Has this bizarre and stalled offseason taught us anything about the 2022 Orioles? Their direction, their mindset, their priorities, their plan? Your time is better spent reading a novel. There's more coming from a winter story that had to be bookmarked. In the meantime, here are a few observations on another slow morning: A willingness to spend on pitching We won't get a comment from executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias on the negotiating process that led to Jordan Lyles' $7...

By sheer virtue of timing, Major League Baseball was the first major North American sport to return to play during the pandemic. July 2020 feels like a lifetime ago at this point, but it's worth remembering just how uncertain everything was as ballplayers took the field for the first time in empty stadiums. We didn't know if the strict protocols put into place were going to allow for games to be played without the spread of the virus. We didn't know if clubhouses would become petri dishes...

Considering that there are often situations where teams selecting pitchers in the Rule 5 draft try to spend all season hiding such a player and using him sparingly, right-hander Tyler Wells worked out much better than that for the 2021 Orioles. In looking back at the Rule 5 from Dec. 10, 2020, there were 18 players selected in the major league phase. With the 5th pick, the Orioles took right-hander Mac Sceroler from the Cincinnati Reds, and with the 17th pick, they selected Wells from the...

It's been a while so it's about time for me to ask my readers once again about their opinions. Time for our latest edition of "A Few Questions for O's fans." With a lockout ongoing the news has come more slowly, but there have still been some things happening, such as the announcement this week of the 2022 big league coaching staff. So on to today's questions. * Trey Mancini, after missing the entire 2020 season, returned last year to produce a stat line of .255/.326/.432 and played in...

Over the course of 17 seasons on the Nationals beat, you come across players with every type of personality and every type of approach when it comes to dealing with reporters. Some are outgoing and gregarious. Some are shy and reticent. Some are polite but know how to say nothing interesting. Some are rude but can't help themselves and say plenty of things they shouldn't have said. In those 17 seasons, though, there has never been an interview subject quite like Giovany Aramis...

My question in Saturday's spring training storyline post about the starters who follow John Means and Jordan Lyles in the rotation was met with some online resistance. As in, why is Lyles the No. 2 starter with a career 54-79 record, 5.21 ERA and 1.435 WHIP in 11 seasons? I can offer seven million reasons - his guaranteed salary for 2022. Also, there isn't a proven top of the rotation starter that I'm ignoring. Or one of the prospects who was so overwhelmingly good this summer that he's...

Anthony Bemboom can read the room. Any catcher who has an agent negotiating with the Orioles doesn't go into it blindly. An organization that advertises itself as a land of opportunity has its limits. For the Orioles, it's offering competition in camp for a group of catchers, with the understanding that someone eventually must step aside. Bemboom hasn't met Adley Rutschman or watched him play, but he knows what's coming. He signed a minor league deal last week, following Jacob Nottingham,...

If it's Sunday, it must be time to rummage through the ol' mailbag instead of letting it overflow and risking a few questions sticking to the bottom. I'll never forgive myself for taking 22 years to offer my opinion on the Orioles selecting Mike Paradis in the first round. And I wasn't ... wait for it ... Stahling before commenting on their next pick. (Look it up if you must and then forgive me.) Let's get to some of the fresher inquiries this morning, unedited in all their glory. I will...

In honor of this weekend's release of "Spider-Man: No Way Home," I'm going to attempt to create parallels between the blockbuster movie and the upcoming Nationals season. I like baseball and superheroes, and we're in a lockout, so bear with me. This is a spoiler-free reference to "No Way Home" for those of you who have yet to see the film. I saw it opening night since Spider-Man is one of my favorite characters of all time, and I hate when people spoil things for me, so I will not do...

With not much news trickling out of South Capitol Street as the lockout enters its third week, I have to get a little creative around here to come up with story ideas. I've been trying to strike a balance between stories about those currently employed by the Nationals and those previously employed by them. And what better way to remember those who used to play around here than with some trivia? Yes, it's time for a new round of Nats trivia. Today's quiz is all about pitching and features...