Minor Leagues

SARASOTA, Fla. -- Kevin Harmon was hired to be the trainer for the Rochester Red Wings, the Triple-A affiliate of the Orioles. In theory, his work as the team's traveling secretary is a secondary responsibility.Not this year. The strike has complicated the life of Harmon and other trainers/traveling secretaries throughout the minors, because there is going to be a mass of player movement."It's going to be very interesting," said Syd Thrift, the Orioles' director of player development.The complications begin right at the top. When minor-league seasons open this week, each team will be at or near its roster limit.

Jim Palmer has not come back to anything yet. But if he achieves the improbable and throws even one more pitch in a major-league game, he instantly will become a walking record book.First Hall of Famer to give it another shot. First 45-year-old pitcher who has part-time work as a sex symbol. Only active player in the 1990s who personally knew Rudy Vallee.Many people are rooting for Palmer, including Jim Bouton of Teaneck, N.J. Bouton is not the ordinary fan. He is a former baseball player who pitched successfully in the major leagues, retired to civilian life and wrote a baseball best seller, "Ball Four," then returned to the major leagues to doubts and snickers.

Did you ever wonder what a Lake Elsinore Storm looked like? What about a Rancho Cucamonga Quake or a Hickory Crawdad?With the help of a book called, "Free Stuff for Kids," you can get free items from those teams simply by mailing them a letter. The latest book includes 20 minor-league contacts.The fun packages that teams send usually include stickers with the team's logo and pocket schedules. Sometimes they also include baseball cards."We never included the minor leagues before," said Dave Tobey, the book's editor.

Looking to address their struggling farm system, the Orioles reassigned minor-league director Don Buford yesterday and announced they will retain scouting director Tony DeMacio. One week into their tenure atop the team's baseball operations department, Jim Beattie and Mike Flanagan also announced they will keep special assistant Ed Kenney in an assistant general manager's capacity but fired special assistant Danny Garcia. This year, the top three affiliates in the Orioles' farm system - Triple-A Rochester, Double-A Bowie and Single-A Frederick - finished a combined 109 games under .500.

Bowie Baysox general manager Brian Shallcross routinely hears from parents who plead with him to look at up-and-coming players or from fans who question strategic moves the Class AA minor-league baseball team makes. They do not realize that his job is a different ballgame from that of the general manager of a major-league team. While the GM of the Baltimore Orioles or the Washington Nationals spends much of his time tackling player personnel issues, Shallcross' role is more like that of a business owner, juggling ticket holders, sponsors, vendors at Prince George's Stadium and community events involving the team.

When the All-Star selection ballots were distributed to the Double-A Eastern League managers, Bowie's Dave Cash quickly penciled in two of his Baysox, prized left-hander Erik Bedard and first baseman Doug Gredvig. Shortly thereafter, the ballot was returned to Cash with the gentle notation that he couldn't vote for his own players. But the incident served to disclose that Cash shares the general can't-miss feeling about Bedard, who has already had a cup of big-league coffee, and has positive judgments about Gredvig, who is far more obscure.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Major League Baseball took another big step this week toward industry-wide restrictions on the use of ephedrine-based products by banning the use of the herbal supplement throughout the minor leagues. The ban, which was implemented Monday and has been transmitted to the 30 major-league front offices over the past two days, covers all minor- league players not on 40-man major-league rosters. Players on 40-man rosters are governed by Major League Baseball's collective bargaining agreement, which does not include restrictions on the substance cited as a contributing factor in the Feb. 17 heatstroke death of 23-year-old Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler.

Once the Orioles claimed second baseman Alexi Casilla off waivers from the Minnesota Twins earlier this month, it appeared that Robert Andino's days in an Orioles uniform were numbered. Instead of facing the decision of whether to non-tender Andino by the Nov. 30, the Orioles dealt the veteran infielder to the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday in exchange for outfielder Trayvon Robinson. The 25-year-old Robinson adds to the Orioles' outfield depth, and he will likely compete for a fourth outfielder spot this spring.

When Orioles right-hander Freddy Garcia was left without a job just a week before the regular season began this year, there was no doubt in his mind that he would pitch in the major leagues in 2013 if he was given the chance. Garcia - a 15-year major league veteran who won the World Series with the Chicago White Sox in 2005 and is the winningest Venezuelan-born pitcher in baseball history (152 career wins) - didn't need to prove anything after the San Diego Padres released him in late March.

Triple-A Norfolk manager Ron Johnson had seen enough. All year the Orioles had sifted through the scrap heap and shipped former All-Stars and wanna-bes alike to the minors to be evaluated by Johnson, a baseball lifer with a keen eye for talent. Johnson had been watching the newest addition, the short outfielder with wavy blond surfer hair and a sculpted physique, and he finally snapped after the guy swung defensively and hit weakly to left. The husky Johnson lumbered over to the 30-year-old and said, "Let me ask you a question.