Some questions to wonder about as we get a new week started:
If Jim Johnson does get moved to the starting rotation in 2012, how many innings will he be able to pitch?
Some feel he will be limited there, but C.J. Wilson of the Texas Rangers went from 73 2/3 innings out of the bullpen in 2009 to 33 starts and 204 innings as a starter in 2010. Last year he made 34 starts, pitching 223 1/3 innings for the Rangers.
Johnson was already at a heavy relief load of 91 innings last year and there is...
It is funny some of the things we remember from our youth. I can specifically remember standing in the parking lot at Memorial Stadium - I think it was in 1974 - and talking to Claudell Washington of the Oakland A's.
He was holding a cab waiting for Reggie Jackson to ride back to the team hotel. He was not happy that Reggie was holding him up, but, hey, it was Reggie. I can remember being there waiting, but I can't remember when Reggie ever showed up, or if we even saw him that day.
Of...
Here are some random thoughts and takes for a Friday:
* As I wrote back on Nov. 16, any cap on draft spending is not good for the game in my opinion. If Bud Selig's goal was to enhance competitive balance in this latest collective bargaining agreement, he failed. The draft was a rare area where a team like Pittsburgh, Kansas City or Baltimore could outspend the Yankees, if they chose to.
While the Orioles, selecting higher, will get a larger bonus pool to sign picks next year than New York,...
A very happy Thanksgiving to everyone, and I'm sure many of you are like me in that you have a lot to be thankful for. That list always starts for me with my family and friends, and I am thankful for them every day, not just today.
I'm thankful to get to cover my hometown team, the team I grew up loving as young kid in Baltimore. Even after 14 straight losing seasons, it's the only major league team I've ever wanted to report about.
I am thankful I have this wonderful forum at...
Things are looking up for the Orioles. They got closer to the playoffs yesterday without adding a single player.
They did, really, but so did every other club in the game, too.
When baseball adds a second wild card playoff team in each league for a total of five clubs, teams will obviously need fewer wins to make the playoffs.
I went through the last 10 years of the American League standings. The wild card winner in the 10 seasons from 2002 through 2011 averaged 95.2 wins per year. The club...
Fans and reporters around baseball are still learning about the changes coming in the draft through baseball's new five-year collective bargaining agreement that was announced today.
Check out this story from Baseball America to read about many of the changes.
It appears some front office staffers in baseball are expressing some unhappiness with the effort to put a cap on total spending on draft picks in this arrangement.
Here is an excerpt from the Baseball America story:
"Under the new...
The 2011 season was Dan Klein's first full season in the Orioles' organization. The right-hander got off to a great start and was quickly becoming one of the O's best pitching prospects.
He began with Single-A Frederick and, after only one month with the Keys, was moved to Double-A Bowie. Klein was pitching very well and appeared to be on a fast track that might have taken him as far Baltimore before the season was done.
But then came the shoulder pain which would derail his season and...
After pitching seven seasons in the Orioles organization, right-hander Chorye Spoone, who was removed from the club's 40-man roster July 19, today agreed to a contract with the Boston Red Sox.
Spoone's deal, which includes a spring training invitation, will become official when he passes a physical, which he said he felt certain he would do. He was in Boston today for that physical.
The 26-year-old Spoone was the Orioles' eighth-round pick in the 2005 draft. His career got derailed a bit...
The blog I wrote about Dan Duquette's interview on Boston radio over the weekend sparked some debate about how soon Orioles fans should expect Duquette to make their team a winner.
Some fans wrote that Duquette could or should go buy the top free agents to try and make the team a winner next year. Some fans believe that, after 14 losing seasons, Duquette and the club owe the fans that.
But Duquette cannot overcome 14 years of losing and recent seasons where the minor leagues have taken a...
In his first few days on the job as Orioles executive vice president of baseball operations, Dan Duquette made the Baltimore media rounds. He was on many talk shows and was interviewed often.
While he was polite to all, there seemingly was not too much to be learned from his comments. We didn't get any major insight into his plan to revamp the Orioles. We didn't get many specifics.
While fans and reporters are still trying to get a handle on what kind of job Duquette will do and how he will...
