The Silver Slugger Award winners will be announced tonight, so there's no better time to throw back to a player who has a great chance of taking home some hardware: Chris Davis. A Silver Slugger winner in 2013, Crush returned to form in 2015 and finished the season with a major league-leading 47 homers. Two of them came on the night of Aug. 15 against the A's. With the O's trailing Oakland 3-0 in the fourth, Davis stepped up to the plate and smacked a two-run homer. The Orioles added another...

A few notes and quotes in today's entry: The Duke: Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette was a guest Wednesday on MLB Network with host Chris Russo from the general managers meetings and was asked if some moves are expected to happen fast in the trade and free agent markets: "Well, this is going to happen pretty quickly between now and the Winter Meetings (in early December), I think. Teams are lining up and aligning their interests with each other. I think you'll see some trades in...

Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette stated multiple times before the general managers meetings that he wanted to improve the club's catching depth. It wasn't the No. 1 priority, but he targeted it. The list of free agents is underwhelming beyond Matt Wieters, but the Orioles have reached out to Jarrod Saltalamacchia's agent, according to multiple reports. The need increases dramatically if Wieters signs with another club. He has until 5 p.m. Friday to accept or decline the $15.8...

Manny Machado was denied the Wilson Defensive Player of the Year Award at third base tonight, losing out to the Rockies' Nolan Arenado. Machado and Arenado won Rawlings Gold Gloves last night. The Wilson Award, however, goes to only one player in the majors at each position. The winners are determined by statistics using sabermetrics. Managers and coaches vote for the Gold Glove. The Wilson award was created in 2012. In the first two years, it was given to one player on each team. Orioles...

Stephen Strasburg dealt with what he referred to as a "knot" in his back during the 2015 season. Now his agent says that the knot was really a non-cancerous "muscular" growth that was surgically removed from his back last month. After laboring through his first 10 starts with an uncharacteristic 3-5 record and 6.55 ERA, Strasburg landed on the disabled list for the first time on May 30. Strasburg emerged from the DL appearing healthy and confident, winning his first two starts before a...

Orioles top pitching prospect Dylan Bundy isn't expected to make another start in the final two weeks of the Arizona Fall League. Bundy was scratched from Monday's start with stiffness in his right forearm and replaced by former Rule 5 pick Jason Garcia. The Orioles referred to him as "day to day," but I'm told that he probably will be shut down and continue to receive treatment for a muscle strain. The former first-round draft pick could report to the minicamp in January at the Ed Smith...

Pitcher Jake Arrieta dominated in the season's second half, posting a 0.75 ERA and finishing with 22 wins and a 1.77 ERA for the Cubs. The Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw had a 2.13 ERA and led the National League with 301 strikeouts. So Arrieta and Kershaw are the top candidates for the NL Cy Young Award? Think again. The numbers for Arrieta and Kershaw are impressive, but they are overshadowed by the Dodgers' Zack Greinke, who had 19 wins and won the NL ERA title with a 1.66 ERA. That's why the...

With the Nationals finally deciding on Dusty Baker as skipper last week, general manager Mike Rizzo can now devote most of his offseason attention to reinforcing a roster believed still to be on the postseason doorstep. Chief among Rizzo's concerns is rebuilding the Nationals bullpen, which stumbled terribly down the stretch in 2015. It's hard for Rizzo to design the assembly of his relievers until decisions are made regarding closer Jonathan Papelbon and former closer Drew Storen. Rizzo...

Another day passed at the general managers meetings in Boca Raton, Fla. and the Orioles held the same shopping list. I won't repeat it. You should have it memorized. The Orioles haven't given up on their free agents. They remain in play for first baseman Chris Davis despite the potential cost. Are they the favorites? Most folks in the industry say "no," but it's not unanimous. Former Orioles executive and current MLB Network Radio analyst Jim Duquette predicts that Davis will re-sign. He...

It seems there is already substantial interest in free agent reliever Darren O'Day, an Oriole for the last four seasons and one whose highest ERA with the club was the 2.28 he posted in 2012. He's had a rock-solid four years with the club and he even made the All-Star team in 2015 as a set-up man. That is rare. O'Day went 6-2 with a 1.52 ERA and many other impressive stats in 2015. How about a 0.934 WHIP or a walk rate of 1.9 batters per nine innings to go along with a career-best 11.3...