Will the Orioles extend any players this season? | MAILBAG

Question: Are you concerned that the O’s have not started giving deals to their young stars?  I thought they would spread them out/stagger to be able to keep as many as possible.  I feel the main players currently should be Gunnar Henderson, Jordan Westburg, Jackson Holliday, and Colton Cowser. From: Sandra Freund

Answer: Sandy, there’s a lot to unpack there. I haven’t heard much chatter about possible extensions since the dismissal of Brandon Hyde last month.

While you mentioned four exciting young players, I think it would be difficult financially to extend all four. All but Cowser are represented by Scott Boras, who generally advises his clients to avoid signing extensions.

I think fans would be excited by an extension, but I’ll be surprised if there’s one any time soon.

Question: I have some questions about the “taxi squad.” Do taxi squad players travel with the team on all road trips?  If the taxi squad keeps players for the entire road trip, wouldn’t that impact their development, not playing every day in the minors? So hypothetically, if one of the games in the last series with the Athletics got rained out and a doubleheader was to be played, the team can bring in an additional player.  If the position they want to use here is coming from Norfolk, how effective can a player be flying all night to the West Coast ready to play the next day. From: Lou R., Owings Mills

Answer: Lou, there is only an unofficial taxi squad, and that’s for an emergency catcher who travels with the Orioles for many road trips. Teams are only allowed to have other players on the taxi squad for one game. That’s used when teams want an extra player in case an injured player is going to the injured list. If the player isn’t activated, he’s returned Norfolk. Fortunately, games on the West Coast are rarely rained out, and several of the stadiums in the West divisions, Arizona, Houston, Seattle and Texas have protection against rain.

Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. If you’d like to submit a question, send it to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com. Questions may be edited for clarity, length and style.