The Nationals are once again holding a pumpkin carving contest this fall. The lucky winner will receive an official game-worn Adam Dunn jersey! All you have to do is carve something Nats-related into a pumpkin and send the team a photo of your creation. Photos should be 720 x 486 pixels in size and no larger than 1MB. More contest information is available on Nationals.com. To participate, you must enter before 2 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2010. The Nationals also offer four Nats...

There's a chill in the air this morning, which reminds me that winter is right around the corner. And my snow shovel is down in my laundry room, propped up against a wall and mocking me at every opportunity. I really need to buy gloves, but I'm not ready to concede that summer is over. I'll be playing tennis again and sitting outside with a grande skim latte. I just know it. I've officially grown tired of writing/talking/thinking about the Orioles' coaching staff, but the topic won't go...

Checking in with a few thoughts and opinions while waiting for the next Cody Ross homer. Bell and Snyder: The Orioles are not saying it publicly, but it sure seems pretty certain that they are not planning to start either Josh Bell or Brandon Snyder in their infield to begin next season. There are two schools of thought here: You could just send them both out for the whole O's season in 2011, realize you are still most likely a ways from making the playoffs and let them sink or swim at the...

Left-hander Sammy Solis put forth a quality debut Saturday in the Arizona Fall League as Scottsdale beat Peoria 6-4 with five runs in the seventh inning. Derek Norris caught for Solis and went 2-for-4 with a run and a two-out RBI. Stephen Lombardozzi went 1-for-3 with a double and two runs. Adam Carr pitched two innings of scoreless ball with a walk and a strikeout to earn the victory. Solis threw three innings, allowed just two hits and one run, one walk, one strikeout and picked off a...

Not much to say about the Orioles today, so let's talk about another team's player. Anybody want Zack Greinke? He's got two years and $27 million left on his contract and he's reportedly available - a status that seems to change daily. Here's the breakdown on his contract, courtesy of Cot's: Signed extension with Kansas City on 1/26/09 (avoided arbitration) 09:$3.75M, 10:$7.25M, 11:$13.5M, 12:$13.5M Limited no-trade protection in 2009, 2010 Award bonuses: $50,000 each for Gold Glove,...

When you list the men that have helped escalate salaries in baseball over the years like Marvin Miller, Don Fehr and Scott Boras, don't leave out the name Tom Hicks. He was the owner of the Texas Rangers who gave Alex Rodriguez a 10-year, $252 million dollar contract in December of 2000. Hicks now agrees that was a dumb move. Well, duh. Most of the baseball world knew it was a dumb move then. I don't remember every detail and won't try to rewrite history here. But, by my recollection,...

It wasn't my birthday, but I received a nice surprise a few minutes ago. Jim Palmer submitted a comment to the blog that I wanted to post here, in case anyone missed it. As I always say, you never know who's reading. Roch, thanks for the kind words and birthday wishes. Please thank all your Oriole blogger fans for their gracious comments. Your blog and the fans response were a wonderful birthday present, even if my birthday made me the same age as the speed limit on the beltway! No...

There were so many ways to statistically quantify how dramatic the turnaround was for the Orioles under Buck Showalter. You can look at the starting pitching stats or the hitting with runners in scoring position stats. You could also look at how the O's did when playing the Beasts of the AL East. Before Showalter took over, the club won just one of 15 series vs. the East. Then, under Buck, they won five of nine. They were 10-35 before Buck and 14-13 vs. the East with Buck. Here is what...

The Orioles were well-represented last night in the Arizona Fall League. Xavier Avery, leading off and playing center field, went 4-for-5 with a walk, stolen base and three runs scored in Scottsdale's 11-4 victory over Phoenix. I'm told that Avery is widely considered the fastest player in the AFL. Ryan Adams, starting again at third base, went 2-for-5 with two RBIs and a run scored. Catcher Caleb Joseph was 3-for-5 with two runs scored. Oliver Drake got the win after allowing two runs and...

After a full year of injuries and plate inconsistency, Nationals catcher Derek Norris made an emphatic debut in his first two games this week in the Arizona Fall League with a two-run homer, a couple of walks and another safety for the Scottsdale Scorpions. Norris hopes the minor adjustments he made to his swing at instructs will make the difference throughout the next month of Fall ball. Nationals hitting coordinator Rick Schu monitored Norris' progress in Viera and says it is no surprise...