Rule 5 draft next up at Winter Meetings

SAN DIEGO – The Winter Meetings have reached their fourth day of activity if you include Sunday. Some do, some don’t. Depends on your flight schedule.

Let’s say third full day and get on with our lives.

The work rhythm seems a bit off, which I blame on a more condensed version with the Rule 5 draft happening this afternoon instead of Thursday morning. The embedding yesterday of the first draft lottery also provided a new wrinkle for the older beat and national crews.

The Orioles possess the 17th pick in the Rule 5, which lessens the chances that they’ll use it. Having the first or second makes it a no-brainer.

I’ve been relying on their track record of activity, with a selection made every year since 2006 - the exception, of course, being 2021 because the Winter Meetings were canceled – but executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias talked yesterday about the uncertainty that comes with a later selection and indicated that his club could pass.

Orioles claim Fox, add six players to 40-man roster

Orioles claim Fox, add six players to 40-man roster
The Orioles are protecting six players again in the Rule 5 draft that's scheduled for next month in Orlando, Fla., placing pitchers DL Hall, Kyle Bradish, Kevin Smith, Félix Bautista and Logan Gillaspie, and infielder Terrin Vavra on the 40-man roster at tonight's deadline. The day began with 32 openings, heavy subtractions made since the last game. The most recent transaction impacting the roster before today was the claiming of pitcher Bryan Baker off waivers from the Blue Jays on Nov....

Updating Orioles in the Arizona Fall League (and notes)

Updating Orioles in the Arizona Fall League (and notes)
The Mesa Solar Sox will represent the East Division in Saturday's Arizona Fall League championship game. The team that includes Orioles minor leaguers on its roster. Rings can be won in November, even for an organization that's rebuilding. They do receive rings, right? Anyway, the AFL season began with eight Orioles representatives on Mesa's roster, including catcher Ramon Rodriguez, who was listed as being on the taxi squad. There have been three subtractions, though outfielder Yusniel Diaz...

Taking a last look at possible protections in Rule 5 draft

Taking a last look at possible protections in Rule 5 draft
The Orioles' 40-man roster is holding at 32 players and must be set by Friday, before a Rule 5 draft at the Winter Meetings that remains in limbo, as well as Orlando, with the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement. Executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias will complete the task of protecting players, which follows the many transactions that cleared room for them. There will be the obvious calls and probably at least one that seems possible but falls a little short of a...

Which relievers are returning to Orioles in 2022?

Which relievers are returning to Orioles in 2022?
Are there any guaranteed returns among Orioles relievers beyond Rule 5 pick Tyler Wells? Is it weird that Wells is the first and perhaps only mention? This is quite the commentary on Wells, who emerged as the most likely closer candidate next spring, and the state of the bullpen. Left-handers Paul Fry and Tanner Scott are eligible for arbitration and projected by MLBTradeRumors.com to make $1.1 million and $1 million, respectively. Teams expressed interest in both relievers at the trade...

Gibbons praises Cullen as "a throwback" player

Gibbons praises Cullen as "a throwback" player
By assigning players to the Arizona Fall League, the Orioles can find at-bats that were missing due to various injuries. For infielder Greg Cullen, it was his hamstring that turned his promotion to Double-A Bowie into a challenge to stay on the field. Getting on base isn't an issue when he's healthy. Cullen came out of Tuesday's game with the Mesa Solar Sox due to soreness in his leg, but he received clearance the next day to resume activities. His two stops on the IL with the Baysox limited...

Orioles confident in Wells as closer

Orioles confident in Wells as closer
The chiseling of the Orioles' 40-man roster needs to get it down to a size that can accommodate at least one new player from the Rule 5 draft. The Orioles seem to have struck gold last winter with reliever Tyler Wells. You just never know. Among the few safe projections for the 2022 season is naming Wells the closer. He gets the initial save chances. How many are available on a rebuilding team isn't the point. Someone needs to protect a slim lead in the ninth inning and Wells has become the...

Who starts at third base while Orioles wait for Mayo?

Who starts at third base while Orioles wait for Mayo?
If the Orioles can implement their prospect plan at third base, Coby Mayo will be handling the hot corner and hitting long home runs for many years. They can figure out how to occupy the middle infield with the batch of shortstops who crash their top 30 prospects lists, including Gunnar Henderson and Jordan Westburg among the first 10. Henderson could be the shortstop and Westburg the second baseman. They could reverse roles. One of them could move over to third, but good luck trying to budge...

