New Orioles pitching coach Dave Wallace had a strong voice in the hiring of bullpen coach Dom Chiti. And it worked out nicely that Wallace recommended someone who also was familiar to and highly respected by manager Buck Showalter. Wallace and Chiti came from the Braves organization, which has been known to produce good young pitchers. And Chiti, of course, was Showalter's bullpen coach with the Rangers in 2006. Asked yesterday about his choice, Wallace said, "Dom has a history with Buck,...

The Nationals sent eight prospects to the Arizona Fall League this offseason, and they have played a major part in the Mesa Solar Sox reaching the AFL championship game, which will be played today at 3:10 p.m. You can catch the game on MLB Network. You might have heard of all eight of the Nats prospects out in Arizona. You might have heard of none of them. But here's a look at how all eight are performing, with one final game to go in Mesa's season. Outfielder Steven Souza has only played...

Orioles pitching prospect Mike Wright certainly advanced his career during the 2013 season. He improved his stats, extended his season innings limit, started and won the Eastern League All-Star game, and capped his year with a big O's honor. On Sept. 8, Wright was named the Orioles minor league Pitcher of the Year, taking the Jim Palmer Award. The 23-year-old right-hander went 11-3 with a 3.26 ERA in 143 2/3 innings for the Double-A Bowie Baysox. On the final day of the minor league regular...

Now that Dave Wallace is in place as Orioles pitching coach, he's started the task of reaching out to his staff. Wallace told me yesterday that he's talked to three or four of the Orioles' pitchers "just briefly to say hello," and left voicemails for about eight others. "I haven't gotten into any discussions about mechanics or abilities or anything like that," he said. "I'm in the process of talking to Rick Peterson and Mike Griffin, who have had the guys. I'm trying to find out...

Detroit's Miguel Cabrera won the American League's MVP vote with a 23 first-place votes. But for me, the vote was much closer than that. As a voting member of the Baseball Writers' Association, September was an interesting month of debate and discussion about this award. At one point, I thought I was going to vote for the Orioles' Chris Davis. On the final day of the season, when ballots were due, I figured my vote was going to go to Oakland's Josh Donaldson. And I gave serious...

This morning's blog entry, largely devoted to updating Nolan Reimold's contract situation, drew a significant number of comments regarding Nick Markakis. It happens. And I'm fine with it. Apparently, Mike Francesca of WFAN Radio in New York mentioned how the Orioles and Mets discussed a trade involving Markakis during this week's GM meetings in Orlando. I didn't hear it, but I'll pass along a tweet from someone who did - Andrew Vazzano of SNY. "Mike Francesa said the Mets inquired...

Three Orioles prospects are expected to start tomorrow for Surprise when the Saguaros take on Mesa at 3:10 p.m. eastern in the Arizona Fall League championship game, which will be televised by MLB Network. Left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez gets the start on the mound and will likely pitch three innings. Henry Urrutia is expected to start in left field with Jonathan Schoop at shortstop. Rodriguez is 0-1 with a 5.52 ERA in five AFL starts. Urrutia is batting .377 with three homers, 15 RBIs, a .551...

Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy has been in the national spotlight this offseason, as he was awarded both Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards. However, the latest place his name has been seen is the rumor mill. Both Hardy and Matt Wieters have been subjects of trade rumors this week. However, Dan Duquette said that the O's "like Hardy and Wieters as core players on our ballclub." While the rumors are mostly speculative at this point, there have been many concrete changes around the...

With the offseason comes trade rumors, waiver news and coaching staff shakeups. The Nationals have experienced all three this week. Both Trent Jewett and Roy Clark left the Nats organization this week to pursue different opportunities. Clark, the Nats' former assistant general manager and vice president of player personnel, has joined the Dodgers, and former third base coach Jewett is now the bench coach of the Seattle Mariners. As it is only November, many offseason trade rumors will...

Who misses Mauro Gomez already? I know I do. I had trouble sleeping last night, knowing he won't be a part of Nationals spring training in a few months. I'll never forget the time that Gomez was claimed off waivers in September and then didn't appear in a single game for a Nationals affiliate. Or the time he didn't get an at-bat within the organization before deciding to go play in Japan. Memories that will last a lifetime. When the Nationals' 2013 season came to a close, it was clear...