As the MLB free agent process plays out this winter, Orioles fans will be watching closely to see what their team does. They may also be watching a player from another team closely.

What Oriole fan would not be happy to see Juan Soto leave the New York Yankees? Even if he wound up with another team in the American League East, it would badly hurt the current division champs.

The New York offense seemed like a two-man show at times in 2024 and any O’s fan would be happy to see that as a one-man show next year.

Soto had a monster year on offense, batting .288/.419/.569/.989 with 31 doubles, four triples, 41 homers and 109 RBIs. His OPS ranked third in the majors and was his best since posting a .999 for the Nats in 2021.

He is the rare player who walked (129) more than he struck out (119), posting an 18.1 walk percentage.

There’s fan interference, and then there’s grabbing an outfielder’s glove and ripping the baseball out of it with help from a friend. That’s a whole other level of intrusive, as well as dumb.

The media loves to shine a spotlight on these people, as ESPN.com did Tuesday night with tremendous enthusiasm. Editors drool over it. Reporters are ordered out of the press box and into the stands for an exclusive interview. Or in the case of the two imbeciles in the Yankees jerseys sitting in the front row for Game 4 of the World Series, race to a bar across the street and give the guys their 15 minutes of fame.

You pay an exorbitant price for tickets and get ejected in the first inning. Such a brilliant move. The decision came down to doing that or using a toaster oven as a bath toy.

Jeffrey Maier was too young to drink in 1996, and he wasn’t tossed out of Yankee Stadium after reaching out to deflect Derek Jeter’s fly ball into the stands in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series as Orioles right fielder Tony Tarasco camped under it at the wall.

Neither one caught it. Get the story straight. Maier knocked the ball into the seats for the tying home run and was treated like a hero, including appearances on national talk shows. The Daily News made arrangements for Maier to sit behind the Yankees dugout for the World Series.  

On the one hand, some complained about a lack of star-power last year when No. 5 seed Texas played No. 6 seed Arizona in a World Series matchup featuring teams that played in the Wild Card round.

This year is very different.

For just the fifth time since 1995, the World Series features the winningest clubs in each league. It is the first World Series pitting the major markets of New York and Los Angeles since 1981.

While some fans may not be excited about a Yankees-Dodgers matchup, the ratings figure to be good, maybe great. Last year’s five-game World Series with the Rangers and Diamondbacks was the least watched with an average audience of 9.08 million viewers.

According to a Forbes article, the TV ratings have been mostly good this year.

Jumping around the baseball world with a few random notes and takes.

Well at least this year the narrative that the top teams don’t win in baseball and that it’s hard to have a five-day layoff before the playoffs for division winners, were blown all to heck.

We need a new narrative!

Last year wild card teams played in the World Series when No. 5 seed Texas beat No. 6 seed Arizona.

This year’s matchup is the top-seed New York Yankees from the American League and No. 1 seed Los Angeles Dodgers from the National League.

Now we know for certain there will be playoff baseball in Baltimore this year. That Oriole Park at Camden Yards will host at least two home games and hopefully many more.

With Friday's 7-2 win over Minnesota, the Orioles wrapped up the No. 4 seed, the top Wild Card seed, and will host a series next week, beginning Tuesday versus either the Tigers or Royals.

It's a best two-of-three series with all games at the higher seed, which will be the Orioles.

Can't wait to see and hear the Yard rocking as it was last season in the American League Division Series.

Detroit is currently holding the No. 5 seed to be the O's opponent. The Tigers lead the Royals by one game. Should they tie, Kansas City gets the No. 5 spot via winning the tiebreaker.

With 5-3 and 9-7 wins the last two nights at Yankee Stadium, the Orioles can sweep their three-game series at New York tonight.

The Orioles (88-70) have four games left in the regular season and a series at Minnesota beginning tomorrow night.

They have five sweeps this year of at least three games, but none since early June. They swept three at Boston April 9-11, versus Minnesota April 15-17 and at Cincinnati May 3-5. Their past two sweeps are four-game sweeps at the Chicago White Sox May 23-26 and at Tampa Bay June 7-10.

In going 8-4 this season against the Yankees, the Orioles have a team ERA of 3.75 allowing a .698 OPS in the 12 games. The O's batters score 5.08 runs per game with a .754 OPS.

In going 4-1 at Yankee Stadium, the Orioles have scored 40 runs with a .320 batting average and .908 OPS.

As the phrase goes the Orioles have been “getting the band back together” getting some of their injured list players back recently as Jacob Webb, Danny Coulombe, Ryan Mountcastle, Ramón Urías, Jordan Westburg and Heston Kjerstad have all made it back to the active roster.

It is a big boost to a team that recently had 12 players on the injured list.

And while the O’s pitching staff took a big injury hit even before the All-Star break, some MLB stats indicate that the Orioles have not been hurt as badly on the injury front as other clubs. At least when looking at player games missed.

This is total games that players on the injured list have missed this year for each club and each missed game counts the same whether it is an All-Star that is out or the last guy on the roster. So we need to keep that in mind.

