NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A national reporter today quoted an executive from an unidentified team as saying the Orioles were in "hard" in their pursuit of free agent first baseman Adam LaRoche of the Nationals.
Not only are the Orioles not in hot pursuit of LaRoche right now, they did not even speak to him or his representative today here at the Winter Meetings.
"We like Adam LaRoche, but to say the Orioles are in heavy negotiations with him is not accurate," Orioles executive vice president Dan...
If Billy Butler is made available in a trade by Kansas City, of course the Orioles would be interested. Who wouldn't want a 26-year-old hitter coming off a year where he hit .313 with 29 homers, 107 RBIs and an .882 OPS?
In addition Butler will make only $8 million per season the next two years and his contract calls for a club option of $12.5 million for 2015. He has played 158 or more games the last four years with an OPS that never was lower than .822.
Yeah, plenty of teams would take a...
It doesn't take long for one tweet to create a stir and that tweet came from ESPN's Jayson Stark a few moments ago when he tweeted this:
"Here's another team to add to list of Adam LaRoche pursuers: The #Orioles. An exec of one interested team says O's in on him "hard."
This would make sense from one standpoint in that LaRoche is an upgrade over Mark Reynolds. I have had more than one person at these meetings tell me they felt the O's didn't non-tender Reynolds so much due to...
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - It is a good question. Which young pitcher or pitchers would the Orioles be most likely to trade for a hitter and which pitcher or pitchers are most sought after by other clubs?
I would guess any of the young pitchers could be had for the right player. Outside of Dylan Bundy, is there any O's pitcher that is completely off limits? Doubtful.
As for what the other teams like, the beauty there is in the eye of the beholder. Brian Matusz may appeal more to one team because...
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Dan Duquette's Sunday night briefing with Baltimore reporters did not produce any big news, but it could and maybe will get much busier for the Orioles as the Winter Meetings officially start here today.
Yes, the club is still looking for a hitter and it seems they are more likely to get one via a trade than through a free agent signing. Other clubs seem certain to inquire about the Orioles' young pitchers. They remain interested in re-signing Nate McLouth and Joe...
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - In an interview earlier this week on MASN's "The Mid-Atlantic Sports Report," Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette said contracts talks with free agents Nate McLouth and Joe Saunders were moving at a slow pace.
But tonight, when asked during a video interview with MASNsports.com if he sensed any progress in talks with the pair in recent days he said, "Well, I think they're on a good track."
"We like both Nate and Joe," he added. "They did a great job for...
Mike Boulanger has completed his first season as the Orioles' minor league hitting coordinator. I spoke with him recently to review how things went in 2012 for O's minor league batters overall.
We talked about that in articles that were published earlier here and here. I also asked Boulanger to comment on a few specific players.
Ty Kelly, in 133 games between three clubs, batted .327 with 11 homers, 70 RBIs and an OPS of .892.
"He was third in the organization in runs, RBIs and batting...
The Toronto Blue Jays recently completed a blockbuster 12-player trade where they acquired Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle, John Buck and Emilio Bonifacio from the Marlins.
It's a deal that some believe has shifted the balance of power in the AL East. It's a deal some Orioles fans seem to feel the team has to counter with a move or moves of their own.
I asked executive vice president Dan Duquette just that question this week. Do the Orioles feel pressure to counter the Toronto...
It's been an interesting few days for now-former Orioles prospect Joe Mahoney, who this afternoon was claimed on waivers by the Miami Marlins. Just two days ago, Mahoney was designated for assignment by the Orioles when they traded for Danny Valencia.
Now he is headed to a new club and feels he'll be given a good chance to win an opening day roster spot come next April.
"It's a new opportunity for me and it's exciting," Mahoney said this afternoon. "My wife and I are excited to see a...
Even though a few players have signed in recent days as free agents, the biggest fish remain out there, setting up what could be an active few days next week when baseball's Winter Meetings get going in Nashville, Tenn.
We figure to hear a lot of rumors - maybe even more than usual - about players like Josh Hamilton and Zach Greinke. The Orioles probably won't be playing in that neighborhood, but it seems you can't rule anything right now.
On yesterday's "The Mid-Atlantic Sports Report"...
