A look at the Orioles' list of pending minor league free agents

A look at the Orioles' list of pending minor league free agents
To put in perspective how long Garabez Rosa has been in the Orioles organization, when Adam Jones was traded to the club in February 2008, Rosa was about to begin his second season on the O's farm. Signed out of the Dominican Republic at 17 in November 2006, Rosa has played 1,154 games over 11 seasons in the Orioles' minor league system. Save for a few games at Triple-A Norfolk, he's been at Double-A Bowie since the 2013 season. He is the Baysox's all-time leader in games (590), hits (650),...

Leftovers for breakfast

Leftovers for breakfast
There's something almost sinful about wasting a quality start from Ubaldo Jiménez, who's registered five of them this season among his 16 outings. It's like the canteen scene in "Three Amigos" with Chevy Chase gargling and spitting out his water and dumping the rest in the desert sand while Steve Martin and Martin Short are practically dying of thirst. (YouTube it if the reference is lost on you. Martin's expression is priceless.) Jiménez made one bad pitch or none yesterday,...

Flying under the radar on the farm (plus other notes)

Flying under the radar on the farm (plus other notes)
We write here often about some of the top players in the O's minors. Often they are players well-known because they were high draft picks and/or have played well for a long time. Today let's take a look at a few players flying under the radar. This is by no means a complete list but some of these players should start getting noticed more. At Single-A Frederick, young outfielder Ademar Rifaela from Curacao has had a solid season. He is putting up better numbers than in his previous four...

Notes on Drake, bullpen, Trumbo, Berry and Wright

Notes on Drake, bullpen, Trumbo, Berry and Wright
SARASOTA, Fla. - Reliever Oliver Drake has his locker set up inside the home clubhouse at the Ed Smith Stadium complex. He isn't attending minicamp, but it's waiting for him next month as pitchers and catchers report to spring training. The Orioles currently appear to have two openings in their bullpen and Drake may be given a shot to occupy one of them. It will be his most important camp, with the former 43rd round pick out of the Naval Academy now out of minor league options. Drake turns 30...

Will the Orioles improve against left-handed pitching in 2017?

Will the Orioles improve against left-handed pitching in 2017?
The Orioles struggled to hit left-handed pitching last season, ranking last in the American League in batting average, slugging and OPS against southpaws. At a time when they could see a few lefties in the AL East starting in April, they will need to improve those numbers. As a team, the Orioles hit .234/.301/.391 against left-handers last season, ranking 15th, 14th and 15th among all AL teams, respectively, in average, OBP and slugging. The Orioles fared much better against right-handed...

Notes on Joey Rickard, Tim Berry and big free agent contracts

Notes on Joey Rickard, Tim Berry and big free agent contracts
Outfielder Joey Rickard, taken by the Orioles in the Rule 5 draft, is having a solid season in the Dominican Winter League. Over 50 games and 191 at-bats, he has hit .277/.344/.450 with 13 doubles, one triple, six homers and 32 RBIs. A 24-year-old who is a right-handed batter and lefty thrower, Rickard has hit .362 with runners in scoring position for Leones del Escogido. He has batted mostly first and third. In 100 leadoff at-bats, he has hit .290/.373/.540. Against left-handed pitchers, he...

Orioles lose pitcher Tim Berry on waiver claim

Orioles lose pitcher Tim Berry on waiver claim
The Orioles reduced their 40-man roster to 39 players by exposing left-hander Tim Berry to waivers and losing him on a claim by the Marlins. In the blink of an eye, the Orioles learned today that they surrendered Berry to the Marlins, infielder Rey Navarro to the Angels and left-hander Edgar Olmos to the Cubs. I erroneously tweeted this afternoon that the Marlins claimed Olmos before I quickly made the correction. I knew Miami took one of the Orioles' left-handers. I just had the wrong...

Brady Anderson on winter workouts; young O's meet the media at FanFest

Brady Anderson on winter workouts; young O's meet the media at FanFest
When it comes to leading a group of Orioles in winter workouts, club vice president of baseball operations Brady Anderson is ready to help. He's already joined pitcher Miguel Gonzalez for some of his workouts on the West Coast, and that group will later include Mike Wright, Jason Garcia and minor league lefty Tim Berry. "Garcia and Wright will spend some extensive time right before spring training," Anderson said. "They'll probably be there the last six weeks. Dariel Alvarez will come in....

Minor league notes on Reyes, Miranda, Berry and more, plus playoff updates

Minor league notes on Reyes, Miranda, Berry and more, plus playoff updates
The Orioles' Triple-A Norfolk affiliate beat Charlotte 6-3 last night and is closing in on a division title. At 76-61, the Tides lead the division by four games over Gwinnett with seven games left. Norfolk hosts Gwinnett in a doubleheader today and if the Tides were to sweep the doubleheader and have Charlotte lose at Durham, Norfolk would clinch the South Division of the International League and return to the playoffs for the first time since 2005. Norfolk's Christian Walker has a 10-game...

Miguel Gonzalez with a bounceback outing, plus some Bowie banter

Miguel Gonzalez with a bounceback outing, plus some Bowie banter
With Chris Davis and Miguel Gonzalez playing co-starring roles, the Orioles ended their four-game losing streak and won for just the sixth time in 21 games on Saturday night. They improved to 47-49 for the season. Davis hit his fifth career grand slam to back a much-needed strong outing by Gonzalez, who had pitched to an ERA of 6.75 over his previous five starts. But he gave up just one run in 7 2/3 innings to help the Orioles end the losing streak with a 5-1 win over Tampa Bay. Gonzalez and...

