The Single-A Frederick Keys will not be part of the Orioles organization in the 2021 season, an industry source confirmed today. The Keys, who have been an O's affiliate since 1989, will become the sixth team in the MLB Draft League, a new summer amateur wood-bat league expected to attract draft-eligible players. Baseball America was the first to report the news about Frederick. It appears that Frederick may still have longshot hopes to be an affiliate for some organization in 2021. The Keys...

We've talked for weeks about the Nationals' need for a new corner outfielder, and that need officially became official Tuesday when Adam Eaton (surprisingly?) returned to the White Sox four years after they traded him to Washington in one of the most significant trades in club history. The Nats, of course, could've retained Eaton had they picked up his $10.5 million option for 2021. They chose not to, and that decision revealed the following about them: 1) They didn't believe the...

Baseball America recently reported that baseball officials have tweaked the restructuring of the minor leagues. Previously, each organization was expected to have five domestic farm clubs - four full-season teams and one complex-based team. That is a Rookie-level club playing at their spring training complex. But Baseball America reported that officials are now expected to allow clubs to field two complex-based clubs. This would allow organizations with two such teams to employ as many as 180...

The absence of in-person Winter Meetings leaves us with one more burning question during hot stove season: Does agent Scott Boras make house calls? It still wouldn't replicate the circus atmosphere that unfolds in hotel lobbies. Or, in one instance, a hallway with Boras pressed against a gift shop glass window while a nervous security employee attempted to herd the group to a less-congested area. Good luck with that. The scene resembled the one that closed "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," with...

The virtual Winter Meetings are making Orioles executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias yearn for the standard setup, which couldn't exist in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Elias couldn't meet with beat writers in his hotel suite this afternoon, instead dispersing the usual nuggets of information via a Zoom conference call. "It's not the same," Elias said. "I think all of us take the Winter Meetings for granted and we groan about some of the repetition of it, but I think...

When the Orioles traded shortstop José Iglesias to the Los Angeles Angels last week for minor league pitchers Garrett Stallings and 19-year-old Venezuelan right-hander Jean Pinto, it was clear that executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias was a fan of Stallings' work in the Southeastern Conference. The Orioles did their homework on Stallings and his three years in the SEC. The pitcher did some homework of his own on his new team. He knew some of the four Angels minor league...

José Iglesias didn't expect his phone to ring Wednesday night with news that would shake up the professional side of his life and spark emotions on the personal side. He didn't expect to hear from Orioles executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias or to be told that he was traded again. He fell in love with the Orioles and felt the sting of a sudden breakup. Elias informed Iglesias that the veteran shortstop was going to the Angels in exchange for minor league pitchers Garrett...

Adam Eaton's tenure with the Nationals officially ended today when the free agent outfielder decided to return to the organization that sent him to D.C. in a blockbuster four years ago. Eaton has signed a one-year, $7 million contract with the White Sox that also includes an $8.5 million club option for 2022, according to NBC Sports Chicago. The deal is pending a physical. It's a somewhat surprising return to the South Side for Eaton, who spent the 2014-16 seasons with the White Sox before...

Here are a couple of updates on a pair of top five draft picks for the Nationals in right-handers Cade Cavalli and Holden Powell. Cavalli was the Nats' top selection in this summer's First-Year Player Draft out of Oklahoma. He is listed on the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League Nationals roster heading into 2021. Nats pitching coordinator Brad Holman said Cavalli played two positions in college until finally deciding to put focus on starting pitching. "Cade really hadn't been pitching that...

The Nationals' acquisition Monday of Rogelio Armenteros didn't generate much buzz, nor should it have. A 26-year-old right-hander with five games of big league experience claimed off waivers? That's not exactly blockbuster material. But the move did offer up a reminder of an important but oft-overlooked area of concern for the Nationals and all clubs: rotation depth. Armenteros isn't going to make the Nats rotation out of spring training. If he somehow does, a bunch of things have gone...