Baseball's lockout and the slamming of brakes on offseason business only impacts the major league side. The minors are proceeding as usual, with their Winter Meetings in Orlando going along uninterrupted. And largely in silence. If an event is held and no one is there, does it make a sound? It used to be for the minor league people anyway. The majors crashed the party and took over, with media descending upon the hotel site and crowding the lobby area while team executives worked trades,...

The lockout that occurred seconds after the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement could produce the largest gap between an Orioles free agent agreement and actual signing in franchise history. Pitcher Jordan Lyles accepted the terms of his one-year, $7 million deal, which also contained an $11 million club option for 2023 and $1 million buyout. But the ink hasn't dried on the contract because a pen never touched paper. The transaction is pending a physical that can't be done until...

The Orioles added two right-handed starting pitchers today in the major league phase of the Rule 5 draft. And they added two-right handed pitchers and a catcher in the Triple-A phase of the draft. While it cost $100,000 to make a pick in the major league phase and that player must stay on the selecting team's big league roster all year or be offered back to his former club, no such rules apply in the minor league phase. Each selection costs $24,000 there and the player is now fully part of the...

The Orioles again made two selections in today's Rule 5 draft and they again focused on pitching. The fifth overall pick turned into right-hander Mac Sceroler, the nephew of former Orioles pitcher Ben McDonald. The Orioles took right-hander Tyler Wells in the second round to fill out their 40-man roster. Sceroler, 25, came from the Reds organization, where he posted a 3.69 ERA and a 1.111 WHIP in 26 games (20 starts) at high Single-A Daytona in 2019 and averaged 9.8 strikeouts per nine...