Aaron Baker will tell you now that, as the trade deadline approached last summer, he didn't expect to be leaving the Pittsburgh Pirates organization.
They had drafted the first baseman in the 11th round in 2009 out of the University of Oklahoma and he made the mid-year All-Star teams in both his previous seasons in the short-season Single-A New-York Penn League in 2009 and the Single-A South Atlantic League in 2010.
But on July 30, Baker was dealt to the Orioles as Derrek Lee went to...
I would imagine we all can agree that the Orioles' biggest offseason priority is to upgrade the pitching staff for the 2012 season.
But how do you feel about the offense?
In several team batting categories, the Orioles were average - or a little above - average this year. They finished fourth in the American League in homers (191), sixth in average (.257), sxith in slugging (.413), seventh in runs (708) and seventh in OPS (.729).
The AL average, by the way, was 723 runs scored and .730 in...
According to an industry source, the Marlins have denied the Orioles permission to interview assistant general manager Dan Jennings for the position of president of baseball operations.
Jennings, who is currently in Arizona scouting the fall league, has a contract that runs through 2015.
The Marlins have denied teams permission to interview Jennings on three other occasions.
The Orioles are interviewing Diamondbacks senior vice president of scouting and player development Jerry Dipoto today...
Orioles manager Buck Showalter and his wife Angela have teamed up with KidsPeace to host the second annual KidsPeace Trick-or-Trot 5K run/1M walk on Saturday, Oct. 29 in Canton. This family event is open to all ages and features Halloween activities in addition to the race.
The entry fee for individuals participating in the run is $35, which includes an Under Armour t-shirt for the first 400 registered runners. Families who plan to walk the one mile together will pay just $20 and are...
The Orioles will interview Arizona Diamondbacks senior vice president of scouting and player development Jerry Dipoto tomorrow for the position of general manager, according to an industry source.
Dipoto will be the first candidate interviewed.
Toronto Blue Jays assistant general manager Tony LaCava is scheduled to be interviewed later this week.
You can read more about Dipoto right here, courtesy of mlbtraderumors.com.
Update: LaCava will be interviewed on Wednesday. That's two.
In case you were wondering or thought I forgot, reliever Jeremy Accardo refused his outright assignment to Triple-A Norfolk last week and elected to become a free agent.
Add him to your list of available relievers.
Accardo went 3-3 with a 5.73 ERA in 31 appearances with the Orioles. He allowed 43 hits, walked 18 and hit a batter in 37 2/3 innings. His WHIP was 1.619.
Yes, that's too many baserunners.
Accardo was 1-1 with a 2.16 ERA in 26 games at Norfolk.
The Orioles also outrighted...
Jeff Passan, the lead baseball columnist for Yahoo! Sports, tweeted the following last night:
Brewers gave up Brett Lawrie and four prospects for Shaun Marcum and Zack Greinke. Their playoff stats: 26.1 IP, 9.57 ERA, 1.86 WHIP, 7 HR.
Ouch.
Lawrie will be a star with the Blue Jays. Marcum will be remembered as something else, and it won't be Mr. October.
I was reminded last night that you can't spell M-I-L-W-A-U-K-E-E without two Es.
Jerry Hairston Jr. has carved out a nice career as a...
Double-A Bowie first baseman Joe Mahoney made his Arizona Fall League debut yesterday and went 3-for-5 with four RBIs. He also committed four errors.
Now that his oblique strain is gone, he needs to get rid of the stiffness in his mitt. But at least he's playing again.
Maryland's football team squandered an 18-point third quarter lead last night against Clemson, and Kevin Gregg was charged with a blown save. I'm not sure how that's possible.
I failed to wish Jim Palmer a happy 66th...
As the Orioles move forward with hiring their next president of baseball operations, among the key jobs for that person when hired will be to improve the Orioles' scouting and player development departments.
We all know that while the club was in last place in the standings this year again, it is also apparent that right now the Orioles are fifth in the division in producing talent from their minor leagues.
In my opinion, they could do a better job in both scouting and developing...
I've been dropping strong hints that Willie Randolph wouldn't return to the coaching staff in 2012. I received further confirmation earlier this afternoon.
It appears that manager Buck Showalter will need to fill two vacancies.
I heard recently that Randolph was exploring other opportunities. Naturally, he'd prefer to manage.
