The day the Orioles drafted pitcher Kevin Gausman out of LSU in the first round last June, the right-hander said he agreed with scouting reports that labeled his fastball and changeup as pitches that were well ahead of the quality of his breaking pitches at that point.
That day, Gausman said the improvement of his breaking pitches would be a huge key for him moving forward.
"I think my development as a pitcher and going forward is going to kind of depend on that," he said last June 4. "...
He got the start and helped pitch the Orioles to two huge playoff wins, but left-hander Joe Saunders will not be returning to the O's. Saunders has agreed to a one-year deal with the Seattle Mariners pending a physical, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com.
Saunders went 1-0 with a 1.59 ERA in those two playoff starts, both of which were must-wins. He started the wild card game in Texas and Game 4 of the American League Division Series in New York.
The 31-year-old lefty went 3-3 with...
The Orioles have announced a list of 29 players who will report to Sarasota on Feb. 18 for an early mini-camp before the official start of minor league spring training for pitchers and catchers on March 2. Double-A Bowie manager Gary Kendall will be the camp coordinator.
Here is the roster:
Pitchers:
Tim Berry
Tom Boleska
Parker Bridwell
Zach Davies
Rob Delaney
Jason Gurka
Devin Jones
Branden Kline
Zach Petersime
Chris Petrini
Matt Taylor
Tyler Wilson
Zech Zinicola
Catchers:
Zane...
With the start of spring training now just days away and with possibly just one rotation spot available to several Orioles pitchers, what will the camp competition mean to some young pitchers in particular, guys like Brian Matusz, Zach Britton and Jake Arrieta?
That threesome - and Chris Tillman - were the basis for optimism in recent years when looking at the future of the rotation. Surely two, maybe three, and if the club was lucky, all four would live up to their high expectations and the...
Brian Graham is not new to the Orioles. But as of Jan. 25, he has a new position with the Orioles. Graham was promoted from coordinator of minor league instruction to director of player development. Graham is now the man in charge of the Orioles' minor leagues.
Graham joins a newcomer to the organization, Kent Qualls, who has been named director of minor league operations, as the top brass heading up the minors.
Graham is beginning his sixth season with the Orioles and has been a...
Mychal Givens, the Orioles' second-round draft pick in 2009, is officially moving to the mound. After playing three seasons in the club's minor leagues as an infielder, Givens will begin his life as a pitcher when spring training begins in Sarasota, a club official confirmed this afternoon.
Givens, drafted 54th overall by the club out of Plant High School in Tampa, Fla., and signed to an $800,000 bonus, had just not progressed much as a hitter. Save for a few at-bats, he had not advanced...
There were some very interesting responses over the weekend to my latest edition of "10 questions for O's fans." I was a little surprised by some of the responses to the question about pitchers Dylan Bundy and Kevin Gausman.
I asked readers that if they believe one or both could make the major league rotation this year, when might that happen? The surprise was in the restraint many of you showed by responding they would not get there until September, if then.
Here some numbers from the...
A club official has confirmed the Orioles have agreed to terms with 38-year-old lefty Mark Hendrickson on a minor league contract. Hendrickson last pitched in the majors during the 2011 season, going 1-0 with a 5.78 ERA for the Orioles in eight games.
He went 8-11 with a 4.80 ERA for the Orioles from 2009-11 in 113 games.
The Orioles are intrigued to see what the 6-foot-9 Hendrickson can do using a new sidearm delivery. He threw for the club a couple of times during the team's mini-camp at...
During this winter, the message from the Orioles brass has been that they are reluctant to trade their young pitchers and that they place a high value on them. If they don't get a similar value in return, they have said they will be happy to hang onto them and not trade. We have heard basically that exact message for weeks from both Dan Duquette and Buck Showalter.
There are a lot of ways to rank and value players. There are more stats in the game than ever, and more stories written and...
Welcome to the second edition of 10 questions for O's fans. This weekend, I'll throw out 10 more questions and topics and look forward to your responses and answers. Respond to one, two, three, six or all 10. It might help to number your answers to make it easier to follow the comments.
Click here to read again the first 10 questions you were asked to respond to.
Now on with 10 more questions.
1: If Jason Hammel, Wei-Yin Chen, Miguel Gonzalez and Chris Tillman do take the first four...
