Hunter calls signing extension with Orioles "something you'd like to see happen" (plus pics)
By Roch Kubatko
SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles held their second minicamp workout today under a bright blue sky. Yesterday's rain gave way to gorgeous sunshine, allowing eight pitchers to throw off mounds.
Hunter Harvey and Parker Bridwell were in the first group, followed by Mychal Givens and Brian Gonzalez, Jon Keller and Pat McCoy, and Eddie Gamboa and Mike Wright.
Calvert Hall graduate Alex Murphy drew the short straw and had to catch Gamboa's knuckleball. He survived the experience.
A small group of players took batting practice, including the catchers, Henry Urrutia, Alex Hassan and Michael Burgess. This minicamp is mostly about the pitchers.
Tommy Hunter remained at the minicamp despite not having any plans to throw. He reached agreement yesterday on a $4.65 million contract for the 2015 season, the first of 11 arbitration-eligible Orioles to sign.
"It's done," Hunter said. "It's out. I'm here, finally. Back another year. Awesome, glad it worked out. I don't know how well it went or how not well it went. I'm smiling, so I'm here.
"I think your agent has a lot to do whether it's easy or not. Mike (Moye) is a pretty straight and narrow guy, a nice guy to get along with. That's what you hear from all the guys and Ned (Rice) and everyone else. I don't know who he worked with, but they all say it's always a pleasure to work with Mike. He gets things done. Tip your cap."
Hunter is a pending free agent and would like to remain with the Orioles. He's open to signing an extension.
"It's definitely something you'd like to see happen," he said. "I don't know. (Moye) didn't say anything about it. If they want to do it, I'm in. My wife likes Baltimore. I love Baltimore. It's been good to me."
Hunter, who lost the closer's job and posted a 1.77 ERA in his final 43 appearances, said he won't let his uncertain status become a distraction.
"That's baseball," he said. "If they work something out, they work something out. I'm going to play ball. I like playing baseball. I like coming in sometimes, talking to you guys, but not all the time."
He's such a jokester.
"You really can't think about it too much," Hunter added. "I'm going to be happy with what you have. The grass is always greener on the other side. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn't, I'll always see you guys around."
Hunter is among 11 pending free agents in the organization.
"We've got a lot," he said. "We talk about it. We've thought about it. It's a right here, right now type of deal. I think a lot can really speak for that. We've got a pretty good group of guys, a strong group. See what happens, roll the dice, man. Let's go.
"How many guys is it? Eleven guys. What's the projection for next year for what these guys are going to get? What's $100,000,000? How many figures is that? Nine, 10, 11, 12, 13 figures? A lot more than I'm looking at. I tell them I'm a lot cheaper than some of these other guys, but you've got some pretty big names getting out there.
"It would be awesome to keep this team together, keep this group together, but this is baseball. There's a business part of this, too. Let's win this year and worry about everything else after."
T.J. McFarland reported to camp today, but didn't throw.
"I'd say I'm almost a month into the throwing program," McFarland said. "Very light right now, but a month to go, start ramping it up a little more."
Being in Sarasota this week serves a purpose for McFarland, as it does with the other pitchers.
"I think it's just to have eyes on us and kind of see where we are in our program," he said. "Kind of more like a meet and greet. Say hello to everybody and go from there.
"For me, for guys up north, it's nice to get out of that cold weather and start throwing outside a little bit. Kind of get that mode back into spring training. We're about a month away from it starting."
McFarland didn't break camp with the Orioles last spring. He was inserted into Triple-A Norfolk's rotation before returning to his bullpen role in the majors and posting a 2.76 ERA in 37 games.
With the signing of left-hander Wesley Wright last month, McFarland could be squeezed out of the bullpen again and stretched out as a starter in Norfolk. He has no idea how the Orioles view him and the subject hasn't come up in conversations with manager Buck Showalter.
"The mentality is try to make the team," he said. "Obviously for myself going into spring training, especially the last two years, it's always been fighting for a job, so that's exactly what I'm going to try to do. Whatever it is, whatever they see me fit for. Just like every year, I'll come into spring and do my best and see if I can make the team.
"I haven't had that talk, but we'll see how it plays out and everything. I'm not sure. I'll find out later on. Even if I don't, it doesn't really matter. I'm still going to go out there and pitch."
McFarland doesn't stay glued to Twitter and various baseball programs in search of Orioles news.
"For myself, I like to turn off MLB Network and ESPN because it's like you're shutting down from the season, but any time there's something going on with the Orioles, I pay attention," he said. "I'm aware of what's going on. I wouldn't say I follow every transaction, but I definitely know what's going on."
McFarland knows that the clubhouse is missing Nick Markakis, Nelson Cruz and Andrew Miller, which brings a feeling of disappointment as he looks ahead to the 2015 season.
"Yeah, just friends and teammates, you miss guys like that, but that's just how it works in baseball," he said. "You're sad to see them go, but obviously that's what they decided and I wish them the best."
The funniest moment of today's minicamp occurred when one member of the media suggested that McFarland, 24, is now a veteran surrounded by young prospects.
"I wouldn't throw that word around, but yeah, I guess if you look at it in terms of that," he said. "Everybody down here is down here to get a little bit of work in, but I wouldn't really think of it that way."
