There is a report on FoxSports.com that the Orioles are interested in signing veteran pitcher Jerrod Washburn, but Orioles beat writer Jeff Zrebiec has checked it out with Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail and it apparently isn't anything to get excited about. The O's have not had recent talks with agent Scott Boras about Washburn or Alan Nero about Chien-Ming Wang, who also has been linked to the O's in some recent speculation.

MacPhail indicated that he's pretty sure that his pre-training camp free agent shopping is complete, though he wouldn't rule out Washburn if the price comes down to a point that makes him too attractive to pass up. That doesn't appear likely. The O's do not appear to have much interest in Wang.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 5:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (85)
Categories: Just baseball
        

The Orioles obviously didn't want another big snowstorm to delay the signing of reliever Mark Hendrickson, so they got it done a little while ago and designated right-hander Armando Gabino for assignment. Both moves had been pretty obvious for several weeks, but some logistical issues kept the situation on hold.

The O's also just announced that they have signed left-handed reliever Will Ohman to a minor league deal and invited him to major league training camp. That also had been percolating for awhile. Dan Connolly reported last week that the O's had offered Ohman a contract and Jeff Zrebiec posted a blog item here Friday night saying he was their top choice of the remaining left-handed specialists on the market.

Don't know if the front office will have anything else to report over the next few days, and I'm not holding my breath. Pitchers and catchers report to Sarasota in just nine days.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 1:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (61)
Categories: Just baseball
        

I'm growing nostalgic for the days when the Orioles brought 37 pitchers to major league camp and then didn't feel like they had enough so they signed Adam Eaton. This year's spring training roster is a little more balanced and there are no wide open spaces on the Orioles' depth chart.

Don't know if that's necessarily a good thing. When the major intrigues of the spring are whether Chad Moeller can hold onto the reserve catcher role and who will be the left-handed specialist in the bullpen, it's going to be hard to generate a lot of excitement during the early weeks of spring camp. I'm probably going to have to start making things up by Mar. 1.

It's probably easier for Dave Trembley, but it's not like he's got an All-Star at every position. He's just got more to work with than last year. How much more remains to be seen.

Right now, you're going to get the occasional minor league signing, but my advice is to use this time to shovel. If you don't have anything to dig out, you can always come over to my place tomorrow and pitch in. We're still looking for the barbeque on the back deck.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 9:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (57)
Categories: Just baseball
        

I'm chuckling a little bit at the notion that it's another sign of the Orioles apocalypse that I've got no roster moves to comment on today. My God people, are there teams out there that make a move every day in the offseason?

And, while I'm on the subject, just which quality teams are burning up the headlines right now? I just stopped over at ESPN.com and you've got a choice between Cliff Lee's minor foot surgery, Steve Phillips' comments about sex rehab (which I will be reading, by the way), and the Brewers building a statue of Bud Selig outside Miller Park.

If you want, I could pull a few strings and get the Orioles to build a statue of Peter Angelos outside Camden Yards, but otherwise, there just isn't a whole lot happening during the week before spring training camps open. By the middle of next week, you'll be buried up to your eyeballs in Orioles info -- both here and in the paper -- but I'm kind of happy it's a quiet week. I'm resting my fingers for the big blog push that starts soon after I arrive in Sarasota on Monday.

I'll be the first to admit that the earth didn't move for me this offseason, but if you're criticizing the O's because they didn't sign a couple fringe relievers during the blizzard, you might be getting cabin fever.

And, yes, Wayne, that means you...I mean me...I mean...oh, never mind.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 9:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)
Categories: Just baseball
        

Good news. I just found my car. I'd been searching for it for a couple of days after the big storm and finally located it right in front of the house. Now -- thanks to a couple of charitable neighbors (Chip and Kathleen) who helped me dig it out -- I no longer have an excuse for lying around the house wondering what Jim Caldwell was thinking when he sent Matt Stover out to try that 51-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter last night.

No disrespect to Matt, who is a prince and one of the greatest kickers ever, but that wasn't the kind of percentage play you make when you're ahead in the Super Bowl in the fourth quarter and you're supposed to be the better team. The miss gave the Saints the ball back on the Saints' 41-yard line, and they marched in to score the touchdown and two-point conversion to build a seven-point cushion.

Radio, radio That will be one of the subjects up for Super Bowl debate when you join me at six for Sportsline on WBAL and WBAL.com. Hey, I'm not asking. You better be there because I'll be taking roll.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 5:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (21)
Categories: Schmuck being Schmuck
        

Less than two weeks remain before the first workout for pitchers and catchers and the Orioles continue to search for a southpaw reliever to compete with Alberto Castillo, Wilfrido Perez and non-roster invitee Mike Hinckley for the situational lefty spot in the bullpen.

