LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — While the focus on the Orioles on Tuesday centered around trade rumors and third baseman Manny Machado, another young infielder in the organization has made more definitive news. Steve Wilkerson, who thrust himself onto the club’s radar in 2017 by hitting .305 between High-A Frederick and Double-A...
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Buck Showalter has been with the Orioles longer than all but three current managers have been with their teams. And he hopes his tenure will continue next year. Speaking to reporters during his scheduled media session Tuesday, Showalter, whose contract expires in 2018, was asked whether he...
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla – Up to this point, Dan Duquette, the Orioles’ executive vice president, hasn’t wanted to trade a bullpen piece to strengthen his rotation. But, after talking to him Monday evening, it was clear that he might have to do that to get a legitimate starter, especially with the...
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – The Orioles primary focus this offseason remains upgrading the woeful rotation, but it’s becoming increasingly obvious that club executive vice president Dan Duquette must turn to the trade market for at least one starting pitcher and that acquiring two – and not three – is a more...
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Baseball’s annual winter meetings start in earnest today here at the Swan and Dolphin resort and, for the next few days, you are going to hear a whole lot of rumors about trades and free agents. And you’re going to hear the Orioles attached to just about...
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — It happens all the time in the Orioles’ clubhouse. Players and staff slumped over a board, contemplating and trash-talking during a serious game of chess. Yes, chess. Manny Machado, Jonathan Schoop, Dylan Bundy, Kevin Gausman and the guru of all games, coach Wayne Kirby, were among the...
Earlier this week I spoke to a major league scout from an opposing team about the Orioles organization. You can read the first part – which takes a look at some of the current big leaguers – here. Today, we’re running the second and final segment, which focuses on several players that...
I love talking to major league scouts and picking their brains on the Orioles. The problem, of course, is that other teams’ scouts are careful about being quoted on the opposition. And Orioles’ staffers, understandably, don’t like to publicly criticize their own players. So, it gets tricky. Occasionally, though, one will give...
There needs to be no hand-wringing that the Orioles won’t end up with two-way Japanese star Shohei Ohtani. I don’t know if they turned in an official written proposal to Ohtani’s agent to express how they would use the 23-year-old pitcher/outfielder, but it doesn’t matter. Ohtani wasn’t coming to Baltimore for various...
The Tap Room seems to be rather gleeful. That other Baltimore team – those hard-to-figure-out Ravens — looks like it is heading toward the playoffs. Even if the Ravens are flawed, the playoffs are always an exciting time, and the NFL postseason can be a crapshoot. So, I’ll put some purple food-coloring...