Miguel Tejada

Luke Scott, the outspoken, energetic slugger who spent four seasons in Baltimore and was named the 2010 Most Valuable Oriole, has agreed to a one-year deal with the division-rival Tampa Bay Rays that includes a 2013 option, according to an industry source. Exact terms of the deal were not disclosed. Scott, 33, was in his final year of arbitration after making $6.4 million in an injury-marred 2011 that ended in July, when he decided to have season-ending surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder.

With news that the Texas Rangers won the posting rights to Japanese right-hander Yu Darvish, speculation has arisen that the Rangers may not be able to afford free-agent first baseman Prince Fielder. If that's true, then the market for the last remaining free agent stud has shrunk -- and perhaps cracked open for a fringe suitor such as the Orioles. And at least one national writer has speculated that the Orioles are still in on the Fielder sweepstakes. My take: Nope, not yet. Probably not ever.

The Orioles decided Monday not to tender a 2012 contract to outfielder Luke Scott, allowing their 2010 Most Valuable Oriole to become a free agent, according to an industry source. The decision is not a surprise considering that Scott, 33, batted just .220 and was limited to 64 games because of a torn labrum. Scott's 2011 salary was $6.4 million, and through arbitration he could have made at least $6 million in 2012. Manager Buck Showalter did not confirm the nontender but seemed resigned to it when he was reached by telephone late Monday afternoon.

Dan Duquette hasn't revealed a whole lot about the backroom machinations that are taking place during his first winter meetings as the Orioles' new baseball operations guru, but it's fairly obvious that he wants to make something happen before his front office contingent heads back to Baltimore on Thursday. The big question is whether he has enough inventory to acquire a significant player or two without putting a big dent in the team's youth movement. "I think we have the wherewithal to make a couple of deals," Duquette said during his news briefing Tuesday evening.

DALLAS - Two deals have been announced today - both involving pitchers. And at least one of those pitchers had interested the Orioles. The Colorado Rockies acquired Minnesota Twins pitcher Kevin Slowey for a player to be named later - later being after Thursday's Rule 5 draft, one can assume. The Orioles had some mild interest in Slowey, a 27-year-old right-hander who was 0-8 with a 6.67 ERA last year, but there was no real match with the Twins. Just a few moments ago, another deal was announced.

It should be with some strangely mixed feelings that Orioles fans bid farewell to departing president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail this week. It's not often that you get to combine gratitude with near-total frustration. MacPhail arrived here 51 months ago to fix an organization that had wandered so far from the old Oriole Way that half its fan base had wandered away with it. He inherited a team mired in a string of nine straight losing seasons, a team so deeply dysfunctional that it had spent nearly two decades in the futile pursuit of something as simple as an adequate spring training facility.

Beane changed game Peter Schmuck Baltimore Sun How could it not be? Michael Lewis' book was a best-seller and has been condensed into a movie starring Brad Pitt. The movie's producers and director had no choice but to take some dramatic license to make it understandable and exciting to the average moviegoer. But that doesn't diminish the amazing job Billy Beane did to make the A's a contending team for several years on a shoestring budget. He took over an organization that was saddled with huge debt and had the guts to swim upstream against 100 years of conventional baseball wisdom.

For 14 seasons, Camden Yards has been devoid of playoff hopes in September. Now, that malaise is spreading to the visitors' dugout. With a 6-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday night, the Orioles (62-88) have won four consecutive games against teams clinging to postseason dreams. They have one more game against the Angels on Sunday, then try to ruin the baseball lives of the American League wild-card-leading Boston Red Sox next week at Fenway Park. "I think it more so just shows the type of people we are as a team," said Orioles rookie left-hander Zach Britton, who allowed just three hits, two walks and a run over seven excellent innings.

Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail remains mum about his future with the club even as a report surfaced Tuesday night that he will leave the organization when his contract expires Oct. 31. USA Today, citing two high-ranking Orioles officials, reported on its website that MacPhail has decided he will not return for his fifth full season heading the front office. MacPhail declined to comment on the report, saying that nothing about his situation has changed and he can't help "speculation.

Third baseman Josh Bell got his opportunity to start on a regular basis last season when Miguel Tejada was traded to the San Diego Padres. Bell finished the 2010 season with a .214 average, three homers, 12 RBIs and 53 strikeouts in 159 big league at-bats. A little more than one year later, Bell appears to be in line for another starting opportunity, this one under less preferable circumstances. With Chris Davis still experiencing right shoulder pain and his status for the rest of the season in doubt, Mark Reynolds will likely move across the diamond and play first regularly.