If you are expecting the Orioles brass to try and manage or downplay the high expectations for their top pitching prospects, Dylan Bundy and Kevin Gausman, don't.
Simply put, the Orioles have two of baseball's best young pitchers in that duo and everyone knows it. When Baseball America releases its next list of the sport's top 100 prospects in February, they could rank among the top 20-25 in the game and Bundy could be No. 1, as he was in the publication's 2012 mid-season listing.
Even...
Luis Pujols, who has a famous cousin and who once managed in the major leagues, has agreed to terms to work on the Orioles' minor league coaching staff for the 2013 season.
The 57-year-old Pujols, whose cousin Albert has hit 475 big league homers, is a native of the Dominican Republic. He played 15 pro seasons and spent nine years as a backup catcher in the majors with Houston, Kansas City and Texas. He hit .193 with six homers and 81 RBIs in 850 career at-bats.
While the Orioles have yet to...
Well, that new contract that Evan Longoria signed with the Tampa Bay Rays was a surprise to me. I guess if there was one player to lock up long-term for that franchise, it's Longoria.
But the Rays had Longoria under team control through the 2016 season. Why add six years to that? Maybe the Rays will be proven to have made a smart move here, but having a player under team control for the next four seasons seems like a very long time to me.
Wasn't there plenty of time over the next few years...
The Orioles say they'd like Nate McLouth back. He played well for the last two months of last year and was the Orioles' best hitter in the playoffs.
Now that he is a free agent, McLouth can sign with any team and the Orioles will likely have competition as they try to retain the 32-year-old lefty hitter.
But maybe one thing they have in their favor is that Baltimore just may be the best place for McLouth. Shouldn't he want to return to the Orioles as well?
McLouth was with the Pirates his...
There seems to be a concern among some of the Orioles' fan base that the club wants to return pretty much the same roster as it had last year. A concern that the club may stand pat, so to speak.
I say one big reason to not worry about that theory is the duo of Dan Duquette and Buck Showalter. Those men were at the controls in 2012, when the Orioles led the universe in roster moves. "Stand pat" is not in their dictionaries.
But if the Orioles did return a club next season that looked a lot...
Jeremy Guthrie went 9-17 with an ERA of 4.33 for the 2011 Orioles. This July, he was traded from Colorado to Kansas City. After his first three starts with the Royals, he was 3-12 with a 6.10 ERA between the two teams.
This week, Guthrie signed a new deal with Kansas City for three years and $25 million. The Yankees signed Hiroki Kuroda to a one-year deal worth $15 million and there were reports that Kuroda could have gotten more from other teams.
While both pitchers are talented veterans,...
On Thanksgiving Day, I'm thankful for baseball. No, it shouldn't outrank the importance of family and friends in our lives, our health and so forth, but it's pretty important to many of us. Some of us make our living in the game and we're glad and thankful there are great O's fans like you out there that make that possible.
So keeping all that in perspective and taking time to relax and just have fun today and not get too deep, I'm thankful for these things among many others:
* That...
The Orioles added infielder Jonathan Schoop and left-handed pitcher Mike Belfiore to their 40-man roster yesterday. It will mean, for one, that each player will report to spring training when the big leaguers do. It also could be a big step for both as they look to get to the majors with the Orioles.
The man who saw the pair play every day this year was Double-A Bowie manager Gary Kendall. Schoop, ranked by Baseball America as the club's No. 3 prospect, spent all season with the Baysox, and...
By 11:59 p.m. Eastern time tonight, the Orioles will have to set their 40-man roster for the Rule 5 draft which will be held Dec. 6 during the upcoming Winter Meetings in Nashville, Tenn.
Essentially the rules state that a player in your organization that is not on your 40-man roster can be taken by another team in the Rule 5 draft if the player was drafted and signed at age 18 or younger and has five years with your club, or the player was drafted and signed at 19 and older and has four years...
An opinion I have heard is that one reason the Orioles were able to make a 24-win improvement during the 2012 season was tied to the fall of the Boston Red Sox, who lost 21 more games in 2012 than the previous year. The Orioles moved forward and the Red Sox fell back. It may be not that simple, but that is a theory that you hear.
Even with Boston having a losing season, the American League East remained a beast last year. Three teams won 90 or more games and once again, two made the...