LAS VEGAS - The Orioles left the Winter Meetings today with two Rule 5 picks and a full 40-man roster. Executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias used the first overall selection to take shortstop Richie Martin from the Athletics organization and the Orioles later acquired infielder Drew Jackson from the Phillies, who had plucked him from the Dodgers system earlier in the morning. Jackson, 25, was a fifth-round selection by the Mariners in 2015 out of Stanford University. He's a...

LAS VEGAS - The Orioles made the decision last night on which player they would select in this morning's Rule 5 draft, the name agreed upon in a second meeting among team officials and scouts. They didn't repeat last year's tactic of loading up on pitching, choosing shortstop Richie Martin from the Athletics organization. Martin, who turns 24 later this month, was the 20th overall pick in the 2015 out of the University of Florida. The Detroit native slashed .300/.368/.439 this year at...

LAS VEGAS - The symbol for this year's Winter Meetings is the strikingly empty scene at the far end of the media work room at the Madalay Bay Resort and Casino: There's a stage with a backdrop, podium and microphone, risers for TV cameras and a couple of hundred chairs lined neatly into rows. The tableau is baseball's version of a ghost town. Except for a charity auction event, the announcement of Nathan Eovaldi's deal with the Red Sox and the Hall of Fame press conference introducing new...

LAS VEGAS - The Orioles are on the clock this morning with the first pick in the Rule 5 draft. Their contingent at the Winter Meetings will be on a plane later in the day. A review of the business conducted so far includes claiming third baseman Rio Ruiz off waivers from the Braves and losing pitcher Ryan Meisinger to the Cardinals. And, yes, the decision on a new manager that should be announced by next week. There wasn't much of a buzz here related to the Orioles, as so many people in the...

LAS VEGAS - The Nationals came to town Sunday with a short list of roster needs after an aggressive run of moves earlier in the offseason. They leave town today without having filled any of those holes, but having created a brand new one. Wednesday evening's surprise trade of Tanner Roark to the Reds for minor league reliever Tanner Rainey wasn't what most would have predicted would be the club's lone transaction of the Winter Meetings. It left more than a few folks at the Mandalay Bay...

LAS VEGAS - The big screen television inside the suite of Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias was tuned again today to MLB Network. "I wanted to make sure I didn't miss any Orioles moves," he quipped. Always start with a joke. Play to the crowd. Elias didn't confirm that he made a decision on his manager and that Cubs bench coach Brandon Hyde received an offer. "I feel very good about where we're at with it," he said. "A lot has happened in the last 24 hours...

LAS VEGAS - If new O's general manager Mike Elias can get Orioles minor league clubs to play as well as the minor league clubs of the Houston Astros system played in 2018, then fans of O's affiliates might be quite pleased. And the Orioles may be developing some talented young pitchers. Houston's Triple-A Fresno team finished in first place in 2018, going 82-57. The team ERA ranked sixth in the Pacific Coast League at 4.27 and Fresno pitchers led that league in strikeouts. Double-A Corpus...

LAS VEGAS - Nationals pitcher Tanner Roark was traded Wednesday to the Reds, a team that's trying to rebuild its rotation and recover from four consecutive seasons of at least 90 losses. The Reds have had nothing but pitching problems. Last year, their staff gave up 5.06 runs a game, highest in the National League. The staff finished 14th in ERA (4.63) in 2018 and were last in 2017 at 5.17. Last year, the Reds fired their manager, Bryan Price, a former pitching coach, after the first 18 games,...

LAS VEGAS - Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias didn't confirm today that he's chosen a manager. However, he talked about "a lot happening" over the past 24 hours and feeling "very good" about where he is in the process. He wants to get it done soon, but can't provide a specific timeframe. Elias referred to yesterday's reports on the job being offered to Cubs bench coach Brandon Hyde as "premature and overzealous," and later as "inaccurate" based on how...

LAS VEGAS - If there's any player on the Nationals roster who needs to chill out and press the reset button, it's center fielder Michael A. Taylor, whose hopes of following up a breakout 2017 campaign were dashed last season when general ineffectiveness cost him a starting job and made him question how he was going about his daily work. So what's Taylor doing in the Dominican Winter League with Gigantes de Cibao, where he was a late addition to the roster and is hitting .143 (2-for-14) with...