What is O's priority? Upgrade the pitching or the offense?

What is O's priority? Upgrade the pitching or the offense?
Here is a question I'd love to get many reader responses on this weekend. As the hot stove season now really begins to heat up, are the Orioles more in need of additions to their pitching or offense? The stats sheet says the Orioles performed a little better on the mound than they did at the bat in 2012. Where the O's offense ranked in the American League this season: Ninth in runs with 712 (AL avg. was 721) Tenth in batting average at .247 (AL avg. was .255) Eleventh in OBP at .311 (AL...
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MLB ponders smaller September rosters (plus winter ball updates)

MLB ponders smaller September rosters (plus winter ball updates)
The time has probably come for a move like this. It looks like Major League Baseball officials are considering a change to the current rules that allow for teams to carry 40-man rosters in September. It seems some teams choose to call up few players while others bring in a truckload, and some in the sport feel it's not fair that those clubs have more players than others for late-season games. While my take on that would be, "too bad," the team with fewer players simply should have called up...
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Rick Peterson talks about Boston interview and possible future with O's

Rick Peterson talks about Boston interview and possible future with O's
Orioles director of pitching development Rick Peterson remains with the organization after interviewing for the Boston Red Sox pitching coach job, a position that went to Juan Nieves. Peterson continues to say how much he loved working with the club this year, but at the same time, does admit that he would likely have interest if any other big league pitching coach positions come open. "I love the Orioles," he said tonight during a phone interview. "I love the energy, the people, everything...
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A teammate criticizes Josh Hamilton and a take on Showalter vs. Melvin

A teammate criticizes Josh Hamilton and a take on Showalter vs. Melvin
You don't see or hear this every day. One teammate openly criticizing another. Especially one that batted .285 with 43 homers, 128 RBIs and an OPS of .930. Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers is a finalist for the AL's Most Valuable Player award with those numbers, but Rangers relief pitcher Mike Adams didn't sound like a huge Hamilton fan yesterday. In an interview on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM, Adams said, "Sometimes Josh is hard to figure out," and, when asked about Texas trying to...
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Showalter named finalist for AL Manager of the Year

Showalter named finalist for AL Manager of the Year
Buck Showalter has been named as one of three finalists for the American League Manager of the Year Award, voted on by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. The winner will be announced next Tuesday during a live broadcast at 6 p.m. on MLB Network. The other finalists for the BBWAA award are Oakland's Bob Melvin and Robin Ventura of the Chicago White Sox. Showalter is a two-time winner of the award, winning with the 1994 New York Yankees and the 2004 Texas Rangers. Showalter led...
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Orioles make a few scouting staff changes

Orioles make a few scouting staff changes
There have been a few changes in the Orioles' scouting department. David Stockstill is now handling some amateur scouting work with assignments in Missouri and Arkansas, in addition to continuing to handle some international scouting as well. Stockstill added some amateur duties this summer before the draft last June. A member of the O's minor league staff for the last 17 years, Stockstill has been the Orioles director of international operations for the last three seasons. Jim Howard was...
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It's too soon for O's to give up on Nolan Reimold

It's too soon for O's to give up on Nolan Reimold
Nolan Reimold has never played a full season in an Orioles uniform or had more than 358 at-bats. He has just one more chance before his 30th birthday. That's right. Reimold turned 29 on Oct. 12, and that makes him older than Matt Wieters and Adam Jones. He is a month older than Nick Markakis, a player that has 4,055 career at-bats to his 808. Is it possible that at the age of 29, the Orioles still can't be sure exactly what they have in Reimold? They need to see what he could do with a full...
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Orioles announce staff promotions

Orioles announce staff promotions
The Orioles today announced several front office staff promotions. Neil Aloise, previously director of sales and fan Services, has been named vice president of ticketing and fan services. Greg Bader, previously director of communications, has been named vice president of communications and marketing; and Mike Hoppes, formerly director of finance, has been named vice president of finance. Aloise served as the team's director of sales and fan services since 2007. He joined the organization in...
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Q&A with the author of the O's top 10 prospects list

Q&A with the author of the O's top 10 prospects list
For more than 10 years, Will Lingo of Baseball America put together the Orioles top 10 prospects list. But this year, those duties were turned over to Matt Forman. Last week he released this list of the Orioles top 10 prospects: 1 - P Dylan Bundy 2 - P Kevin Gausman 3 - IF Jonathan Schoop 4 - IF Nicky Delmonico 5 - P Eduardo Rodriguez 6 - OF LJ Hoes 7 - OF Xavier Avery 8 - P Mike Wright 9 - P Branden Kline 10 - IF Adrian Marin Recently, I interviewed Forman about this top 10 list. In this...
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This is not the year for the Orioles to hand out a huge free agent contract

This is not the year for the Orioles to hand out a huge free agent contract
We should get less of a couple of questions that we used to get bombarded with on these blogs every winter come free agency time - questions like when will the Orioles sign a big name free and how can the Orioles compete without one? The theory that some held to with a vice-like grip - that the Orioles had to spend a lot more than they were to win - has been proven baseless this year. They didn't win the American League East, but they were plenty good enough to do that with a payroll in the...
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Gary Allenson, Brad Komminsk and two others not returning to Orioles in 2013

Gary Allenson, Brad Komminsk and two others not returning to Orioles in 2013
Brad Komminsk, the manager of the Orioles' Double-A Bowie affiliate from 2008-10, will not return to the organization for the 2013 season. Komminsk was a field coach at short-season Single-A Aberdeen in 2012 and the year before that was the batting coach for Triple-A Norfolk. Gary Allenson, the manager this season at Aberdeen, also will not return. Larry Jaster and Cesar Devarez will also not be retained for next season as part of some restructuring within the Orioles' baseball...
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Has the time come for the Orioles to trade some of their pitchers?