As the next question was about to be delivered to him, McFarland interrupted and playfully asked, "Call me old?" Once the session ended, he headed outdoors with an exaggerated limp. I told him to be careful that he didn't break a hip.
Here's some photos from the second day of minicamp:
Pitchers Mychal Givens and Brian Gonzalez 
Pitchers Hunter Harvey and Parker Bridwell 
Pitchers Eddie Gamboa and Mike Wright 
Tommy Hunter remained at the minicamp despite not having any plans to throw. He reached agreement yesterday on a $4.65 million contract for the 2015 season, the first of 11 arbitration-eligible Orioles to sign.
"It's done," Hunter said. "It's out. I'm here, finally. Back another year. Awesome, glad it worked out. I don't know how well it went or how not well it went. I'm smiling, so I'm here.
"I think your agent has a lot to do whether it's easy or not. Mike (Moye) is a pretty straight and narrow guy, a nice guy to get along with. That's what you hear from all the guys and Ned (Rice) and everyone else. I don't know who he worked with, but they all say it's always a pleasure to work with Mike. He gets things done. Tip your cap."
Hunter is a pending free agent and would like to remain with the Orioles. He's open to signing an extension.
"It's definitely something you'd like to see happen," he said. "I don't know. (Moye) didn't say anything about it. If they want to do it, I'm in. My wife likes Baltimore. I love Baltimore. It's been good to me."
Hunter, who lost the closer's job and posted a 1.77 ERA in his final 43 appearances, said he won't let his uncertain status become a distraction.
"That's baseball," he said. "If they work something out, they work something out. I'm going to play ball. I like playing baseball. I like coming in sometimes, talking to you guys, but not all the time."
He's such a jokester.
"You really can't think about it too much," Hunter added. "I'm going to be happy with what you have. The grass is always greener on the other side. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn't, I'll always see you guys around."
Hunter is among 11 pending free agents in the organization.
"We've got a lot," he said. "We talk about it. We've thought about it. It's a right here, right now type of deal. I think a lot can really speak for that. We've got a pretty good group of guys, a strong group. See what happens, roll the dice, man. Let's go.
"How many guys is it? Eleven guys. What's the projection for next year for what these guys are going to get? What's $100,000,000? How many figures is that? Nine, 10, 11, 12, 13 figures? A lot more than I'm looking at. I tell them I'm a lot cheaper than some of these other guys, but you've got some pretty big names getting out there.
"It would be awesome to keep this team together, keep this group together, but this is baseball. There's a business part of this, too. Let's win this year and worry about everything else after."
T.J. McFarland reported to camp today, but didn't throw.
"I'd say I'm almost a month into the throwing program," McFarland said. "Very light right now, but a month to go, start ramping it up a little more."
Being in Sarasota this week serves a purpose for McFarland, as it does with the other pitchers.
"I think it's just to have eyes on us and kind of see where we are in our program," he said. "Kind of more like a meet and greet. Say hello to everybody and go from there.
"For me, for guys up north, it's nice to get out of that cold weather and start throwing outside a little bit. Kind of get that mode back into spring training. We're about a month away from it starting."
McFarland didn't break camp with the Orioles last spring. He was inserted into Triple-A Norfolk's rotation before returning to his bullpen role in the majors and posting a 2.76 ERA in 37 games.
With the signing of left-hander Wesley Wright last month, McFarland could be squeezed out of the bullpen again and stretched out as a starter in Norfolk. He has no idea how the Orioles view him and the subject hasn't come up in conversations with manager Buck Showalter.
"The mentality is try to make the team," he said. "Obviously for myself going into spring training, especially the last two years, it's always been fighting for a job, so that's exactly what I'm going to try to do. Whatever it is, whatever they see me fit for. Just like every year, I'll come into spring and do my best and see if I can make the team.
"I haven't had that talk, but we'll see how it plays out and everything. I'm not sure. I'll find out later on. Even if I don't, it doesn't really matter. I'm still going to go out there and pitch."
McFarland doesn't stay glued to Twitter and various baseball programs in search of Orioles news.
"For myself, I like to turn off MLB Network and ESPN because it's like you're shutting down from the season, but any time there's something going on with the Orioles, I pay attention," he said. "I'm aware of what's going on. I wouldn't say I follow every transaction, but I definitely know what's going on."
McFarland knows that the clubhouse is missing Nick Markakis, Nelson Cruz and Andrew Miller, which brings a feeling of disappointment as he looks ahead to the 2015 season.
"Yeah, just friends and teammates, you miss guys like that, but that's just how it works in baseball," he said. "You're sad to see them go, but obviously that's what they decided and I wish them the best."
The funniest moment of today's minicamp occurred when one member of the media suggested that McFarland, 24, is now a veteran surrounded by young prospects.
"I wouldn't throw that word around, but yeah, I guess if you look at it in terms of that," he said. "Everybody down here is down here to get a little bit of work in, but I wouldn't really think of it that way."
As the next question was about to be delivered to him, McFarland interrupted and playfully asked, "Call me old?" Once the session ended, he headed outdoors with an exaggerated limp. I told him to be careful that he didn't break a hip.
Here's some photos from the second day of minicamp:
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