The Orioles continue to see strong signs that their international program is really starting to hum. As they get set to open a brand-new Dominican complex, in recent weeks they had four international players ranked among the top prospects in the Florida Complex League. They had seven players taken in September in the Dominican Winter League draft,

Want an endorsement for the Orioles trading for a starting pitcher rather than competing in the free agent market? Michael Wacha received a two-year, $32 million contract from the Royals that included an opt-out clause after the first season. Good for him. And good for Kansas City, which committed a reported $105 million to six free agents. Wacha c

Time for more questions for Orioles fans. A pre-Christmas edition. It's an occasional winter feature at Steve's blog. Answer one or all the questions. Respond to the answers posted by others. Just read it all and keep your opinions to yourself. All is possible here today. Now on to the questions: 1) We have debated often here recently the club's ne

Sleep is precious for Lane Thomas these days, with a newborn son at home. So when he woke up one morning last week, checked his phone and saw he had missed a 12:30 a.m. call from Nick Senzel, he was incredulous at first. “I called him back and was like: ‘Dude, I go to sleep at 9 with a child. What were you calling me at 12:30 for?’” Thomas recalled

The evolution of a baseball season touches a team’s roster, and the Orioles underwent some interesting and important changes in 2023. James McCann was on the injured list Opening Day with a strained oblique, but he served as a trusted backup to All-Star catcher Adley Rutschman and a veteran leader in the clubhouse. A media favorite for his availabi

Time to take a look at a few facts that came out of the 2023 baseball season and see how some of them may play out in 2024. This is where our opinions come in. Fact: No. 1-ranked prospect Jackson Holliday has played just one full minor league season and just 145 career games on the farm. He rose four levels last year, but played only 18 regular sea

Much has already been made of Nick Senzel’s friendship with Lane Thomas (with more to come) and how that factored into his decision to sign a one-year, $2 million deal with the Nationals that includes an extra $1 million in incentives. But there were other enticing aspects of joining the Nats that the 28-year-old considered when making his decision

Money remains a determining factor in free agency, with the most lucrative offers usually winning out. The game’s evolution still has its limits. Some things stay the same. However, the Orioles are finding that they’re a more attractive destination after emerging from the rebuild. The perception of the organization has shifted, and more dramaticall

A very pleasant good morning to you, wherever you may be! After a slow start to the offseason, the Nationals have started to make some news in recent days, signing Nick Senzel to play third base and Dylan Floro to deepen their bullpen. There remain several more positions of need, of course, with first base, left field and rotation depth very much o

They will be playing in a game that doesn’t count, and it won’t even be a nine-inning game. But in mid-March at spring training in one game, we will be able to see many, maybe even just about all, of the Orioles' top young prospects on the field at one time. It is a cool concept called “Spring Breakout,” a four-day event from March 14-17 in which e