"Orioles Classics" #TBT: Giving the gift of Orioles baseball
"Orioles Classics" #TBT: Giving the gift of Orioles baseball
Pete Kerzel
Orioles
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are in the rear-view mirror, although the credit card bill next month will be a harsh reality that reminds you of how much you spent on holiday gifts. Giving Tuesday has also passed, and it's always a good time to support your favorite charities with donations of goods and money. What's the gift that keeps on giving? Orioles baseball, of course - and here at MASN, we've got a full array of "Orioles Classics" to keep your mind's eye firmly planted in the...
Desperate teams trying to make big moves before lockout
Desperate teams trying to make big moves before lockout
Mark Zuckerman
Nationals
As Dec. 1 creeps ever closer, we're finally seeing some movement around the baseball world. With the collective bargaining agreement set to expire in two days and an owners' lockout of players looming, a group of prominent free agents is now motivated to get deals down as soon as possible and avoid falling victim to what could be a two-month stretch with zero transactions completed. And there may be no player more motivated to know where he's going to be playing in 2022 right now than Max...
Can pitchers improve velocity and do O's support such efforts?
Can pitchers improve velocity and do O's support such efforts?
Steve Melewski
Orioles
In the winter after the 2018 season, one where left-hander John Means pitched to a combined 3.72 ERA between Double-A Bowie and Triple-A Norfolk, Means felt he needed to make improvements to both make the major leagues and stay there. Means went to P3 Premier Pitching Performance facility in St. Louis that offseason. For this interview in 2020 spring training, before the pandemic shut down baseball for months, Means did not mince words in terms of how that facility helped him starting in...
Almost time for Orioles to tender contracts
Almost time for Orioles to tender contracts
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
The last gasp from the Orioles front office before the air is potentially squeezed out of the offseason comes on Tuesday with the deadline for tendering contracts to players eligible for arbitration. The date was moved up a couple of days with the threat of a shutdown due to the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement. The Orioles had eight eligible players before outrighting catcher Pedro Severino and infielder Pat Valaika, sending them into free agency. Severino, projected by...
What would a big win-loss improvement in 2022 mean for Birdland?
What would a big win-loss improvement in 2022 mean for Birdland?
Steve Melewski
Orioles
In their last three full seasons, the Orioles have lost 115, 108 and 110 games. That is a lot of losses and no one has to tell a single O's fan that. But the hope is now that executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias and his staff have been here since before the 2019 season, and now that the organization has been ranked with one of the best farm systems in the game, that better days are not only ahead, but ahead sooner rather than later. The Detroit Tigers lost 114 games in the...
Four Nats qualify for early arbitration as Super Two players
Four Nats qualify for early arbitration as Super Two players
Mark Zuckerman
Nationals
Four Nationals players will qualify for salary arbitration this winter despite having yet to accrue three full years of major league service time because each has crossed the lower threshold used to designate each year's so-called Super Two players. MLBTradeRumors.com reported Saturday the cutoff for Super Two qualification this winter is 2 years, 116 days of service time. That means Ryne Harper (2 years, 135 days), Austin Voth (2 years, 127 days), Tanner Rainey (2 years, 127 days) and Andrew...
More on Orioles trade speculation and minor league manuevering
More on Orioles trade speculation and minor league manuevering
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
The amount of trade and free agent activity is making heads spin. A dizzying pace that can be explained only by the upcoming deadline for a new collective bargaining agreement. The current one expires on Wednesday, which also explains why the deadline for tendering contracts to arbitration-eligible players has been moved up to Tuesday. The Mets seem intent on conducting all of their offseason business by the end of the weekend. Except, of course, for the hiring of a manager. No sense rushing...
Looking at some lesser-known players on the 40-man roster
Looking at some lesser-known players on the 40-man roster
Mark Zuckerman
Nationals
We've mentioned players who were added or subtracted from the Nationals' 40-man roster on several occasions so far this offseason, but it's probably worth mentioning everyone who currently resides on that roster, because some names tend to slip through the cracks and don't garner much attention. The 40-man roster, for those who don't know, serves multiple purposes. First and foremost, it represents the pool of players a club can call up to the major leagues at any point in time. In order...
Trying to answer a few more Orioles questions
Trying to answer a few more Orioles questions
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
The Thanksgiving leftovers are beginning to run out, due to my generosity in sending family home with plastic containers bursting at the lid and my stunning ability to fill a plate every hour as if opening the refrigerator door somehow adds a year to my life. Cold stuffing isn't just for dinner anymore. Meanwhile, I can't seem to reach the bottom of my mailbag. I also can't reach down and touch my toes, but these are unrelated issues. Perhaps responding to a few more questions this morning...
Are O's just doing due diligence on Means?
Are O's just doing due diligence on Means?
Steve Melewski
Orioles
It was a tweet that no doubt was well seen and read throughout Birdland. That the Orioles were "dangling" John Means in trade talks. Not completely sure what that means, no pun intended, but dangling is defined as "hanging or swinging loosely." That last part could apply. No one can know for sure what the team is thinking on this, but a guess here is that Means is certainly not being shopped. I would see him as much more likely to be on the team than dealt between now and opening day 2022....