Urrutia's tweet, Hall of Fame veterans and Ohlman's new team

Since I've been covering the Orioles fulltime in 1997, there haven't been many feel-good stories that can top Henry Urrutia's climb to the majors. His defection from Cuba after a failed attempt, the struggle to get from Haiti to Miami, his acclimation to life in the U.S. - including how he crashed through the language barrier - the walk-off home run against the Mets and the tears that followed as he talked about giving the ball to his infant son.

Urrutia isn't feeling good these days. His health is fine, but his professional career can't match it.

The Orioles demoted Urrutia from Triple-A Norfolk to Double-A Bowie and designated him for assignment on July 19 to create a spot for outfielder Julio Borbon on the 40-man roster. They outrighted him nine days later after he cleared waivers.

Urrutia doesn't envision a scenario where the Orioles give him another chance and he could use a fresh start, though he really wants to be a big contributor for them. That's his first preference. In the meantime, he tweeted the following message yesterday morning, which I've only cleaned up in a few spots for clarity:

"When I came to this country I arrived with a dream to make a career in major leagues from April 15, 2013 I worked hard to see my dream come true and saw that reality on July 20, 2013. I had the opportunity to be in a great team with great players and was one of the greatest experiences I have had in my career. In 2014 I thought that dream would still be a reality but a hernia surgery (kept) me out of the field for three months. And although I did all (my) best I could not become part of this team. 2015 although I had a difficult start in Norfolk I had in my opinion my best year in minor leagues, so I win a chance to return to the show although for a few days and I think my performance during those days were quite good and helped Los O's to win a couple of games. This last year with the organization has been for me the most difficult of all. I was descended to double A and then pulled me out of the 40's roster when I thought I was going to have a better chance to prove what I can do in big leagues. Despite everything I had my numbers fairly consistent to previous years with slight drop in some home runs and RBIs.

"Why do I share this with you? Because today I can say that I see my future with Los O's getting a little harder year after year even though I have good numbers. I'm not a 30-home (run) hitter, I'm not a 100-RBIs hitter, I'm not a base stealer. But I still think that being the player that I am I can help a team in the Major Leagues. All those people who have supported me during my professional career I thank them for the unconditional support and all those people who know nothing about me or my numbers as a player have degraded me because for them I am not a player worthy to play at the best level, I also thank them because they have made me stronger as a human being and have given me a great teaching, which is not only about numbers in this baseball."

Later in the day, Urrutia sent out another tweet that read:

"Let's be clear, I am not trying to be disrespectful with the Orioles because I am grateful to this organization for giving me the opportunity of my life, but I wanted to make clear with all those Fans who don't know anything about my career and like talking about me."

This isn't about bashing the Orioles. It's more about defending himself, which is why he offered a follow-up tweet.

Urrutia was supposed to play winter ball in Venezuela, but he lasted only 15 games before Leones del Caracas released him. Urrutia got off to a hot start, hitting .357 in his first week, but he had four hits in his last 23 at-bats over seven games, committed an error in the outfield and was cut loose. He was batting .264/.322/.321 with three doubles, seven RBIs, five walks and seven runs scored.

The release was the cherry on top of his melted sundae.

Urrutia batted .245/.347/.304 with six doubles and 11 RBIs in 32 games at Norfolk and .316/.354/.425 with 15 doubles, one triple, five home runs and 38 RBIs in 75 games at Bowie. He turns 30 in February. The Eastern League isn't a comfortable landing spot.

The knocks on Urrutia are highlighted in his own tweet. He's lacking power and isn't a plus runner. He also is a work in progress in the outfield, though not for a lack of effort, which wasn't as apparent at Bowie from what I've heard. I'll point out again that I hadn't seen anyone put in more hours than Urrutia, whether it was at spring training or minicamp, and whether or not he was invited to the latter. He showed up early and was willing to shag as many fly balls as he could get before returning to the weight room.

That same dedication enabled him to learn the English language. He didn't speak a word of it upon arriving in the U.S. and I keep reminding him of the remarkable progress he's made each time he apologizes for his grammatical errors.

The Orioles paid Urrutia a $779,000 bonus back in 2012. He was an accomplished hitter with Cuba's Serie Nacional, batting .350/.426/.517, and he still thinks he can be an asset on a major league team.

The walk-off home run on Aug. 19, 2015 also was the first home run of his major league career. And the last. He's gone 25-for-92 (.272) in 34 games with the Orioles.

If you're wondering about Urrutia's reaction to Cuban dictator Fidel Castro's death over the weekend, he's keeping those thoughts private. His family remains there and doesn't want to jeopardize his chances of reuniting with them.

* Along with all the rumor-chasing at next week's Winter Meetings, assuming they actually take place, we'll also learn the results of the Today's Game Era voting, with the new Hall of Fame inductees announced on Sunday.

Harold Baines, Albert Belle, Will Clark, Orel Hershiser, Davey Johnson, Mark McGwire, Lou Piniella, John Schuerholz, Bud Selig and George Steinbrenner were named on Oct. 3 as the candidates for Today's Game Era Committee consideration for the Class of 2017. Baines, Belle, Clark, Hershiser and McGwire are included for their contributions as players, with Piniella and Johnson included for their work as managers, and Schuerholz, Selig and Steinbrenner included for their off-field careers. All candidates except for Steinbrenner are living.

There are plenty of Orioles and local connections in this group.

Baines, Belle, Clark, Johnson and Piniella played for the Orioles. Johnson also managed them in 1996-1997, twice leading them to the American League Championship Series. Schuerholz is a Baltimore native who attended Towson University and Loyola College, and later worked under Frank Cashen, Harry Dalton and Lou Gorman with the Orioles.

Any candidates who are elected will be inducted in Cooperstown on July 30, 2017, along with winners from the Baseball Writers' Association of America balloting, to be announced on Jan. 18, 2017 on MLB Network.

Fingers crossed for Belle. Strictly for interview purposes, of course.

* In case you missed it, the Blue Jays signed former Orioles minor league catcher Michael Ohlman to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training.

The Orioles designated Ohlman, a top catching prospect in the organization, back in January 2015 to make room for outfielder Travis Snider on the 40-man roster. They traded him to the Cardinals the following month for cash considerations.

Ohlman was named the Carolina League's Player of the Year in 2013 after he batted .313/.410/.524 with 29 doubles, four triples, 13 home runs and 53 RBIs in 100 games for Single-A Frederick. However, he took a couple of steps backward the following season at Double-A Bowie, where he hit .236/.310/.318 with two home runs and 33 RBIs in 113 games.

I thought at the time that the Orioles gave up on Ohlman much too soon, but he still hasn't reached the majors, though he batted a combined .287/.344/.434 in 78 games this year with Triple-A Memphis and Double-A Springfield.

Shameless plug alert: I'm appearing on today's edition of "The Mid-Atlantic Sports Report" from 5-6 p.m. on MASN.