As of this morning, the Orioles' interest in reliever Kevin Gregg still appears to be strong.
The Orioles met with his agents here at the winter meetings on Monday and several teams are reportedly in on Gregg. The 32-year-old right-hander went 2-6, 3.51 with Toronto last season with 37 saves. He fanned 58 over 59 innings.
Toronto had two chances to pick up options on Gregg and keep him, but passed. The Jays could have retained him for next year for $4.5 million and they also had an option...
He is one of the best evaluators of baseball talent, especially in the minors, in the country in my humble opinion.
Today at the winter meetings here in Florida, I had a chance to once again interview Jim Callis of Baseball America. I got his take on a few O's related topics.
Callis on the Mark Reynolds trade:
"I think it's a great trade from the Orioles' perspective. Yeah, Mark Reynolds strikes out and is not going to hit for high average, but he hits home runs. I think that shores...
This had to have been an interesting day for the Orioles' Nolan Reimold.
Today his cell phone had to be blowing up with reports that he might be traded to the Tampa Bay Rays. He must have gotten several calls and texts; he may have even gotten one or two from the media. I can think of one guy I know that called him.
Andy MacPhail recaps Day Two of the Winter Meetings with Steve Melewski
At the same time, as of this writing, he has not been traded and maybe after all the rumors, tweets,...
The Orioles are clearly in the market for pitching, especially the bullpen variety.
But what about the rotation?
With four spots looking pretty set - with Guthrie, Matusz, Arrietaand Bergesen - who will round out that rotation?
O's manager Buck Showalter said today he is open to a possible competition in camp between Chris Tillman and Zach Britton for that fifth spot. The O's still have plenty of time to add a starter which could send both young guys back to the minors. But that is not...
An MLB source has confirmed reports that the Orioles and Braves have talked about a possible deal where the O's would acquire Japanese pitcher Kenshin Kawakami.
Those talks started a while ago and other teams are also talking with the Braves and it's believed Pittsburgh is one of those teams. Atlanta would take on some of his salary and Kawakami is due to get $6.67 million in 2011.
The O's pursued Kawakami as free agent two years ago when they also pursued and signed Koji Uehara.
Perhaps...
If the deal that is rumored -- Nolan Reimold to Tampa for Jason Bartlett, one for one -- is truly in the works, I vote no on that.
I can still hear the words of one-time Aberdeen manager Andy Etchebarren in my ears."Nolan Reimold will hit 40 homers in the Majors one day," Etchebarren said a few years back.
While some now may think that is far-fetched, Reimold still is pretty young and has big power potential. Do the O's need Bartlett bad enough to give up a promising young player? Have...
He is still probably not well-liked by Orioles fans, but despite that little Mike Mussina thing, I respect Cito Gaston.
He was just honored by commissioner Bud Selig here at the winter meetings along with Lou Piniella, Bobby Cox and Joe Torre for their service in the game.
After the press conference, I asked Gaston his take on the economics of the game, especially as it applies to the AL East, where fans of his organization, Toronto, and fans of the O's can feel a hopelessness about...
Whether it was a concerted effort to do so or not, not long after Andy MacPhail announced the acquisition of Mark Reynolds on Monday at the Winter Meetings, the O's had plenty of praise for young Josh Bell.
They wanted everyone to know they still like Bell -- a lot, they say -- and still think he could have a future in Baltimore.
Bell hit .214-3-12 in 53 O's games in 2010. He fanned 53 times in 159 at bats, but it was his first time in the majors and the O's say they are not giving up on...
To prove we are really here and not blogging from happy hour in Baltimore, take a look at this video. It's from the lobby at the winter meetings, how exciting.
We actually did take time to talk about today's O's pickup of third baseman Mark Reynolds and what that could mean to the team. Plus we talked about what move or moves could be coming next.
It is PG rated, suitable viewing for any O's fan.
Steve and Roch discuss the acquisition of Mark Reynolds and other possible moves on the...
Here are some comments from today's press conference from Arizona general manager Kevin Towers:
In the deal, the O's acquired Mark Reynolds and a player to be named or cash for pitchers David Hernandez and Kam Mickolio.
"Sometimes you have to move a good ballplayer to acquire good right-handed arms. We feel like we've done so with Hernandez and Mickolio."
"Mark Reynolds was a great Diamondback player. A lot of people ask how can you move 30-plus home runs? He's a great defender and a...