Has the time come for the Orioles to trade some of their pitchers?
It is a fair question to ask. Do the Orioles now have enough pitching depth that they should consider trading some pitchers this offseason? It appears that the answer is yes. The Orioles have a long list of young pitchers that are lower-salaried and years away from free agency. When it comes to making a trade that is almost as important anymore as how talented the player is. The flip side of the argument is that age-old adage that you never have enough pitching. When you think you do, go get...
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Justin Lord will be the new pitching coach for Delmarva

Justin Lord will be the new pitching coach for Delmarva
The Single-A Delmarva Shorebirds will have a new pitching coach in 2013. Justin Lord has been hired by the Orioles and will join the Shorebirds staff, even though the parent club has not yet announced any coaching assignments for next year. The past two seasons, Lord was pitching coach with the Southern Illinois Miners of the Frontier League. The Miners won the league championship this year. Troy Mattes was the pitching coach the last three seasons at Delmarva and at Bluefield the three...
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Talking Bundy and Gausman with Baseball America's Matt Forman

Talking Bundy and Gausman with Baseball America's Matt Forman
The 2012 season was one where the Orioles saw their pitching staff and pitching depth much improved. To make the future outlook even brighter, the Orioles have two of baseball's best young pitching prospects and one or both could be a mainstay in the rotation at some point next season. Dylan Bundy went 9-3 with a 2.08 ERA in 23 starts this year at three minor league levels and then pitched 1 2/3 scoreless in two major league relief appearances in September. Kevin Gausman went 0-1 with a 3.60...
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Looking at the O's minor league leaders in productive team plate appearances

Looking at the O's minor league leaders in productive team plate appearances
When Mike Boulanger was hired by Dan Duquette in January as the Orioles' minor league hitting coordinator, Boulanger told me he would track something he called productive team plate appearances both by O's minor league players and teams. PTPA, similar to something Buck Showalter referred to as productive outs for Orioles (or POFO), can be a hit, a walk, a sac bunt, a sac fly, hitting behind the runner or making the pitcher work with an eight-pitch at-bat. You get the point. It's a plate...
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Nearly 800 minor league innings later, Zach Clark makes 40-man roster

Nearly 800 minor league innings later, Zach Clark makes  40-man roster
If you are an elite prospect like Dylan Bundy, you can make it on your team's 40-man roster the day you sign a contract - and he did. Zach Clark took a longer road, but the former UMBC pitcher and Wilmington, Del., native finally made it yesterday. Clark got an important phone call Wednesday morning as he drove in his car with his wife. He was told that at 29 and after seven seasons, 171 games and 758 innings pitched in the Orioles' minors, that he was added to the 40-man. Not bad for a...
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Should the Orioles have interest in Dan Haren? (plus Zach Clark quotes)

Should the Orioles have interest in Dan Haren? (plus Zach Clark quotes)
There have been no reports linking the Orioles to Angels pitcher Dan Haren, but there have been plenty of reports indicating the Angels are actively trying to trade Haren this week. The Angels must decide by midnight Eastern time Friday whether to pick up his $15.5 million option for next season or deal him before that. The acquiring team would have to take on that option and/or negotiate a new deal with Haren. From 2005-2011, Haren posted a 3.49 ERA and pitched an average of 226 innings....
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Pitching and defense can take you a long way

Pitching and defense can take you a long way
Pitching and defense. Two Orioles staples from way back. They both improved in the second half of the season and they helped each other get better. At the end of the 2012 season, the Orioles were one of the best defensive teams in baseball and from where they had come from, that was a huge improvement. The Orioles were the only team in baseball to win three Gold Glove awards. Who saw that coming in April or May, when the O's were probably baseball's worst defensive team? J.J. Hardy, Matt...
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Could the Orioles make a big splash in free agency?

Could the Orioles make a big splash in free agency?
This caught me a bit by surprise. While the Baltimore media generally has been reporting that the Orioles are not likely to make a big dollar free agent signing this winter, ESPN's Buster Olney feels they may do just that and said he is not alone in that opinion. The article cannot be linked as it is part of ESPN.com's premium content, but Olney cites the Orioles as having money to spend and now more credibility for possible free agents after 93 wins and a playoff appearance. "They are...
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A look at a stat where O's minor league hitters made big improvement in 2012

A look at a stat where O's minor league hitters made big improvement in 2012
There can be a variety of ways to try and measure the impact that a minor league coach or instructor has in his job. Do individual players get better on his watch? Do some of those players make the major leagues and help the big club? But there can be no doubt that Orioles minor league batters made a huge gain in one key statistical area in their first season under the watchful eye of minor league hitting coordinator Mike Boulanger, who was hired by Dan Duquette last January. In...
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