He was not a high draft pick and he has made just one start in 89 career pro appearances. Jason Gurka hasn't garnered much attention during his Orioles minor league career, but after back-to-back very solid seasons, he has slowly but surely worked his way up and is someone worth watching in 2013.
Gurka was the Orioles' 15th-round pick out of Angelina (Texas) Junior College in 2008. The Houston native turned 25 on Jan. 10. In his O's career, he is 8-8 with an ERA of 3.38 over 160 innings...
Here we go again. Major League Baseball players are making headlines and being linked to using performance-enhancing drugs, or PEDs. Tuesday's story in the Miami New Times comes out and the national baseball press is again fixated on the Yankees' Alex Rodriguez.
This all follows by weeks the latest Hall of Fame vote announcement where no one was elected and where Roger Clemens got just 37.6 percent of the vote, Barry Bonds got 36.2 percent and Sammy Sosa got 12.5 percent. Seventy-five...
Dylan Bundy has been ranked as baseball's No. 2 prospect and Kevin Gausman was rated No. 37 by MLB.com. The top 100 was unveiled last night during a live telecast on MLB Network and Texas infielder Jurickson Profar was rated as baseball's top prospect.
Bundy went 9-3 with a 2.08 ERA in 23 starts this past season at three minor league levels and then pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings in two major league relief appearances in September with the Orioles.
Jon Hart, an MLB Network analyst and a...
On its "Hot Stove" morning show, MLB Network has been pondering which players or members of each major league team can be considered the club's face of the franchise.
Yes, they asked the question about the Orioles and I don't even remember how the results broke down, but I'm more interested in what the readers here think.
Who do you consider the face of the Orioles franchise? Here are four strong candidates, listed in alphabetical order.
Jim Johnson: Don't sell this guy short. He is...
He missed 58 games last season, but in the 104 in which he did play, Nick Markakis had a pretty good season with the bat. He hit .298 with 28 doubles, 13 homers and 54 RBIs in 420 at-bats, the fewest of his career.
Markakis was on a pace for 83 RBIs, which would have been his most since driving in 101 in 2009. He posted an OPS last season of .834, his highest since a figure of .897 in 2008.
But should Markakis remain in the leadoff spot in the batting order?
He certainly thrived in that role...
The Orioles today announced a restructuring of their player development staff. Kent Qualls was officially named director of minor league operations, where he will oversee the business operations of the player development department. Brian Graham has been promoted from coordinator of minor league instruction to director of player development. As director of player personnel, John Stockstill will now also oversee international and domestic professional scouting.
A few moments ago I spoke with...
There hasn't yet been an announcement from the club, but CBSSports.com reported late last night that the Orioles have come to terms with right-handed pitcher Jair Jurrjens on a one-year major league contract that will pay him $1.5 million in guaranteed money and could earn him another $2.5 million in incentives.
Signing a pitcher that is still young (he turns 27 next Tuesday), went 13-6 with a 2.96 ERA for Atlanta in 2011 to make the All-Star team, and will be under team control for two more...
So, Orioles fans, how are you feeling about the Orioles' inactivity this offseason now?
Of course, the club has made some moves, but not many were of the significant variety in adding starting players and no big free agent contracts were handed out. It has been the prevailing topic of discussion for weeks now.
While we need to keep in mind that there could be more moves made at any time, and that includes after next season starts, my sense is that more fans feel better about this team today...
It seems that many American baseball fans are not real excited about the upcoming World Baseball Classic. Fans are not happy that the competition will take some players away from major league teams in spring training.
But the competition could be a real plus for Orioles top minor league prospect Jonathan Schoop. The club's No. 3 prospect, according to Baseball America, is expected to play for the Netherlands when the games begin March 2.
"It's good to play for your country," Schoop said....
While the Orioles insist that Chris Davis has been a solid defender at first base in the past and will be again, some O's fans have expressed concerns about a defensive dropoff at the spot if Davis turns out to be the full-time replacement for Mark Reynolds.
Reynolds was certainly not smooth around the bag as last season wore on, but he made a lot of key plays there as the club's defense played a huge role in the winning last season.
Orioles manager Buck Showalter has said he feels very...