Isn't it nice to wake up and not wonder if the Orioles will announce the Hyun Soo Kim signing or whether he failed the physical or whether his name is spelled correctly? We're told to lose the hyphen and capitalize the "S" in Soo. Who am I to argue? Kim never was in real danger of failing his physical, though I understand why some of you experienced Grant Balfour flashbacks. I don't flinch at them because it's a reminder that I broke that story. Not a lot of fun, but still a...

The Orioles reduced their 40-man roster to 39 players by exposing left-hander Tim Berry to waivers and losing him on a claim by the Marlins. In the blink of an eye, the Orioles learned today that they surrendered Berry to the Marlins, infielder Rey Navarro to the Angels and left-hander Edgar Olmos to the Cubs. I erroneously tweeted this afternoon that the Marlins claimed Olmos before I quickly made the correction. I knew Miami took one of the Orioles' left-handers. I just had the wrong...

The Orioles created space for outfielder Hyun Soo Kim on their 40-man roster by designating pitcher Edgar Olmos for assignment, and the Cubs claimed the left-hander off waivers. The Orioles claimed Olmos from the Cubs on Dec. 10, another example of baseball's circle of life. Kim will wear No. 25 for the Orioles, in case you want to pick up a jersey. He pronounces his first name "Heeyuhn," so hold the hon puns. "He's excelled in international competition," said executive vice president Dan...

The Orioles today announced that they have signed free agent outfielder Hyun Soo Kim (pronounced heeyuhn soo kim) to a two-year contract. Kim, 27, spent parts of 10 seasons with the Doosan Bears of the Korean Baseball Organization, batting .318/.406/.488 with 142 home runs and 771 RBIs. Nicknamed Korea's "Iron Man," he played in 1,131 career games in the KBO. A four-time KBO Gold Glove Award winning outfielder (2008-2010, 2015), awarded annually to the best overall player at each position,...

How satisfied is Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo with the starting rotation as we approach the new year? The starting five was solid in 2015, but certainly not the wrecking ball rotation predicted to destroy the National League en route to the postseason. Right-handers Jordan Zimmermann and Doug Fister have departed via free agency, leaving openings behind aces Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg and left-hander Gio Gonzalez. It's assumed right-hander Tanner Roark will regain his spot in...

In order to simplify things during the hot stove season, please allow me to introduce myself as the guy who constantly reminds everyone that the Orioles have reached out to or checked in on pretty much every second- and third-tier pitcher on the market. Anyone in need of a bounceback season due to injury or throwing like crap. You can just insert a different name into the tweets on your timelines. The Orioles want multiple arms - and not just on one body. They want a starter for the top half of...

For Nationals left-hander Gio Gonzalez, the quest for next season is to return to the way he was pitching in 2012, when he earned a career-high 21 wins. The last three seasons, he has not been able to win more than 11 times a year. Gonzalez said at Winterfest that his personal goal this season is to get back to dominating like he did when the Nationals brought home their first division title. Last year, he went 11-8 with a 3.79 ERA in 31 starts - not bad numbers, of course. But he had a few...

Caught-stealing percentage is a statistic that provides information, but sometimes doesn't provide anywhere near a complete story on a catcher. We can look on a stat page and see that a catcher threw out 35 percent of attempted base stealers. Does that make him better than the catcher who threw out 30 percent? Not necessarily, and there are good reasons for that. When it comes to Orioles minor league catchers, this past season the coaching staff at each affiliate started to keep the catcher's...

When the Nationals signed Max Scherzer 11 months ago, it was viewed as an obscene addition to an already dominant starting rotation that would surely lead to a World Series berth. For the most part, Scherzer did not disappoint. But widespread injuries, underachieving around the roster and clubhouse friction led to playoff elimination in late September for the Nationals. Scherzer was arguably the National League's most dominant pitcher throughout the first half of the season. He posted a 2.11...

It was a slow news day yesterday when the final blog entry pertained to outfielder Xavier Avery. I'm fine with the signing because it brings an element of speed into the organization and it's a minor league deal. The Orioles need to fill out the roster at Triple-A Norfolk and there's nothing wrong with taking a look at him in spring training. It just isn't an impact signing and it has nothing to do with Hyun-soo Kim's physical. I guess we're easing into the holidays. If the Chris Davis...