Lombardozzi and McCoy outrighted, MLB takes a stand against lung cancer
By Roch Kubatko
SAN DIEGO - The Orioles just announced that they've outrighted infielder Steve Lombardozzi and left-hander Pat McCoy to Triple-A Norfolk after both players cleared waivers.
The 40-man roster is down to 37.
McCoy and Scott Barnes were left-handed relievers added to the 40-man roster after the season. The Rangers claimed Barnes off waivers this morning.
I'll have more on the roster moves after meeting with executive vice president Dan Duquette at 3 p.m. PST.
As public relations representatives from all 30 major league teams gathered on stage today at the Winter Meetings wearing T-shirts with orange and black lettering to support LUNGevity and honor Monica Barlow, Orioles manager Buck Showalter looked down the line and noted how she would have loved that she got everyone to wear "Orioles colors."
Barlow would have detested all this attention, but fully appreciated the cause.
Major League Baseball took a break from the meetings to further promote its charity auction that begins at 9 p.m. (PT) and will be live on MLB.com until Thursday, Dec. 11 at 8 p.m. (PT). Funds raised from this year's auction will be donated to LUNGevity, the largest national lung cancer-focused nonprofit, in memory of Barlow, the former Orioles PR director who passed away in February after a 4 1/2 year battle with Stage 4 lung cancer.
"You realize how much baseball impacts so many lives and then you see baseball taking on the onus of giving back to it," said Showalter, who followed Monica's husband, Ben Barlow, to the podium to address the crowd. "You think about how many lives Monica impacted in her short time and now she's able to impact so many other people. I know that would have meant a lot to her.
"She wouldn't be happy about the attention, as you all well know, but it seems to be growing. And the attention that's been given to it, though it was painful for all of us, it makes me feel a little better about her loss. But still, I'm pissed off about it.
"You think about all the people she impacted, and people she didn't know, they ask about her and they go, 'Sheesh, really?' "
The T-shirts handed out to PR reps had "4 LUNGevity" on the front and "4 Monica" on the back. Orange and black wristbands also were distributed.
The list of items being auctioned include the chance to take the lineup card to home plate with Showalter, who joked that he may allow it for all 162 games.
"I don't know how you get any better exposure than this," Showalter said. "It's not that Monica's getting the exposure, but LUNGevity. That's what she would have wanted. Though she will get it in the process."
Ben Barlow described his wife as "a tremendously private person who just took great pride in doing her job perfectly and keeping her head down and not being the center of attention, so she's ticked off somewhere right now."
"As time went on, she realized the benefit of her public position," Barlow added. "Even though she was a private person, she really could work to make a difference for other people dealing with cancer, specifically lung cancer, and their families."
By working so closely with LUNGevity, "it created a relationship that hopefully, even in a terrible situation like this, has allowed us to make some good come out of it somehow," Barlow said. "I just applaud MLB and I applaud everybody here on the stage today for taking that even a step further after Monica's passing and really using tragic events like this to do as much as possible to make sure no one feels the way my family does or that Tony Gwynn's family does and so many families do."
Here again is the complete list of items being auctioned:
* Golf outings with Hall of Famer Jim Palmer and World Series MVP Rick Dempsey or Hall of Famer Jim Rice.
* Take batting practice on the field at Comerica Park or Progressive Field, or play catch in the outfield at Wrigley Field.
* Bring a player from the Philadelphia Phillies to work, or win a Phillies Spring Training Fan Experience for four.
* Meet stars like American League MVP Mike Trout, Giancarlo Stanton, American League batting champion Jose Altuve, Todd Frazier, Jay Bruce, Craig Kimbrel and more.
* Be an Oakland Athletics intern, a Tampa Bay Rays clubhouse attendant or Miami Marlins bat boy or bat girl for the day.
* Shadow San Diego Padres general manager A.J. Preller, meet New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and watch a live game from his suite, or watch a game with New York Mets general manager Sandy Alderson and his assistants.
* Spend the day with the World Series trophy.
* Receive an All-Star media experience, including two pregame field access credentials to the Home Run Derby and All-Star Game, two passes to various media events, including press conferences, player availability and the All-Star Gala, plus a meet-and-greet with Hall of Famer Joe Torre, MLB's chief baseball officer.
* Take the lineup card to home plate with Orioles manager Buck Showalter or Texas Rangers manager Jeff Banister.
* Get a private pitching lesson from Cy Young Award winners CC Sabathia or Dwight Gooden, or renowned pitching coaches Dave Duncan or Juan Nieves.
* Get your hair cut by New York Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom, the 2014 National League Rookie of the Year.
* Meet-and-greets with Hall of Fame broadcasters Vin Scully or Bob Uecker.
* Be a MLB.com correspondent for the day.
* Go bowling with San Francisco Giants three-time World Series champion left-handers Jeremy Affeldt and Javier Lopez.
* Meet and greet with 2015 St. Louis Cardinals All-Star players.
* Have Hall of Famer Tony La Russa manage your child's Little League team, or get them a fielding lesson at Camden Yards with All-Star shortstop J.J. Hardy.
* Have lunch with the Rays starting rotation, Texas Rangers pitcher Derek Holland, or with 2014 National League Manager of the Year Matt Williams and his Washington Nationals coaching staff.
* Take part in a private pottery session with Milwaukee Brewers infielder Scooter Gennett.
