Pitcher Justin Duchscherer will take his physical today. I'm still trying to find out whether his school was delayed two hours.
I promised some FanFest leftovers a few days ago and got sidetracked by Duchscherer. And if I had a nickel for every time I wrote the phrase "sidetracked by Duchscherer," I could retire today.
New bench coach Willie Randolph was asked whether he reached out to any players over the winter.
"Guys nowadays don't call you back too often," he said, laughing....
According to Baseball America's Matt Eddy, the Orioles have signed three more pitchers to minor league deals. It's not believed that anyone in the group has been invited to spring training, though the complete camp roster hasn't been released.
The Orioles reached agreement with right-handers Chris Jakubauskas and Mark Worrell, and left-hander James Houser.
This is what you call minor league pitching depth.
Houser, a former second-round pick of the Rays, posted a 3.67 ERA for the Marlins'...
According to an Associated Press report in the Dominican Republic, Orioles pitcher Alfredo Simon has been denied bail and will remain in prison following the shooting death of his cousin.
Here's the story.
Defense attorney Dinosa Dilone plans to appeal Tuesday's ruling, according to the report.
Simon is accused of firing a shot on New Year's Eve that killed 25-year-old Michel Castillo and injured his brother, 17-year-old Starlling Castillo, in the city of Luperon in Puerto Plata. Simon...
Now that the Orioles have reached agreement on a one-year deal with pitcher Justin Duchscherer and a minor league deal with left-hander Mark Hendrickson, the 25-man roster comes a little more into focus. However, there are still some fuzzy patches.
It's sort of like looking at the flash on a camera. I'm still seeing spots.
The 12-man pitching staff is much clearer. Though it isn't a certainly, it's likely that the rotation will consist of Duchscherer, Jeremy Guthrie, Brian Matusz, Brad...
The Orioles have reached agreement with free-agent left-hander Mark Hendrickson on a minor league deal with a spring training invitation, according to a team official.
Just when Hendrickson thinks he's out, they pull him back in.
Actually, the York, Pa. resident never wanted to leave.
Hendrickson will try to join Michael Gonzalez as the second left-hander in the bullpen. He'll get competition from Clay Rapada, also signed to a minor league deal over the winter.
The Orioles re-signed...
One of the primary reasons that pitcher Justin Duchscherer chose the Orioles over the Nationals and the other teams interested in signing him was their "serious commitment to winning," according to his agent, Damon Lapa of All Bases Covered Sports Management.
"And there's also the fact that the club, at least on paper, has become a formidable lineup," Lapa said. "Any pitcher wants to end up on a team and in a city that can score runs and has veterans behind him and plays good defense. We...
Now that we've diverted our eyes from Vladimir Guerrero for a few minutes, we can focus on the Orioles' latest acquisition. They reached agreement late Sunday night with pitcher Justin Duchscherer on a one-year contract that could pay up to $4.5 million in salary and incentives based on number of starts.
The Orioles had become the overwhelming favorites in a relatively short amount of time. They offered him a major league deal and a chance to start. He wanted a major league deal and a...
An Orioles source confirmed tonight that the club has offered free-agent pitcher Justin Duchscherer a major league deal for the 2011 season.
The Orioles are one of the finalists for Duchscherer and could learn of his decision early this week.
Duchscherer threw for an Orioles scout Friday in Arizona and obviously made a strong impression.
If he signs, Duchscherer will compete for a spot at the back of the rotation. He's also been a reliever in his professional career, but the Orioles aren't...
I'm hoping to provide at least one Justin Duchscherer update every day, just so I can learn to spell his name without having to look it up.
It's J-U-S-T-I-N.
Seriously, I did the same thing with Scott Kamieniecki. Not sure why I kept calling him "Justin."
Anyway, FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal speculates in this tweet that the Orioles made a major league offer to Duchscherer. ESPN's Jerry Crasnick tweets that the Orioles and Nationals are among four finalists for Duchscherer.
President of...
Good morning to everyone. I'm nursing my FanFest hangover this morning, and it has nothing to do with alcohol.
That was quite a scene yesterday at the Baltimore Convention Center. The crowd exceeded 10,000, but fell short of the 12,000 that poured into the facility last year. Members of the media, and some Orioles officials, agreed that it seemed like more people were in attendance - probably because the venue was smaller. But I can vouch for the long line that wrapped around the building...