Will Ohman is the guy that the Orioles really want and they watched him throw a bullpen session in Arizona about 10 days ago. Ohman, a 32-year-old who had a 5.84 ERA in 21 appearances for the Los Angeles Dodgers last season, is trying to prove that he’s healthy after having elbow and shoulder surgeries.

The Orioles have extended a minor league offer to Ohman, but he’s holding out for a major league one and a highly-coveted 40-man roster spot. The Orioles will not give him one, though they do figure to present him with a nice opportunity to break camp with the club because Castillo, Perez and Hinckley are all unproven on the major league level. Meanwhile, Ohman has held left-handed hitters to a .204 average during his career.

Japanese left-hander Hisanori Takahashi, a close friend and former teammate of Orioles’ pitcher Koji Uehara, turned down the Orioles’ minor league offer, but he hasn’t completely closed the door on the club. Still, his addition is unlikely because the swingman role the Orioles envisioned for him was the one that the club has since re-signed Mark Hendrickson to occupy.

Joe Beimel is another option for the Orioles. Veteran situational left-handers Ron Villone and Ron Mahay are also available, although the Orioles didn’t have much interest in either earlier this offseason. It’s possible that has changed as the pool of available southpaws has shrunk at this point of the offseason.

Quick plug: This is going to come as a shock to you, but Schmuck actually did some work the last couple of days. If you want to read his column on Joe Flacco that will be in Sunday's print edition, you can do that right here.

--Jeff Zrebiec

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 10:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (267)
Categories: Just baseball
        

So far, there are two feet of snow blanketing my neighborhood in Millersville with several hours and many more inches of precipitation reportedly ahead, and I'm pretty sure I'm thinking the same thing as all of you:

How's this going to affect the Mark Hendrickson signing?

Big Mark, who is so tall that the snow probably isn't even up to his knees yet, remains in some kind of unexplained medical limbo. I'm guessing that during his physical, they had the same problem as Ed "Too Tall" Jones in that Geico commercial, so they'll just have to guess-timate. I mean, it's not like he signed an $80 million contract.

Guess I don't need to remind anybody that there are just 11 days left until pitchers and catchers report.

Radio update: Coming up at noon, I'll be helping you get through the ultimate snow day on WBAL and WBAL.com, with more great talk and regular updates from the great WBAL news and weather crew. We'll take your calls and talk about sports, the blizzard and whatever else strikes your fancy. If you are outside of signal range, go to WBAL.com and click on the "Listen Live" icon.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 10:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (142)
Categories: Schmuck being Schmuck
        

The Mariners Web site now has a story claiming that Erik Bedard has agreed to a one-year deal pending a physical, which is pretty much what has been reported by several Seattle and national baseball sites over the past day or so. The thing that makes the M's Web story intriguing is a line that says Bedard is expected to "miss the first three to four months of the season." You can check out that story here.

Interesting. I mentioned in my earlier item and several times on the radio last night that the $1.5 million guarantee seemed low in comparison to the $10 million Ben Sheets got from the A's, and speculated that it might be an indication that the upbeat reports about Bedard's recovery from shoulder surgery were too optimistic. If anybody really thought he would be back in late May, the price figured to be at least a $4 million base. If he's not going to be back until Aug. 1, then $1.5 million sounds about right.

Maybe I still have my baseball reporter instincts.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 8:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (53)
Categories: Just baseball
        

MLB.com's Jim Street is reporting on his blog that the Mariners are closing in on a one-year deal with left-hander Erik Bedard worth $1.5 million and "a shipload of incentives." The base seems low, but it would be a reflection that Bedard probably won't be ready to pitch until midsummer.

I really thought he'd turn up farther down the West Coast, but never ruled out the Orioles. If the medical reports were decent, you would think the O's would have been willing to go a lot higher than a $1.5 million base.

Guess we'll find out soon enough.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 12:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (210)
Categories: Just baseball
        

Reliever Dennis Sarfate, who had been designated for assignment to make room for Miguel Tejada on the 40-man roster, has cleared waivers and been assigned to Triple-A Norfolk. He's also been invited to major league spring training.

