The Orioles hadn't made a final decision on shortstop Richie Martin prior to baseball's shutdown in spring training. He remained on the camp roster, which is frozen at 50 players. The club could have placed him in a utility role or, more likely, assigned him to Triple-A Norfolk in an attempt to further develop his skills. They had the freedom to go in any direction with Martin no longer holding Rule 5 status. Now what? The minor league season is expected to be canceled due to the coronavirus...

OAKLAND - It wasn't actually the first time this year the Orioles had allowed 16 runs in a game. But when it happened Tuesday night at Oakland, a manager who has had to handle interviews so many nights about a pitching staff that came up short, seemed to be exasperated to have to do it again. Who could blame Orioles skipper Brandon Hyde? That was indeed hard to watch. O's pitching allowed 16 runs to tie a season-high first set April 20 versus Minnesota, giving up 10 of them in the last of the...

OAKLAND - The All-Star break has arrived in the Single-A Carolina League, and tomorrow night the Orioles' Frederick Keys affiliate will host the All-Star game at Nymeo Field at Harry Grove Stadium. Frederick previously hosted All-Star games in 1991 and 2005. In that most recent game, the Orioles' Nick Markakis not only won the pregame Home Run Derby, but hit two homers in the game to lead the Carolina League past the California League. The All-Star Classic, presented by Visit Frederick, will...

SARASOTA, Fla. - As Mark Trumbo attempts to reach his target date of March 12 to play in his first exhibition game, manager Brandon Hyde continues to exhibit patience and understanding through the process with no intention of rushing it. The desire to have him in the opening day lineup won't override common sense. "Mark knows how I feel," Hyde said. "I want him to be healthy, so I'm not putting any date on it. I think a player wants to try to get back and I don't want to put a date on it...

While revealing at FanFest that finding more pitching is the top offseason roster priority for the Orioles, executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias didn't deny that the outfield, infield and catching position also could be addressed before opening day. The Orioles remain in an infield frenzy as they increase the competition for starting and utility jobs. They selected Richie Martin with the first pick in the Rule 5 draft and traded for Drew Jackson, who also must remain on the...

As the Orioles continue making their final preparations for this weekend's FanFest event at the Baltimore Convention Center, they're also nearing the announcements on their major league and minor league coaching staffs and their non-roster invitees to spring training. One domino falls and others will tumble. The list of invitees could include infielders Ryan Mountcastle, Jace Peterson, Engelb Vielma, Sean Miller and Zach Vincej, outfielders Ryan McKenna, Yusniel Díaz and Christopher...

The need for more infield depth led the Orioles earlier today to make another waiver claim. The Orioles have brought Hanser Alberto into the organization, with catcher Andrew Susac designated for assignment to create room on the 40-man roster. Alberto, 26, can play all four infield positions and is a career .309/.330/.438 hitter in 1,000 plate appearances at the Triple-A level. He slashed .330/.346/.452 last summer in 101 games at Round Rock in the Rangers' system, and .322/.366/.392 in 43...

The activity that's been aimed at the Orioles' 25- and 40-man rosters in the offseason hasn't produced national headlines. There were three acquisitions in the Rule 5 draft and depth moves for the pitching staff, infield and catching position. Some of them haven't been announced and there could be others still under wraps. The decision to use the first pick in the Rule 5 draft on infielder Richie Martin has the potential to be one of the most impactful, considering that he's a candidate to...

While the baseball world balances on the edge of its seats waiting for Manny Machado and Bryce Harper to sign their monstrous contracts, which will reduce the media's baseball chatter by about 75 percent, the Orioles are quietly researching ways to fill out their roster. Much of the heavy lifting outside of it is done. Two big front office hires have been completed in executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias and assistant Sig Mejdal, the latter responsible for building up the...

The restructuring of the Orioles' front office and scouting department has led today to one of the more important hires of the offseason. The club announced that Koby Perez, 40, has been named senior director, international scouting and will report directly to executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias. Perez will oversee all aspects of the international scouting operations and management of the team's bonus pool. He spent the last five seasons in the Indians organization,...