Steve Melewski

A matter of pitching

A matter of pitching
When you go from last in the American League to sixth in team ERA in one year, that is an impressive improvement. The Orioles did that in 2012, with a 3.90 team ERA after posting a 4.89 ERA to rank 14th the year before. The improved pitching - both the quality and depth of it - was a big key to the club's 24-win improvement. Here are some pitching questions the club may be looking at right now. Is there any lingering talk of moving Jim Johnson to the rotation?: I don't hear of any and it...
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Steve Melewski

When it comes to finding good ballplayers, should character count?

When it comes to finding good ballplayers, should character count?
When it comes to selecting baseball players for your team, should character count? I say a big yes to that, and in a sport that seemingly has a stat for everything, how can you rate how much having players of solid character helps your team? Do you believe in having a strong clubhouse? I don't know how to rate it, but I think it's important and was a crucial element in the success of the 2012 Orioles. Before he hit his 100th career homer on Aug. 28, Adam Jones went through a long homerless...
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Steve Melewski

Quick takes on the big trade, strikeouts, David Price and more

Quick takes on the big trade, strikeouts, David Price and more
Some quick takes today and please jump in with comments and opinions as you provide your takes on mine. The Toronto Blue Jays, 2013 American League East champs?: Pardon me if I wait for them to play the season before attending the Blue Jays' victory parade. No, the Orioles don't need to counter this move. This is not chess, or the Red Sox and Yankees. The Orioles need to make moves to try and improve their team and that held true before the big Miami-Toronto trade and still does. I'm...
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Steve Melewski

One vote for Orioles to offer Mark Reynolds arbitration

One vote for Orioles to offer Mark Reynolds arbitration
I've come to this conclusion and I wonder if the Orioles are thinking the same way: If they truly want Mark Reynolds to be their first baseman in 2013, they should simply offer him arbitration and guarantee he stays with the club through next year. The Orioles must decide whether to offer Reynolds arbitration by Nov. 30 or they could non-tender him. That means no arbitration offer, with Reynolds becoming a free agent able to sign with any club. There are estimates that Reynolds, who earned...
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Steve Melewski

The scoop on Schoop's bat and the AL Manager of the Year Award

The scoop on Schoop's bat and the AL Manager of the Year Award
He may be ranked as the Orioles' third-best prospect, but there are a few offensive concerns about infielder Jonathan Schoop. In my recent interview with Matt Forman of Baseball America, I asked about them. Forman wrote up the new O's top 10 prospects list recently published by Baseball America. I spoke with him about Dylan Bundy and Kevin Gausman here and published a Q&A with him here. After those two interviews, there were still a few questions I asked Forman that have yet to appear in...
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Steve Melewski

A look at second base, backup catcher and the bullpen

A look at second base, backup catcher and the bullpen
While the hot stove season is still in warm-up mode, let's take a look at three aspects of the 2012 Orioles and what they might look like next season. Are the O's set at second base?: The Orioles have a lot of candidates to play at second base, but no one jumps out as the regular right now unless you have confidence that Brian Roberts will return healthy and regain his old job. Clearly the club can't count on that, but rather can hope for it. Recent addition Alexi Casilla brings a good...
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Steve Melewski

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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Steve Melewski

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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Steve Melewski

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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Steve Melewski

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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Steve Melewski

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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Steve Melewski

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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Steve Melewski

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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Steve Melewski

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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Steve Melewski

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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Steve Melewski

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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Steve Melewski

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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Steve Melewski

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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Steve Melewski

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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