing seasons. As someone who went to his first game at Memorial Stadium at the age of 6 and later covered many of those seasons, I can relate.
I don't completely relate, though, to the fans who seem to be clinging to seemingly extreme long shot hope that the Orioles will sign free agent Prince Fielder. I just don't see it happening and think the odds are not good at all.
Yet some fans are...
As this calender year comes to a close it is sad to think that we won't be seeing Mike Flanagan during the 2012 season.
I've said it many times, but among all the Orioles I've been lucky to meet over many years, none loved being an Oriole any more than Flanny. It is still stunning to think about the events of last August.
I saw where SBNation, reflecting on Jim Palmer's tearful tribute to Flanny that night, named that as the top sportscasting moment of 2011. I don't know that I would...
New Orioles amateur scouting director Gary Rajsich continues to set up his staff and department now with about six months remaining before the 2012 First-Year Player Draft.
He recently hired Danny Haas from the Red Sox organization to serve as a national crosschecker. Haas was a player in the Boston farm system when Rajsich worked for the Red Sox. Haas and Ron Hopkins will be the Orioles' two national crosscheckers.
Jim Thrift, who was the Orioles' major league advance scout last year, will...
Many things could change between now and April, but at this moment, with the current makeup of the roster, here is my projected Orioles starting rotation and order of the five:
Jeremy Guthrie
Zach Britton
Jake Arrieta
Tsuyoshi Wada
Tommy Hunter
I am certainly not counting Brian Matusz, Chris Tillman, Dana Eveland and/or Brad Bergesen out of the picture, but if I had to pick five right now, that is my list.
I could even see Jim Johnson still factoring into the picture, but right now the...
