The Orioles today announced that they have declined to tender a contract offer to three players: outfielder Luke Scott, right-hander Willie Eyre and left-hander Jo-Jo Reyes, allowing them to become free agents. Scott, 33, was acquired by the Orioles on December 12, 2007 from Houston as part of a deal that sent SS Miguel Tejada to the Astros. He batted .260/.342/.485 with 84 home runs and 236 RBI in 471 games over four seasons with the Orioles. Named Most Valuable Oriole in 2010, a torn right...

If the Orioles are going to open the door to the Korean market, they'll have to choose a different item from the shelves. According to a tweet from MyKBO, which I began to follow last month, pitcher Chong Tae-Hyon has decided to stay in Korea rather than come to the U.S. Chong has signed a four-year, $3.1 million contract with the Lotte Giants. The Orioles reportedly offered the submarining right-hander a two-year deal worth $3 million. Executive vice president Dan Duquette confirmed during...

The Orioles just announced that they've non-tendered pitchers Jo-Jo Reyes and Willie Eyre, and outfielder Luke Scott. Brad Bergesen was offered a contract shortly before the midnight deadline. Scott, Reyes and Eyre have become free agents, but they could re-sign with the Orioles. Scott is a possibility to remain in the organization. Both sides are open to working out a new contract. Reyes went 5-8 with a 5.40 ERA in 20 starts with the Blue Jays and 2-3 with a 6.16 ERA in nine games (five...

The Nationals have announced, via their media relations department's Twitter account, that left-handed reliever Doug Slaten has been non-tendered, removing him from the 40-man roster and making him a free agent. While that doesn't preclude the Nationals from re-signing Slaten to a contract for a lesser amount than the $695,000 he made in 2011, it appears as if the lefty specialist will part ways with the club. He was claimed off waivers from Arizona in November 2009. Slaten's departure...

Three Tuesday quick takes for your reading enjoyment: * Albert Pujols has become the latest baseball player to sign an amazing megabucks free agent contract with a new team and then say it wasn't about the money. This came after the Los Angeles Angels introduced Pujols on Saturday after he signed a whopping 10-year, $254 milion deal with the club. "To tell you the truth, it wasn't about the money. I'm going to die saying that, because it wasn't about the money. It was about the...

As expected, the Orioles have decided not to offer a 2012 contract to outfielder Luke Scott, making him a free agent. Both sides are open to negotiating a new deal, so it's not necessarily the end of Scott's career as an Oriole. But he can sign with any club. Scott made $6.4 million this year, and his season was cut short because of a shoulder injury that required surgery. Scott has received encouraging reports from Dr. James Andrews, and the outfielder says he'll be a beast in spring...

The Orioles added to their infield depth and got a versatile player recently when they selected Ryan Flaherty from the Cubs organization in the Rule 5 draft. A left-handed hitter, Flaherty, 25, is a career .278/.346/.462 hitter in four seasons for the Cubs after being selected out of Vanderbilt with the 41st overall pick in the 2008 First-Year Player Draft. He batted .280/.347/.478 with 53 extra-base hits and 88 RBIs in 132 games for Double-A Tennessee (83 games) and Triple-A Iowa (49 games)...

In reviewing some notes from the Winter Meetings, I found some quotes from an interview in Dallas with Jim Callis of Baseball America that had not yet been published here. I know many fans love to hear Callis' insights, and I do, too. So here are some topics we covered there. Callis said that when Baseball America puts out its next list of the top 100 prospects in all of baseball, both Manny Machado and Dylan Bundy could be in the top 10. "We haven't put those lists together yet, but yes,...

The day the Orioles hired Fred Ferreira as their executive director of international recruiting, Ferreira told me he plans to add international scouts and also that he would look into the possibility of the Orioles adding an academy in Venezuela. The Orioles have never produced a major league player from Venezuela, although the club has some promising young talent from there in the lower minors now, with players like catcher Gabriel Lino and pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez. Ben Badler, who covers...

As Orioles fans wonder who will start at certain positions for the 2012 Birds, there are indications that manager Buck Showalter prefers Nolan Reimold as his starting left fielder next year. No one from the club - Showalter included - has said with certainty that Reimold is the starting left fielder moving forward. But in an interview at the Winter Meetings with Mel Antonen of MASN's "The Mid-Atlantic Sports Report," here is what Buck said about Reimold: "(I want him) just to continue to...