But here are the top clubs in most player games missed to this point, according to Stats Perform:

NEW YORK – The mailbag boarded an Acela early Tuesday morning to Moynihan Train Hall, free from the usual inspections that come at airports. You could carry a human head and no one would notice. But if you see something, say something.

Among the mailbag’s many wonderful qualities is a water-proof exterior, which also protects it from champagne, beer and close talkers. Ideal for clubhouse celebrations.

Unfortunately, it didn’t get past Yankee Stadium security. Gotta have a credential.

This is the latest sequel to the beloved 2008 original. Any thoughts of editing questions have been eliminated like the White Sox in June.

Also, my mailbag clinches and yours flinches.

The Orioles last three-game win streak came over 30 games ago. They won three straight July 14-20, wrapping around the All-Star break with a win to end the first half and two to start the second half.

They have not won three straight over a three-day period since taking four in a row from June 26-29. With two wins in the first three games versus Houston, the Orioles tonight look for their first home series win over the Astros since May 25-27, 2015. And a win would give them another three-game win streak.

The Orioles ended Houston's nine-game road winning streak 7-5 Friday night and won again yesterday 3-2.

Earlier today the Yankees beat Colorado 10-3 to improve to 77-54. They lead the Orioles (76-55) by one game pending the O's result tonight. Aaron Judge hit two homers today for New York, hitting No. 50 and No. 51.

Jackson Holliday's three-run, pinch-hit double in the sixth inning Saturday afternoon provided all the O's runs in their 3-2 win. It was Holliday's first pinch-hit appearance in MLB.

The Cleveland Guardians, the American League Central leaders who hold the best record in the AL, have been tough to beat for the Orioles. Both this year and in recent seasons.

Cleveland hit three homers accounting for eight runs last night as they beat Baltimore 10-3 to take the opener of this four-game series. David Fry and Bo Naylor hit three-run homers and José Ramírez added a two-run shot.

The Guardians are 3-1 this year versus the Orioles and have won seven of the past 11 games between the teams. In their last 45 games, Cleveland is 30-15 against Baltimore.

The Guardians are 66-42 and are 34-15 at home. They have won four in a row and seven of their past nine games. 

The Orioles are 4-2 in the last six games, scoring 42 runs. But over their past 12 games, they are 5-7. And since June 21, they are 16-20.

On Tuesday night during the All-Star game in Texas, no doubt at some point the national television audience will hear one of the broadcasters point out the two O’s starters in the game – Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson – were the first two draft picks by Mike Elias after joining the Orioles.

Rutschman was the No. 1 pick in that 2019 draft but the Orioles got Henderson at No. 42 overall. Baseball America had him at No. 30 in their pre-draft projections.

The first two picks of the new regime are now All-Stars.

“It is definitely a testament to Elias,” Henderson said in the clubhouse pregame yesterday. “I know Rutch was obviously the consensus 1/1 pick. But to take a chance on me, I can’t thank him enough for that. Just glad to be able to go out there and help the O’s win some games.”

So why was Gunnar still there at pick No. 42?

They did it the hard way. It began last Friday where the Orioles were headed into a six-game stretch versus Philadelphia and the New York Yankees, the teams with the two best records in their respective leagues.

Where some fans might have been happy with a 3-3 split, the Orioles won both series and go 4-2 in this stretch. And yes, they did do it the hard way, losing the series-opening game each time and then winning two in a row.

They did it by bashing two of baseball’s best pitchers in 2024 in Phillies right-hander Zack Wheeler and Yankees right-hander Luis Gil.

Wheeler entered his start against the Orioles Sunday – in the game that was to decide that series – at 8-3 with a 2.16 ERA. His ERA was 1.57 in his previous five starts. Then the Orioles got nine hits and eight runs off him by hitting four homers against him in 4 1/3 innings. Wheeler entered that start with a 0.62 HR rate on the year among the best in baseball. But against the Orioles he allowed a career-high in homers and tied his career high for earned runs.

Then in the game to decide the series in the Bronx, they faced Gil. He entered his start at 9-1 with a 2.03 ERA and was 8-0 with an ERA of 1.14 in his previous nine starts. He had given up 4.4 hits per every nine innings this year.

The Orioles (48-25) and the New York Yankees (51-25) are now separated by just 1.5 games in the standings with New York in first place heading into today's third and deciding game of the current series.

The Yankees won 4-2 on Tuesday night and the Orioles won 7-6 in 10 innings last night. The Orioles are 4-2 versus the Yankees this year and five of those six games were decided by two runs or fewer with Baltimore going 3-2 in those games.

A win today would give the Orioles back-to-back series wins over the Phillies and Yankees after losing the first game of each series.

The Orioles have had just one day off since May 31 but have gone 13-6 in this span against the Rays, Jays, Braves, Phillies and Yankees.

The Orioles are 18-7 (.720) in games this year versus American League East teams while the Yankees are 10-11 (.476).

The Yankees Aaron Judge was not happy. He got plunked by a pitch in the hand on Tuesday night and missed Wednesday's game.

He was quoted by New York media after Tuesday's game.

“Definitely pissed,” Judge said about the pitch that got him. “There was a couple balls up and in. It’s part of it. They like to throw in.”

If they, the Orioles, like to throw in, where do the Yankees like to throw?

