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 Orioles already made a few decisions on their minor league free agents, bringing back outfielder Cristopher Céspedes and pitchers Ofelky Peralta and Nick Vespi. Other moves will be sprinkled into their offseason, with some bigger names in the industry likely to compete for jobs on minor league deals with invitations to spring training. Like the past winter when the Orioles signed starters Félix Hernández, Matt Harvey and Wade LeBlanc. Relievers Adam Plutko and César Valdez...

Alexander Wells trailed by two runs tonight just two batters into his latest start with the Orioles. The first three batters produced three hits. The flashbacks to the past three games, with 44 runs surrendered, were blinding. It never got that bad. There was no need to begin researching past records within the organization or the league. But the Orioles assumed the position and fell again on hard times. Wells followed a scoreless second inning by serving up back-to-back home runs in the third,...

The home debut for Orioles rookie Alexander Wells remains on hold through five major league appearances. His acts are played on the road. Auditions that he hoped would lead to a regular gig. Off-days Thursday and Monday can jumble the rotation again, but Wells appeared to have a shot at pitching at Camden Yards against the Rays or, more likely, the Tigers before the Orioles flew to Boston next weekend. In the meantime, tonight marked his first appearance at Yankee Stadium. The audition hit a...

The Orioles were comfortable going with a 25-man roster tonight in Kansas City following a four-day break that rested and recharged a tired bullpen. Manager Brandon Hyde didn't want to dip into it early, no matter its condition, but that same break didn't improve the early results of the second-half rotation. Rookie Keegan Akin fell behind by six runs in three innings and the Orioles lost to the Royals 9-2. Cedric Mullins singled in his first two at-bats, the only hits against Royals...

After his second walk of the first inning tonight, Orioles starter Dean Kremer swatted at the ball with his glove while taking the throw from catcher Pedro Severino. After the third, he spun around with his back to the plate. Faced with a bases-loaded, no-out jam, no matter where he stood. The frustration only grew for Kremer, along with the deficit and pitch count. One batter retired, six runs against him, a seat on the bench with teammates patting him on the back in an attempt to encourage...