Player Development

Frank Wren has instituted an uncommon rule for his minor-league staff in Sarasota, Bluefield, Delmarva and Frederick: regarding the Orioles' top prospects, the less said the better."

Left-handed pitcher Matt Riley, considered the Orioles' top prospect and a possibility for next season's starting rotation as a 20-year-old, will be promoted from Double-A Bowie on Sunday, the Orioles announced last night.General manager Frank Wren admitted the decision represents a shift in organizational thinking that initially projected Riley as participating in the Arizona Fall League. Instead, Wren says the thought of Riley beginning the 2000 season in Baltimore has become increasingly plausible, thus making his promotion more practical.

Ousted Orioles general manager Frank Wren yesterday expressed "a sense of relief and also a sense of sadness" over his Thursday firing because of the unfinished business and the organizational camaraderie left behind."

If the Orioles hoped for last February to represent a seamless extension of the previous summer, they intend for Friday's official opening of spring training to represent an abrupt break from a lost season.When pitchers and catchers report to Fort Lauderdale Stadium, 144 days will have passed since a 79-83 season closed. Frank Wren's October naming as general manager also was meant to signal an end to organizational factionalism. A subsequent roster renovation was intended to restore purpose to a team lampooned as too old, too indifferent and divided.

BaseballCubs: Agreed to minor-league contracts with 1B Scott Stahoviak, P Steve Gajkowski, P Andrew Lorraine, P Scott Watkins, OF Allen Battle and C Alan Zinter; invited them to spring training as nonroster players.Expos: Named Don Reynolds director of player development and Randy Kierce assistant director of international scouting.Mariners: Retained Triple-A Tacoma manager Dave Meyers.Detroit Tigers: Added Derrick Ross, Buddy Paine, Tim Grieve, Pat Murtaugh and Ellis Williams to scouting staff.

The Orioles will announce the hiring of Tony DeMacio as the club's scouting director this afternoon, completing general manager Frank Wren's organizational cabinet.DeMacio, 53, succeeds Gary Nickels in the position after serving four years as a regional supervisor for the Chicago Cubs. DeMacio brings a record of participation in two of the industry's most stunning organizational transformations with the Atlanta Braves and Cleveland Indians."Frank and I are both from player development and scouting backgrounds.

Last month in Philadelphia, Jeff Reboulet joked to a reporter who was looking for a story: "If I demanded a trade with just 40 at-bats, it would be nothing more than a note."It was just one of many times in his career that Reboulet has laughed at himself and his role as a utility infielder.But once Reboulet steps on the field, all the jokes stop."I told Syd Thrift [director of player development] last year, they ought to put a camera on Jeff every time he walks on the field and show it to all the minor-leaguers," said Orioles manager Ray Miller last night before Reboulet started his fifth straight game, four of them at second base because of a finger injury to Roberto Alomar.

Orioles general manager Pat Gillick says he hopes his pending departure from the organization won't jeopardize a gradual transition from free agency toward player development as the primary means of stocking a perennial contender.Gillick advocates that the Orioles adhere to "a five-year plan" for making themselves more self-sufficient. "That allows proper development," he says. "It's very difficult to put a lot of young people together on a club at one time. The ideal way is to try to add one [rookie]

He no longer lives with the pressure of producing yards on the football field, yet Earnest Byner has never stopped running.Six months into the next phase of his professional career, Byner sits in his office at the Ravens' complex in Owings Mills, as the sights and sounds swirl around him.Byner is jotting down phone messages and thinking about the practice that begins in a few hours, while watching tape of the Tennessee Oilers. The soothing jazz of Thelonious Monk wafts from his portable stereo.

BaseballAL: Named White Sox 2B Ray Durham Player of the Week.NL: Named Pirates C Jason Kendall Player of the Week.Diamondbacks: Recalled P Clint Sodowsky from Triple-A Tucson.Phillies: Fired Del Unser, director of player development; Don Blasingame, coordinator of instruction; George Culver, roving pitching instructor; and Don McCormack, roving catching instruction. Named Lee Elia director of minor-league instruction and Dallas Green interim director of player development. Promoted Gary Ruby from pitching coach at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to minor-league pitching coordinator.

