As the Orioles move forward with hiring their next president of baseball operations, among the key jobs for that person when hired will be to improve the Orioles' scouting and player development departments. We all know that while the club was in last place in the standings this year again, it is also apparent that right now the Orioles are fifth in the division in producing talent from their minor leagues. In my opinion, they could do a better job in both scouting and developing...

There have been conflicting reports about the Orioles' possible interest in former Toronto Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi for their position of president of baseball operations. A major league source said that, as of late Friday afternoon, the Orioles had not contacted Ricciardi about their opening. Ricciardi currently serves as a special assistant to New York Mets general manager Sandy Alderson. He was the GM of the Blue Jays from 2002 through 2009 and three times in that span,...

I've been dropping strong hints that Willie Randolph wouldn't return to the coaching staff in 2012. I received further confirmation earlier this afternoon. It appears that manager Buck Showalter will need to fill two vacancies. I heard recently that Randolph was exploring other opportunities. Naturally, he'd prefer to manage. The Orioles hired Randolph to serve as bench coach, but he swapped places with third base coach John Russell. We were told that Russell's sore knee made it...

Nationals draft pick Matt Purke has arrived in Arizona and is now available to pitch for the Scottsdale Scorpions after a successful instructional league camp in Viera, Fla. The 96th overall selection, a left-hander out of TCU, will work out of the bullpen in Arizona, according to Nationals director of player development Doug Harris. Harris said Purke will usually get one or two innings of work, with Single-A Potomac Nationals pitching coach Paul Menhart, the Scorpions' pitching coach,...

The Orioles have received permission from the Toronto Blue Jays to interview Tony LaCava for the position of general manager. Also, they've requested permission from the Florida Marlins to interview Dan Jennings. However, Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria is in Europe, so that decision is on hold. The interviews with LaCava and Diamondbacks executive Jerry Dipoto might not take place before Monday. As I wrote earlier, manager Buck Showalter is tentatively scheduled to fly back to Texas late...

The Washington Nationals will host the Boston Red Sox in an exhibition game at Nationals Park on Tuesday, April 3, 2012. Game time has yet to be determined. As a benefit to 2012 season ticket holders, all those with full, half and partial season ticket plans will receive tickets for the game at half their regular season ticket price. Details for the team's 2012 season ticket plans are available online at nationals.com/tickets. In addition to the exhibition game, the Nationals 2012 schedule...

Orioles right-hander Jeremy Guthrie is listed among Major League Baseball's All-Stars who will travel to Taiwan next month to play the Chinese Taipei national team in the 2011 Taiwan All-Star Series. MLB released the current roster, which is incomplete. Only six pitchers are listed. More names will be added later. The Taiwan All-Star Series will consist of five games played between Nov. 1-6 in three different cities - New Taipei City (XinZhuang Stadium) on Nov. 1, Taichung (Intercontinental...

You might not know it by his steely dugout visage, but Orioles manager Buck Showalter can be a softy - especially when it comes to kids. That's why Showalter and his wife Angela are hosting the second annual Trick or Trot 5K run/walk, a family-friendly event that which will wind through the streets of Canton and Patterson Park on Saturday, Oct. 29. The event benefits KidsPeace, a charity near and dear to the Showalters that provides the behavioral and mental health needs of children, families...

Thursday was a pretty quiet night for the Scottsdale Scorpions as they fell again to the first-place Salt River Rafters 3-1 in Arizona Fall League play. Left fielder Bryce Harper, the Nationals' top prospect, returned to the lineup, going 1-for-4 with a single. He is batting .087 and left a man in scoring position. Harper singled to center field with one out in the seventh, but was erased when the next batter grounded into an inning-ending double play. Then in the ninth, representing the...

I've decided that "fluid" is my favorite term to describe the Orioles' list of general manager candidates. If only I knew how to describe the job itself. General manager. President of baseball operations. Whatever. It's the same responsibilities previously bestowed upon Andy MacPhail. The list keeps changing, depending on who you follow on Twitter. In fairness, it's going to take on different looks, no matter who's passing it along, because candidates were added and removed during this...