Orioles

After six rocky years, which included a multi-million-dollar signing bonus, several position changes and a drug suspension, the Orioles will be cutting ties with former first-round pick Billy Rowell. Rowell, the ninth overall selection in the 2006 draft, can become a minor league free agent as soon as the World Series ends, and the Orioles will not make him an offer to return, according to an industry source. It will put the final exclamation point on what is arguably the biggest draft bust in franchise history.

One quality that has made Miguel Gonzalez such a valuable pitcher to the Orioles has been his ability to block out distractions. When on the mound, the Orioles right-hander is rarely rattled, and that's why he's pitched so well in his brief big league career. With his wife, Lucia, due to give birth to the couple's first child, a baby girl, in California any day now, Gonzalez couldn't help but have wandering moments. As Gonzalez pitched against the first-place Boston Red Sox on Sunday afternoon at Camden Yards, Lucia had Orioles travel secretary Kevin Buck's number on speed dial, a cross-country flight ready to be planned at a moment's notice.

Forget the goofy way he wears his cap - Pedro Strop has bigger issues to deal with right now. But before Orioles fans jump all over him and the Twitterverse smacks him around like a pinata for days, know this: he's probably not going anywhere. At least not right now. Not with that blazing fastball and the great arsenal of pitches that can make batters look silly when he's going well. Not with the fact that he's out of options and that the Orioles need all the relief help they can get. Yes, Strop looked awful again Wednesday in the Orioles' ugly 9-5 loss to the Los Angeles Angels.

Orioles right-hander Jason Hammel, who returned to the club Sunday after two days away with a stomach virus, said he is doubtful he will be able to make his scheduled start Monday against the Tigers in Detroit. Manager Buck Showalter said a decision on who will start that game will be made after Sunday's series finale against Boston. “He feels obviously a lot better than he did,” Showalter said. “We've got some things in place. A lot depends on how we get throw the day today, so we've got two or three ways to go. There's a potential for us to give him an extra day and push him to Tuesday, but we could pitch him tomorrow.

The condition of a man who suffered a skull fracture following an altercation at Camden Yards last week has worsened, hospital officials said. Matt Fortese, who police said was punched and plunged over a railing onto concrete five feet below at Wednesday's game, is now in critical condition. He had been in serious condition up until Sunday afternoon, Maryland Shock Trauma Center spokeswoman Cynthia Rivers said. Police say Fortese, a lifelong New York Yankees fan who wore the team's cap to the Orioles' matchup with the Washington Nationals, was taunted by two men at the game and had beer thrown on him and his date.

The power? That blunt-force ability to lay wood to a baseball and propel it 400, 420, 450 feet? He had it even when he was a boy. Came from God, as far as he's concerned. Harnessing it? Well, that's the work of Chris Davis' life. There's a paradoxical quality to the Orioles' first baseman, who has emerged this season as one of baseball's most fearsome sluggers, a likely All-Star starter who leads the majors with 22 home runs. Growing up in East Texas, Davis was like a puppy with big paws, bowling over everything.

The Orioles are stuck with a struggling Pedro Strop for now. He is too much of a mess right now to be trusted in high-leverage relief situations. But he is also too talented, he throws too hard for them to slip him by 29 other teams if they tried to send him down to the minor leagues. The reality is, though, the Orioles missed on an opportunity to help Strop out, to keep him away from situations like the one he came into Wednesday, when he quickly allowed four runs and an Orioles victory to slip away.

Right-hander Dylan Bundy, the Orioles' top prospect, will continue the progression in his throwing program as he returns from right forearm and elbow stiffness that has sidelined him this spring. Bundy is scheduled to do two sessions of 25 throws from 90 feet on flat ground Monday at the Orioles' spring training facility in Sarasota, Fla. Bundy hasn't appeared in a regular season game at any level this spring. Last year, Bundy was 9-3 with a 2.08 ERA in 23 starts during time at Low-A Delmarva, High-A Frederick and Double-A Bowie.

After right-hander Kevin Gausman allowed six hits and two runs in 5 1/3 innings Thursday night against the Boston Red Sox, he was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk. It had little to do with how he pitched. The Orioles needed another arm in the bullpen after Thursday's 13-inning, 5-4 win . They used six relievers - and three threw more than one inning. Gausman has options, and most of the relief corps doesn't (only Brian Matusz and Darren O'Day could be sent to the minors without passing through waivers)

This afternoon, the Orioles will try to avoid being swept by the Rays for the second time in the past month. They've lost the first two games of the series here at Tropicana Field, scoring just one run and managing only six hits. Right-hander Chris Tillman, who has not allowed more than three runs in any of his past 10 road starts, will start for the Orioles. Left-hander Matt Moore, who is 4-2 with a 2.34 ERA in seven career appearances against Baltimore, starts for the Rays.

