Today we continue a series of articles on the Orioles' 2009 draft picks. To get more information on the players, we are going to the man that drafted them, O's scouting director Joe Jordan. Earlier, Joe provided his thoughts and analysis on the O's selections in the top ten rounds. In this article he discusses players taken from Rounds 11 through 16. In a follow up next week, he'll talk about some later round picks. All the quotes in the article are from Jordan. Round 11 - Catcher...

Let's survey the issues. Brian Roberts returns to Baltimore for further examination of his back. Kevin Millwood's ERA is 29.70. Nolan Reimold is just getting into games. Mike Gonzalez left an outing due to back stiffness. Matt Wieters is 1 for 13 at bat and the O's record is 3 and 8. Am I wrong or is spring training not going so well? Suddenly, how Miguel Tejada fields his next ground ball doesn't seem so important. I hope on opening night, April 6th, I get to write this sentence: ...

Andy Mitchell admits he was open to leaving the Orioles organization, where he has pitched since 2001. For the third winter in a row, he was a minor league free agent. But after nine years and nearly 800 innings, all in the minors, he is back with the organization for another go around. He re-signed in late January. "I was ready to listen to any offers I might get," the 31-year-old Mitchell said. "I didn't get as many as I wanted and definitely not one as good as the Orioles offer. It...

Last year, the Seattle Mariners finished 85-77 and recorded 24 more wins than they had in 2008. They made such a dramatic improvement and actually scored 31 fewer runs than the season before. But after giving up 811 runs in 2008, the Mariners gave up just 692 last year. That's 119 fewer runs allowed and 24 more victories. The Mariners pitching had a hand in that, of course, but many are crediting a big upgrade in defense with the increased win total. The Mariners had some of the best...

An Orioles and NCAA tourney hoops version. Did you know........ *The Orioles will not play back-to-back series vs. teams with 2009 losing records until May 14th when they begin series vs. Cleveland and Kansas City. *The Orioles will play 12 consecutive games vs. the Red Sox and Yankees from April 23 to May 5. From June 1-10, the O's play nine in a row vs. the duo. That's 21 of the first 60 games vs. NY or Boston. *As of June 10, Toronto will have played just nine games vs. NY and...

Today we present the fourth and final article in a series of interviews with Orioles scouting director Joe Jordan. Once again, Jordan sizes up some of the players he selected in last June's draft. He provides insight and analysis today on a few players the Orioles selected in the 18th round and later last year. At the end of the interview there is a link to the previous stories with Jordan on the 2009 selections. All the quotes in this article are from Jordan. Round 18 - LHP Jarret...

Oriole nation is concerned. Some are more than concerned. If you talk to fans lately, their first comment on the team usually goes something like, "should I worry about (fill in the blank)." The concerns include: *Brian Roberts' back *Koji's hamstring *Nolan Reimold's return from Achilles surgery *Nolan Reimold's batting average *Mike Gonzalez's back *Mike Gonzalez's velocity *Jim Johnson's struggles *Felix Pie's shoulder *Jeremy Guthrie's ERA *Kevin Millwood's ERA *Matt...

It was a good weekend for O's starting pitching. Four starters worked a combined 20 innings and pitched to an ERA of 2.25. Brian Matusz got it started with 5 1/3 scoreless and hitless innings Friday vs. Philly. Tillman and Bergesen pitched well in split-squad games Saturday and Kevin Millwood gave up just one run Sunday vs. Philly. Don't the O's seem to pitch well vs. the NL Champs? A switch to the NL East anyone? The four combined: 20IP, 10h, 5er, 7bb, 17K. Let's not talk about...

There were likely many fans and front office people around baseball delighted to see catcher Joe Mauer sign his megabucks contract with the Twins. Mauer's eight-year, $184 million deal tops even Mark Teixeira's eight-year, $180-million package. By the way, Mauer's OPS last year was 1.031 to Tex's .948. Jason Stark of ESPN wrote that if Mauer had made it to free agency, the Yankees and Red Sox may have upped the bidding to 30 million per year for Mauer. Only A-Rod and Derek Jeter have...

When Mike Flacco reported to Bluefield last summer, many Orioles fans were following his progress closer than they might with most 31st-round draft picks. That had a lot to do with the fact that Mike is the younger brother of Joe Flacco, the Ravens quarterback. But if you look into Mike's baseball past, you find a player with his own story to tell, someone that is working to make his own name for himself. Mike Flacco was a 2005 high school grad. But over the next three years his baseball...