According to an Associated Press report in the Dominican Republic, Orioles pitcher Alfredo Simon has been denied bail and will remain in prison following the shooting death of his cousin. Here's the story. Defense attorney Dinosa Dilone plans to appeal Tuesday's ruling, according to the report. Simon is accused of firing a shot on New Year's Eve that killed 25-year-old Michel Castillo and injured his brother, 17-year-old Starlling Castillo, in the city of Luperon in Puerto Plata. Simon...

With spring training just two weeks away, future prospects in the Nationals' system are getting ready to showcase their talents for the team's top brass in Florida. Nationals director of player development Doug Harris attended the Potomac Nationals Hot Stove Banquet on Sunday night in Springfield, Va., and shared some insight as to who might be with the big club as the team heads back to D.C. in late March. Harris believes the franchise has built depth that will help the Nationals get...

It has been an eventful offseason for Brandon Snyder. He bought a house, added a puppy to the family and got engaged. A fall wedding is planned. Now he wants to have an eventful season and get back to spraying line drives like he did at Single-A Frederick and Double-A Bowie; he's been unable to do that consistently yet at Triple-A Norfolk. In the summer of 2009, Snyder's star was on the rise. The year before, he had hit .315 with 13 homers and 80 RBIs at Frederick and then he started...

Now that the Orioles have reached agreement on a one-year deal with pitcher Justin Duchscherer and a minor league deal with left-hander Mark Hendrickson, the 25-man roster comes a little more into focus. However, there are still some fuzzy patches. It's sort of like looking at the flash on a camera. I'm still seeing spots. The 12-man pitching staff is much clearer. Though it isn't a certainly, it's likely that the rotation will consist of Duchscherer, Jeremy Guthrie, Brian Matusz, Brad...

The Orioles have reached agreement with free-agent left-hander Mark Hendrickson on a minor league deal with a spring training invitation, according to a team official. Just when Hendrickson thinks he's out, they pull him back in. Actually, the York, Pa. resident never wanted to leave. Hendrickson will try to join Michael Gonzalez as the second left-hander in the bullpen. He'll get competition from Clay Rapada, also signed to a minor league deal over the winter. The Orioles re-signed...

One of the primary reasons that pitcher Justin Duchscherer chose the Orioles over the Nationals and the other teams interested in signing him was their "serious commitment to winning," according to his agent, Damon Lapa of All Bases Covered Sports Management. "And there's also the fact that the club, at least on paper, has become a formidable lineup," Lapa said. "Any pitcher wants to end up on a team and in a city that can score runs and has veterans behind him and plays good defense. We...

A quick early-morning thought on what the acquisition of Justin Duchscherer late Sunday night means for a couple of the Orioles' young pitchers. It means Chris Tillman and Zach Britton are very likely to start the 2011 season in Triple-A Norfolk. For those that say Tillman doesn't have anything left to learn at Triple-A, I don't agree. He was 11-7 with a 3.34 ERA last season at Norfolk - good but not dominant stats. He is still not going to be 23 until April 15 and while he has already...

New Potomac manager Matt LeCroy was introduced and Washington Nationals assistant general manager Bryan Minniti served as the keynote speaker at the 16th annual Potomac Nationals Hot Stove Banquet at the Hilton in Springfield, Va., on Sunday night. LeCroy was promoted in the offseason after guiding Single-A Hagerstown last year. A lot of those prospects will again be under his tutelage now at Single-A Potomac of the Carolina League. "It is a challenging league," LeCroy noted. "I...

If you took a fan vote and asked which O's starter is the best pitcher of the bunch, I bet Brian Matusz would win the vote. He sure ended last year doing a lot of winning on the field. After he picked up just three wins in his first 21 starts through the end of July, the 24-year-old lefty won seven of his final 11 starts of 2010. Matusz went 6-1 with a 2.25 ERA in his final 10 starts after Buck Showalter took over as manager and was 6-0 with a 1.57 ERA over his final eight starts. The...

Now that we've diverted our eyes from Vladimir Guerrero for a few minutes, we can focus on the Orioles' latest acquisition. They reached agreement late Sunday night with pitcher Justin Duchscherer on a one-year contract that could pay up to $4.5 million in salary and incentives based on number of starts. The Orioles had become the overwhelming favorites in a relatively short amount of time. They offered him a major league deal and a chance to start. He wanted a major league deal and a...