More on international intentions and today's game

Armed with more than $8 million in international signing bonus slots, the Orioles are poised to dive head-first into a market where they previously wouldn't dip a toe.

They've already secured six players who have gone through the process of having medicals reviewed, including 16-year-old Dominican shortstop Moises Ramirez. An announcement is expected early next week and will involve prospects from the Dominican and Curaçao, with at least one signing out of Venezuela to follow.

But the plan won't really take off until the Orioles beef up their scouting department, which is one of the areas they've vowed to address as part of their now-public rebuild.

You can't sign more international prospects if you can't find them.

The Orioles are still relatively thin in that department, as anyone in the industry will point out. And it's important to find the right people to fill the gaps. Scouts with contacts in Latin America, for example, who can be trusted.

Cale Cox, assistant director of minor league and international operations, and former pitchers Calvin Maduro and Luis Noel scouted Ramirez. Until yesterday, I didn't realize that Noel had changed careers while staying in the organization.

Noel, who's based in the Dominican, hadn't pitched with an affiliated team since appearing in 29 games with Single-A Delmarva in 2011. He finished his playing career in the independent North American and Frontier leagues in 2012-2013.

Maduro and Joel Bradley are the only international scouts based in the United States. Ji-Young Koo is based in Korea, responsible for the Pacific Rim, and they're the only names on the international side who are listed in the team's media guide. Maduro lives in Maryland and Bradley in Florida.

The Orioles employ three scouts in the Dominican, two in Australia, two in Europe, one in Venezuela, one in Columbia, one in Panama and one in Curaçao. I'm also told there are five or six in the Pacific Rim.

"We've got pretty good coverage," said one person in the organization. "We could use more."

Perhaps most important is for the Orioles to expand their presence in Venezuela, where it's common for teams to have three or four scouts, plus four or five in the Dominican. The Orioles haven't developed a player from Venezuela who reached the majors with them, losing one opportunity when they traded left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez to the Red Sox for reliever Andrew Miller.

Yefry Ramírez, acquired from the Yankees at last year's non-waiver deadline for international bonus pool money, is making his seventh major league start and eighth appearance. He faced the Rangers on July 14 at Camden Yards and shut them out on two hits with seven strikeouts over five innings.

Ramírez has gone five innings in each of his last three starts and his ERA has risen from 3.09 to 4.59.

In his last outing at Yankee Stadium, Ramírez gave up six runs and six hits and walked three batters in a 6-3 loss.

Left-hander Martin Perez held the Orioles to one run over seven innings on July 14. He's 2-4 with a 5.36 ERA and 1.381 WHIP in seven career starts against them over 42 innings.

Danny Valencia is 10-for-29 (.345) with a double and home run against Perez. Chris Davis is 3-for-19 (.158) with a double and 10 strikeouts. Adam Jones is 4-for-21 (.190) with a home run.