Dave Trembley was asked about leadership. What makes a leader? Do the Orioles have one? "Leadership is not what you say it's what you do. The way you go about it, the ability to offer suggestions or make corrections with younger players. Leadership is a presence. It's reliability, it's etched in stone like concrete. It's day in and day out, what you stand for." He provided an example from this year where he felt Brian Roberts showed leadership.

Should O's fans be concerned that Baseball America has released its top 20 prospects for five leagues where O's have affiliates and just three O's players have been mentioned? RHP Matt Hobgood was named the 4th best prospect in the Appalachian League while LHP Brian Matusz was rated number two and LHP Zach Britton as the 15th best prospect in the Carolina League. The O's had none of the top 20 prospects in the Gulf Coast League, the South Atlantic League or the New York-Penn League.

His name is Manuel Hernandez and the 17-year-old is the first player the Orioles have ever signed from the country of Guatemala. He has played outfield and infield for his national team and was signed last Friday by the O's during a ceremony that made big news in his homeland. No player from Guatemala has ever made the Major Leauges and Hernandez is just the seventh to ever sign with a big league club. He is a 6'1", 170-pound right handed hitter and thrower.

Billy Rowell, the 9th pick in the first-round of the 2006 draft, is becoming a bit of a problem for the O's organization. His stats are declining each season. Worse yet, some Keys' observers this year questioned his effort and work ethic. Others said he was far from the most popular player in the clubhouse. Somewhere amidst all of this there is massive power potential that remains untapped. He has hit just 16 homers in two full seasons in the Carolina League.

Chris Tillman said the 2009 season was quite a special one for him. It began with him as a Triple-A rookie at the age of 20 and ended with the 21-year-old Tillman picking up Major League wins vs. the Angels and Yankees. "I've grown a lot," Tillman said. "Coming into this season, I didn't have much of a changeup, didn't have much of a clue about how to hold runners on. I had only Double-A time. I've come far with my changeup. I've come farther than I expected to this year." After...

The Orioles announced today that David Stockstill will officially begin in his new position as the club's director of international scouting on April 5th. Stockstill, who has headed up the O's minor league operations since November of 2004, is in Florida now and will remain there through early April to help setup the club's minor league rosters. In his new role, David will oversee all the club's international operations, including scouting in the Far East, Latin America and beyond. He...

While the Orioles Major League season is over, about 60 O's minor leaguers continue to take part in instructional league workouts in Sarasota, Florida. The group is made up of mostly players from the O's lower minors and, as the title says, players get instruction on aspects of their game that needs improving. They also play about 15 games vs. players from other organizations. O's director of player development, David Stockstill, said the workouts, that come to an end next Friday, have...

It is a big question for the O's front office to answer at some point. Do they already have their future players at first and third base in house, or do they need to go bat shopping at one or both of those positions? And, what if Josh Bell is the future at third and Brandon Snyder the future at first, but neither is ready on opening day, 2010. Then what? The O's seem pretty sold that Bell could be the heir apparent at third. But he has not yet played at Triple-A ball.

We're talking about a coach, not a player. But a coach that has had a major impact on some key O's minor league pitchers for two years now. Norfolk pitching coach Mike Griffin was the winner of the 2009 Cal Ripken Sr. Player Development Award. It goes to the person who best exemplifies the qualities of the late O's coach and manager. Griffin joined the O's organization for the 2008 season and was immediately matched with some of the club's top young arms at Bowie. The Baysox were...

In this space yesterday, I featured Mike Griffin, the O's minor league pitching coach who spent most of the last two years tutoring pitchers like Chris Tillman, Brad Bergesen, David Hernandez and Jason Berken. They made up the bulk of his pitching rotations at Bowie in 2008 and Norfolk this past season. All four pitchers made the Majors this year and were happy to give Griffin a lot of credit for his help. Griffin has a track record of developing Major League pitchers. While in the Boston...