If the Orioles once had a frosty relationship with agent Scott Boras, it has certainly thawed in the last few years, which is important now.
Two major Boras clients, Chris Davis and Matt Wieters, are Orioles who are now two years from free agency. It is a critical time for the club to determine if they can re-sign one or both, or if the best move would be to trade one or both. There have already been rumors that the O's haven't gotten very far in their pursuit of a long-term deal with...
The Orioles' scouting staff is undergoing a few changes. Three scouts are gone from the organization and director of amateur scouting Gary Rajsich will need to hire their replacements over the next few weeks.
Chris Gale, the Orioles' area scout in the Carolinas and southern Virginia, left the organization this week to take a pro scouting position with Cleveland. Gale was the area scout that scouted and helped in the signing of the Orioles' 2013 first-round pick, high school pitcher Hunter...
For an organization that often lagged behind plenty of others in international signings, there is evidence now that the Orioles are finally making some gains in that area.
Last year, just three international players signed by the O's were among their top 15 prospects, according to Baseball America. Now the Orioles have five international players who will likely be ranked among their top 15 prospects.
In Baseball America's O's top 30 prospects list published last winter, Jonathan Schoop was...
The Orioles today signed four players to minor league contracts, adding two pitchers and two outfielders from four different organizations.
They signed right-handed pitcher Brock Huntzinger, left-handed pitcher Nick Additon, and added outfielders Chih-Hsien Chiang and Kyeong Kang.
The 25-year-old Huntzinger went 5-2 with a 1.83 ERA in relief last year pitching between Double-A and Triple-A in the Red Sox organization. A third-round draft pick in 2007, he worked 68 2/3 innings, allowing 51...
If the Orioles are to add any players from their minor leagues to their 40-man roster in advance of next month's Rule 5 draft, they must do it by Wednesday at 5 p.m.
Pitcher Tim Berry and catcher Michael Ohlman continue to look like the most likely to be added. Pitcher Oliver Drake has also been discussed and could lead the next group of players the club may be considering along with catcher Caleb Joseph and pitchers Jason Gurka and Eddie Gamboa.
As I've written before, pitchers Eduardo...
How would you feel about the Orioles adding a starting pitcher who last year went 18-6 with an ERA of 2.65? He had a WHIP of 1.166 and walked just 1.4 batters per every nine innings. He was second in the American League in ERA and wins while adding three shutouts.
By the way, you may be able to sign this pitcher for just one year.
What? Who is this and how could this be possible?
It is Bartolo Colon and because he will turn 41 next May, some team may be able to sign him to pitch on just a...
Orioles pitching prospect Eduardo Rodriguez had a strong outing today in the Arizona Fall League championship game. The 20-year-old left-hander from Valencia, Venezuela, pitched three shutout innings for Surprise against Mesa.
Rodriguez, who pitched this year at Single-A Frederick and Double-A Bowie, left with a 1-0 lead. Rodriguez gave up just two singles, one of which was erased on a caught stealing. He didn't walk a batter and fanned four.
He fanned the Nos. 3 and 4 Mesa hitters in the...
Orioles pitching prospect Mike Wright certainly advanced his career during the 2013 season. He improved his stats, extended his season innings limit, started and won the Eastern League All-Star game, and capped his year with a big O's honor.
On Sept. 8, Wright was named the Orioles minor league Pitcher of the Year, taking the Jim Palmer Award.
The 23-year-old right-hander went 11-3 with a 3.26 ERA in 143 2/3 innings for the Double-A Bowie Baysox. On the final day of the minor league regular...
Three Orioles prospects are expected to start tomorrow for Surprise when the Saguaros take on Mesa at 3:10 p.m. eastern in the Arizona Fall League championship game, which will be televised by MLB Network.
Left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez gets the start on the mound and will likely pitch three innings. Henry Urrutia is expected to start in left field with Jonathan Schoop at shortstop.
Rodriguez is 0-1 with a 5.52 ERA in five AFL starts. Urrutia is batting .377 with three homers, 15 RBIs, a .551...
In recent days, we've seen reports that the Orioles discussed a J.J. Hardy trade with the St. Louis Cardinals and that they are willing to discuss a deal for Matt Wieters.
What is going on here? Aren't these two of their best players and players they should look to keep, not trade?
As always, such reports bring an avalanche of reaction around Birdland. If nothing else, I guess it shows the fans are hungry to talk baseball and for some, the hot stove season is about as much fun as the...
