Josh Bell went 2-for-5 with a double and RBI last night in the Phoenix Desert Dogs' 12-3 win over Scottsdale. He's batting .317. Matt Angle (.278) was 1-for-3 with an RBI, walk and two runs scored. Brandon Waring (.257) was 0-for-4 with an RBI in his final game in the AFL. I placed a call to Orioles first base coach John "T-Bone" Shelby yesterday because it seemed appropriate to get his thoughts on Adam Jones winning the Gold Glove. Shelby has been working with him since spring training...

Major League Baseball announced its Silver Slugger Award winners. No Orioles on the list, but congrats to Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman. American League: 1B - Mark Teixeira, New York Yankees 2B - Aaron Hill, Toronto Blue Jays 3B - Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays SS - Derek Jeter, New York Yankees OF - Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle Mariners OF - Jason Bay, Boston Red Sox OF - Torii Hunter, Los Angeles Angels C - Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins DH - Adam Lind, Toronto Blue Jays National League: 1B -...

Josh Bell went 2-for-5 with three RBIs yesterday for the Phoenix Desert Dogs, leaving his average at .324. Josh Perrault tossed a scoreless inning, allowing one hit and striking out two. Former Oriole Adam Loewen went 1-for-5 with an RBI and four strikeouts. He's batting .179. Special thanks to Jay Cutler for those five picks last night. The guy who took San Francisco -3 appreciated each and every one of them. But he could have done without that final drive. Not good for his blood...

A story has moved on the AP wire that quotes Orioles majority owner Peter Angelos as expressing interest in again staging exhibitions against the Cuban national team in Havana and Baltimore, as he did back in 1999. Click here for the story. "Hopefully as next spring approaches, both governments will see clearer to improve the relations and make it rather easy for there to be a reciprocal arrangement," Angelos says in the story. "Personally, I think the relations between the two countries...

Third baseman Josh Bell went 1-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored in the Phoenix Desert Dogs' 9-7 win over Mesa. He's batting .319 as the AFL season winds down. Right fielder Matt Angle was 0-for-3 with a walk, a run scored and two strikeouts, leaving his average at .263. Eddie Gamboa picked up the save with a scoreless ninth. He struck out a batter and lowered his ERA to 3.00. Starter Ryohei Tanaka took a beating. He allowed seven runs and 11 hits in 2 2/3 innings to hoist his ERA up to...

One of my loyal readers unearthed a portion of the Orioles' 2010 spring training schedule on 4sarasota.com. Plenty of dates still need to be filled, but you can check out the rough draft. The Orioles apparently will open at home - and that's Sarasota, in case you've been away for a while - on March 4 against the Tampa Bay Rays. We'll also see the Pirates, Tigers and Phillies (oh my!), so it won't be the same batch of opponents that were forced down our collective throats all these...

Here's a rarity in the hitter-happy Arizona Fall League: A 1-0 game. Matt Angle homered in the second inning to provide all the scoring in the Phoenix Desert Dogs' 1-0 win over Peoria Saguaros. Angle, starting in center field, went deep for the first time in the AFL. Josh Bell was 1-for-3 with a double and walk. He's batting .320. Stephen Strasburg allowed one hit, walked two and struck out six in 3 2/3 innings. He improved to 4-1 because you don't have to go a minimum five innings to...

If I see one more advertisement that includes a talking pothole or dogs that save Christmas, my head might explode. But at least I can be reminded every 12 minutes that I need to buy diamonds or I'll die alone. With the winter meetings coming up in three weeks, I find my thoughts drifting back to a few names that were tied to the Orioles at last year's gathering in Las Vegas. Braden Looper drew their interest, and we kicked around the pros and cons of adding him to the rotation. He went...

Interesting strategy by the Jaguars today to keep taking a knee in the final minute with the ball on the Jets' 1-yard line and trailing by one point. They played for the field goal and to ensure that the Jets wouldn't have any time left on the clock for a game-winning drive. Running back Maurice Jones-Drew could have easily scored on a burst up the middle, and the Jets did nothing to stop him, but he purposely slid down at the 1. Quarterback David Garrard knelt on the next few snaps, and...

I had the craziest dream last night that Bill Belichick went for it on fourth-and-2 from his own 28-yard line with 2:08 left and his team holding a six-point lead. Must have been something I ate. Maybe Belichick needs a bench coach. I hear Dave Jauss is still available. I exchanged e-mails with Orioles manager Dave Trembley, and not to tease him about Notre Dame. He attended Saturday's Family FanFest in Sarasota, Fla., and had the opportunity to check on Nolan Reimold, Brad Bergesen and...