For the second consecutive year, Sarasota County libraries and the Baltimore Orioles are teaming up to promote reading through the Orioles Big League Reader program. Children who sign up for the program and read three or more books in the month of February will receive a reserved grandstand ticket to the Wednesday, March 14 game versus the Pittsburgh Pirates. Last season over one hundred Sarasota-area children completed the program and were eligible to receive a free ticket to an Orioles spring...

Forget the free-agent market. The Orioles clearly want to do most of their shopping in the international market. The Orioles have signed Andres Aguilar, an 18-year-old outfielder from Guatemala. He'll be assigned to the Gulf Coast League team unless the roster is full. If there's no room, he'll be placed on the Dominican Summer League team. Here's Aguilar taking a round of batting practice: Fred Ferreira, the Orioles' executive director of international recruiting, returned home from...

If you're heading down to sunny Florida to watch the Nationals during spring training, I'm jealous. I'm not going anywhere. But while I'm enjoying the winter winds of the mid-Atlantic, fans who do make the trek to Viera, Fla., will get the chance to see the Nationals take on Georgetown University's baseball team in an exhibition game Friday, March 2. The Nationals will serve as hosts and first pitch is slated for noon at Space Coast Stadium. This will be the second time the Nats and...

Did you apply to be a part of the Nat Pack? Are you a die-hard Nationals fan, the kind who bleeds red, err ... red, white and blue, and doesn't mind dancing in front of a huge crowd? If so, and you submitted an application to join the Nationals' fun-loving, baseball-rooting crew, the Nationals are inviting candidates to the first day of 2012 Nat Pack auditions to be held Saturday, Jan. 28. The auditions take place from 10 a.m.-noon and will be held at Nationals Park. Each participant will...

It's less than a month until pitchers and catchers report to Nationals spring training at Space Coast Stadium in Viera, Fla., but don't expect general manager Mike Rizzo to be any less diligent about adding to his roster or looking for creative ways to improve his ballclub between now and Feb. 19. "We're trying to improve ourselves in the rotation and in the bullpen and any other way we can, and we're certainly open-minded and we'll not stop working," Rizzo said Wednesday. "We're...

I'm still recovering this morning from the news that Robert Hegyes, who played Juan Epstein on the 1970s hit "Welcome Back, Kotter," died yesterday of a heart attack. He was 60. I've already made a "note from his mother" reference to friends, so you won't be the first. (If you're too young to know what I'm talking about, there's nothing I can do for you. We'll just move on.) Baseball America released its prospect handbook, Here's the top 31 for the Orioles (Yes, 31. The book...

Part of Dan Duquette's restructuring of the Orioles' player development system was his hiring of Mike Boulanger as the O's minor league hitting coordinator. Boulanger will oversee the batting coaches and instruction of all the hitters on the O's farm. Boulanger brings plenty of experience to Baltimore as both a minor league coach and manager and has ties to both Duquette and manager Buck Showalter. From 2000-2002, Boulanger was a minor league manager when Duquette was the Red Sox GM and he...

The Orioles finally released the names of their minor league managers and coaches for 2012. There are no surprises among the managers. As you probably have read, former Red Sox first base coach Ron Johnson will be in charge of Triple-A Norfolk. Gary Kendall returns to Double-A Bowie, Orlando Gomez returns to Single-A Frederick and Ryan Minor returns to Single-A Delmarva. Gary Allenson moves down from Norfolk to short-season Single-A Aberdeen. Ramon Sambo returns as manager of the Gulf Coast...

The Orioles today announced the coaching staffs for their seven minor league affiliates for the 2012 season. Ron Johnson joins the organization as the manager at Triple-A Norfolk after spending the last 12 seasons in the Boston Red Sox organization, including the 2010-11 seasons as the first base coach for the major league club. Johnson has posted a 1,261-1,262 record in 18 seasons as a minor league manager. Mike Griffin will serve as pitching coach for the fifth consecutive season in the...

The Orioles aren't ready to drop out of the Yoenis Cespedes sweepstakes. They may not be the favorites to sign the Cuban outfielder, but they're still in play. I was told this afternoon that they're still interested in Cespedes despite his struggles in the Dominican Winter League, where he collected only five hits and struck out 10 times in 35 at-bats. They'd rather focus on the .333 average, 33 homers and 99 RBIs he totaled with the Cuban National Team in 2010-11. They're also referring...