Agents

I'm about to board a flight to Nashville in a bit to cover the Winter Meetings, where Dan Connolly and I will be spending countless hours inside the Opryland Hotel reporting on all things regarding the Orioles. You'll hear a lot of names this week. You may hear about the Orioles' revived interest in Josh Hamilton. Don't believe it. Covering my first Winter Meetings in Dallas, I don't think I left the hotel once. It's that hectic chasing down all the rumors. So while I'm on my way to Nashville, here's some hot stove breakfast.

Happy Black Friday. It's the biggest shopping day of the year and at this hour, you're likely either running through the aisle of a department store to snag that $99 high-definition TV or you're at home laughing at the thought of it. First off, some full disclosure here. I was among the masses who spent the early morning hours chasing doorbusters and trying to get a leg up on holiday shopping. Part of it is to get some deals - or at least the idea of them - and the other part is the experience.

Suzanna "Sue" Miller, whom friends called "Mrs. Baltimore" for her role in selling homes to those moving here, died of pneumonia Saturday at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. The Pikesville resident was 80. "She was an irreplaceable person," said Lynne R. Miller, who with her husband, Dr. Edward D. Miller, former Johns Hopkins Medicine chief executive officer, was a close friend. "She brought together so many people. She was such an ambassador for Baltimore, we called her and her husband Mr. and Mrs. Baltimore.

A 42-year-old Perry Hall man who worked as a Transportation Security Administration agent at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport was sentenced to two years in prison on Monday for the possession of child pornography, according to the Maryland U.S. attorney's office. Michael Scott Wilson will also have to serve 15 years of supervised release after his prison term ends and register as a sex offender wherever he lives, works or studies, prosecutors said. Police began an investigation of Wilson on Sept.

Nearly four months after signing Cuban defector Henry Urrutia, the Orioles are still waiting for the 25-year-old outfielder to officially join the organization, according to an industry source. Urrutia, who has set up residency in the Dominican Republic, continues to have difficulty obtaining a visa, an obstacle that has existed since the Orioles signed him in July. The Orioles had hoped Urrutia would arrive in time to get some minor league at bats at the Double-A level. Even after the season ended, the hope was to get Urrutia into to the team's spring training complex in Sarasota, Fla., to begin workouts.

As free agency opens Saturday morning, there is one change that will decide how teams receive compensation draft picks for free agents who sign with other teams. Teams have had a five-day window that began Monday -- the day after the end of the World Series -- to negotiate exclusively with their free agents. That window ends at the end of tonight, thus officially opening the free-agent season. In the past, free agents were rated by Elias, which determined what kind of picks a team would receive if it lost a free agent after offering him arbitration.

An Ellicott City title agent was sentenced Friday to two years in prison for stealing $684,000 from escrow accounts that were intended to pay off mortgage lenders, according to prosecutors. After being released from prison Sandy P. Kim, 43, will face three years of supervised release, according to a statement from Maryland's U.S. Attorney's Office. Under the sentence handed down by U.S. District Judge Ellen L. Hollander, Kim will also have to forfeit the money she stole. Beginning in 2006, Kim took money from escrow accounts maintained by her company, EK Settlements, according to her plea agreement.

Now that the San Francisco Giants have sealed their second World Series title in three years - officially ending the 2012 baseball season - the focus shifts to next season. And over the next week, we will begin seeing the Orioles' direction in constructing their 2013 roster The day after the end of the World Series begins a five-day window in which the Orioles can exclusively negotiate with their seven unrestricted free agents: Nate McLouth, Joe Saunders, Jim Thome, Randy Wolf, Endy Chavez, Nick Johnson and Bill Hall.

Stephen Baxter, a retired travel agent, died of liver disease Oct. 2 at Johns Hopkins Hospital. The Mays Chapel resident was 66. Born in Baltimore, he was the son of Samuel Baxter and Lola Annen Baxter. He lived on Barclay Street and in Anneslie. He attended St. Mary's School in Govans, as well as Calvert Hall College High School and City College. He also studied at the old Baltimore Junior College. As a young man, he was the night switchboard operator at the Highfield House apartments.

Six alleged members of a robbery crew caught in a sting by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are expected to plead guilty to federal charges, according to a letter filed in the case Tuesday. The government claims that the men were armed drug traffickers who operated out of Waverly. They plotted to rob what they were told was another drug organization's stash house, and were taken into custody in June as they prepared for the raid, according to court filings.