Minor League

Just catching up with some recent minor league signings made by the Orioles that I don't believe we had mentioned here before. The Orioles have signed right-handed pitchers Ross Wolf and Willie Eyre and lefty Ryan Edell to minor league deals. Eyre and Edell will receive spring training invitations. Wolf, 29, returns to the organization with which he spent all of 2009 and part of 2010 before being traded to the Oakland A's for Jake Fox in the unforgettable Wolf-Fox swap. Wolf has a 7.92 ERA in 25 major league games with the A's and Florida Marlins.

This award surely won't earn the centerpiece on Dylan Bundy's mantel, but the Orioles' top pitching prospect has earned the MiLBY Award as the fans' choice for minor league starting pitcher of the year in all of baseball. Miami Marlins prospect Jose Fernandez earned the vote of the writers at MiLB.com in results announced Tuesday . Bundy -- who pitched the first 33 innings of his career without allowing an earned run and quickly made his way up to Bowie, and then Baltimore -- earned 20 percent of the fans' votes to beat out Fernandez and 10 other nominees.

Orioles lefty Zach Britton, who has not pitched in a major league game this spring, has been scratched from his scheduled minor league start Monday due to soreness in his left shoulder - an injury that has been bothering him for months. Manager Buck Showalter said Britton felt good after throwing two innings and 31 pitches in a Triple-A game Thursday, but soreness developed Saturday. He was examined by team orthopedist Dr. John Wilckens and it's believed he has inflammation, Showalter said.

With several American League East opponents on the spring schedule, Orioles manager Buck Showalter has chosen to pitch some of his starters in minor league games at Twin Lakes Park. Left-hander Wei-Yin Chen got his work in during a Class-A game Monday. Right-hander Miguel Gonzalez threw five innings Wednesday at Twin Lakes. Next week, when the Orioles play back-to-back night games Wednesday and Thursday, Showalter said he will likely throw Jason Hammel and Chen in minor league games.

The Orioles have planned out the remainder of second baseman Brian Roberts' minor league rehab assignment, and he will complete his assignment with Triple-A Norfolk on the road. "We talked about really wanting to finish up competition-wise in Triple-A," Showalter said. "That's tentative if we don't have any setbacks. "It's also the way the schedule fell. Everyone's on the road. I think at that stage Robby felt he wanted to face the best competition he could. " For position players like Roberts, who hasn't played in a major league game in more than a year and is attempting a comeback from multiple concussions, minor league rehab assignments are limited to 20 days.

The Orioles have agreed to terms with well-traveled left-handed reliever J.C. Romero on a minor league deal, the club announced Thursday afternoon. Romero, 35, will be with his fourth organization since the beginning of the 2011 season. He was released by the Cardinals on May 14 after compiling a 10.13 ERA in eight relief innings. He had allowed nine runs in 3 1/3 innings in his past three outings before his release. He will report to the Orioles' Triple-A team in Norfolk.

The Orioles have agreed to minor league deals with right-handed pitchers Kyler Newby and Jon Link and outfielders Antoan Richardson and Lee Cruz. A former 50th round draft pick, Newby, 26, spent the past seven seasons in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. Last season, he was 8-2 with a 3.87 ERA in 25 games (nine starts) at Double-A Mobile and then 2-3 with a 5.03 ERA in 13 games (seven starts) for Triple-A Reno in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. The 6-foot-4, 225-pound righty has struck out 477 batters and walked 161 in his career.

The Orioles are closing in on a minor league deal with veteran first baseman Nick Johnson that would include an invitation to spring training. A deal could be announced as early as Thursday, an industry source said. Johnson had his best season with the Nationals in 2006, when he put up a .290/.428/.520 line with 23 homers and 77 RBIs. He's been riddled with injuries over the past few seasons and spent the majority of last season with the Indians' Triple-A team in Columbus, Ohio, hitting .201/.316/.322 in 184 at bats.

Orioles right-hander Jason Hammel threw five shutout innings in a minor league rehab assignment start at advanced Class-A Frederick on Saturday night. Hammel, who had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee in mid-July, held the Carolina Mudcats to three hits, all singles, while striking out seven and walking one. He threw 66 pitches (47 strikes), just under his 70-pitch limit. This was Hammel's first post-surgery outing in a live game -- he had thrown two previous simulated games.

The Orioles didn't have to make any extra travel plans for their top minor-league award winners for the first time in 20-plus years. On Tuesday, as part of minor league appreciation night, the organization honored current Oriole right-hander Dylan Bundy (Jim Palmer Prize) and outfielder L.J. Hoes (Brooks Robinson Award) during a pre-game ceremony at Camden Yards. Only two other times in the club's history have both of its top minor league award winners been with the Orioles in September: Anthony Telford and Leo Gomez in 1990 and Mike Mussina and Chito Martinez in 1991.