Reliever Kam Mickolio who was bothered by an inflammed bicep tendon late last year, says he is now 100 percent. "I got it checked here Friday by our trainers and everything checked out 100 percent. They said they were impressed with the range of motion and strength. Everything is looking up right now. "I've been throwing for a couple of weeks now. At first, you just get the cobwebs out, now it's feeling probably better than it's ever felt, I'm real happy about it." Mickolio rested...

A crowd of around 12,000 was on hand for FanFest Saturday at the Baltimore Convention Center. It was a great day to get autographs, talk baseball, enjoy many fan forums and for some of us to get the chance to interview several Orioles players. Here are some notes from Saturday with a lot to come in the days ahead.

Now the O's have Wiggy and Miggy. Miguel Tejada once drove in 150 runs while with the Orioles - that's a single season O's record. Another year he batted .330, that is the second best batting average in team history. Yet he returns to Baltimore older, with more baggage this time (I don't mean luggage) and as a player whose skills must be declining at least a little by this point.

O's pitcher Jeremy Guthrie says it's too early to predict whether he and the club will avoid an arbitration hearing. Guthrie's agent recently submitted a salary request of 3.625 million for 2010 while the O's countered at 2.3 million if it gets to an actual hearing. "It's so early in the process, we filed numbers. I think the numbers set up the parameters for future negotiations. We'll let the process work out and hopefully it works out where both sides are pleased," the 30-year-old...

Andy MacPhail didn't mince words when asked about Luke Scott during a fan forum at FanFest. He didn't try to put a positive spin on Scott's big ups and downs as a hitter. "He is the streakiest hitter I've ever been around in my life. There was a three-month stretch where he absolutely carried us. As our guys say, it doesn't matter who is on the mound, when he is going good he can hit anybody. "Our job is, and we think we can do it, is to get him to not have the peaks and valleys to...

After today's press conference to re-introduce Miguel Tejada to the fans of Baltimore, the team's newest player said the Orioles were not the only team that sought his services. "Before the Orioles, there was another team that I considered and they wanted me to play shortstop. I waited, because I felt this was the time to make the move to third base. When my agent told me about the Orioles, I said to talk to them, I want to go there." Steve Melewski talks with Miguel Tejada about...

A talk-show caller had a question on a Baltimore radio show last night. How many games does Andy MacPhail feel the 2010 Orioles can win? You won't get a straight answer from MacPhail on that one. Almost any answer he could give would upset someone. If he took a real conservative route and said the team could improve to 75 wins, some fans would say "is that all" and bemoan another long season. If he said let's shoot for .500 and 81 wins, some would say "there go the O's, shooting to...

Vito Frabizio is a guy who left high school during his senior year, almost never pitched as a youngster and was not drafted by any Major League team. So how did this right-hander from West Islip, New York wind up on the mound, pitching well for the Bluefield Orioles last summer? He went 4-4, 2.96 in 12 starts and was third in the Appalachian League in innings and strikeouts and sixth in ERA. In 70 innings, the 20-year-old gave up 57 hits with 16 walks and fanned 64. He's emerged as someone...

O's first base prospect Brandon Snyder is smart enough to know that he is likely to begin the 2010 season in the Norfolk Tides' lineup. He'll head to spring training with the Orioles in a few weeks "out to win a job" at the Major League level, but he surely realizes that while his time may come this year, it probably will not be on opening day. One of the mysteries of the 2009 O's minor league season was Snyder's struggles at Triple-A. The O's first-round pick from 2005 hit...

It has been an oft-debated topic this winter. Do the Orioles need a big home run bat in the middle of the lineup? There are varying opinions on that one. A - The O's just don't have a true four-hole hitter. B - The O's can't win without one. C - To keep up in this division, you must have one. D - What if a team has several mid-range homer hitters but not one huge bopper? E - Is it buy the bats, grow the arms, or grow the bats, buy the arms? Just kidding about that last one. I'd like...