June 22, 1996: Trailing 3-0 in the bottom of the ninth inning, the Orioles hit three home runs to defeat the Kansas City Royals, 5-3. Rafael Palmeiro, Bobby Bonilla and Mark Smith connect for the second-place Birds (39-31). June 20, 1974: Moses Malone, a highly recruited, 6-foot-11 center from Petersburg, Va., signs a grant-in-aid to attend Maryland. The Terps ' jubilation is short-lived: In August, before having started school, Malone turns pro with the Utah Stars of the American Basketball Association.

On Saturday, the Orioles offense sputtered, right-hander Freddy Garcia couldn't hold a lead, and the Boston Red Sox finally showed why the team is in first place in the American League East . But there was a bright spot in the Orioles' 5-4 loss , and it came from the bullpen. Left-hander T.J. McFarland threw 3 2/3 innings of one-hit, one-walk relief while striking out five. He set a career high in innings, tied a career high in strikeouts and allowed one hit or less for the fifth time in 16 appearances.

This is how good the Orioles are going now: even Jon Lester can't stop them anymore. You remember Lester, of course. The Boston Red Sox lefty used to be the Orioles' personal Grim Reaper. All that was missing was the cloak with the hood and the scythe. Lester was where base hits went to die, where batting averages withered like dried husks, where all hope vanished if you wore the orange and black. But not anymore. The Orioles' 6-3 win over the Red Sox at a packed Camden Yards on Sunday afternoon proved that.

Manager Matt Merullo referred to his Aberdeen IronBirds roster as “floating” at Thursday's media day, as many recently drafter players were still coming to terms with the Orioles. Not unlike any farm team, the Orioles' short-season Single-A affiliate welcomes an array of change heading into its season opener Monday night at Ripken Stadium against Hudson Valley. “The biggest thing was starting out by evaluating players and trying to get as many guys out on the field as possible and see what they can do, then start designating the right people in the right areas that they need to work on,” said Merullo, the first-year manager under a new front office , who oversaw the team's extended spring period in Florida.

Right-hander Dylan Bundy, the Orioles' top prospect, will continue the progression in his throwing program as he returns from right forearm and elbow stiffness that has sidelined him this spring. Bundy is scheduled to do two sessions of 25 throws from 90 feet on flat ground Monday at the Orioles' spring training facility in Sarasota, Fla. Bundy hasn't appeared in a regular season game at any level this spring. Last year, Bundy was 9-3 with a 2.08 ERA in 23 starts during time at Low-A Delmarva, High-A Frederick and Double-A Bowie.

First baseman Travis Ishikawa, a big league veteran who was having a strong season at Triple-A Norfolk, filed his written request to exercise the “opt-out” clause in his minor league contract on Sunday morning, according to his representation. If Ishikawa is not added to the Orioles' 25-man roster in the next 48 hours - by Tuesday morning - he will be given his release and will become a free agent eligible to sign with any team. He can still be traded during the 48-hour period, and the Orioles had been pursuing potential partners as the June 15 opt-out date loomed.

When Pat Blair headed to his shortstop position in Wake Forest's final game of the season, he didn't ponder whether it might have been his last time doing so as a Demon Deacon. The thought might have struck the junior if the 3,000-plus fans in attendance didn't make it too loud for him to even hear himself think. After losing, 6-3, to Miami in the Atlantic Conference Conference tournament, Blair's flaming-hot collegiate season was finally doused, but the Calvert Hall alum has plenty more baseball to play.

Veteran left-hander Randy Wolf, who appeared in five games with the Orioles at the end of this season, will have Tommy John surgery on his left elbow next week and will miss all of 2013. The 36-year-old said in an email Tuesday that this does not mean his career is over. “I won't be able to pitch until 2014, and yes, I will pitch in 2014,” Wolf wrote. Dr. Lewis Yocum, the Los Angeles Angels team doctor who performed the same procedure on Wolf in 2005, will operate on him Oct. 30 in Los Angeles, Wolf said.

Orioles right-hander Chris Tillman might not be the biggest name in pitching in the major leagues right now, but his performance over the past two seasons ranks among the best. Since the beginning of the 2012 season, Tillman is 16-5 for a .762 winning percentage. That winning percentage is the fourth-best in all of baseball for players with at least 20 decisions. Tillman ranks behind only Cincinnati's Mat Latos (.833), Detroit's Max Scherzer (.781) and St. Louis's Lance Lynn (.765)

The power? That blunt-force ability to lay wood to a baseball and propel it 400, 420, 450 feet? He had it even when he was a boy. Came from God, as far as he's concerned. Harnessing it? Well, that's the work of Chris Davis' life. There's a paradoxical quality to the Orioles' first baseman, who has emerged this season as one of baseball's most fearsome sluggers, a likely All-Star starter who leads the majors with 22 home runs. Growing up in East Texas, Davis was like a puppy with big paws, bowling over everything.