Steve Melewski
Steve Melewski

Motivations for pursuing free agents

Motivations for pursuing free agents
There seem to be some solid reasons out there for the Orioles to sign one or more big dollar free agents this winter. For one, they would improve the team's talent base. And, maybe get a needed bat for the lineup. Both good reasons to add a player. But, is another reason to enhance the club's credibility with its fan base? And another to prove to everyone, once and for all, that the club is willing to spend money.
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Steve Melewski

The Frederick Keys 2009: The Pitchers

The Frederick Keys 2009: The Pitchers
Today we continue our review of the Frederick Keys 2009 season with comments from Keys manager Richie Hebner. Monday, we reviewed several Keys' position players and today wrap up the 2009 season for Keys' pitchers. The numbers - Frederick, which finished 64-75 in the Carolina League, had a team ERA of 4.11 which tied for 5th in the eight-team league. The Keys were 4th in the league in strikeouts, issued the 3rd most walks and had just five shutouts, fewest in the league.
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Steve Melewski

No lack of attention for Lackey

No lack of attention for Lackey
John Lackey, John Lackey, John Lackey. Are you tired of hearing about him yet? Get used to it. He's considered the top free agent pitcher out there and the time for players to file for their "freedom" hasn't even come yet. Some are speculating that Lackey will garner a contract for five years and worth between 80 and 100 million. The ship is about to come in for the right hander. O's fans will anxiously await word on whether their club is in the hunt for Lackey. While I would love...
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Steve Melewski

Erbe will miss 'Rising Stars' game in Arizona

Erbe will miss 'Rising Stars' game in Arizona
One of the O's top pitching prospects, Brandon Erbe, has a minor injury that will cause him to miss the Arizona Fall League's Rising Stars game set for this Saturday night. "A couple of days ago, during pre-game stretching and running, Brandon tripped and fell and jammed the pinky finger on his right hand," O's Director of Player Development David Stockstill said. "It was X-rayed and the X-rays were negative but there is some swelling. He missed a start (today) and will not pitch in...
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Steve Melewski

Re-visiting Lackey & Guthrie

Re-visiting Lackey & Guthrie
Color me naïve maybe, but I had no idea my little blog-article-opinion piece on Jeremy Guthrie and John Lackey posted on Thursday would stir up so many people. I guess bringing out the passion in readers and hearing from so many of you is a good thing - whether you rip me or not.
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Steve Melewski

Keys manager talks about Billy Rowell

Keys manager talks about Billy Rowell
Since he hit .328 in 2006 between Bluefield and Aberdeen, the career of Billy Rowell has been on a downward spiral. While he is still very young, and the O's management remains solidly behind him, Rowell has put together back-to-back mediocre years at Frederick. Rowell w-Fred, 2008: .248-7-50....315 OBP.....368 slug......104 K's Rowell w-Fred, 2009 .225-9-39....284 OBP......336 slug.......122 K's Today in the final part of a three-part series reviewing the Frederick Keys' 2009 season,...
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Steve Melewski

Wrapping up the 2009 Norfolk Tides season with manager Gary Allenson

Wrapping up the 2009 Norfolk Tides season with manager Gary Allenson
Today we continue our review of Oriole farm teams in the 2009 season with the a look at the Triple-A Norfolk Tides of the International League. The Tides finished the season at 71-71, in third place in the IL South. But when they were at full strength early on, Norfolk was the IL's best club. At the end of May, the Tides were in first place at 34-15. They regained first place as late as July 23rd. But after losing players like Oscar Salazar, Nolan Reimold, Matt Wieters, Lou Montanez, Brad...
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Steve Melewski

He had a breakout year in the O's Minors in 2009

He had a breakout year in the O's Minors in 2009
Heading into the 2009 season, little was expected of O's minor league relief pitcher Luis Lebron. He missed most of 2008 due to a right elbow injury, pitching just 20 innings. It looked like he might be headed for Tommy John surgery but instead he chose to rehab the injury. At the start of the 2009 season, O's officials were just hoping he could get that mid 90's fastball back. And if he could develop some control of his pitches, all the better.
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Dave Trembley weighs in on Jones' GG award

Dave Trembley weighs in on Jones' GG award
Orioles' manager Dave Trembley sounded like a proud dad on the other end of the phone line. He was excited to see one of his players get some national recognition when Adam Jones won his first AL Gold Glove for fielding. Jones became the first Oriole since Mike Mussina in 1999 to earn the honor and first O's outfielder to do so since Paul Blair in 1975.
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Jones reacts to winning his first Gold Glove