A couple of readers have pointed out that Mark Reynolds was hurt late last year.
Maybe that is one reason why he went just 4-for-60 with 28 strikeouts, no homers and a .278 OPS for Arizona last September.
O's president Andy MacPhail said there are no injury concerns at all right now with Reynolds.
"He had a thumb (issue) that he played through, but we completely vetted the medicals. He came through (his physical) according to our guys as clean as anybody they've ever seen in that...
A few more statistics on Mark Reynolds:
Last year, he hit .218 vs. left-handed pitching with an OPS of .913 and .191 vs. right-handers with a .694 OPS. His OPS was .863 last year at home and .643 on the road.
He hit 20 of his homers in 2010 before the All-Star break and 12 after. He hit his most homers (10) in the fourth inning.
Reynolds batted .276-11-58 last year with runners in scoring position and .276 when he was ahead in the count.
While Reynolds led the NL with 211 strikeouts last...
So it appears that Mark Reynolds is on his way to Baltimore.
He is far from the perfect player, like most of them, but he is a slugger the team has been seeking. Over four years with Arizona, his 162-game averages are .242-35-100 and an OPS of .817.
For more of Reynolds' stats, click here.
Over the last three years, he has hit 28, 44 and 32 homers. But he has also struck out 204, 223 and 211 times. I have said before, I'll take the 35-homer type player and deal with the strikeouts. That is...
O's president Andy MacPhail said this morning of the Orioles trade talks to acquire Arizona third baseman Mark Reynolds, "We are making progress. Don't have anything finalized yet, but making progress."
So are the Reynolds talks leading to a conclusion soon?
"You never know until it's over," MacPhail added.
When asked if the deal would involve the O's sending pitching to Arizona he said, "again, until it's done, you don't know. I'm just talking from experience. Lots of these...
It should come as no shock to any O's fan by now, that barring something very unlikely, the Orioles are just not going to be offering any megabucks contracts this winter in free agency.
Could that change? I guess so, but it sure doesn't seem to be the case.
While some fans seem to think the reason for that could be owner Peter Angelos, last night's interview session with Andy MacPhail was another indicator that the O's president just doesn't think the time is now to throw big money...
After Scott Boras held court tonight at the winter meetings with Washington reporters about the Jayson Werth signing, he briefly answered another question or two before exiting stage left.
I asked him if Baltimore was a possibility for his client Carlos Pena?
"I don't see why not," Boras said. "I mean he's an AL East player and has done well there and likes to play there, certainly."
Have the O's shown interest?
"You'd have to talk to Andy about that."
I said it was...
Among the topics O's president Andy MacPhail addressed tonight in a meeting with reporters here at the winter meetings, is the prospect of the O's offering a big contract to a free agent.
I asked him if considering the 13 consecutive losing seasons, aren't the O's in a position now where they simply have to overpay to get a top talent, even if that contract seems to not make much economic sense?
"There comes a time when you do, but I think it's the guy that will get you over the hump in...
O's president Andy MacPhail is scheduled to meet with reporters here at the Winter Meetings in Orlando in about a half hour. Roch and myself will both be there with any updates from that briefing.
If there wasn't enough fan pressure on the Orioles before today, it just got ratcheted up when the Nationals signed Jason Werth, an O's first-round pick in 1997, to a seven-year deal reportedly worth about 126 million. His agent Scott Boras is holding court now and if anything O's related comes...
Two pitchers from the Orioles minor leagues have left their winter ball teams. Pedro Beato is no longer pitching with Licey in the Dominican and Raul Rivero has left the Lara club in Venezuela.
Beato, the O's second pick in the 2006 draft, the 32nd overall, pitched in just two games in the Dominican and gave up three runs and two hits over 1 2/3 innings.
Beato ended the year on Bowie's disabled list with right shoulder tendonitis, but was healthy enough to pitch in the Dominican and...
With yesterday's, let's say, passionate fan reaction to the O's losing out on Adam Dunn, after they had earlier lost out on Victor Martinez, some are left wondering what the O's now will do at first base.
We should remember that is just one of the areas the O's need to address.
Here are some other questions/issues they have to answer.
*Is Mark Reynolds their guy for third base? His age of 27 and homer total of 76 over the last two years are pluses for him and so is the fact he is signed...
