One-time O's signee and trade chip cashes in via free agency

One-time O's signee and trade chip cashes in via free agency
It all made sense at the time of the trade on July 31, 2014. The Orioles had a chance to win the American League East for the first time since 1997. At the time of that deal, the Orioles had not reached as far as the AL Championship Series since 1997. But after the deal, they would both win the AL East and advance to the ALCS. The price was steep, though, to get lefty reliever Andrew Miller. The Orioles had to part with their No. 3 prospect and a top 100 pitcher who was then at Double-A Bowie,...

Mancini again chosen AL Comeback Player of the Year

Mancini again chosen AL Comeback Player of the Year
The offseason has left enough room for Trey Mancini to receive another honor. Mancini is the recipient of the American League's Comeback Player of the Year Award, with Major League Baseball making the announcement tonight. The award has been presented annually since 2005, with the 30 club beat reporters from MLB.com choosing the winners in each league from an original list of 30 candidates. Mancini, 27, is the first Orioles player to be honored and he was the obvious selection. Again. Coming...

Notes on Hall of Fame ballot, Hays' recovery and Jones' passing

Notes on Hall of Fame ballot, Hays' recovery and Jones' passing
Thirteen new candidates appear on this year's Hall of Fame ballot, which was released yesterday, but none have ties to the Orioles. Unless, of course, you want to count how fans assumed that Severna Park resident and Mount St. Joseph graduate Mark Teixeira would sign with the Orioles the minute after he became a free agent. Other newbies are infielders Álex Rodríguez, Justin Morneau, Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, and Prince Fielder; pitchers Tim Lincecum, Jake Peavy, Joe Nathan and...

Can Nats regain their standing among D.C. sports teams?

Can Nats regain their standing among D.C. sports teams?
If you took a stroll around town on Nov. 3, 2019, and asked a random sampling of 100 people on the streets who the most popular professional team in D.C. was at that moment, there's a good chance more people would've said the Nationals than anyone else. The fact they had just held a parade for the World Series champs 24 hours earlier probably would've played a role in that, but that championship really was the culmination of something that had been building for some time. After two decades...

Notes on Gillaspie, new hire, Severino signing and Rombach

Notes on Gillaspie, new hire, Severino signing and Rombach
Seconds after filing my story on Friday's additions to the 40-man roster that protected players in the Rule 5 draft, I did a quick search on Logan Gillaspie to make certain that I didn't completely dismiss his chances. That I didn't write something like, "He's in the Arizona Fall League and out of this discussion." I typed his name as "Conner Gillaspie" the next morning while trying to look up his statistics, then slapped myself and got it right. This guy deserves better. I've never...

Looking at a few free agent options for back end of rotation

Looking at a few free agent options for back end of rotation
Time to take a look at a few more free agent starting pitchers. No, we are not looking at the very best, not even close, but diving into the much more shallow end of the pool. It's an attempt to be realistic here and not get too far ahead of ourselves. Will there be a day when the Orioles look to sign or trade for a top starting pitcher? We sure hope so, but we're not there yet. In recent posts here and here, we looked at six pitchers that MLBTradeRumors.com listed in the category of older...

Big win total not necessary for Cy Young winners

Big win total not necessary for Cy Young winners
One thing that was somewhat noticeable this week when the Cy Young Award winners were announced was that neither pitcher that won had a lot of pitching wins for 2021. Wins for pitchers don't seem to have nearly the value they once did. The American League winner was Toronto's Robbie Ray. He went 13-7 with a 2.84 ERA that ranked first in the league over 193 1/3 innings with a 1.04 WHIP and .210 batting average against. The National League winner was Milwaukee's Corbin Burnes, who was 11-5...

Nats' long run of MVP contenders is nothing to scoff at

Nats' long run of MVP contenders is nothing to scoff at
This week of announcements of the Baseball Writers' Association of America annual awards was a disappointing one for the Nationals and their fans. They saw Juan Soto finish runner-up to Bryce Harper for the National League MVP Award, and they saw Max Scherzer finished third behind Corbin Burnes and Zack Wheeler for the NL Cy Young Award. It would've been nice had either Soto or Scherzer won, even nicer if both won. It would've helped make this otherwise miserable season for the Nats feel a...

After 40-man addition, does Bradish help rotation next year?

After 40-man addition, does Bradish help rotation next year?
The Orioles' 40-man roster filled up pretty fast. In a span of a few hours it went from 32 to 39 as the club acquired a player on waivers Friday and later added six of its own from the farm. The Orioles added infielder Lucius Fox on waivers from Kansas City. And then early last night the club announced the addition of six players from its farm system to the 40-man. This ensures those players cannot be taken in next month's Rule 5 draft. The club added five pitchers in DL Hall, Kyle Bradish,...

