PLAYER REVIEW: JOSIAH GRAY Age on opening day 2022: 24 How acquired: Traded with Keibert Ruiz, Gerardo Carrillo and Donovan Casey from Dodgers for Max Scherzer and Trea Turner, July 2021 MLB service time: 75 days 2021 salary: $570,500 Contract status: Under team control, arbitration-eligible in 2025, free agent in 2028 2021 stats (LA/WSH): 2-2, 5.48 ERA, 14 G, 13 GS, 0 CG, 70 2/3 IP, 63 H, 44 R, 43 ER, 19 HR, 33 BB, 76 SO, 2 HBP, 1.358 WHIP, 75 ERA+, 6.00 FIP, 0.0 fWAR, minus-0.3...

Did anyone really predict before the season that Cedric Mullins would be a finalist for a Silver Slugger Award? If you were told that one Oriole would be honored, would you have chosen Trey Mancini, Anthony Santander or Ryan Mountcastle ahead of Mullins? I don't know what's left to say about the guy who decided to bat only from the left side. Mullins was the easy choice as Most Valuable Oriole and no one in the media ventured outside the box and denied him a first-place vote. He's going to...

Today in this space, we look at a few more free agent starting pitchers. Recently, MLBTradeRumors.com sized up the field and last week we took this look at a few pitchers from the category of older veterans/back-of-the-rotation options. We started in alphabetical order of the 13 pitchers in this grouping and that meant we sized up Brett Anderson, Tyler Anderson and Alex Cobb. Today a look at three more pitchers, two of which we've seen in the American League East and another who spend a lot...

No Orioles player has won a Silver Slugger Award since Mark Trumbo in 2016. Cedric Mullins will attempt to break the streak. Mullins is among eight American League outfielders nominated for the honor, which recognizes the top offensive players at every position. Three are chosen for the outfield, whether in left, center or right. Recognition keeps coming to Mullins, the first player in Orioles history with 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases in the same season. He's also a finalist for the Major...

PLAYER REVIEW: PATRICK CORBIN Age on opening day 2022: 32 How acquired: Signed as free agent, December 2018 MLB service time: 9 years, 105 days 2021 salary: $24 million Contract status: Signed for $23 million in 2022, $24 million in 2023, $35 million ($10 million deferred) in 2024 2021 stats: 9-16, 5.82 ERA, 31 GS, 0 CG, 171 2/3 IP, 192 H, 114 R, 111 ER, 37 HR, 60 BB, 143 SO, 3 HBP, 1.468 WHIP, 70 ERA+, 5.41 FIP, 0.2 fWAR, minus-1.1 bWAR Quotable: "It's tough right now for him. He's...

The Orioles could break camp with firm plans to play Ryan Mountcastle at first base and use Trey Mancini as their designated hitter, which is how they routinely appeared in the lineup over the second half. Mountcastle is making steady progress as a defender, going back to his third position while the Orioles are covered in the outfield corners. They'd prefer to keep a player that young from pulling regular DH duty. But there's a complication to an otherwise solid plan when Adley Rutschman...

Former Orioles manager Buck Showalter used to say you grind all year to win in Major League Baseball to have the chance to "roll the dice" in October. He essentially meant the best or winningest teams don't always earn the trophy in October. In a short series, anything can happen. This season is another example of that. The Tampa Bay Rays won 100 games to lead all American League teams. They won an AL East that featured four teams with 91 or more wins. But they didn't even make the AL...

PLAYER REVIEW: TRES BARRERA Age on opening day 2022: 27 How acquired: Sixth-round pick, 2016 draft MLB service time: 88 days 2021 salary: $570,500 Contract status: Under team control, arbitration-eligible in 2025, free agent in 2028 2021 stats: 30 G, 107 PA, 91 AB, 8 R, 24 H, 3 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 10 RBI, 0 SB, 0 CS, 12 BB, 22 SO, .264 AVG, .374 OBP, .385 SLG, .758 OPS, 111 OPS+, minus-1 DRS, 0.6 fWAR, 0.5 bWAR Quotable: "When I came up and got sent down after those first three days, Davey...

As the participants in the World Series begin to come into focus, the Orioles are busy doing their own heavy lifting with moves to clear room on their 40-man roster. They needed a big broom. The season concluded with a full 40-man. Putting reliever Zack Burdi on waivers, and he was claimed by the Diamondbacks, was just the first attempt. They're down to 35 after outrighting catcher Austin Wynns, infielder Pat Valaika, and pitchers Thomas Eshelman and Konner Wade. That leaves space for the five...

It has been true in baseball probably for as long as there has been baseball: Players learn as much from their struggles - and maybe more - than they do from their successes. And it has been said that baseball is a game of failure. A good pitcher with an ERA of 3.00 still gives up three earned runs for every nine innings. A .300 hitter still makes an out seven times out of 10. In my coverage of the Orioles minors this year, it stood out that several players I interviewed cited overcoming...