The Orioles hired Randolph to serve as bench coach, but he swapped places with third base coach John Russell. We were told that Russell's sore knee made it...
There have been conflicting reports about the Orioles' possible interest in former Toronto Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi for their position of president of baseball operations.
A major league source said that, as of late Friday afternoon, the Orioles had not contacted Ricciardi about their opening.
Ricciardi currently serves as a special assistant to New York Mets general manager Sandy Alderson. He was the GM of the Blue Jays from 2002 through 2009 and three times in that span,...
You might not know it by his steely dugout visage, but Orioles manager Buck Showalter can be a softy - especially when it comes to kids. That's why Showalter and his wife Angela are hosting the second annual Trick or Trot 5K run/walk, a family-friendly event that which will wind through the streets of Canton and Patterson Park on Saturday, Oct. 29.
The event benefits KidsPeace, a charity near and dear to the Showalters that provides the behavioral and mental health needs of children, families...
The Orioles have received permission from the Toronto Blue Jays to interview Tony LaCava for the position of general manager.
Also, they've requested permission from the Florida Marlins to interview Dan Jennings. However, Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria is in Europe, so that decision is on hold.
The interviews with LaCava and Diamondbacks executive Jerry Dipoto might not take place before Monday. As I wrote earlier, manager Buck Showalter is tentatively scheduled to fly back to Texas late...
Orioles right-hander Jeremy Guthrie is listed among Major League Baseball's All-Stars who will travel to Taiwan next month to play the Chinese Taipei national team in the 2011 Taiwan All-Star Series.
MLB released the current roster, which is incomplete. Only six pitchers are listed. More names will be added later.
The Taiwan All-Star Series will consist of five games played between Nov. 1-6 in three different cities - New Taipei City (XinZhuang Stadium) on Nov. 1, Taichung (Intercontinental...
He may not have posted big stats this year when he played for the Single-A Frederick Keys, but Orioles 2010 top draft pick Manny Machado still made a big impression on his manager, Orlando Gomez, who enjoyed working with the 19-year-old shortstop.
"It's been fun. You have to teach and be patient and let him know when you don't like something. Try to keep his mind positive and let him see things he needs to do to keep improving," Gomez said of Machado.
"He's very level-headed. He gets...
I've decided that "fluid" is my favorite term to describe the Orioles' list of general manager candidates.
If only I knew how to describe the job itself. General manager. President of baseball operations. Whatever. It's the same responsibilities previously bestowed upon Andy MacPhail.
The list keeps changing, depending on who you follow on Twitter. In fairness, it's going to take on different looks, no matter who's passing it along, because candidates were added and removed during this...
As Joe Jordan leaves the Orioles for the Phillies, I guess he can finally go several weeks without getting a phone call from me. We'll have less to talk about now, but I sure wish him the best.
He's done so many interviews with me since 2004, I've lost track. I have asked so many questions about Matt Hobgood that I've lost track of that.
A typical conversation between us might go like this:
Joe: Steve, Britton was sure good last night. What did you think of that sinker?
Steve: Looked...
If the Orioles decide to replace John Stockstill as director of player development, the top in-house candidate appears to be former coach Brian Graham, the coordinator of minor league instruction.
We've been told that the final decision will be made by the new president of baseball operations. The Orioles are trying to make these hires and announcements in their proper order. But multiple sources in the industry have confirmed that Graham is a leading contender for the job and would be highly...
Fifty-one years ago this afternoon, at precisely 3:36 p.m., a guy who became synonymous with the Orioles called arguably the greatest home run in baseball history. In Pittsburgh, no less.
Chuck Thompson was doing the national radio broadcast for NBC when Pirates second baseman Bill Mazeroski stepped to the plate at Forbes Field and hit a 1-0 pitch from the Yankees' Ralph Terry over the left field wall to give the battling Buccos the 1960 World Series. To folks in Pittsburgh, the sight of a...
Manager Buck Showalter will likely remain in Baltimore through the weekend while trying to speed up the process of interviewing candidates for general manager/president of baseball operations and making a hire.
This thing can't drag out much longer.
Showalter wants the coaching staff to become more settled by the weekend. We might not learn every name, but we could find out if anyone is leaving.
The Orioles need a bullpen coach after Rick Adair replaced Mark Connor as pitching coach on June...