LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - The Rule 5 draft is the final event of the Winter Meetings and it happens at 9 a.m. tomorrow morning. The Orioles have made at least one Rule 5 selection every year since 2006. Even though they are likely to carry outfielder Anthony Santander on their roster to start the 2018 season, no one would be surprised by the Orioles selecting another player tomorrow. Santander still has to spend 44 days on the active major league roster to fulfill his Rule 5 obligation before he...

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla.- The Scott Boras media scrum has lasted more than an hour outside the media room at the Walt Disney World Dolphin Resort with little Orioles subject matter, given that the priciest free agents in his stable aren't coming to Baltimore. Boras confirmed his meeting with executive vice president Dan Duquette, which took place Monday afternoon. Closer Zach Britton is a trade target at the Winter Meetings, but Boras said he doesn't think the left-hander is on the block. "I...

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - Scott Boras met with Nationals ownership last month to discuss a contract extension with Bryce Harper, a meeting that obviously didn't result in the consummation of any deal to keep the star outfielder in Washington long term, but at least showed a willingness on his part to engage in talks before he becomes a free agent next winter. "We had a meeting with Washington ownership about a month ago, just for some preliminary discussions," Boras said this morning in his...

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - Jim Callis of MLBPipeline.com has reported on many trades over the years as part of his excellent analysis of prospects. He is someone fans turn to in order to find out the level of prospects their team just got when a club deals a star player for young talent. A deal much like the Orioles potentially could be discussing for Manny Machado. When Callis was on "MASN All Access" yesterday, I tapped into his experience with these deals to ask what return the Orioles could...

The 2017 season was full of record-breaking games for Orioles outfielder Adam Jones. One of his first celebratory moments came on April 24, when he recorded his 1,500th career hit with a fifth-inning single against the Rays' Chris Archer. Always humble, Jones didn't realize he reached a milestone until after the game: His day wasn't over yet. In the seventh inning, Jones' 1,501st hit was a two-run homer that gave the O's the lead in a 6-3 win. Jones ended the season with 1,650 career...

On a gorgeous Sunday afternoon in our nation's capital, the Nationals put on a hitting clinic against the Mets pitching staff that ended in a 23-5 victory, making up for dropping the first two games of the series. What fans will remember most is the All-Star performance by third baseman Anthony Rendon. Rendon came out of an early season slump when he went 6-for-6 (including two singles and a double), blasted three homers and collected a career-high 10 RBIs (his previous career high was four...

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - Part of the debate over the wisdom of trading third baseman Manny Machado, and it's been a dominant topic as the Winter Meetings move into their third day, is whether he'd net a more bountiful return at the non-waiver deadline. While surface logic says that a greater number of prospects are made available with Machado under team control for a full season, contenders tend to get desperate around July 31 and more easily sell their souls - or part with young impact...

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - That the Nationals reportedly are interested in Wade Davis is not surprising. They made a run at the reliever at last year's Winter Meetings, only to watch as he eventually was traded by the Royals to the Cubs for outfielder Jorge Soler. There is one major difference for the Nats between last winter's pursuit of Davis and this winter's potential pursuit of Davis: They didn't have a closer one year ago; they do now. The July acquisition of Sean Doolittle addressed...

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - To no one's surprise, Orioles manager Buck Showalter is conceding nothing in the American League East - even after the rival New York Yankees added Giancarlo Stanton. When Showalter was our guest on "MASN All Access" yesterday, we discussed the fact that some fans are saying they are discouraged right now. They know the Orioles are coming off a last-place finish, still have to fill out a rotation and then have to beat out Boston and New York to win the division. Oh,...

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - The sun came up this morning and the Orioles hadn't traded third baseman Manny Machado or moved him to shortstop. Let's see what the rest of the day brings. If Machado remains in the organization, and I can't place odds on it, I'd expect him to be the starting shortstop on opening day. Call it a hunch, call it my ability to read between the lines. It just seems as though manager Buck Showalter has made a decision and isn't ready to go public with it. The biggest...