Stowers and Diaz headline Orioles entries in Arizona Fall League

Stowers and Diaz headline Orioles entries in Arizona Fall League
The Orioles will have eight players representing the organization with the Mesa Solar Sox in the Arizona Fall League. Pitchers Cameron Bishop, Logan Gillaspie, Conner Loeprich and Nick Vespi, catcher Ramon Rodriguez, infielder Greg Cullen, and outfielders Yusniel Diaz and Kyle Stowers will play for Mesa. Rodriguez is on the taxi squad. Triple-A Norfolk hitting coach Tim Gibbons will serve in the same capacity with the Solar Sox. The first game is Wednesday, Oct. 13. The annual Fall Stars Game...

Bowie's Grayson Rodriguez takes loss as Akron takes Game 2

Bowie's Grayson Rodriguez takes loss as Akron takes Game 2
BOWIE - It was not the night the Bowie Baysox were hoping for. The weather made it challenging and so did Akron RubberDucks batters. They scored six runs in just 2 2/3 innings off Bowie ace Grayson Rodriguez - that was a season high for him in runs allowed - as Akron beat Bowie 8-5 to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five Double-A Northeast Championship Series. The Baysox have scored just six runs on six hits in the first two games. The late afternoon downpour finally subsided, but the first...

The offense was slowed as the road trip began

The offense was slowed as the road trip began
They scored eight runs and produced a walk-off win on Wednesday night at home. But as a seven-game road trip began last night, the Baltimore offense was held in check as Detroit beat the Orioles 6-2. The Birds were held to four hits in 29 at-bats, had just one extra-base hit, no RBIs and went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position. Detroit right-hander Casey Mize, the player taken No. 1 overall in the 2018 draft, shut down the Baltimore batters allowing just one unearned run over seven...

Notes on minor league movement and All-Star voting

Notes on minor league movement and All-Star voting
The Orioles are moving up another pitching prospect. Left-hander Kevin Smith, acquired from the Mets last summer in the Miguel Castro trade, has been promoted to Triple-A Norfolk. Smith, 24, had a 1.04 ERA and 1.08 WHIP in six games (five starts) with Double-A Bowie. He struck out 37 batters in 26 innings. MLBPipeline.com rates Smith as the No. 15 prospect in the Orioles minor league system. Smith joins a Norfolk rotation that includes Zac Lowther (No. 9) and Kyle Bradish (No. 12). Infielder...

Taking a look at one lineup possibility, plus more notes

Taking a look at one lineup possibility, plus more notes
Which American League team had the third-best team batting average during the 2020 season? And, yes, it was a season shortened to 60 games, 102 fewer than normal. It was the Orioles. They ranked 12th in team batting average at .246 in 2019 and were third at .258 in the AL last summer when the league average was .245. While the Orioles in 2020 produced 4.57 runs per game, under league average of .4.65, they rated eighth in OBP (.321), sixth in slugging (.429) and tied for eighth in team OPS...

Orioles nearing completion of Velázquez deal

Orioles nearing completion of Velázquez deal
The business conducted this week by Orioles executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias isn't confined to setting the 40-man roster for the Rule 5 draft. It's more than figuring out which free agents could fit on the active roster for opening day. It's more than compiling a list of candidates for third base coach and infield instructor. There's a trade that needs to be completed. The first trade that's now become the last one to be finalized. The Orioles are working out the...

Graffanino felt connection to Orioles via Hardy prior to trade

Graffanino felt connection to Orioles via Hardy prior to trade
Before AJ Graffanino had the opportunity to join the Orioles, before he received a phone call months earlier from a former Braves employee who prepared him for the news, he began to bond with the organization as a fifth-grader taking ground balls next to a shortstop who would beat him to it by 10 years. If this sounds a little confusing, just imagine Graffanino accompanying his father, Brewers shortstop Tony Graffanino, to the ballpark in 2007. Imagine the kid on the field for pregame drills...

A few notes on new additions, Mo Gaba and Trey Mancini

A few notes on new additions, Mo Gaba and Trey Mancini
The addition of players to be named later keep rolling in for the Orioles. The players always had names, of course, but now we know them as Orioles. Yesterday, the Orioles completed the trade of lefty Tommy Milone to Atlanta on Aug. 31 when they got 23-year-old infielders AJ Graffanino and Greg Cullen from the Braves. The O's are owed one more PTNL for sending pitcher Hector Velázquez to Houston on July 29. Graffanino, the son of former big leaguer Tony Graffanino, was rated as Atlanta's...

Orioles complete Tommy Milone trade

Orioles complete Tommy Milone trade
The Orioles revealed the identities of the two players to be named later in the Tommy Milone trade with the Braves. The team announced this afternoon that it's receiving infielders AJ Graffanino and Greg Cullen to complete the deadline deal. Graffanino, 23, was chosen by the Braves in the eighth round of the 2018 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Washington and rose to No. 23 among the organization's prospects in the MLBPipeline.com rankings. He's batted .316/.342/.380 in two...