Jones reacts to winning his first Gold Glove
Adam Jones said he was shocked and surprised but honored as well to win his first-ever American League Gold Glove. "The Gold Glove is hard to get into because so many guys win it consecutively. Ichiro and Torii do it every year and it's deserved. To get into that fraternity is an honor in itself," the 24-year-old Jones said. "It did (surprise me). I was just sitting here relaxed and got a call from our general manager. I was like 'wow.' I always thought I had a chance if I played a...
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Steve Melewski

Pondering the gold

Pondering the gold
Two things came to mind when thinking about Adam Jones winning a Gold Glove award. One, after 12 straight losing seasons, it's great to see an Oriole get recognized for good play - in any award. When you follow a losing team you don't expect that teams' players to get many awards. This was a nice change. Second, you can't always use stats to prove something. The gentleman from Baseball Prospectus had several stats at hand on yesterday's ESPN News broadcast of the awards to show that...
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Steve Melewski

A matter of statistics

A matter of statistics
No game is more about numbers than baseball. There is a stat for everything and in baseball the numbers seem to mean more, both for players now playing and even throughout history. There are magical numbers like 20 wins for a pitcher and a .300 batting average for a hitter. Even the most casual fans probably understand the basics of batting average, wins and losses, ERA, RBI and so on.
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Steve Melewski

Updating injured minor league pitchers

Updating injured minor league pitchers
Since I've been asked a few times by readers how several of the O's injured minor league pitchers are doing now, today we try to answer that question. O's Director of Player Development David Stockstill was nice enough to update us on eight different O's hurlers. All the quotes throughout are from Stockstill.
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Talking Norfolk pitchers with Gary Allenson

Talking Norfolk pitchers with Gary Allenson
Today we continue our review of the 2009 Norfolk Tides season by looking at how some Tides pitchers fared this year. We featured mostly hurlers that did not pitch in Baltimore this year. The quotes are from Tides' manager Gary Allenson. All stats in bold are with Norfolk only.
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No shortage of bullpen candidates

No shortage of bullpen candidates
If you want to point to an area where there will likely be jobs to be won in spring training in March, it's the Orioles' bullpen. There are a lot of questions right now. Will Koji be the closer? Can Sarfate and Ray come back from injury? Will Kam Mickolio emerge with that mid 90's fastball? Here are some candidates for next year's bullpen that maybe you haven't thought much about.
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Joe Jordan sizes up some O's draft picks

Joe Jordan sizes up some O's draft picks
Today in this space we begin a two-part series sizing up the Orioles' top ten draft picks from last June's First-Year Player Draft. Who better to analyze the players than the man who drafted them, O's scouting director Joe Jordan. All the quotes in the article are from Jordan who took plenty of time for MASNsports.com to provide some interesting insight. The O's selected nine players in the top ten rounds. Not all have even played for the Orioles yet, and of those who have, most played...
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Baseball is going to miss Ernie Harwell

Baseball is going to miss Ernie Harwell
I don't remember too many facts from that day. I know it was March, perhaps in 2003, and I was at the ballpark in Lakeland, Florida, getting ready for a spring training broadcast. That day I would host the Orioles pregame show for my then employer, WBAL Radio. It was several hours before the game and almost no one was in the stadium at the time. I was the only person in the main area of the press box for a while. Then I felt a tap on my shoulder. An older, gray-haired man extended his...
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Brandon Erbe on making the 40-man roster

Brandon Erbe on making the 40-man roster
Even though he has a splint on his right pinky finger that ended his time in the Arizona Fall League early, Wednesday was a good day for pitcher Brandon Erbe. The Baltimorean and life-long O's fan from McDonogh High made the Orioles' 40-man roster for the first time. "Just excitement," the 21-year-old Erbe said. "You're kind of one step closer and in the minors, that's your goal to continue to make progress. This is a step in the right direction. Being from Baltimore, now I can look...
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Steve Melewski

Joe Jordan on the O's top five draft picks

Joe Jordan on the O's top five draft picks
Today we wrap up our two-part series taking a look at the Orioles' picks in the first ten rounds of last June's draft with scouting director Joe Jordan. Today we get Jordan's thoughts on the O's first five picks from last June. All the quotes in the article are from Jordan.
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Steve Melewski

Erbe's fastball: Less juice, better results

Erbe's fastball: Less juice, better results
Some of the best pitchers in baseball get outs without throwing the ball as fast as they can. They have found that by giving up a few miles per hour on the radar gun, they get better fastball command and movement. That can lead to better control, faster outs and lower pitch counts. After five seasons in the Orioles' farm system, pitching prospect Brandon Erbe now subscribes to this "less can be more" theory with his fastball. He can crank it out at 95 and did often in his early years in...
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