Orioles scouting director Joe Jordan said he "got the guy he wanted" in drafting Dylan Bundy with the fourth pick in the first round last night. But was Bundy really the guy the Orioles wanted all along? "This was always the guy we had in our sights and that was going to be in the conversation," Jordan said. "There were just a lot of good players at the top of the draft. We knew coming in he would be in play for us and he didn't do anything to disappoint us. There was no one we had any...

The Nationals selected University of Kentucky right-hander Alex Meyer and Miami (Dade) Junior College outfielder Brian Goodwin with the No. 23 and No. 34 selections overall, respectively. With Anthony Rendon at No. 6, general manager Mike Rizzo, flanked by director of scouting Kris Kline and Nationals vice president of player personnel Roy Clark, were very happy with the first day haul at the 2011 draft. "These are three guys that we identified very early as a scouting department," Clark...

Later today, my focus will return to the First-Year Player Draft, as the Orioles make another batch of selections and announce names you've never heard. Before that happens, I wanted to share some postgame quotes from last night. It's apparent that left-hander Brian Matusz isn't back to his old form, the one that enabled him to go 6-0 with a 1.57 ERA in his last eights starts of 2010, but his winning streak reached a career-high seven games last night. He must be doing something...

The Orioles arranged a late conference call with first-round pick Dylan Bundy, who talked about watching the First-Year Player Draft with another Oklahoma high school pitcher, Archie Bradley, chosen by the Diamondbacks with the seventh selection. "Me and Archie were both sitting there in that huge ballroom with a bunch of our friends and family and saw the fourth pick flash over, and we had a pretty good idea it might be one of us, but we weren't sure," Bundy said. "And then my name got...

Manager Buck Showalter seemed pretty excited about the Orioles selecting pitcher Dylan Bundy with the fourth-overall pick in the First-Year Player Draft. "It was a great pick," he said. "We're ecstatic because I've heard Joe (Jordan) talk about him. We knew there was going to be some shuffling around there, and Joe and the guys, they're already locked into tomorrow, I'm sure. I'm anxious to see who might have slid and what they do. It's a fascinating process. "From everything I've...

The Washington Nationals today selected University of Kentucky right-handed pitcher Alex Meyer (23rd overall) and Miami Dade College outfielder Brian Goodwin (34th) in the 2011 First-Year Player Draft. Nationals Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo, Nationals Assistant General Manager and Vice President of Player Personnel Roy Clark and Nationals Director of Scouting Kris Kline made the joint announcement. Meyer went 7-5 with a 2.94 ERA in 14 starts...

Nationals top selection Anthony Rendon rewrote the record books at a baseball-rich school in Rice University. In just three seasons, Rendon moved to third in career home runs (52), fifth on the school's all-time list for batting average (.371), sixth in both runs scored (201) and RBIs (194), and fourth in both total bases (463) & slugging (.679). Thanks to John Sullivan of Rice University Sports Information, here are a couple of amazing statistics from Rendon's career with the...

On the same night that the Orioles selected Dylan Bundy with the fourth-overall pick in the First-Year Player Draft, brother Bobby took the mound for Single-A Frederick and held the Potomac Nationals to one run over seven innings. Bundy allowed seven hits, walked two and struck out six. He also lowered his ERA to 2.73. The Orioles used to collect Brittons. Now it's Bundys. Everybody needs a hobby. First baseman Tyler Townsend hit his 10th home run for the Keys. Outstanding job by the...

The Orioles lead the Athletics 4-2 as we head to the bottom of the fifth. It hasn't been an easy night for left-hander Brian Matusz. Though he shut out Oakland in the first three innings, he allowed two singles in the first, a leadoff walk in the second and two singles in the third. Adam Jones cut down Conor Jackson trying to stretch a single into a double in the first. Kurt Suzuki led off the fourth with a walk, and Adam Rosales hit his first home run with one out. But Matusz retired the...

The Washington Nationals today selected Rice University third baseman Anthony Rendon with the sixth-overall pick in the 2011 First-Year Player Draft. Nationals Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo, Nationals Assistant General Manager and Vice President of Player Personnel Roy Clark and Nationals Director of Scouting Kris Kline made the joint announcement. Rendon hit .371 (253-for-682) with 46 doubles, 52 home runs, 194 RBI, 176 walks and 201 runs...