The Orioles today announced that they have claimed infielder Alexi Casilla off waivers from the Minnesota Twins. Additionally, the Orioles have outrighted outfielder Lew Ford, infielder Steve Tolleson and left-hander Zach Phillips to Triple-A Norfolk and reinstated right-handers Oliver Drake and Stu Pomeranz, left-hander Tsuyoshi Wada, infielder Brian Roberts and outfielder Nolan Reimold from the 60-day disabled list. Casilla, 28, played in a career-high 106 games for Minnesota in 2012,...

Looking to improve their depth at second base and present manager Buck Showalter with more options, the Orioles have claimed Alexi Casilla off waivers from the Minnesota Twins. The switch-hitting Casilla, 28, is a career .250/.305/.334 hitter in parts of seven seasons with the Twins. He's amassed 72 doubles, 14 triples, 11 home runs and 147 RBIs in 1,580 at-bats, and he's stolen 71 bases in 80 attempts. Casilla has played 399 games at second base, 77 at shortstop and 10 at third base. The...

Nationals prospect Matt Skole is enjoying his opportunity to play for Salt River Rafters in the Arizona Fall League and is anxious to get back on the field after "tweaking" his hamstring last Saturday. "I just tweaked it a little bit," Skole said. "They gave me this week off. I am going to play (today). I think they are being overcautious. It wasn't that big of a deal. Those guys took care of me." Skole is a third baseman by trade. For low Single-A Hagerstown and high Single-A Potomac...

The Nationals have been linked to Michael Bourn for some time now, dating back a couple years to his days with the Astros. The reasons are fairly obvious: The Nats have been searching for their long-term answer in center field, they could use speed and a stable presence at the top of the order (even though Jayson Werth is an option there), and Bourn's agent happens to be Scott Boras, with whom Nats general manager Mike Rizzo has a good working relationship. Now, with Bourn poised to hit the...

It's time to release another sequel to "Because You Asked," where I post the most repeated questions sent to my blog and Twitter account. You ask, I answer. You ask again, I answer again. It's our own little SOR dance, only without the decorations and punch bowl. And it's OK if the boys stand on one side of the gym and the girls on the other side. Slow dancing to Journey is optional. Wow, I'm old. Anyway, let's get started. Do you think that Jonathan Schoop will play second base for...

The 2012 season was one where the Orioles saw their pitching staff and pitching depth much improved. To make the future outlook even brighter, the Orioles have two of baseball's best young pitching prospects and one or both could be a mainstay in the rotation at some point next season. Dylan Bundy went 9-3 with a 2.08 ERA in 23 starts this year at three minor league levels and then pitched 1 2/3 scoreless in two major league relief appearances in September. Kevin Gausman went 0-1 with a 3.60...

As expected, both first baseman Adam LaRoche and left-handed reliever Sean Burnett have declined their mutual options and have become free agents, a source confirmed Thursday. LaRoche had a $10 million mutual option for 2013, while Burnett's option was for $3.5 million. Assuming the two players don't reach a new contract with the Nationals before Saturday, they will hit the open market and be allowed to negotiate with all 30 teams. Because the two players each declined their half of the...

When Mike Boulanger was hired by Dan Duquette in January as the Orioles' minor league hitting coordinator, Boulanger told me he would track something he called productive team plate appearances both by O's minor league players and teams. PTPA, similar to something Buck Showalter referred to as productive outs for Orioles (or POFO), can be a hit, a walk, a sac bunt, a sac fly, hitting behind the runner or making the pitcher work with an eight-pitch at-bat. You get the point. It's a plate...

Though they may seem hidden in the Arizona Fall League, which doesn't generate a tremendous amount of coverage, Orioles farmhands Jonathan Schoop and Mike Belfiore haven't gone unnoticed. Schoop and Belfiore have been chosen to play in Saturday's Rising Stars Game that will air live at 8 p.m. on MLB Network. Schoop, a middle infielder and the third-ranked prospect in the Orioles' system according to Baseball America, is batting .310/.453/.548 with four doubles, two homers, seven RBIs,...

As the offseason kicks into high gear, the Nationals are a defending champion in an unusual position: They could stand pat and be picked to win the National League East for a second consecutive season in 2013. But that's not how the Nationals operate. They'll likely be looking for an experienced pitcher and a leadoff batter. The Nationals rotation will have Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann, Gio Gonzalez and Ross Detwiler, but the fifth guy is up for debate. It could be Zack Greinke,...