Prospects

The Orioles' top position player prospect, Jonathan Schoop, received a second opinion his ailing lower back on Wednesday morning in California, and the organization received an optimistic prognosis. After seeing spine specialist Dr. Robert Watkins, Schoop was diagnosed with a stress fracture in the lower back and was given the recommendation of rest for four weeks, but he was told he could return within five to six weeks. “That's actually good news for me personally,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said.

Orioles top pitching prospect Dylan Bundy has been cleared to resume throwing after a follow-up appointment with renowned orthopedist Dr. James Andrews on Monday. Bundy will begin a throwing progression next Monday, which will mark the end of Andrews' recommendation of six weeks of no throwing. Bundy received a platelet-rich plasma injection from Andrews on April 29 for tightness in his right forearm. He's been working out - doing everything besides throwing - at the Orioles' spring training facility in Sarasota, Fla. “He was cleared by Dr. Andrews as we were expecting he would,” Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette said.

David Cone has been traded twice within the past four months for a total of six players, none of whom has played a day in the major leagues.Jim Abbott went in a deal that involved four minor-league players.Ken Hill did not command a major-leaguer in return.Bobby Bonilla was swapped for a pair of prospects.Rubin Sierra and Danny Tartabull changed addresses and nobody, other than their immediate families, really cares.To Orioles general manager Roland Hemond the rash of trades is a throwback, of sorts, to a different era. To others, who can't see beyond the dollar signs, it is a sign of the times.

The Orioles' top position player prospect, Jonathan Schoop, received a second opinion his ailing lower back on Wednesday morning in California, and the organization received an optimistic prognosis. After seeing spine specialist Dr. Robert Watkins, Schoop was diagnosed with a stress fracture in the lower back and was given the recommendation of rest for four weeks, but he was told he could return within five to six weeks. “That's actually good news for me personally,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said.

I've gotten several emails in the past few days about the Orioles and their trade possibilities. I've been asked why they haven't made a deal already for St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Kyle McClellan or the Texas Rangers' Koji Uehara or another fill-in-the-blank name. The reason is pretty simple. If the Orioles are going to get a big leaguer in return -- even in a potential salary dump -- they are probably going to have to give up a prospect. And, frankly, the Orioles don't have much to offer that they are willing to part with and that other teams covet.

Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette believes he might have a pair of front-end rotation starters in right-handed pitching prospects Dylan Bundy and Kevin Gausman. Baseball America agrees that the organization's first-round draft picks the past two seasons possess that kind of promise. Bundy and Gausman are listed as the Orioles' top two prospects in Baseball America's Top 10 prospects list, which was released Monday morning. Bundy, the flame-throwing 2011 first-round pick who made his major league debut last month, is ranked the organization's top prospect -- he will likely be a top-five prospect overall -- and Gausman, the Orioles' first-round pick this past June out of LSU, is ranked No. 2. Bundy began his first pro season at low Class-A Delmarva and ended it in the major leagues as a September call up. He was 9-3 with a 2.08 ERA with 67 hits and 119 strikeouts in 104 minor league inning across three different levels.

The 2012 NFL scouting combine wrapped up on Tuesday, which means that many draftniks throughout the blogosphere promptly released their revised mock drafts on Wednesday. The looming free agent period, which starts in two weeks, will shake up these mock drafts even more. But in the meantime, here is a quick roundup of the NFL prospects the Ravens are being linked to in these post-combine first round projections. --- Peter Schrager, FOX Sports: Peter Konz, C/G, Wisconsin. “With Ben Grubbs' future unknown, the Ravens could have a bit of work to do on their offensive line this offseason.

Q. My family owns 150 shares of Mead Corp. and we're nervous about this investment. With its announced layoffs, is it time to sell?N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60611. '

In Dan Connolly's second-half preview , Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette makes it pretty clear that he won't move Dylan Bundy or Manny Machado for a rental player before the trading deadline. But there's no question teams will be asking the O's executive vice president about the organization's top two prospects. In his new Top 50 Prospects rankings published Thursday, ESPN's Keith Law ranks Bundy the No. 2 prospect in all of baseball and Machado No. 3. They're the only Orioles prospects in the Top 50, and they rank only behind Texas Rangers shortstop prospect Jurickson Profar.

The Orioles' decision-makers are contemplating a series of changes, some for this season and some for next season. Apparently, they also have seen enough of the self-satisfied, underachieving team they put together.What the decision-makers should do in the coming months is clear.What they will do isn't.What they should do is stop playing solely for the present. Start looking to the future, too.No trade should be made unless it makes the club younger, faster and hungrier.If Roberto Alomar and/or Rafael Palmeiro and/or anyone else is traded, at least one top prospect should be included in the return package.