I should have just combined the Josh Bell and Jason Berken entries. I'm working on the same theme here.
Berken said he's lost about 30 pounds this winter by increasing his training, running more and eliminating certain foods from his diet.
Fellow reliever Jim Johnson provided the first dose of motivation after the season by advising Berken to cut out fried foods. Berken also stopped drinking sodas and pulling his car into fast-food lanes.
"It was really important for me to utilize my...
Josh Bell looks noticeably thinner since he's been working out with former Oriole Brady Anderson. He can't tell you how much weight he's lost, but he brought a different body to FanFest.
"I haven't jumped on a scale yet," Bell said. "I'm going to wait to surprise myself. I feel great. I'm running well. Everything's stronger."
Bell started his winter in Arizona and has since relocated to Florida and California. He's spent the last two weeks with Anderson in California.
Bell is...
Mark Connor has spent his winter getting acclimated to his new pitching staff. He's been watching videos that the Orioles supplied for him.
No sense waiting until spring training.
"I had the video coordinator (Michael Silverman) make up some DVDs of all these guys, as much as you can get - good outings, bad outings - just to kind of wrap my arms around these guys and see what they're all about from a physical standpoint," said Connor, who replaces Rick Kranitz as pitching coach. "You...
Brad Bergesen says he's been going online for the first time this winter to check on the Orioles' offseason moves. He laughed when I asked which sites he checks.
I was serious, but anyway...
Bergesen has joined the ranks of the excited. He's expecting much better results from the Orioles in 2011.
"I've been paying attention because there's been so much activity," he said. "I'm on the computer almost every night, just doing a quick search, seeing if anything's new. Obviously, I...
Shortstop J.J. Hardy and second baseman Brian Roberts stepped behind the stage to meet with reporters a few minutes ago.
Hardy is impressed by today's fan turnout.
"This is pretty good," he said. "I don't know how many people it is. They said about 10,000. It sounds like everyone is pretty excited."
That includes Hardy.
"This offseason, I didn't know what was going to happen," he said. "I felt like I was going to get traded. I didn't know where. With all the moves that the...
President of baseball operations Andy MacPhail said he received a positive report on free-agent pitcher Justin Duchscherer, who threw for their Arizona-based scout yesterday.
The Orioles retain interest in Duchscherer, but MacPhail warned again that you can't read too much into a pitcher's winter bullpen session.
"We're pleased with the way he's come along at this point," MacPhail said. "As I mentioned before, that is not an uncommon occurrence for us. We have seen this year three or...
President of baseball operations Andy MacPhail and manager Buck Showalter are taking questions from season-ticket holders at the first forum of today's FanFest at the Baltimore Convention Center.
Showalter received a rousing ovation and chants of "Buck, Buck Buck."
MacPhail told the crowd that the Orioles have interest in bringing back Kevin Millwood, saying the idea hasn't been ruled out "by any stretch," but the hindrance in signing any of the remaining free-agent starters is the...
The Orioles have added another candidate for their second utility infield job, agreeing to terms with veteran Nick Green on a minor league contract with a spring training invitation.
There's your big FanFest announcement.
OK, not really. But he did agree to the deal.
Green will compete with Robert Andino and Brendan Harris for the chance to join Cesar Izturis on the bench.
If this sounds like a repeat, the Orioles almost had a deal done with Green last month, but he was hoping to land a...
The Orioles' search for a left-handed reliever won't lead them to Joe Beimel. He's apparently decided to sign with the Pirates, according to this tweet from Troy Renck of the Denver Post.
Beimel was born in St. Marys, Pa. and pitched at Duquesne. He spent his first three major league seasons in Pittsburgh. Sounds like he wants to go home.
We'll find out later how much the Pirates are paying him for that warm and fuzzy feeling.
Yes, they beat out the Orioles. They also beat out the Red...
After making another round of calls today, I can pass along the following nuggets on a few of your favorite free agents:
The Orioles have, indeed, made an offer to Vladimir Guerrero this week, and it falls in the $3 million to $5 million range. They most certainly did not exceed $5 million. I'd say it's a lot closer to $3 million.
Also, team officials don't expect a FanFest announcement similar to what transpired with Miguel Tejada last winter. In fact, while they understand that the...