The Orioles are not guaranteeing that Jackson Holliday will be their starting second baseman when the 2025 season starts, but it’s pretty clear they expect exactly that result.

At age 20 in 60 games last season, he hit .189/.255/.311/.565 for an OPS+ of just 66.

His struggles led some fans to question how he became the No. 1 ranked player in the minors and to question his potential? I can remind you how – he earned it.

I asked manager Brandon Hyde this week if Holliday is his guy at second base?

“Think we’re going to give him every opportunity,” the skipper said. “Loved the way he finished the season last year (going 4-for-5 the last weekend). I like the swing adjustments that he’s made. I just talked to him yesterday, he feels great. And you know, he’s a big part of the future for us. We’re going to give him every opportunity this spring.”

For someone who covers the minor leagues as I do it is a question to ponder: When referring to the Baysox moving forward, do I go with Chesapeake, their new name, or in some cases is Bowie still acceptable?

A case like when I refer to a player who spent time in 2024 with the Baysox. They were still Bowie then, so do I say this player hit such and such at High-A Aberdeen and this number at Double-A Bowie? Or just use Chesapeake?

There is no handbook and there are no right or wrong answers.

But in noting some recent stories in this space, I did report on the name change to the Chesapeake Baysox.

“I think when we looked at where our fans are coming from, we wanted to be inclusive of the entire Chesapeake Bay watershed,” said Brian Shallcross, in his 20^th year as Baysox general manager. “We saw people coming from the Eastern Shore, west of the Potomac. We were surprised when we dug into the stats of just how far and ranging our fanbase was. We wanted to be inclusive of all those fans without forgetting our roots.”

In the Orioles' search for a top-of-the-rotation type starting pitcher, they could turn back to a pitcher whose name came up a lot at the midseason trade deadline – lefty Garret Crochet. 

Baseball insiders feel he is a prime trade prospect right now. He has two years of team control left for the Chicago White Sox, but they are not likely to win much in those two seasons. He could help them more in the future when they hope to be better by acquiring young position player talent to help them down the road.

To get Crochet for the next two years, a team will have to part with some premium talent very likely. If the Orioles were willing to part with one of Jackson Holliday, Coby Mayo, Samuel Basallo or Heston Kjerstad they could get the White Sox's attention. But that is a pretty big if. Very big.

MLB Network insider Jon Heyman recently said four clubs - the Orioles, Red Sox, Dodgers and Phillies - are showing the most interest in acquiring the left-hander.

Crochet, age 25, went 6-12 with a 3.58 ERA for a 121-loss team. Over 146 innings he allowed 123 hits with a 1.068 WHIP with 2.0 walks per nine and 12.9 strikeouts. He didn’t have enough innings to qualify for league leaders but would have been first in K/9, sixth in WHIP and 10^th in opponent OPS at .642.