This, that and the other

This, that and the other
I've been asked whether Mike Wright gets another start with the Orioles. I'm not sure whether he gets another day in the majors. As I explained yesterday, the Orioles can go in many directions due to the uncertain status of Chris Tillman (back) and Bud Norris (bronchitis) and the presence of Tyler Wilson on the taxi squad. There must be a temptation to place Norris on the disabled list, backdated to May 11, while he slowly recovers. He was still coughing yesterday and it's obvious by looking...

More notes and quotes before tonight's game

More notes and quotes before tonight's game
The Orioles won't announce their roster move today until making certain that knuckleballer Eddie Gamboa arrives in Baltimore. Gamboa would be making his major league debut if he gets into a game. The Orioles want left-hander T.J. McFarland to make at least a couple of starts at Triple-A Norfolk. He's on the mound tonight in Charlotte. Mike Wright wasn't available to replace reliever Wesley Wright on the 25-man roster because he would have been working on short rest. Gamboa was scheduled to...

Checking in with Britton, Garcia and more as opening day in Baltimore arrives

Checking in with Britton, Garcia and more as opening day in Baltimore arrives
With a 2-1 record after the season-opening series against Tampa Bay, the Orioles play their home opener this afternoon at 3:05 p.m. against Toronto at Camden Yards. Right-hander Bud Norris (15-8, 3.65 ERA in 2014) gets the start against Blue Jays lefty Mark Buehrle (13-10, 3.39 ERA). Norris had an excellent record last year against Toronto, going 4-0 with a 1.78 ERA and a .239 batting average against. The Orioles have won four consecutive home openers since a loss to Toronto in 2010. They have...

A look at Bowie's rotation and more from Baysox media day

A look at Bowie's rotation and more from Baysox media day
BOWIE, Md. - When the Double-A Bowie Baysox begin a new Eastern League season on Thursday night at Richmond, Tim Berry will be their opening night starter and Dylan Bundy will be No. 5. Bundy is obviously not the fifth starter based on talent. But it may have just about everything to do with the fact he will be limited in innings early this year. Coming off his 2013 Tommy John surgery and having pitched just 41 1/3 innings last season, the Orioles are expected to keep him at around 100 innings...

Game update and more from Showalter

Game update and more from Showalter
FORT MYERS, Fla. - Miguel Gonzalez failed to complete four innings today, but he definitely increased his pitch count. Gonzalez threw 80 pitches, 57 for strikes, and left with the Orioles ahead 4-2 with two outs in the bottom of the fourth. T.J. McFarland stranded Kurt Suzuki, who doubled with two outs. Gonzalez was charged with two runs and six hits in 3 2/3 innings, with no walks and four strikeouts. Gonzalez was hoping to today become the first Orioles starter to exceed four innings in a...

Notes on Alejandro De Aza, Tim Berry, Mike Wright and Steve Johnson

Notes on Alejandro De Aza, Tim Berry, Mike Wright and Steve Johnson
FORT MYERS, Fla. - In my last blog entry, I wrote that outfielder Alejandro De Aza returned to Sarasota yesterday after flying to the Dominican Republic on Wednesday for his grandfather's 99th birthday party. "It was awesome," De Aza said this morning. "It's always good to see family, especially a granddad who's 99. He was happy for me to be there." The last time De Aza attended his grandfather's birthday? "Before I got signed," said De Aza, who joined the Dodgers as an amateur free...

Orioles option Tim Berry

Orioles option Tim Berry
SARASOTA, Fla. - The Orioles ended up making two camp cuts today with the announcement that they optioned left-hander Tim Berry to Triple-A Norfolk. Earlier in the day, the Orioles optioned pitcher Mike Wright to Norfolk. With these moves, the Orioles have 43 players in camp, including nine non-roster invitees. Berry allowed two runs (one earned) in one inning today against the Red Sox in Fort Myers. In four spring games, he surrendered five runs (four earned) and seven hits in five innings,...

A look at where the O's top prospects may play in 2015

A look at where the O's top prospects may play in 2015
Last Monday, Baseball America released its latest list of the Orioles' top 10 prospects. If you didn't see the list the first time, Dylan Bundy tops it for the fourth straight year. Here is a look at the list and where those players might start the 2015 season. 1) Dylan Bundy, RHP: Believe it or not, Bundy has pitched 16 2/3 innings in his life at the Double-A level. I expect there is a good chance he returns to the Eastern League and begins the 2015 season with Bowie. He needs to build on...

Minor league notes on Tim Berry, Brian Gonzalez, Branden Kline and more

Minor league notes on Tim Berry, Brian Gonzalez, Branden Kline and more
Double-A Bowie left-hander Tim Berry has been placed on the disabled list retroactive to Aug. 18 with shoulder tendinitis. But the Orioles are convinced this is very minor and are hopeful Berry can start again for the Baysox this season. Berry was examined by Orioles orthopedist Dr. Michael Jacobs. The Orioles' No. 6 prospect according to Baseball America, the 23-year-old Berry was added to the 40-man roster last November. Earlier this year, he actually spent time with the Orioles. When they...

With big division lead, fans just not that upset at a walk-off loss

With big division lead, fans just not that upset at a walk-off loss
This is how good a season the Orioles are having. On a night when they left 10 runners on base, scored just one run and lost in walk-off fashion, there was little gloom and doom to be found on this blog last night. Kind of refreshing, isn't it? No one second-guessing Buck Showalter's every move or ripping everyone but the bat boy. No proclaiming this is nothing more than a .500 team. That one was big nightly for a long, long, long time during the 2014 season. No proclaiming the sky is...