Mark Reynolds

Orioles first baseman Mark Reynolds refused to call his two-homer game against the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday his first step to redemption. He'd rather footnote it as one good night. Reynolds, who had struggled with his power stroke all year, is beginning to heat up at the plate, as his manager and teammates predicted would eventually happen during the course of the season. Reynolds, who averaged 37 homers the last three seasons, had built up too strong a power-hitting resume to remain in a season-long funk, they argued.

Each Wednesday, blogger Matt Vensel will highlight five statistics that really mean something for the Orioles. 58.9 -- the number of saves Orioles closer Jim Johnson is on pace for this season. Jim Johnson got his 12th save in Tuesday night's 4-3 win over the Kansas City Royals, tying him for second in baseball behind Jason Grilli of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Johnson has converted all 12 save opportunities in 2013. We are nearing the quarter pole of the 2013 season, and Johnson is on pace to record more than 50 saves for a second straight season (he had a club-record 51 in 2012)

I think it is fair to say that Mark Reynolds is on a bit of a tear. In Saturday's second inning, Reynolds hit a 91-mph fastball from CC Sabathia for his 21st home run of the season. It also was his ninth in nine games and seventh in September. How locked in is Reynolds right now? Consider he had seven homers in the first half of the season. And seven since Sept. 2. Reynolds has hit seven homers this season against the Yankees, that ties for most in Orioles history (Ramon Hernandez in 2006)

Going into the offseason, Chris Davis hoped next year would bring another opportunity to be the Orioles' everyday first baseman - along with a chance at redemption. Despite having his best season at the plate - Davis set career highs in homers (33) and RBIs (85) - some early-season struggles at first led to his move from the position in late May. The Orioles used him as their designated hitter, and experiments in right field and left field worked well. But earlier this month, just after the Orioles non-tendered first baseman Mark Reynolds, Davis received a phone call from Orioles manager Buck Showalter.

Before the masses start thinking that there's a rift between Orioles third baseman Mark Reynolds and manager Buck Showalter, let's squash that -- and tell you about what you don't see on television. What you did see Friday night in the Orioles' 13-inning 6-4 win over the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park was Reynolds hit his first homer of the season, a booming shot over the Green Monster in the third inning that ended a personal 0-for-13 streak and a 76-at bat homerless drought going back to last season (Watch the video by clicking HERE )

It looks like Mark Reynolds is going to be the talk of November, unless you count those guys running for president, so I'm going to do a little early voting here and give you my opinion on what the Orioles should do now that they have declined to exercise an $11 million option to bring him back for the 2013 season. This issue hasn't been prominent on my radar screen, what with all the angst surrounding the Ravens, but when my buddy Eduardo Encina put out a call for your opinions on the subject on Orioles Insider, I just had to chime in. Of course, you already know that Reynolds isn't a free agent -- at least not yet. He doesn't have enough service time to qualify, so the Orioles can tender him a one-year contract and let the whole issue be settled in salary arbitration.

If you would have asked me in May if there were any chance of Mark Reynolds returning to the Orioles in 2013, it would have been a short conversation. “Nope,” would have been the answer. Honestly, as late as July, there was a sense that the Orioles were kicking around the idea of releasing Reynolds and eating his remaining 2012 salary. Isn't it crazy how things work out? It's now October. And Reynolds, a butcher at third base, worked his way into becoming a pretty darn good first baseman.

Orioles first baseman Mark Reynolds recorded his second two-homer game of the series in today's series finale at Yankee Stadium, driving in four of the Orioles' five runs so far as the O's have taken a 5-3 lead here in the Bronx. Reynolds' first homer, a solo shot in the fifth inning, was a mammoth shot to left field off Phil Hughes that landed about 15 rows up into the Yankee Stadium outfield bleachers. His second one -- another bomb into the left-field bleachers -- was a three-run shot off Hughes that gave the Orioles a 5-3 lead in the team's four-run sixth inning.

Mark Reynolds, who spent the past two seasons as a starting corner infielder with the Orioles, has agreed to terms on a one-year deal worth $6 million plus incentives with the Cleveland Indians, according to an industry source. Reynolds, 29, hit .221 with 23 homers and 69 RBIs in 135 games last year after a 2011 season in which he hit a team-leading 37 homers in 155 games. The Orioles held an $11 million option on Reynolds for 2013 that the club declined this offseason, preferring instead to buy it out for $500,000.

