The Baltimore Orioles have named Brian Ebel as the club's Head Athletic Trainer, and Mark Shires and Pat Wesley as Assistant Athletic Trainers. Ebel spent the last 21 seasons as the Assistant Athletic Trainer under former Head Athletic Trainer Richie Bancells. He is just the fourth Head Athletic Trainer in Orioles history since the franchise moved to Baltimore in 1954. The 2018 season will mark Ebel's 34th year with the Orioles organization. He began his career in 1985 at the age of 19 when...

The spotlight is shining now on a pair of Nationals prospects that pitched for the Mesa Solar Sox in the Arizona Fall League. Right-hander Kyle McGowin notched three wins in six starts for the Mesa. He recorded 27 strikeouts with no walks. His pitching coach in the AFL, Michael Tejera, said McGowin did well for himself as he prepares for 2018. The 26-year-old McGowin throws a fastball, slider and changeup. "Kyle has three pitches. All three pitches were working for him," Tejera said. "He was...

The Nationals need a fifth starter. Or do they? It's easy to look at the current state of the rotation and conclude there's a gaping hole behind the otherwise strong quartet of Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez and Tanner Roark. Joe Ross won't return from Tommy John surgery until July at best. Erick Fedde and A.J. Cole are unproven and/or uninspiring from what we've seen of each so far. And Edwin Jackson is an unsigned free agent, not to mention the ultimate journeyman who keeps...

If it seems like trade talk about Manny Machado has been going on for a long time now, that is because it has. The speculation and rumor mill kicked into overdrive at the Winter Meetings, and while it has cooled considerably since then, it still seems to be hanging over the team as the new year begins. It would seem that it is getting in the way a bit at this point, but maybe that is just due to the media focus. Perhaps team officials are much less focused on their All-Star third baseman who...

SARASOTA, Fla. - The first day of Orioles minicamp begins this morning at the Ed Smith Stadium complex, with pitchers scheduled to head outdoors at 10 a.m. A small group of beat writers will have clubhouse access for an hour. Temperatures climb into the 70s this week, but rain is in the forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday, which could move some of the bullpen sessions to the covered cages. Or, because it's Florida, the sun could come out two minutes after a downpour. In case you need a...

There are many different kinds of miseries in sports. There's the misery that comes from repeated losing year in and year out, as any fan of the National Football League's Cleveland Browns can attest. There's the misery that comes from repeatedly coming oh-so-close to winning the big one, as any fan of the Buffalo Bills can attest. And then there's the misery that comes from repeatedly reaching the playoffs and then finding new ways to squander those opportunities, as any fan of the Kansas...

Let's take a look back at a few stories that appeared in this space in the last week. Feel free to revisit them and post some comments here today on any or all of them. The new year began with this story from Monday expressing a wish for a quick resolution to the Manny Machado situation - essentially the hope for a trade to be completed soon. We are still waiting on that. It could be that the Orioles themselves are now less inclined to deal Machado. It could also be that they are just waiting...

As Brad Brach prepares for a likely role as the primary closer for the Orioles while Zach Britton recovers from Achilles surgery, he's making an adjustment to his offseason routine in order to put together two robust halves. More cardio to correct the discrepancy. Brach has been the reverse of Kevin Gausman. Better before the break. He made the American League All-Star team in 2016 while going 6-1 with a 0.91 ERA and 0.831 WHIP in the first half, but he had a 3.94 ERA and 1.382 WHIP in the...

In his fifth year of eligibility, is this the year for former Orioles and Yankees pitcher Mike Mussina to make the Hall of Fame? According to this Hall of Fame tracker, he is at 73.7 percent of the votes that are known and 75 percent is needed for election. In his first year of eligibility in 2014, he got just 20.3 percent of the vote. But that has gone up to 24.6 in 2015, 43.0 in 2016 and to 51.8 percent last year. He keeps looking better to the voters, I guess, without throwing a single...

It won't be long before Chris Davis' family, which already includes wife Jill and daughter Ella, will expand with the arrival of twin girls. "We're going to go from man-to-man coverage to a zone real quick in our house, but we're fired up about it," Davis said this week while interviewed on the "Orioles Hot Stove Show" on 105.7 The Fan. "I couldn't be happier. We always said that we wanted at least three. I'm still pushing for maybe four, but it's probably not the best time to be...