* Autographed memorabilia from Hall of Famers like the late Tony Gwynn, Al Kaline, Dave Winfield, Frank Thomas and Joe Torre.
Here are photos from today's event:
McCoy and Scott Barnes were left-handed relievers added to the 40-man roster after the season. The Rangers claimed Barnes off waivers this morning.
I'll have more on the roster moves after meeting with executive vice president Dan Duquette at 3 p.m. PST.
As public relations representatives from all 30 major league teams gathered on stage today at the Winter Meetings wearing T-shirts with orange and black lettering to support LUNGevity and honor Monica Barlow, Orioles manager Buck Showalter looked down the line and noted how she would have loved that she got everyone to wear "Orioles colors."
Barlow would have detested all this attention, but fully appreciated the cause.
Major League Baseball took a break from the meetings to further promote its charity auction that begins at 9 p.m. (PT) and will be live on MLB.com until Thursday, Dec. 11 at 8 p.m. (PT). Funds raised from this year's auction will be donated to LUNGevity, the largest national lung cancer-focused nonprofit, in memory of Barlow, the former Orioles PR director who passed away in February after a 4 1/2 year battle with Stage 4 lung cancer.
"You realize how much baseball impacts so many lives and then you see baseball taking on the onus of giving back to it," said Showalter, who followed Monica's husband, Ben Barlow, to the podium to address the crowd. "You think about how many lives Monica impacted in her short time and now she's able to impact so many other people. I know that would have meant a lot to her.
"She wouldn't be happy about the attention, as you all well know, but it seems to be growing. And the attention that's been given to it, though it was painful for all of us, it makes me feel a little better about her loss. But still, I'm pissed off about it.
"You think about all the people she impacted, and people she didn't know, they ask about her and they go, 'Sheesh, really?' "
The T-shirts handed out to PR reps had "4 LUNGevity" on the front and "4 Monica" on the back. Orange and black wristbands also were distributed.
The list of items being auctioned include the chance to take the lineup card to home plate with Showalter, who joked that he may allow it for all 162 games.
"I don't know how you get any better exposure than this," Showalter said. "It's not that Monica's getting the exposure, but LUNGevity. That's what she would have wanted. Though she will get it in the process."
Ben Barlow described his wife as "a tremendously private person who just took great pride in doing her job perfectly and keeping her head down and not being the center of attention, so she's ticked off somewhere right now."
"As time went on, she realized the benefit of her public position," Barlow added. "Even though she was a private person, she really could work to make a difference for other people dealing with cancer, specifically lung cancer, and their families."
By working so closely with LUNGevity, "it created a relationship that hopefully, even in a terrible situation like this, has allowed us to make some good come out of it somehow," Barlow said. "I just applaud MLB and I applaud everybody here on the stage today for taking that even a step further after Monica's passing and really using tragic events like this to do as much as possible to make sure no one feels the way my family does or that Tony Gwynn's family does and so many families do."
Here again is the complete list of items being auctioned:
* Golf outings with Hall of Famer Jim Palmer and World Series MVP Rick Dempsey or Hall of Famer Jim Rice.
* Take batting practice on the field at Comerica Park or Progressive Field, or play catch in the outfield at Wrigley Field.
* Bring a player from the Philadelphia Phillies to work, or win a Phillies Spring Training Fan Experience for four.
* Meet stars like American League MVP Mike Trout, Giancarlo Stanton, American League batting champion Jose Altuve, Todd Frazier, Jay Bruce, Craig Kimbrel and more.
* Be an Oakland Athletics intern, a Tampa Bay Rays clubhouse attendant or Miami Marlins bat boy or bat girl for the day.
* Shadow San Diego Padres general manager A.J. Preller, meet New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and watch a live game from his suite, or watch a game with New York Mets general manager Sandy Alderson and his assistants.
* Spend the day with the World Series trophy.
* Receive an All-Star media experience, including two pregame field access credentials to the Home Run Derby and All-Star Game, two passes to various media events, including press conferences, player availability and the All-Star Gala, plus a meet-and-greet with Hall of Famer Joe Torre, MLB's chief baseball officer.
* Take the lineup card to home plate with Orioles manager Buck Showalter or Texas Rangers manager Jeff Banister.
* Get a private pitching lesson from Cy Young Award winners CC Sabathia or Dwight Gooden, or renowned pitching coaches Dave Duncan or Juan Nieves.
* Get your hair cut by New York Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom, the 2014 National League Rookie of the Year.
* Meet-and-greets with Hall of Fame broadcasters Vin Scully or Bob Uecker.
* Be a MLB.com correspondent for the day.
* Go bowling with San Francisco Giants three-time World Series champion left-handers Jeremy Affeldt and Javier Lopez.
* Meet and greet with 2015 St. Louis Cardinals All-Star players.
* Have Hall of Famer Tony La Russa manage your child's Little League team, or get them a fielding lesson at Camden Yards with All-Star shortstop J.J. Hardy.
* Have lunch with the Rays starting rotation, Texas Rangers pitcher Derek Holland, or with 2014 National League Manager of the Year Matt Williams and his Washington Nationals coaching staff.
* Take part in a private pottery session with Milwaukee Brewers infielder Scooter Gennett.
* Autographed memorabilia from Hall of Famers like the late Tony Gwynn, Al Kaline, Dave Winfield, Frank Thomas and Joe Torre.
Here are photos from today's event:
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