Big Leagues

Dan Duquette's Orioles have become the landing spot for players looking for a second chance. If you were a failed, can't-miss prospect, an aging veteran or a successful independent league player, well, come to the Orioles and show whether you can make it to the big leagues. So it's really no surprise that the Orioles have announced they have signed left-handed hitting outfielder Adam Greenberg to a minor-league deal. He will not receive a formal invitation to spring training, however.

Right now, top Orioles pitching prospect Dylan Bundy is in the middle of a perfect game. He has pitched six real-time professional innings, retired 18 consecutive batters and struck out 12 of them. Never mind that he has done it over two three-inning appearances for the Single-A Delmarva Shorebirds, this is some otherworldly stuff and it has already sparked a debate both inside and outside the Orioles organization about the right way to handle one of the best young pitchers to pass this way in a generation.

SARASOTA, Fla. - Mark Hendrickson is trying to re-invent himself at the age of 38. The Orioles, especially manager Buck Showalter, believe he can. The 6-foot-9 left-hander - a veteran of five different major league teams, including a stint with the Orioles from 2009-2011 - didn't pitch professionally last season. No teams were interested in his services. His phone was not called. So instead he pitched in a semi-pro league in York, Pa., the same way he first laid a path to the big leagues.

NEW YORK -- When Pat Kelly was growing up in North Catashuqua, Pa., one of his chores was to stack the chairs and clean the floor at Kelly's 19th Hole, a bar that his father owned, every Sunday morning. But the way Kelly figured it, his work at the bar kept him from the playground next to his house. So he paid his sister $15 to swab the bar while he skipped out to play baseball."I was broke," he said. "But I was happy."Three years ago, Yankees scout Joe DiCarlo called to tell him the Yankees selected him in the ninth round of the amateur draft.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- The Orioles have signed right-hander Freddy Garcia to a minor league contract in an effort to see whether the 14-year major league veteran can add to the organization's pitching depth. The 36-year-old Garcia, who spent the past two seasons with the Yankees, will report to Triple-A Norfolk and receive five to six starts there before the organization choses whether to purchase his contract. Garcia was released by the Padres on Sunday. “We're going to take a look at him for a few starts in Triple-A,” Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette said.

For Chris Hoiles the maturing process hasn't been easy.There were three yo-yo trips back and forth to the minor leagues a year ago. He had to try and live down a rap as a poor defensive catcher and get acclimated to the big leagues while spending most of his time on the bench.Then, with the path to the big leagues finally cleared with the trade of Mickey Tettleton, he spent the first half of this season not doing the one thing everybody figured he could do -- hit. He was throwing out runners who took liberties with his arm, but his average generally was about 15 points below his weight (213)

Orioles left-hander Zach Britton, whose season was slowed by nagging shoulder soreness last year, turned to club special assistant Brady Anderson this offseason to regain strength -- and confidence -- in his arm. The 25-year-old Britton believes that will be the difference in his efforts to get back into the Orioles starting rotation. Britton, who didn't pitch for the Orioles last season until mid-July because of left shoulder impingement and then struggled with his consistency once he returned to the big leagues, spent the offseason working out with Anderson in California.

Whenever anyone asks about Cal Ripken as a young player, which has been almost a daily occurrence the past few months, two names immediately come to mind.Dick Bowie and Cal Ermer are not routinely associated with Ripken, but they were the first to convince this observer that there was a special player in the making. From watching Ripken since he was a skinny 15-year-old working out at Memorial Stadium, it was obvious he was polished well beyond his yearsBut that's a difficult age to gauge talent, requiring a gut feeling along with a well-trained eye. Bowie, the club's regional scouting director, insisted that the Orioles look at Ripken's hitting and defensive abilities while every other team considered him a prize pitching prospect.

For years, Alejandro Freire did all the things you're supposed to do if you want to make the big leagues. He hit for power, he hit for average, and everywhere he went, he worked hard. But for some reason, there never seemed to be a permanent place for him. He bounced around, with stops in Houston, Detroit and San Francisco, until one day, no one was very interested in a 30-year-old first baseman with no major league experience. He spent most of last season playing for Veracruz in the Mexican League, wondering if his chance had passed him by. One person who never gave up on Freire, however, was Melvin Mora.

Cleveland -- Kevin Millar took a decidedly nontraditional path to the major leagues. He went undrafted as a self-described "no tools" prospect out of high school or college and had to begin his career with the St. Paul Saints of the independent Northern League. He said the Saints only kept him because under league rules, they had to carry three players with no professional experience. But Millar helped them win a league title, and the Florida Marlins saw enough that they purchased him as part of a three-man package for the 1994 season.