That should come as no great surprise, even though Sarfate had hoped to be traded before being outrighted. The Orioles aren't the only team with roster spots at a premium. Most major league clubs are tight at this time of year, and a lot of them are probably maintaining some flexibility as the prices tumble for the remaining players on the free agent market.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 4:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (65)
Categories: Just baseball
        

Clearly, Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti is a proponent of the NFL salary cap, and took a light-hearted shot at the Yankees during today's big news conference for their inability to totally dominate Major League Baseball with their huge revenue and payroll advantage over the other 29 teams.

"It certainly doesn't show up in the standings," Bisciotti said. "If I'm a Yankees fan, I'm upset we're not winning 130 games with the roster that they have and the money that they pay out. I think it's a disgrace they only beat the average team by 10 games in the standings with three times the money. I'd fire that GM. You don't need a GM. All you have to do is buy the last Cy Young Award winner every year."

That left me with no choice but to ask him afterward if he thought baseball should impose an NFL-style salary cap, something the baseball owners have wanted to do for decades, but have never been able to overcome union opposition.

"I think the genie's out of the bottle,'' Bisciotti said, pointing out that the huge value of the Yankees franchise is based on the current economic system and nobody is going to impose a new system that might damage the value of the top revenue-producing teams. "There's just no way of solving it."

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 4:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (66)
Categories: Just baseball, Just football
        

The Ravens braintrust took questions for 50 minutes this afternoon, but it's not like Ozzie Newsome was going to tell everyone who he might take in the upcoming draft. He reaffirmed his philosophy going forward -- basically saying that he is open to any possibility that would improve the team -- and owner Steve Bisciotti reaffirmed his confidence in the ability of his front office to take the Ravens to the next level.

Bisciotti and team president Dick Cass tried to explain the labor situation without running afoul of a partial league gag order on public statements about the negotiations. The team continues to go on the assumption that 2010 will be an uncapped year, and both Bisciotti and Newsome said they had no major reservations about working within that temporary framework.

Stay tuned for my favorite highlight.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 4:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Just football
        

The Ravens will hold their annual news conference featuring owner Steve Bisciotti, president Dick Cass, general manager Ozzie Newsome and head coach John Harbaugh over at The Castle at 2 p.m. The region's best pro football reporting team will bring you full coverage in The Sun and at baltimoresun.com, including instant analysis at Ravens Insider. I'll be there, too, but I don't want to get in anybody's way.

By the way, you can hear the Q&A session live on WBAL and WBAL.com, or you can watch it live on the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 1:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Just football
        

The blizzard-like conditions and icy roads on Saturday forced the Bowie Baysox to cancel their mascot's appearance at the Maryland State Police Polar Bear Plunge, and the guilt apparently was just too much for Baysox communications director Tom Sedlacek.

Tom, who also was unable to make his scheduled plunge at Sandy Point State Park, decided to re-enact the plunge at Prince Georges Stadium today. He sent along these pictures to prove that he actually took a dive for Special Olympics Maryland -- sort of.

“I was really excited to participate in the 2010 Polar Bear Plunge, but unfortunately the weather kept me from attending,'' Tom told me this morning, right before they took him away. "The Baysox raised more than $400 to benefit the Special Olympics Maryland, and I felt obligated to jump into the bay for everyone who contributed. We took matters into our own hands, and created our very own bay here in Bowie.”

Clearly, Tom will do anything to promote the Baysox. He and the staff down there come up with all sorts of nutty promotions during the minor league season, so you might want to stop by there this summer.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Just baseball
        

If you haven't read it already, I threw a bouquet at Melvin Mora in today's print edition. I hope he goes to Colorado and has a comeback season and gets to the playoffs. If you want to check out my column, you can do that right here.

I'm pretty sure most Orioles fans will look back on Melvin's career in its totality, rather than focusing on the frustration that bubbled out of him near the end of last season. He was a faithful Oriole and deserves to be remembered that way.

Tell me what you think.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (20)
Categories: Just baseball
        

Not that anyone should be the least bit surprised, but the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum announced today that Jon Miller will be this year's winner of the Ford C. Frick Award, which is given for lifetime achievement in broadcasting and admits Miller to the broadcaster's wing of the Hall.

Miller said during a conference call that he was stunned by the news, but he was probably the only one who could have been surprised. He has long been recognized as one of the greats of baseball broadcasting.

"John is one of those special human beings who was given extraordinary God-given talents, but never stopped working at developing those talents,'' said his agent, Baltimore attorney Ron Shapiro. "He works as hard today as he did many years ago. The other special thing about John is how he cares about other people. I never had a client worry about me more than himself, and worry about other people."

