Scottsdale Scorpions left-hander and former University of San Diego standout Sammy Solis makes his 2011 Arizona Fall League debut today against Salt River Rafters. The Scorpions (0-1) fell to Surprise 10-1 in the season opener Wednesday. Nationals prospect Zach Walters went 1-for-3, but Bryce Harper (0-for-3, one strikeout) and Derek Norris (0-for-3) did not register a hit in the first game. Reliever Pat Lehman faced one batter and recorded an out. Solis is in his second season in the AFL,...

Terry Francona, in an interview earlier today on a Boston radio station, was asked whether he wanted to manage in 2012. "I don't know," he replied. "I don't want to try to manage in the wrong situation." For everyone asking me whether Francona could wind up in the Orioles' dugout if Buck Showalter relinquished his duties as manager, I ask you whether this job would qualify as "the wrong situation" for him. It's probably a moot point. I'm not promising or placing odds on anything,...

Most baseball-crazy folks collect things that have some personal meaning, some hoard everything they can get their hands on with a team logo on it and still others focus their devotion to a specific player. And then there are the folks who see only the future in their motive for collecting, adding an item to their array of baseball goodies while a player is still riding backwoods buses and sleeping in a host family's home in the minor leagues in the hopes that a major league call-up will make...

Right-handed pitcher Rafael Martin had one of the best seasons for a reliever in the Nationals' chain in 2011. It all clicked for the 27-year-old, who mesmerized hitters in the Double-A Eastern League. After starting the season at Single-A Potomac, Martin rolled at Harrisburg, earning a spot on the Scottsdale Scorpions of the Arizona Fall League. The 6-foot-2,195-lb., San Fernando, Calif., native went 5-1 with a career-best 1.65 ERA in 38 games, striking out 54 batters and allowing just 11...

Right-hander Patrick Lehman, a George Washington University product, advanced very well in 2011 from Single-A Potomac to Double-A Harrisburg and now looks to cap off the season with a good run in the Arizona Fall League. Lehman had such a quality campaign that he was selected to the Scottsdale Scorpions roster as one of the representatives from the Nationals organization. Lehman went a combined 3-2 with a 3.08 ERA and 45 strikeouts in 42 games in 2011. He had 34 strikeouts and only four free...

As Orioles fans look for a nugget of hope (pun intended) that their team will actually be better next year, consider this: Each stop where Buck Showalter managed before, his clubs made a dramatic improvement between his first and second seasons. While Buck managed for two months last year, the 2012 season will be his second full season as Orioles' manager - if he continues in that role, of course. Showalter's 1992 Yankees team went 76-86 and then 88-74 a year later. His 1998 Arizona club,...

Double-A Bowie's Xavier Avery, playing left field and batting ninth yesterday for the Mesa Solar Sox in the Arizona Fall League, went 0-for-3 with a walk, run scored and two strikeouts in a 12-8 loss to Phoenix. He was the only Orioles farmhand to appear in the game. I won't make any promises, but we could find out today whether Andy MacPhail ... OK, I'll stop. No lame incremental updates that don't advance the story an inch. Oh sure, it's tempting, but I won't subject you to more of...

This is worth watching, even if you haven't seen the movie.

Left-hander Matt Purke, the former Texas Christian star, will join the Scottsdale Scorpions of the Arizona Fall League at the conclusion of fall instructional league in Viera, Fla., according to a Nationals source. Former Rice third baseman Anthony Rendon, however, will stay at instructional league for now, and the Nationals' future plans for him are not known. Rendon, the team's first-round selection in June's First-Year Player Draft, was previously announced as part of the Scorpions'...

When the Mesa Solar Sox open their season at 2:35 p.m. Eastern Time this afternoon, playing Phoenix in the Arizona Fall League, there will be seven Orioles minor leaguers on their roster. But two players that were slated to play for Mesa are dealing with injuries right now in Joe Mahoney and LJ Hoes, and pitcher Chorye Spoone is no longer on the Mesa roster. Hoes was listed as on the Mesa squad, but for now, he is with the other players at the Orioles' instructional league in Sarasota as he...