His Orioles teammates have said that he's the kind of player who can carry a team with one of his power binges, and first baseman Mark Reynolds is starting to heat up. Reynolds took the first pitch of the bottom of the second inning to straight away center field for a solo home run, his fourth homer in his last six games, giving the Orioles an early 3-1 lead against Red Sox starter Clay Buchholz.   For Reynolds, who has averaged 37 homers the last three years, it was his 12th of the season -- well below what he's used to hitting -- but it looks like the streaky hitter is finally finding his stroke.

One of the common pregame sights in the Orioles home clubhouse last season was the card games that often gravitated toward the lockers of shortstop J.J. Hardy and first baseman Mark Reynolds. Now that Reynolds, a fan favorite who blossomed defensively at first base, has signed a one-year, $6 million contract with the Indians, Hardy needs to find a new card-playing buddy. “I've still got [catcher Matt] Wieters next to me, but he only played because Reynolds forced us to play and then [Nick]

Mark Reynolds, who spent the past two seasons as a starting corner infielder with the Orioles, has agreed to terms on a one-year deal worth $6 million plus incentives with the Cleveland Indians, according to an industry source. Reynolds, 29, hit .221 with 23 homers and 69 RBIs in 135 games last year after a 2011 season in which he hit a team-leading 37 homers in 155 games. The Orioles held an $11 million option on Reynolds for 2013 that the club declined this offseason, preferring instead to buy it out for $500,000.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- While first base remains a question mark for the Orioles, the team has not made pushes toward acquiring veterans Justin Morneau and Kevin Youkilis. The Twins have been gauging trade interest in Morneau, who will receive $14 million in 2013 in the final year of his contract. The Orioles have had no serious discussions about trading for Morneau and would be unwilling to take on his salary unless Minnesota paid a significant chunk. Also, the Orioles have had no dialogue with the representatives for Youkilis, who is now at free agent.

With less than 12 hours before tonight's midnight tender deadline, Orioles first baseman Mark Reynolds said he hasn't heard from the club regarding his future with the team. The Orioles have until midnight to tender the 29-year-old Reynolds a contract in his final year of arbitration eligibility. If they don't, he will become a free agent, open to negotiate with any team. The Orioles could still negotiate with him, but would risk losing him amid a weak first baseman free-agent market.

Tonight at 11:59 p.m. is the deadline for the Orioles to tender contracts to their 14 players that are arbitration eligible. What that means in simpler, non-baseball language is that the Orioles have 14 players who are under team control, but have compiled at least three years of service in the majors and, therefore, have the right to have their 2013 contracts determined by an independent arbitrator. In most cases, these types of players receive significant bonuses in arbitration from their previous years.

Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette said the club tried to find a way to figure Mark Reynolds' impending 2013 salary into its budget, but couldn't. So instead of paying him roughly $9 million in arbitration, the Orioles did not tender the first baseman a contract Friday night, allowing him to be a free agent. "We had determined that his value in arbitration was beyond our resources to bring him back to the team," Duquette said. "We like Mark and he gave a good effort for the team, so we certainly appreciated that.

After riding the pine pony Wednesday, struggling third baseman Mark Reynolds returned to the Orioles' starting lineup Thursday and went 0-for-2 with a walk. Reynolds is hitless in his past five games and his batting average is well below the Mendoza line -- and shy of the Izturis line, too. Reynolds is hitting .174 this season with three home runs and 15 RBI. His slugging percentage is way down. But he is tied for the team lead with 17 walks and his 37 strikeouts -- also the highest total on the team -- through 35 games is nowhere near his record-setting career average.

Eighty-three games into the 2011 season, Orioles third baseman Mark Reynolds has hit 20 home runs and committed 20 errors, the most in baseball. The Orioles didn’t acquire Reynolds for his glove, but if not for his 13 home runs since June 1, his adventures in fielding would be scrutinized much more than they have been. "That part of my game has been frustrating," Reynolds said after committing error No. 20 in Monday’s loss to the Rangers . "I know it's frustrating a lot of fans, and frustrating [Orioles manager]

The Orioles never doubted that Mark Reynolds was a valuable piece to last season's success. But the $9 million Reynolds figured to make through the arbitration process simply didn't fit within the team's numbers crunch. They already declined Reynolds' $11 million club option for 2013 -- instead giving the 29-year-old first baseman a $500,000 buyout -- and Friday night, as the midnight deadline to tender contracts came and went, the Orioles chose not to offer Reynolds a contract.

The clock is winding down to Friday's deadline to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players, and the Orioles must decide whether to tender contracts to 14 players on their 25-man roster. The largest looming decision is whether the Orioles will tender a contract to first baseman Mark Reynolds, who could command a deal in the $9 million range through the arbitration process. While the Orioles have yet to make an official decision regarding Reynolds, it has become increasingly clear that the Orioles will non-tender Reynolds and allow him to become a free agent.