Leftovers for breakfast

Leftovers for breakfast
Questions about Cedric Mullins' 2021 season usually begin with, "Did you ever imagine that ..." That he'd become the first player in Orioles history with 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases in the same season. That he'd make the All-Star team and start. That he'd be a unanimous winner of the Most Valuable Oriole award. Mark me down for no, no and no, and I say this in the comfort that I'm not alone. Finishing in the top 10 in Most Valuable Player voting in the American League is another...

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....

Nationals add outfielder Casey, lefty Lee to 40-man roster

Nationals add outfielder Casey, lefty Lee to 40-man roster
The Nationals chose to protect two prospects from being selected in next month's scheduled Rule 5 draft, adding both outfielder Donovan Casey and left-hander Evan Lee to their 40-man roster in advance of today's league-wide deadline. Casey and Lee were among the likeliest of the more than three dozen minor leaguers eligible for this year's Rule 5 draft to be protected by the Nationals, who did have room to add one more player to their 40-man roster but opted to leave that spot open for...

Nats face 40-man roster decisions on deadline day

Nats face 40-man roster decisions on deadline day
One of baseball's key offseason deadlines arrives later today when all clubs must add eligible players to their 40-man rosters or leave them unprotected in next month's Rule 5 draft. It's not a day that garners a ton of headlines, but it's an important day nonetheless because it offers some clues about an organization's feelings about some of its prospects, which ones it believes have a future and which ones less so. And in the Nationals' case, there are several decisions to make before...

Harper tops Soto for second career MVP award

Harper tops Soto for second career MVP award
Bryce Harper won the second National League Most Valuable Player award of his career tonight, beating out Juan Soto for the honor in a battle of former Nationals teammates turned division rivals. Harper received 17 first-place votes and 348 total points in balloting conducted before the start of the postseason by 30 members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America (two from each NL city). Soto received six first-place votes and 274 total points to finish second. Padres shortstop...

Trying to come up with a few answers to Orioles questions

Trying to come up with a few answers to Orioles questions
My mailbag hasn't reached a level that tempts me to empty it, your questions scattered all over the floor, but I don't mind a light sifting this morning. Extremely light. Like, Engelb Vielma light. Here are four questions that I'm tackling, being careful to not lead with my helmet: Julio Iglesias is a free agent after winding up with the Red Sox after the Orioles traded him to the Angels. Does Mike Elias bring him back? You meant José and won't lose points or my respect. The Orioles need...

Can Soto topple Harper for NL MVP honors tonight?

Can Soto topple Harper for NL MVP honors tonight?
Wednesday night, we saw a former Nationals star come up short in a bid to win another major end-of-season award. Tonight, we could see either a different former Nationals star or a current one win the biggest award of all. The National League MVP will be announced around 6:25 p.m., and the names of the two frontrunners are as familiar as they get around here: Bryce Harper and Juan Soto. (Fernando Tatis Jr. also was named a finalist, but the Padres shortstop is widely expected to finish third...

Can new hitting coaches help O's lagging OBP stats?

Can new hitting coaches help O's lagging OBP stats?
The Orioles seemingly always rank near the bottom of the American League in on-base percentage. It's an important stat and this year in the American League the average team OBP was .316. The Orioles ranked 12th among the 15 clubs in the AL at .304. Since they won the AL East in 2014, the Orioles have ranked 12th or lower in the league in team OBP five times in eight seasons. Their best mark was when they were eighth in 2020. When it comes to walk rate (the percentage of times a hitter walks...

Scherzer finishes third to Burnes, Wheeler in close Cy Young race

Scherzer finishes third to Burnes, Wheeler in close Cy Young race
Max Scherzer came up short in his quest to win the fourth Cy Young Award of his career, finishing third in a close three-way race for the 2021 National League honor, which went to the Brewers' Corbin Burnes. Burnes, with 12 first-place votes and 151 total points, narrowly beat out the Phillies' Zack Wheeler (12 first-place votes, 141 total points) and Scherzer (six first-place votes, 113 total points) in a down-to-the-wire race between three NL right-handers who each had compelling cases to...

How would we view another Cy Young for Scherzer?

How would we view another Cy Young for Scherzer?
We're used to paying attention to Cy Young Award announcements around here, because the Nationals have seemed to always have at least one serious contender for the honor each year, most notably the man who won it twice while pitching for Washington. Tonight, Max Scherzer will find himself in a familiar position, watching along with the rest of us as the 2021 National League Cy Young Award winner is named around 6:45 p.m. He's seeking to become only the fifth pitcher in history to win the...

Will a 100 mph fastball get this pitcher on the 40-man roster?

Will a 100 mph fastball get this pitcher on the 40-man roster?
When it comes to some of the best bullpens in baseball, they seem to be filled with flame-throwing pitchers that can throws fastballs in the high 90s and maybe even touch 100 mph. Of course, velocity is not everything, but it sure has some importance, and teams keep rolling out those throwing some serious heat in the middle to late innings. As the Orioles decide which players to add to their 40-man roster this week, and thus protect those players from being taken in the December Rule 5 draft,...