The Orioles again made two selections in today's Rule 5 draft and they again focused on pitching. The fifth overall pick turned into right-hander Mac Sceroler, the nephew of former Orioles pitcher Ben McDonald. The Orioles took right-hander Tyler Wells in the second round to fill out their 40-man roster. Sceroler, 25, came from the Reds organization, where he posted a 3.69 ERA and a 1.111 WHIP in 26 games (20 starts) at high Single-A Daytona in 2019 and averaged 9.8 strikeouts per nine...

The first virtual Rule 5 draft is set to be held today at noon Eastern, and who isn't excited about that? Well, hardly anyone's excited about it. Unless you work for a major league club's player development unit, are a rabid follower of third-tier minor league prospects or are one of the players whose livelihood is actually at stake today, you really have no good reason to pay more than glancing attention at this event. This is especially true for the Nationals, who essentially have been...

Had there been a 2020 All-Star Game, Juan Soto and Trea Turner almost certainly would've found their way to Dodger Stadium to join the rest of baseball's best for a couple of days. But with no Midsummer Classic during a 60-game season that didn't even begin until late July, Soto and Turner are left to be honored in a different fashion for their standout performances this season: Soto was named tonight as a 2020 All-MLB first-team outfielder, while Turner was recognized as one of three...

The Rule 5 draft begins at noon today and the Orioles, as usual, are going to participate. It's what they do. It should be named after them. Executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias appeared on "MASN All Access" on Monday afternoon and offered confirmation. "I would expect some activity in the first round of the Rule 5 draft," he said. That's good enough for me. But he doubled down in a Zoom conference call with the media. "If there are only four players that we feel are worth...

So yesterday, as it turned out, was the day. We finally got some clarity on the Orioles minor leagues for 2021. We hope that we get to see a full season of baseball as the country recovers from the pandemic. What we do know now is the likely makeup of the O's farm moving forward. Four teams were invited to be O's full-season affiliates. They are Triple-A Norfolk, Double-A Bowie, high Single-A Aberdeen and low Single-A Delmarva. Major League Baseball is asking the clubs to sign Professional...

Today's virtual Winter Meetings activity for the Orioles on its third day impacts the scouting department, the kind of behind-the-scenes move that's common during the traditional in-person gatherings. According to an industry source, the Orioles are hiring Quincy Boyd as an area scout. Boyd has served as a national scouting supervisor with the Red Sox since February 2018. He was promoted to regional crosschecker in December 2012 after working as an area scout for North Carolina and South...

The Orioles today announced invitations for their four full-season affiliates for the 2021 season. They have invited the Norfolk Tides to continue as their Triple-A affiliate and the Bowie Baysox to remain their Double-A team. They invited their previously short-season Single-A team, the Aberdeen IronBirds, to serve as their high Single-A affiliate and the Delmarva Shorebirds to remain as their low Single-A club. O's executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias confirmed yesterday...

The Nationals made it official today, inviting four organizations to become minor league affiliates in Major League Baseball's new player development structure. The affiliates are the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings, Double-A Harrisburg Senators, high Single-A Wilmington Blue Rocks and low Single-A Fredericksburg Nationals. The invites have not yet been formally accepted, but Wilmington already officially accepted the invitation on Twitter and the other three affiliates have current longstanding...

The Washington Nationals have invited the following four organizations to become Minor League affiliates in Major League Baseball's new player development structure, pending acceptance of the invitation. Those affiliates are as follows: · Rochester Red Wings - Triple-A · Harrisburg Senators - Double-A · Wilmington Blue Rocks - High-A · Fredericksburg Nationals - Low-A "We are very excited to extend the invitations to these four affiliates and their communities," said...

The Orioles are pleased to announce that the club has invited the Aberdeen IronBirds, Bowie Baysox, Delmarva Shorebirds, Norfolk Tides, and the communities they serve to continue as economic development and entertainment partners. The Orioles will also continue to collaborate with the community of Frederick, Md., where the club has worked with Major League Baseball (MLB) and Prep Baseball Report (PBR) to bring the MLB Draft League to Frederick residents. The MLB Draft League is the first league...