Baseball America released its 21st annual top 100 Prospects list on Tuesday, the publication's ranking of the best talent in baseball among minor leaguers or players with less than 130 Major League at bats, 50 innings or 30 big league appearances. Four Orioles made the list with Brian Matusz at number 5, Josh Bell at 37, Zach Britton at 63 and Jake Arrieta at 99. Co-Editor Will Lingo was one of four that selected the list. I talked with Lingo about the list, the O's on it and the Orioles...

If you want to pick a pitcher who could have a breakout year in the O's minor leagues this season, you could do a lot worse than selecting Rick Zagone. The 23-year-old lefty went 5-8, 4.89 last year in 25 starts covering 131 innings between Delmarva and Frederick. He started well, going 4-3, 1.92 through May with Delmarva. And he finished very strong, pitching to an ERA of 2.41 over his last three Frederick starts. In those three outings he pitched 18 2/3 overpowering innings with 26...

To me, some fans have misunderstood Andy MacPhail's comments from last October when he said Dave Trembley would be judged on wins and losses starting this year. How many more wins does MacPhail expect from the O's this year? Good luck getting an answer to that question. He is not ready to put a number on it and why would he? You don't want to aim too high or shoot too low. He said he wants "meaningful improvement." First, let's go back to last October and here are some of...

While fans ponder if the Orioles can make a run for .500 or better this year, there are plenty of reasons to follow the O's in the minors this season as well. Some delight in pointing out negatives surrounding the club and, after 12 straight losing seasons, there are plenty of issues to overcome and problems in the O's past. But the Orioles are on the move in the minors and now considered by most to have one of the ten best farm systems in the game. A lot of that talent found its way to...

It's funny what a difference a year can make. Last March, approaching opening day, there were many O's fans angered that Felix Pie was going to be the starting left fielder while home-grown product Nolan Reimold was headed to Triple-A. Now some fans are wondering how Pie will get at bats and wondering why Reimold has been anointed the starter in left. Maybe it's the same philosophy that sometimes makes the backup quarterback the most popular guy on the team. You know, the fans want him...

Taking a page from Sunday's blog, here are six questions to follow when the spring training games begin tomorrow. It's an exciting time with a real game (granted an exhibition) at hand. We start getting answers to these questions on Wednesday afternoon. How will Miggi do at third base? I expect he will at least be an average third baseman on defense by Opening Day. He may not be as good as Melvin Mora was on defense last year at any point. He has said his biggest hurdle could be handling...

Jeremy Guthrie's mulligan for the 2009 season starts today in the Orioles' exhibition opener. When Guthrie takes the mound in Sarasota, all O's fans hope it's the start of a season for him much like the years he had in 2007 and 2008. Based on his first two seasons in the Orange and Black, Guthrie's performance was way off in 2009. Guthrie by year: 2007: 7-5, 3.70 in 175 1/3 innings 2008: 10-12, 3.63 in 190 2/3 innings 2009: 10-17, 5.04 in 200 innings Guthrie's starts allowing two...

It happened to Tyler Townsend. He isn't the first player and won't be the last to put up great numbers in college, then struggle in his first professional season. The 21-year-old Townsend was one of college baseball's best hitters last year, hitting .426-24-77 at Florida International. He set several school records and was a Louisville Slugger first-team all American. Then the Orioles drafted him in round three in June, the 85th pick overall and soon he was playing with the Aberdeen...

As he approaches the one-year anniversary of having Tommy John surgery, lefty pitcher Cameron Coffey is throwing well and optimistic about the 2010 season. The 19-year-old underwent the elbow ligament replacement procedure last March 19th, then in June he was drafted in round 22 by the Orioles. Most everyone assumed Coffey was headed to Duke to play college baseball, but the O's made him an offer he couldn't refuse. On August 13, Coffey agreed to a reported $990,000 bonus, one of the...

While some fans wonder who will become the future clubhouse and on field leader of the Orioles, the Birds have two players right now who are leaders on this team. That's Brian Roberts and Nick Markakis. Okay, no one confuses their style of leadership with that of Frank Robinson from the 1966 World Champs and they are not vocal in the clubhouse like a Kevin Millar. But they are well respected by their teammates and are leaders for two primary reasons - performance and seniority. Roberts is...