I'm off for Nashville, where the weather is warmer than D.C., and the hot stove is certain to get toasty, as well. I've been to the Winter Meetings the last three years, but this will be my first as a beat writer. I'm looking forward to countless baseless rumors, having my phone glued to my hand for four straight days and trying to navigate my way through the massive Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center, where the meetings are being held. Can you taste the sarcasm? In all...

I'm hearing that Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa are looking to make a comeback, and the Orioles are in on all of them. Sorry. Just practicing for the Winter Meetings, where the ridiculous is sold as reality. Scouts and general managers will attach some of the biggest names to the Orioles because, well, it makes sense to them. Not because they're hearing it directly from the Orioles. Not because they've paid attention to executive vice president Dan Duquette, who keeps saying...

The Orioles' decision to designate reliever Stu Pomeranz for assignment and allow him to become a free agent was related to a back injury that will require surgery. The club is in the process of arranging the surgery for Pomeranz, according to an official. He won't pitch in 2013. The injury involves a vertebrae in Pomeranz's lower back and is considered pretty serious, according to another member of the organization. However, the Orioles could choose to re-sign him to a minor league...

Mike Boulanger has completed his first season as the Orioles' minor league hitting coordinator. I spoke with him recently to review how things went in 2012 for O's minor league batters overall. We talked about that in articles that were published earlier here and here. I also asked Boulanger to comment on a few specific players. Ty Kelly, in 133 games between three clubs, batted .327 with 11 homers, 70 RBIs and an OPS of .892. "He was third in the organization in runs, RBIs and batting...

John Lannan has had a rough 2012 from a professional standpoint. The 28-year-old left-hander went into spring training battling for a spot in the major league rotation. He ended up losing that battle, and then requested a trade only to have that request denied. The guy who had twice been the Nationals' opening day starter and had 128 major league starts under his belt found himself riding buses and taking the mound in front of miniscule crowds at Triple-A Syracuse. Lannan came up to make...

Right-hander Ryan Tatusko has had a pretty good run with Leones de Ponce in the Puerto Rico Professional Baseball League. Tatusko has made five starts since Nov. 8, going 0-2 with a 1.54 ERA, allowing just four earned runs with 21 strikeouts, nine walks and no home runs allowed in 23 1/3 innings. He has given up only a .212 batting average against. Tatusko was 4-5 with a 3.50 ERA in 27 games this summer for Double-A Harrisburg. He also saw this grazing in the player's parking lot at a recent...

The Toronto Blue Jays recently completed a blockbuster 12-player trade where they acquired Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle, John Buck and Emilio Bonifacio from the Marlins. It's a deal that some believe has shifted the balance of power in the AL East. It's a deal some Orioles fans seem to feel the team has to counter with a move or moves of their own. I asked executive vice president Dan Duquette just that question this week. Do the Orioles feel pressure to counter the Toronto...

It doesn't appear that the Orioles will hire a third base coach before convening in Nashville for the Winter Meetings. Rich Dauer is in their Hall of Fame. He's on their list. Now he's just waiting for their phone call. Dauer spent all 10 seasons of his major league career with the Orioles and played on the 1979 and 1983 World Series teams. Recently fired as Rockies third base coach following manager Jim Tracy's resignation, he's hoping to go full circle and land in Baltimore. "I...

Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette said he tried to figure out a way to fit first baseman Mark Reynolds on the team before non-tendering him tonight. "The way his contract is structured and the arbitration process made it challenging," Duquette said. "We just thought the value was too high. The price was too high on his option and the value in the arbitration system was too high to tender him a contract." Asked about the lack of negotiations leading up to tonight's deadline,...

The Orioles tonight announced that they have declined to tender a contract offer to three players: infielder Mark Reynolds, infielder Omar Quintanilla and right-hander Stu Pomeranz, allowing them to become free agents. Reynolds, 29, batted .221/.335/.429 with 23 home runs and 69 RBI in 135 games for the Orioles last season. In two years with Baltimore, he hit .221/.328/.458 with 60 home runs and 155 RBI in 290 games. Reynolds has hit 20 or more home runs in each of the last five...