Dan Connolly
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May 29, 2016 at 7:00 am
How are you liking the decision to keep Matt Wieters now?
A few months ago, several readers blasted me for suggesting that keeping Matt Wieters — or at least presenting a $15.3 million qualifying offer to the potential free agent — should be a priority for the Orioles. You see, Wieters was aging – almost 30 — and couldn’t hit anymore, I was...
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May 27, 2016 at 9:01 am
Around the Beat: Talking Tribe and O’s with Cleveland’s Hoynes
The Cleveland Indians were supposed to be a contender in 2016 thanks to their impressive, young rotation and an offense that could be solid, especially if star outfielder Michael Brantley could return quickly from shoulder surgery. Brantley is on the shelf again and so is Cleveland starter Carlos Carrasco, yet the Indians...
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at 9:00 am
‘Around the Beat’ & ‘Minor League Podcast’ now available on iTunes
When Steve Cockey and I launched this website in late March, we knew tweaks would have to be made, that some things would work and some things wouldn’t. Frankly, we were just starting out and we didn’t fully know what we’d be undertaking – and how successful it would be. So far,...
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May 26, 2016 at 2:12 pm
Minor League Podcast with Adam Pohl: Maligned 2009 draft gets some retribution
When Orioles fans bemoan the farm system’s struggles over the years, it’s easy to point to the 2009 draft as a major factor leading to those woes. Guys like Mike Trout and A.J. Pollock and Stephen Strasburg were in that draft, but the Orioles used their fifth pick overall on California high...
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at 7:00 am
No surprise: these Orioles were built to strike out with alarming frequency
Before we get into the mind-numbing strikeout totals Orioles’ hitters have amassed recently, I want to give you a couple other numbers. In a seven-game stretch in early April, the Orioles’ hitters walked 22 times, struck out 57 times and left 43 men on base. In another seven-game stretch in mid-May, the...
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May 24, 2016 at 7:00 am
Analyzing the Matusz trade and Dan Duquette’s flurry of transactions
This early Orioles’ season had been eerily devoid of minor roster moves, so much so that you knew the inevitable was looming like the villain in a horror movie. You half expected to see Dan Duquette in a hockey mask brandishing his cell phone in the corner of the Orioles dugout. So...
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May 23, 2016 at 9:41 pm
Matusz and draft pick dealt to Atlanta for two minor leaguers; Tolliver to be promoted to O’s
The Orioles made a trade Monday night, dealing struggling lefty Brian Matusz and a compensatory draft pick – the 76th overall – for two minor league pitchers from the Atlanta Braves system: right-hander Brandon Barker and lefty Trevor Belicek. Neither pitcher was listed by Baseball America as one of the best 30...
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at 10:38 am
On his 60th birthday, Showalter still connects with younger players
If you’ve listened regularly to Orioles manager Buck Showalter’s press conferences through the years, you know there are certain things he says, well, repeatedly. There are also common themes he often hits on: Like how long he has been in the game, how old he often feels and how the players help...
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May 22, 2016 at 7:00 am
Know Your O’s: Mark Trumbo on baseball, drums and guitars
This weekend, with the orioles playing the Los Angeles Angels, Mark Trumbo had a chance to go back to the Anaheim area, where he grew up. Trumbo, who is absolutely killing the ball in his first year with the Orioles, was a baseball star in high school – but many scouts saw...
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May 20, 2016 at 7:00 am
Around the Beat: OCR’s Jeff Fletcher talks Trout, Pujols, Machado, Trumbo
In 2014, when the Orioles won the American League East crown, the best team in the AL was the Los Angeles Angels, who won 98 games and would have had home-field advantage throughout the World Series if the steamrolling Kansas City Royals hadn’t changed everyone’s plans. The Angels were mediocre last year...