It was late this afternoon when Oliver Drake got an important phone call. Tripp Norton, the Orioles' assistant director of player development, informed Drake that he was being added to the Orioles' 40-man roster.
The 43rd-round draft pick from 2008 out of Navy went 11-8 with an ERA of 3.32, making 13 starts for Single-A Frederick, 12 at Double-A Bowie and one for Triple-A Norfolk in 2011.
"I'm just really excited," Drake said by phone from his offseason home in Gardner, Mass. "It's a...
The Orioles have signed infielder Matt Antonelli, a former first-round draft pick of the San Diego Padres. Pending a physical, he is expected to be added to the 40-man roster.
The 26-year-old, right-handed batter was the Padres' top pick, taken 17th overall in 2006 out of Wake Forest. He could compete for playing time at second and/or third base in Baltimore.
Antonelli spent most of last year with Triple-A Syracuse in the Nationals' organization, batting .297 with eight homers, 30 RBIs and...
Later today, the Orioles and the rest of the teams in Major League Baseball must set their 40-man rosters in advance of the Rule 5 draft set for Dec. 8 at the Winter Meetings.
Any player from the organization the Orioles add to the 40-man today will be protected and will not be available to be selected by another team during that draft.
It was at about this time last year that the Orioles added Zach Britton, Joe Mahoney and Matt Angle to their 40-man roster.
Last year the Orioles lost Pedro...
A lot of fans and reporters are wondering what the Orioles' total team payroll will be for the 2012 season. While the Orioles -and just about every other team out there - are very unlikely to disclose their projected budget for next season, we can at least make a good guess at where the Orioles are right now with their 2012 payroll.
In compiling some salary numbers from two excellent Web sites in Cot's Baseball Contracts and MLBTradeRumors, I figure the Orioles will be between $70 and $75...
If Major League Baseball is looking to limit spending on draft picks in the new collective bargaining agreement, I am strongly against that.
Clubs should be allowed to spend whatever amount they choose on the draft. It is one area where the so-called small market teams can spend with the big boys. They can't match the 25-man roster payrolls of the Yankees and Red Sox, but they can outspend them for draft picks.
Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports published this story last night. Here is an excerpt...
When I wrote over the weekend about Yu Darvish, many of your replies surprised me. I didn't keep a tally, but it sure seemed most fans that left a comment were against going after Darvish via free agency if he is posted if the total price tag for a posting fee and contract would total $100 million or more.
I admire your restraint considering how badly the Orioles need pitching. But many of you just felt that is too much money and that is taking too big a risk on Darvish.
I am very intrigued...
No matter how you feel about Joe Jordan's record as the Orioles' scouting director from 2005 through 2011, there is one area that hurt the Orioles during his time with the club that was out of the control of the scouting department.
The Orioles had fewer picks than their American League East rivals in the top three rounds during those seven drafts - in some cases many fewer picks - as other teams took advantage of the draft rules to obtain more picks. They got many compensation picks for...
In recent years, there has been talk of the Orioles increasing their presence in Venezuela. It is a nation that has produced current players like Asdrubal Cabrera, Felix Hernandez, Victor Martinez, Freddy Garcia, Magglio Ordonez, Johan Santana and former Oriole Melvin Mora to name just a few.
The kidnapping this week of Nationals' catcher Wilson Ramos sheds light on the dangers that pro baseball players from that country face. It makes you wonder if any of this impacts the Orioles and other...
For the life of me I don't see Jorge Posada, who is a free agent, as a fit for the Orioles.
Jon Heyman of SI.com tweeted this yesterday: "If posada decides to play, i'm thinking orioles or marlins. but i hope he retires. great career. terrific guy."
Posada turned 40 last summer and while the Orioles need a backup catcher and might have some DH at-bats available next season as well, I don't see a player at that stage of his career being anyone the Orioles could use in 2012.
Posada was...
Nolan Reimold began the 2011 season in the lineup at Triple-A Norfolk. He ended it with a huge ninth-inning RBI double for the Orioles against Jonathan Papelbon that capped a big September.
Will it be enough to get him in Buck Showalter's starting lineup as a regular in left field in 2012?
I say the answer to that should be yes.
After a strong rookie season in 2009 and a poor year in 2010, Reimold's bat came to life late last year, again showing fans a glimpse of the kind of player many...
