In his first season as an Oriole in 2011, J.J. Hardy hit 30 homers. Over his first three seasons in Baltimore, he averaged 25.6 homers per year. In fact, from 2011-13, Hardy led all major league shortstops in both homers (77) and RBIs (224). But over the last two seasons, Hardy has 17 homers combined to rank 15th among all major league shortstops and has driven in 89 runs to rank 16th. The power outage is no doubt related - probably very much so - to injuries that have at the least impacted his...

The list of free agents has increased by one after former Phillies outfielder Domonic Brown refused an outright assignment. Seconds after news broke that the Phillies designated Brown for assignment, Orioles fans anticipated that executive vice president Dan Duquette would make a run at him. A former No. 1 prospect who was an All-Star in 2013. Who desperately needs a bounceback season. Who is under team control until 2018. Who won't break the bank. Don't bank on it. I checked around and...

Former Padres skipper Bud Black has reportedly emerged as a frontrunner for the Nationals managerial vacancy. Dennis Lin is in his third season as the Padres beat reporter for the San Diego Union-Tribune (Twitter: @dennistlin) and says Black was very approachable by both his players and the media during his time as San Diego's manager. "I'd say the No. 1 thing that comes to mind when people think about Buddy around baseball is the fact that he treated everyone the same way - with respect,"...

The 111th World Series begins tonight as the Kansas City Royals (95-67) host the New York Mets (90-72). The Royals last won the World Series on this date in 1985 and the Mets last won on this date in 1986. So far in the postseason, the Royals have beaten Houston 3-2 and Toronto 4-2, while the Mets advanced over Los Angeles 3-2 and Chicago 4-0. The Mets seem to have a big edge in the pitching department. Their team ERA in the postseason is 2.81 and their starting pitchers have an ERA of 2.65...

The Orioles are playing the local angle again, signing left-hander Adam Kolarek to a minor league contract, according to Baseball America's transactions page. Kolarek, 26, was born in Baltimore and attended Catonsville High School, and the Mets selected him in the 11th round of the 2010 draft out of the University of Maryland. He was released on Oct. 5. You can't get much more local than that. Kolarek went 2-4 with a 4.43 ERA and 1.299 WHIP in 67 innings at Double-A Binghamton. He made 51...

A year ago, Steve McCatty was still recovering from the stinging disappointment of the Nationals' early exit from the postseason. But there was still a bright offseason ahead, and added excitement and expectations when the Nats added ace Max Scherzer to McCatty's pitching staff. Now the former Nationals pitching coach is attempting to land the same job with Scherzer's old team. According to a report from MLB.com, McCatty is one of the finalists to fill the Tigers' vacant pitching coach...

Here is a good question: Why did Chris Tillman struggle so much during a 2015 season where he went 11-11 with an ERA of 4.99? Those that feel Tillman simply regressed to the mean must not have been watching from 2012-14. In those three years, Tillman went a combined 38-16 with an ERA of 3.42. In those years, he ranked tied for 11th in the American League in wins and was 15th in ERA. No, he is not an ace pitcher, nor was he then. But he was the Orioles' No. 1 and pitched like a...

The Pirates claimed reliever Jorge Rondon off waivers yesterday, according to Major League Baseball's transactions page. The Orioles haven't confirmed it. It basically works out as a swap of pitchers. The Orioles designated Rondon for assignment last week after claiming Vance Worley off waivers from the Pirates. Rondon allowed 11 earned runs (15 total) and 20 hits in 13 1/3 innings with the Orioles. He walked six batters and struck out eight. * The question remains whether the Orioles should...

Orioles third baseman Manny Machado, who returned from another knee surgery to play in all 162 games this season, finished fourth in voting for the Sporting News' American League Comeback Player of the Year award. The Rangers' Prince Fielder was first with 112 votes, followed by the Yankees' Alex Rodriguez with 14 and the Indians' Jason Kipnis with 12. Machado received six votes. The Royals' Kendrys Morales and Ryan Madson, and the Twins' Mike Pelfrey tied for fifth with two...

Bud Black has emerged as the top candidate to land the Nationals' managerial job and could be offered a deal as early as today, according to ESPN's Jim Bowden. Bowden, Washington's former general manager, reports Black is in D.C. for his second meeting with the Nationals. The Washington Post is also reporting that Dusty Baker will interview again with Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo today. After firing first-time manager Matt Williams after a disappointing second season, Rizzo cited...