SEATTLE - -A copy of the study stayed in Andy MacPhail's briefcase during his early months as the Orioles' president of baseball operations. If nothing else, it served as a reminder of what needed to be done to turn around an organization that had fallen on hard times, and how difficult the task was going to be. In 2007, Baseball America published a report that tracked player development in each organization and the number of homegrown players who graduated...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -The Orioles appear to be dotting the i's on a four-year contract extension for second baseman Brian Roberts, which creates an interesting juxtaposition, because the completed contract immediately will return the favor and tie up a number of loose ends for the organization. Club president Andy MacPhail laid out a fairly comprehensive list of things he wanted to accomplish when he agreed to the titanic job of salvaging the respectability of the once-proud Orioles franchise, and he has made good on much of that list.

Michael McCrary had known Edward Giannasca for half a decade, and, until the former Baltimore Raven realized that he'd been cheated out of millions, he thought of the longtime developer as a stand-up guy. McCrary trusted Giannasca so much that, with few questions asked, he handed him a $3 million check three years ago for a real estate project that would convert a building in New Orleans into condominiums. Giannasca, though, betrayed that loyalty, pocketing along with his other partners about $12 million in insurance money after Hurricane Katrina spoiled the deal and telling McCrary that the insurance claim they'd filed had been denied, a Baltimore circuit judge ruled Wednesday.

There can never be a whole lot of stability on a short-season Single-A baseball team such as the Aberdeen IronBirds. Even if Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. is the owner. However, the 2008 IronBirds are about as stable as any low-level minor league team can be. They will open the season tonight with nine players who spent either 2007 or both 2006 and 2007 with the IronBirds. There's even returning experience at the manager position and two coaching jobs. Gary Kendall will manage the team, returning to the town where he was a field coach in 2002 and 2003.

O.J. Brigance remembers the 2001 Super Bowl like it was yesterday, when he charged down the field for the Ravens and collided with a kick returner for the first tackle of the game. Now, everyday activities like eating are as challenging as his old workouts. Picking up a fork these days feels like lifting more than a hundred pounds of weights. Brigance, 38, was diagnosed in May 2007 with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease, a progressive and fatal disease that shuts down nerve cells responsible for movement.

As manager Dave Trembley moved closer to finalizing his staff with yesterday's hiring of former Oriole John Shelby to coach first base, president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail worked to fortify the Orioles' scouting and minor league departments. MacPhail hired his nephew, Lee MacPhail IV, who has a background in scouting and player development, as a special assistant to the president of baseball operations and named Brian Graham as a special assignment coach for the minor leagues.

The Orioles began their four-day organizational meetings in Sarasota, Fla., yesterday with dozens of scouts and members of the front office breaking down the long-term future of the team and its affiliates. Short-term decisions, such as the fate of manager Dave Trembley's coaching staff and who will become second in charge to president Andy MacPhail, will not be made while the group is gathered in Florida. "Nothing is going to happen this week," MacPhail said. "This is the time to download information from those that have been out in the field and to make the needed institutional changes that we feel will help us."

Two days after the Orioles announced that promising young pitcher Adam Loewen would be lost for about three months with a stress fracture in his pitching elbow, the New York Yankees announced Sunday the signing of Roger Clemens to a prorated $28 million contract. These two events are absolutely unrelated, of course, except for the effect that each will have on the pecking order in the American League East. The Orioles probably are doomed to another fourth-place finish (or worse), and the Yankees will, as always, recover from their slow start to compete for another division title.

On the Orioles' frustrations at the Winter Meetings "I give them credit for making a run at [Jason] Schmidt. No way was he going to sign here, but at least we flashed the cash and maybe, just maybe, that gets someone's attention next year. I agree further that because you struck out at the winter meetings, it's only the second inning. A lot can still happen. ... Right now, I'm reserving hard judgment." The meetings were a real chance for the Orioles to make some major moves and put the team in the spotlight.

When Greg Montgomery played pro football, his skills as a punter were sometimes compromised by trembling hands, intrusive thoughts and a runaway pulse. He was suffering panic attacks that would be diagnosed as one aspect of bipolar disorder. "My heart would beat faster and faster, my hands tingled and I couldn't catch the ball in practice," said Montgomery, who played for the Ravens in 1996 and 1997. "I lived in a fog of anxiety." Finally, Montgomery confided in the Ravens. The club referred him to doctors who prescribed medications and counseling that helped the punter cope.