Baseball America rolled out its "best tools" list for the American and National Leagues today. Of the 25 categories where they surveyed AL managers and ranked the best players, just two Orioles made the list. Matt Wieters was ranked as the best defensive catcher in the AL, ahead of Minnesota's Joe Mauer and Alex Avila of Detroit. Adam Jones was rated by league skippers as the second best defensive outfielder, behind only Franklin Gutierrez of Seattle. Wieters has thrown out 27 of 67...

Third baseman Josh Bell underwent an MRI today that he hopes will explain the source of the pain in his left side that's been bothering him for about three months. Bell said he's been dealing with a sore muscle that's located in the "oblique area." The discomfort intensifies when he's immobile and has been interrupting his sleep. "It feels like somebody is sitting on top of me," he said. "It's fine once I've been moving around, but whenever I wake up, I pretty much have to get...

By just about any measurement or stat you could quote, Mark Reynolds has not had a good year fielding at third base. But it sure seems that Reynolds' defense at the hot corner has improved in recent weeks and he has made just one error in his last 31 games since July 4. That includes four games Reynolds recently played at first base. Reynolds still leads all AL third baseman with 21 errors and the next highest total is 16 by Minnesota's Danny Valencia. Orioles manager Buck Showalter feels...

Manager Buck Showalter told reporters today that he's letting Vladimir Guerrero "freshen up" and expects the veteran to be in the lineup tomorrow night. Guerrero is 1-for-18 on this homestand and has two home runs since July 6. Asked whether Guerrero would be the cleanup hitter tomorrow night, Showalter replied, "More than likely." But he didn't make any promises. Guerrero is 13-for-36 (.361) lifetime against White Sox left-hander Mark Buehrle, who starts tomorrow. He has two doubles,...

Felix Pie is batting first tonight as part of a revamped lineup. J.J. Hardy drops down to second. Adam Jones is batting cleanup, and Vladimir Guerrero is taking a seat on the bench. For the Orioles: Felix Pie LF J.J. Hardy SS Nick Markakis RF Adam Jones CF Matt Wieters C Mark Reynolds 3B Chris Davis 1B Nolan Reimold DH Robert Andino 2B Tommy Hunter RHP

Pitcher Brandon Erbe has cleared waivers and remains with the Orioles organization. He is now off the 40-man roster and has been outrighted to Aberdeen, where he had been pitching before the Orioles recently had him designated for assignment. Erbe, who had labrum surgery last August, had pitched in four games for Aberdeen and, over 3 2/3 innings, he allowed five hits and four runs. He last pitched a week ago, 2/3 of an inning against Lowell. Erbe was the Orioles' third-round pick in 2005...

Outfielder

I got my first look at the play of newly acquired shortstop

There was a time, long before Nationals Park was constructed, when I could hear AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" and not think of baseball. Those days are gone. That first song off AC/DC's 1990 album "The Razors Edge" still pumps me up in the gym or gets my head banging at a bar on the weekend but now, whenever I hear the song, I think of the Nationals. Lead guitarist Angus Young's guitar riff is etched into the minds of Nationals game-goers as the tune and anthem that Washington's boys of...

It seems fair to say that things have not worked out as well as many hoped on the pitching side for the Orioles this year. The plan was supposed to be to "grow the arms", but that hasn't exactly paid dividends yet. In fact, it hasn't really done so at all in quite a long time. The best pitcher the O's have developed since 1991 - a span of 20 years (a generation, if you will) - is clearly