Former big league pitcher could be joining the O's minor league staff

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - He once pitched a no-hitter against the Orioles, and he now may be joining the organization. Wilson Alvarez, who no-hit the Birds in just his second major league start while pitching for the Chicago White Sox, has talked to the club about a job in the minor leagues. Alvarez is being considered for the position of pitching coach for the Gulf Coast League Orioles in 2013. The Venezuelan went 102-92 with an ERA of 3.96 over a 14-year career with Texas, the Chicago White Sox, San Francisco, Tampa Bay and the Los Angeles Dodgers. His last season in the majors was 2005 when he went 1-4 with an ERA of 5.63 with Los Angeles. Wilson's no-hitter against the Orioles came on Aug. 11, 1991. The Orioles have not made any announcements yet about the makeup of their minor league coaching staff for next season. It appears that their full-season pitching coaches for 2013 will be returning - Mike Griffin to Triple-A Norfolk, Kennie Steenstra at Double-A Bowie and Blaine Beatty with Single-A Frederick. Justin Lord is expected to be named pitching coach for Single-A Delmarva. The past two seasons, Lord was pitching coach with the Southern Illinois Miners of the Frontier League. The Miners won the league championship this year. Troy Mattes was the pitching coach the last three seasons at Delmarva, and at Bluefield the three years before that. Mattes was not offered a contract by the Orioles for the 2013 season.