As of game time last night, New York pitchers had hit 40 batters this year to lead the American League. With 24, the Orioles staff tied for 12th most. The team with the fewest HPs in the AL had hit 23 batters. Yankees pitchers had hit the Orioles five times this year and O's pitchers had hit the Yankees three times.

NEW YORK – The Orioles are two-thirds into a series hyped by media as a do-or-die matchup. Lose two games or get swept and don’t bothering playing out the rest of the season.

The club tried to downplay it after the last homestand. Manager Brandon Hyde and his players can read the standings. They also can read a calendar.

If you’re still reading this, here are a few thoughts and opinions about what’s transpired at Yankee Stadium.

* The fuss over the hit-by-pitches in the first game was over the top.

Not unexpected, mind you. Just way over the top.

One pitcher tonight will be making his third MLB start while the other has made 300. One will be looking for his first major league win while the other has 145. O's rookie Cade Povich pitched 11 1/3 innings his first two starts while the Yankees' Gerrit Cole has 1,859 innings under his belt.

Povich can't even think about winning Cy Young Awards. He just wants to establish his MLB career. Not only has Cole finished in the top five for the Cy Young Award six times, he's been in the top two three times and was the AL Cy Young Winner just last year when he went 15-4 with a 2.63 ERA. Tonight, it's Povich against Cole in Game 2 of this series.

Reverse lock anyone?

The Orioles have gone 21 straight AL East series without losing one. But if they are to keep that streak going, they need to win the next two nights in the Bronx against the defending Cy Young winner in the American League one night and the next beat the pitcher in right-hander Luis Gil, who leads the AL currently in ERA.

Hey, the Orioles won their series at home with Philadelphia after losing the series opener on Friday night.

NEW YORK – If Cade Povich made a previous trip to New York, the memory isn’t sharp enough to cut through the fog.

“Maybe one time for like a night,” he said, “but other than that, no.”

Povich isn’t a tourist this week. His third major league start is coming tonight and he’s facing the team that’s blocking the Orioles from first place.

“It’s definitely going to be cool,” he said, certain that he hadn’t stepped inside Yankee Stadium before yesterday. “Knowing from watching games and growing up around baseball, it’s probably going to be a rowdy atmosphere, but at the same time probably pretty fun.

“We played in Regionals at Arkansas and it was pretty rowdy there, and I had a blast pitching there. Honestly, just real excited for it.”

For the Orioles, Monday had to be a glorious day. After playing 17 games in 17 days – and going 12-5 versus the Rays, Jays, Rays, Braves and Phillies – they got the day off.

A chance, finally to rest and briefly regroup.

But the intensity returns quickly as tonight the Orioles begin a three-game series in the Bronx against the first-place New York Yankees.

The Orioles (47-24) and the Yankees (50-24) are the two top teams currently in the American League. Atop the East, New York holds a lead by 1.5 games.

The clubs have been eyeing each other all year. New York has gone 30-11 since they lost three of four at Camden Yards in a series that ended May 2. The next day they began the 30-11 run but could not shake a Baltimore team that has gone 27-13 in that time.

The Orioles’ bats hadn’t even cooled Sunday afternoon and manager Brandon Hyde already was asked about the upcoming series against the Yankees. Fans hadn’t cleared the parking lots. Players hadn’t finished their showers and meals. Kids still ran the bases with music playing from “Frozen” and “The Little Mermaid.”

(If you have young children or grandkids, you know.)

Under the sea is fun. Being under the Yankees is not. But the gap has closed to 1 ½ games with the Orioles going 4-2 on their homestand.

The Orioles are 22-12 against teams currently above .500. The Yankees hold the best record in baseball at 50-24 despite losing back-to-back games in Boston. The matchup in the Bronx comes on the heels of a series against a Phillies team that has the best record in the National League.

"We get a day off first, which is well deserved and needed for a lot of our guys," said manager Brandon Hyde, his immediate response to a question about going to New York.

The Orioles' six-game stretch against the teams with the best records in the National League and American League continues under sunny skies this afternoon in downtown Baltimore. The Orioles (45-24) host Philadelphia (47-22) in the second of a three-game series at Oriole Park. They face the Yankees next week in the Bronx starting Tuesday night.

Last night's game featured a sellout crowd of 43,987 and a playoff atmosphere. A close game throughout that had a unique ending with a rain delay of one hour and 11 minutes before the 11th inning. When play resumed, Alec Bohm's two-run double off Jacob Webb gave the Phillies a 5-3 lead and win as the Orioles could not answer in the last of the 11th.

Baltimore came back three times to tie this game. Down 1-0 in the last of the third, Adley Rutschman's RBI double made it 1-1. Down 2-1 in the eighth, Anthony Santander's 15th home run tied it. Down 3-2 in the 10th, Cedric Mullins scored on a wild pitch and got his left hand in around the tag on a great slide to even the score 3-3. 

But the Orioles went 1-for-13 in the game with runners in scoring position and are 3-for-30 the last three games with RISP.

After an 8-1 win over Boston Friday night, the Yankees (50-22, .694) lead the Orioles by 3.5 games atop the AL East.