"Please sir, I want some more. " The famous phrase of Oliver Twist would seem tragically appropriate when it comes to the modus operandi of American higher education - but for the fact that Oliver Twist was a starving child and higher education is a bloated wastrel. But the higher ed bubble is bursting, right in our own backyard. And colleges and universities need to take note, to ensure their own survival. The case in point is St. Mary's College of Maryland, a 173-year-old public institution tucked between the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay. After a decade of rising tuition, this public liberal arts college finds itself with 150 empty seats for the incoming freshman class.

Well, the Orioles certainly know how to make a splash. Moments after they beat the Yankees 3-2 in 10 innings on Nate McLouth's walk-off home run, news broke that the team was calling up pitching prospect Kevin Gausman from Double-A Bowie to make his major league debut Thursday in Toronto . It's not a surprise that Gausman is making the jump from Double-A. Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette made that clear last week when he said that Double-A was the proving ground where the organization wanted to see him succeed.

The Orioles' top position prospect, Jonathan Schoop, was scheduled to see back specialist Lee Riley at Johns Hopkins on Tuesday to receive further evaluation on a lower back strain that has landed him on the seven-day minor league disabled list. Schoop, rated the Orioles' No. 3 prospect by Baseball America, was hitting .268/.331/.386 with three homers and 18 RBIs for Triple-A Norfolk before he was placed on the DL on Thursday. It is believed that Schoop's back problems are rooted from continuing growth spurts the 21-year-old infielder has experienced for the past two years.

Have a passion for saving orphaned pets? Can you offer a between-homes home to a dog or cat? Have place in your heart and your house for a temporary visitor of the furry kind? Then this party is for you! The Maryland SPCA will hold an open house for prospective pet foster care volunteers from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, May 11. Attendees will learn how fostering needy pets can help save lives; meet current foster parents and the animals they care for; learn how to set up their homes to make fostering work for them; and receive a tour of the MD SPCA.

The Rocky Gap Casino Resort hopes to open its doors for gaming in three weeks. In the meantime, the resort said today it's holding an open house this Saturday to offer customers - and the merely curious - a glimpse of the resort's upgrades The open house, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., will allow the resort to show off its new hotel lobby and room renovations. Guests will be permitted to sign up for a loyalty program that will offer players points for frequent play on slots or table games.

BOWIE -- Orioles pitching prospect Kevin Gausman has hit some rough patches through the first few weeks of his first full professional season while pitching at Double-A Bowie, but the 22-year-old right-hander's steady development continues to be more important than any pitching line. Gausman, who is ranked the No. 2 prospect in the Orioles' organization and No. 26 in all of baseball by Baseball America, will enter his fifth start of the season on Sunday against Harrisburg with a 1-2 record and a 4.74 ERA and has allowed four or more earned runs in two of his four starts.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- One look at Sherman Obando, and you wonder how the New York Yankees failed to protect him on their 40-man roster.Obando, 23, is a strapping 6 feet 4 and 215 pounds. His 5.2 percent body fat is second on the Orioles to Brady Anderson. His performance on a grip-strength test ranks first.Put a bat in his hands, and he hits one screaming line drive after another."This guy almost kills infielders," Orioles general manager Roland Hemond said.So, why was he available in the Rule V draft?

No position is as tough to learn, as taxing to play on a daily basis, as difficult to scout.No wonder baseball's decision makers commit so many errors when it comes to evaluating catchers.Baseball brains repeat the same mistakes over and over in regard to catchers.First, teams tend to draft catchers too high. Second, ballclubs tend to give up too soon on prospects, thus enabling a competitor to reap the benefits of their investments.A study of history repeatedly shows teams desperate for catching bypass sure things in the draft to gamble on catchers, only to regret it.In 1966, Steve Chilcott was the first player chosen in the second June draft.

Orioles top prospect Dylan Bundy, shelved since March with right arm tightness, was scheduled to see renowned orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews on Tuesday in Gulf Breeze, Fla., to get a second opinion on what's causing his ongoing discomfort. “We hope to find out that [Andrews] feels the same way that our people do [who] have looked at it,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. “We're very supportive of it.” The organization has been deliberate with Bundy's recovery, but the move to seek a second opinion came a day after the right-hander felt lingering discomfort while throwing from 90 feet off flat ground at the team's spring training complex in Sarasota, Fla. It was the first time he had thrown that far since going on the seven-day minor league disabled list April 4. Bundy hasn't pitched from a mound since late March.