It looks like Major League Baseball is on its way to expanding the playoffs from eight to 10 teams. MLB's special 14-man, on-field committee, a group that includes Andy MacPhail and Frank Robinson, will meet on the topic at the upcoming winter meetings. Under the plan, there would be two wild-card teams in each league. When I first heard of this talk of expanding the playoffs, my first reaction was negative. Were the powers that be in the game going to mess with something that is working...

It's a sleepy Sunday in the Kubatko household, mainly because I didn't get home from the Maryland-FSU game until 2 a.m. That tailgate traffic leaving the stadium is brutal, and I wasn't even tailgating. Maryland officials wouldn't let me fire up the grill in the press box. I'm not going to reveal my breakout spring training player at this early date, but you have to wonder whether Kam Mickolio is just teasing us with that 0.75 ERA in the Arizona Fall League, which he posted before...

The Scottsdale Scorpions won the 2010 Arizona Fall League title with a 3-2 win over Peoria Javelinas with Nationals prospects making impacts throughout the game. Sammy Solis won the game, Cole Kimball pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning for the save, Bryce Harper had the go-ahead RBI single and Stephen Lombardozzi smacked an RBI double to plate the eventual winning run. Solis pitched four solid innings with Kimball getting a strike out and a pair of weak infield grounders to save it. Kimball was...

The Orioles have released 14 more minor league players as the club continues to reduce its number of players in the minors after trimming two minor league clubs at the end of the 2010 season. Now that the O's no longer need to send players to Bluefield or fill the roster of a second Dominican Summer League squad, some players became expendable. Six of the 14 were taken by the club in either the 2008 or 2009 draft. Preston Hale and Brad Decater were players taken in the 2010 draft. In a...

The Scottsdale Scorpions defeated the Peoria Javelinas, 3-2, for the Arizona Fall League championship. Please don't overturn any cars. The Orioles didn't contribute much to the win. Kam Mickolio had the most value to Scottsdale with a scoreless fifth inning. He allowed one hit. Greg Miclat was a late replacement at second base and didn't bat. Caleb Joseph struck out in his only at-bat after moving behind the plate. Xavier Avery was a defensive replacement in center field and also went...

Before heading to the gym and, later, the Maryland-Florida State football game... It's become a yearly tradition that the Orioles consider pursuing free-agent pitcher Jon Garland. I think we're up to three straight where his name comes up and talks are held at the winter meetings. Garland priced himself out of Baltimore two winters ago. He went 14-12 with a 3.47 ERA for San Diego this season and has logged 200 innings or more in six years. He also has totaled 196 2/3, 192 2/3 and 191 2/3 in...

Nationals top prospect Bryce Harper started and smacked an RBI single to left in Saturday's Arizona Fall league championship game for the Scottsdale Scorpions after a pretty impressive month of fall baseball. Despite being on the taxi squad (maximum two games per week), Harper went 12-for-35 (.343) with three doubles, two triples, a homer and seven RBI in nine games. Scottsdale Scorpions batting coach Alan Zinter did not know what to expect when Harper arrived in mid-October, but he soon...

Congrats are in order for Zach Britton, Joe Mahoney and Matt Angle, who were added to the Orioles' 40-man roster on Friday. Now they cannot be taken by another club in the Rule 5 draft at the winter meetings. But some players were left unprotected and can be taken by another club, however, must stay in the Majors for all of 2011 or they will most likely return to Baltimore. By the way, it should be pointed out that Britton was drafted in round three, Mahoney in round six and Angle in round...

The Nationals have selected the contracts of right-handed pitchers Adam Carr and Cole Kimball and first baseman Chris Marrero, placing them on the 40-man roster. Here are my recent visits with Cole Kimball from Arizona and Chris Marrero from Puerto Rico. Also, right-handed pitcher Juan Jaime was claimed off outright waivers by the Arizona Diamondbacks. Nationals Executive Vice President and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcements Friday. Carr and Kimball have pitched...

There's a good chance that the Orioles will finalize their coaching staff by Monday or Tuesday. The club has four of the coaches under contract: Jim Presley, Mark Connor, Wayne Kirby and Rick Adair. John Russell is close. It's just a matter of completing some paperwork. It still hasn't been determined whether Russell will serve as bench coach or third base coach. Again, it depends on the last hire. I'm told that the Orioles are waiting on unspecified "deadlines" that the candidates...