The Orioles' director of player development has received a nice honor. Minor League Baseball today announced that it has selected Brian Graham as the winner of the sixth annual Sheldon "Chief" Bender Award, presented to an individual with distinguished service who has been instrumental in player development.
Graham just completed his sixth season with the Orioles, his first in his current role and his 32nd in professional baseball. Prior to joining the Orioles, he spent six years as the...
Fred Ferreira said it doesn't happen often. But there have been times in his long career of signing international baseball talent that he saw someone play and agreed to sign him that same day.
It happened several weeks ago when he watched a 16-year-old right-hander from the Dominican Republic named Olelky Peralta pitch. It was part of a showcasing of players by the Arias & Goodman Sports Agency at their academy in San Pedro de Macoris.
Ferreira, the Orioles' executive director of...
We've spent some time here this offseason talking about pitching and the Orioles' hopes and goals to add some. So that leads me to a question for the readers today: What do you look for in a pitcher?
What stats are important to you in sizing up a pitcher's talents? Do you put emphasis on ERA or WHIP, innings, homers allowed or strikeout, walk and groundball rates? Do you look at sabermetric stats like Fielding Independent Pitching?
For me, it's not necessarily about one stat, but getting...
One of the Orioles' top young pitching prospects will start Saturday's Arizona Fall League championship game.
Left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez will start for Surprise against either Mesa or Salt River in the game, which is set for 3 p.m. Eastern time and will be televised live on MLB Network. He is expected to go three innings.
Rodriguez is 0-1 with a 5.52 ERA in five AFL games and gave up three runs and seven hits in his most recent outing Friday. Over 14 2/3 innings in Arizona, the...
The Surprise Saguaros, a team managed by Double-A Bowie's Gary Kendall and featuring eight O's minor league prospects, are headed to the Arizona Fall League's championship game Saturday.
Surprise, which also features short-season Single-A Aberdeen's Alan Mills as one of its two pitching coaches, clinched its division title with awith an 8-2 win Monday over Scottsdale. The Saguaros haven't won the AFL championship since 1995, when the it was a best-of-three series. They will face either...
The Orioles are facing a dilemma.
They need to improve their starting pitching to get back to the playoffs. But the pitchers who seem likely to get long-term deals this winter don't look worth signing even if the O's would consider that avenue. And the pitchers on the other end of the free agent class may not even be upgrades on what is already in the rotation.
Is it possible that a club that needs to improve its starting pitching won't be able to add a single pitcher that can truly help...
Henry Urrutia had another strong game for the Surprise Saguaros in the Arizona Fall League on Saturday, going 3-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs.
The Orioles' 2013 minor league Player of the Year is batting .410 in 16 AFL games with three doubles, three homers and 13 RBIs. Urrutia is slugging .607 with an OPS of 1.069 and is batting over .400 against both left (.412) and right-handed pitchers (.409).
Over his last three games, Urrutia is 8-for-13 with a homer, three runs and five...
It was on display in the playoffs, whether it was Michael Wacha or Trevor Rosenthal of the St. Louis Cardinals throwing the ball by a hitter or the Detroit Tigers staff ringing up another strikeout.
It was an impressive display of power pitching.
A good fastball has always been valued in the sport, but are we entering an era when power pitching will be more important and more sought-after than ever?
The combination of a starter who can throw mid-90s heat like Wacha and a closer with...
Could the Orioles have any interest in free agent outfielder Carlos Beltran? What about first baseman/DH Kendrys Morales? Or outfielder Shin-Soo Choo? What about pitchers Hiroki Kuroda or Ervin Santana?
Well, if the O's do have any interest in any of those players - and a few others - it will cost a first-round draft pick to sign them. The players I mentioned and eight others were given qualifying offers by their current clubs. If they turn down those one-year offers - and we'll know that...
The Orioles have a few pitchers who have done well pitching for the first-place Surprise Saguaros in the Arizona Fall League West division.
Among them is 22-year-old left-hander Tim Berry, a 50th-round draft pick in 2009. After pitching well for Single-A Frederick this year, Berry is 2-0 with a 2.03 ERA in six games in the AFL. Over 13 1/3 innings, he has allowed 11 hits with three walks, 10 strikeouts and a .229 average against.
O's director of player development Brian Graham recently saw...
