More of this, that and the other

Ryan Mountcastle is inching up the Rookie of the Year voting.

Just in time to no longer qualify for the award next season.

Mountcastle finished sixth in the American League, receiving two second-place votes and four third place. His 10 points left him one behind Guardians reliever Emmanuel Clase.

The Rays' Randy Arozarena was first with 124 points, followed by the Astros' Luis Garcia (63), the Rays' Wander Franco (30) and the Rangers' Adolis García (27).

The Rays' Shane McClanahan was seventh with three points and the Blue Jays' Alek Manoah was eighth with two.

Former Baltimore Sun columnist Peter Schmuck and The Athletic's Jen McCaffrey supplied Mountcastle's second-place votes.

Tampa Bay Times reporter Marc Topkin, who covers the Rays, had Arozarena first and Luis Garcia second, but he put Mountcastle third instead of Franco.

Baseball-Reference.com tabulates Arozarena's WAR at 4.1, Luis Garcia's at 2.6, Franco's at 3.5, Adolis García's at 3.8, Clase's at 2.8 and Mountcastle's at 0.9.

You get the idea that WAR carries a lot of weight.

Mountcastle received one point via a third-place vote in 2020 and finished tied for eighth. The Mariners' Kyle Lewis was a unanimous choice with 30 first-place votes.

* De Jon Watson will be the Nationals' new farm director, according to The Athletic.

I didn't get lost and wander to the wrong side of the website. There's an Orioles connection with Watson and I'm here to tell or remind you.

Watson was a Dodgers' executive in October 2011 when he flew into Baltimore and interviewed with the Orioles as a potential replacement for president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail.

Diamondbacks executive Jerry Dipoto and Blue Jays executive Tony LaCava interviewed before Watson. Dipoto accepted an offer to become Angels general manager. LaCava withdrew from the race, which he was leading.

Former Orioles director of player development John Stockstill also interviewed. He's now a scout with the Tigers.

You should know the rest of the story. The Orioles pivoted and hired Dan Duquette as executive vice president of baseball operations. He signed a three-year contract, and later an extension, and the Orioles made the playoffs in 2012, 2014 and 2016. He hadn't worked in a major league front office since 2002.

* Yesterday's sad news of the passing of former infielder Julio Lugo, who would have turned 46 today, reminded me of his one season with the Orioles in 2010 and reporting on his acquisition late in spring training.

It wasn't expected. But the Orioles needed infield insurance because second baseman Brian Roberts was bothered by a herniated disk in his back.

The Orioles released veteran catcher Chad Moeller on the same day and designated infielder Robert Andino for assignment two days later to make room for Lugo.

The media approached Andino about the trade before an exhibition game against the Rays in Port Charlotte and he said that he hadn't been told anything regarding his future with the team. Then he homered in his second at-bat.

Exactly one year earlier, the Orioles acquired Andino from the Marlins for pitcher Hayden Penn.

"This ain't my first rodeo," Andino said.

Still a classic.

Lugo requested a trade, which led to his departure from the Cardinals "as part of a conditional deal," per Baseball-Reference.com. The media wrote for a player to be named later or cash.

The Orioles had to pay only the minimum $400,000 for Lugo. The Red Sox agreed to cover $8.6 million of his $9 million salary after trading him the previous summer.

The commissioner's office needed to approve the trade to Baltimore because Lugo still had $8.6 million left on a four-year, $36 million contract that he signed with the Red Sox in December 2006.