What a great and well-deserved honor for a guy who still is very much loved here in Baltimore for all the years when he was the play-by-play voice of the Orioles. He moved on to the San Francisco Giants after the Orioles moved too slowly to renew his contract. There has always been speculation that owner Peter Angelos didn't want him back because he was too honest about the team -- which is certainly plausible -- but it's more plausible to me that Angelos' deliberate, wait-you-out bargaining style left Miller on the market too long and the Giants swooped in and lured him away.

Whatever the reason, his departure was a huge blow to Orioles fans and one of the early organizational missteps that would lead to the club's precipitous drop in fan interest and attendance.

ESPN photo

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 5:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (117)
Categories: Just baseball
        

My old buddy Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports is reporting that Melvin Mora has agreed to terms on a one-year deal with the Colorado Rockies. You can check out Kenny's story right here.

Mora is expected to fill a Tony Phillips-type role with the Rockies, which is not a foreign concept to the 38-year-old former O's third baseman. Melvin played several positions for the New York Mets before settling in at the hot corner for the Orioles, who recently re-signed Miguel Tejada to take his place at third. Of course, the O's also signed former Rockies third baseman Garrett Atkins earlier this winter to play first base.

I know Melvin's career with the Orioles came to a rocky end, but I'm hoping he can revive his career at Coors Field. Mora was a good soldier here and gave the Orioles the best of his ability for a long time. He also immersed himself and his family in the community here and has been a terrific citizen of Maryland. I hope that's how he's remembered.

In other ex-Orioles news, former O's outfielder Eric Byrnes has signed a one-year deal with the Seattle Mariners. The M's only have to pay him $400,000 since he's still got $11 million remaining from the ludicrous three-year, $30 million deal he got from the Arizona Diamondbacks a couple of years ago.

Getty Images

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 2:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (45)
Categories: Just baseball
        

The countdown to spring training took on new meaning this morning when I woke up and realized that those five inches of snow were not just a bad dream. Can't wait to report to Sarasota and start wearing blousy clothes that cover up my six-pack abs and well-cut biceps. I really don't like showing up the athletes.

While we're waiting, however, you can take a look at Dan Connolly's centerpiece in the print edition, which ponders the question of whether the Orioles are really improved enough over last year to be any kind of factor in the AL East. Dan checks in with some familiar baseball commentators (Tim Kurkjian, Ken Rosenthal, Jeff Passan of YahooSports! and Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus) for their opinions on the improvements that Andy MacPhail has made. You can also check it out here.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (129)
Categories: Just baseball
        

When I signed up for the Maryland State Police Polar Bear Plunge to benefit Special Olympics Maryland, I didn't know they actually held the event at the North Pole. I could have sworn I saw one of Santa's cute little elves dashing through the heavy show that fell on Sandy Point State Park this morning and afternoon, but it turned out to be 98 Rock's Mickey Cucchiella.

Thousands of hearty plungers jumped into the icy -- and snowy -- Chesapeake to help our Special Olympics athletes. It's one of those events that brings together Marylanders of every stripe, which was reflected in the WBAL "Week in Review" team that featured me, Clarence Mitchell IV and Jimmy Mathis and was bankrolled by friends of the show, most notably top fundraisers Jamie and Kevin Courtney. I want to thank everyone who made a donation to ours or any group of plungers and encourage anyone who still wants to do that to go to WBAL.com and click on the MSP Polar Bear Plunge icon.

If you want proof that we took the plunge, you can take a look at Rob Roblin's report on WBAL-TV right here.

Overall, about 25,000 participated in the 1 p.m. plunge, but the 3 p.m. plunge had to be cancelled because of the blizzard conditions that dropped five inches of snow on the area.

The event makes strange bedfellows. It was interesting to see former governor Robert L. Erhlich Jr. doing his WBAL radio show just a few feet from the 98 Rock FM crew. Cucchiella teamed with Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco on a special VIP plunge that raised more than $100,000.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 5:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: Schmuck being Schmuck
        

I'm headed over to Sandy Point State Park to take part in the 14th Annual Maryland State Police Polar Bear Plunge to benefit Special Olympics Maryland, and this might be the coldest one yet.

No problem. I have a special fat layer that protects me from the icy water and makes me attractive to certain species of seals. I just hope Captain Ahab isn't out sportfishing today.

If you're not going to be there, you can go to WBAL.com and click on the Plunge icon to contribute to the "Week in Review" team.

More pluggery: My Saturday "News item" column is up on the Web site. Check it out right here and tell me what you think.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 5:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: Schmuck being Schmuck