A few quick off-the-field news items, and then you can quickly return to our extensive Winter Meetings coverage: Nationals hitting coach Rick Eckstein will donate his kidney to his brother on Wednesday, according to Bill Ladson. Kidney disease runs in the Eckstein family. Rick's brother Ken, who will receive the kidney, had a previous transplant in 1991. Rick and the entire family are huge proponents of organ donation. Nationals principal owner Mark Lerner is blogging from the Winter...

The common feeling here among executives and scouts is that the Orioles are more likely to re-sign shortstop Cesar Izturis if they land a big bat at first base. We can debate whether Adam LaRoche would constitute a big bat. The Rays wanted reliever David Hernandez for Jason Bartlett, and they're still more interested in acquiring bullpen arms. Same with the Twins in any deal involving J.J. Hardy. It seems like every team here is looking for relievers. Again, we go back to Hernandez's...

Whether it was a concerted effort to do so or not, not long after Andy MacPhail announced the acquisition of Mark Reynolds on Monday at the Winter Meetings, the O's had plenty of praise for young Josh Bell. They wanted everyone to know they still like Bell -- a lot, they say -- and still think he could have a future in Baltimore. Bell hit .214-3-12 in 53 O's games in 2010. He fanned 53 times in 159 at bats, but it was his first time in the majors and the O's say they are not giving up on...

Sounds like another story about Sidney Ponson's drinking escapades, but you would be wrong. It appears that former Oriole Ty Wigginton has agreed to a two-year deal with the Colorado Rockies. So much for leaving that door open. Wigginton will serve as a right-handed bat off the bench, which would have been a nice role for him in Baltimore. I knew he would hold out for a multi-year deal, but I assumed he would wait to find out whether he could find a starting job at first or third base. A...

The Orioles arranged a conference call with new third baseman Mark Reynolds, who spoke for about seven minutes before we let him enjoy the rest of his night. Reynolds said he was surprised to learn that the Diamondbacks traded him this morning. "Obviously, I didn't want to leave," he said. "I have my house here, my friends, family. I have a pretty good setup with spring training 10 minutes down the road. But I'm looking forward to it, going back east. I'm from Virginia Beach, so it's a...

To prove we are really here and not blogging from happy hour in Baltimore, take a look at this video. It's from the lobby at the winter meetings, how exciting. We actually did take time to talk about today's O's pickup of third baseman Mark Reynolds and what that could mean to the team. Plus we talked about what move or moves could be coming next. It is PG rated, suitable viewing for any O's fan. Steve and Roch discuss the acquisition of Mark Reynolds and other possible moves on the...

Here are some comments from today's press conference from Arizona general manager Kevin Towers: In the deal, the O's acquired Mark Reynolds and a player to be named or cash for pitchers David Hernandez and Kam Mickolio. "Sometimes you have to move a good ballplayer to acquire good right-handed arms. We feel like we've done so with Hernandez and Mickolio." "Mark Reynolds was a great Diamondback player. A lot of people ask how can you move 30-plus home runs? He's a great defender and a...

Manager Buck Showalter is aware of Mark Reynolds' low batting average this year. He's also aware of Reynolds' obscene strikeout totals. He doesn't seem to care. "You can find negatives on every player," he said. "I understand where Mark's history is. He would have led our club in home runs, RBIs, runs scored, walks, a lot of categories. That's just something we don't have. We're not going to beat him up on the negatives. "We dwell on the positive things that he brings. He brings...

A couple of readers have pointed out that Mark Reynolds was hurt late last year. Maybe that is one reason why he went just 4-for-60 with 28 strikeouts, no homers and a .278 OPS for Arizona last September. O's president Andy MacPhail said there are no injury concerns at all right now with Reynolds. "He had a thumb (issue) that he played through, but we completely vetted the medicals. He came through (his physical) according to our guys as clean as anybody they've ever seen in that...

President of baseball operations Andy MacPhail made it to the podium this afternoon, accompanied by manager Buck Showalter and Diamondbacks general manager Kevin Towers. The topic, of course, was today's trade of third baseman Mark Reynolds to the Orioles for relievers David Hernandez and Kam Mickolio. "We made no secret of the fact that we were looking to augment our offense this off-season," MacPhail said. "We don't think we're necessarily done being able to improve our...