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I expect him to stay in camp the full time before he's sent down. The Hays plan.

I think Can of Corn already said that. We'll see where he plays in spring training.

Interesting. We'll see where and how well he plays in ST.

Mountcastle played 26 games in LF and 84 at 1B. That might give us a hint as to where the organization expects him to play in the majors.

If they're six-year MiLB free agents, sign 'em up. O's showed last year they are a good landing place for pitchers in search of an opportunity.

That's the scariest idea I've read this year.

They should pick up some of the slack for Villar and Mancini, whom I expect will be traded. I also expect Mountcastle to start the year in Norfolk so he can get in more work at 1B before they bring him up. I suppose that could change if his defense looks adequate in spring training.

They were in the last two World Series. Lost both times.

How do you know that doesn't fully explain it? Maybe it does and you've just come up with a bunch of hooey because you like your version better.

MacPhail left because his father was dying and he wanted to spend more time with him. This is not a complicated story.

In 1964 he jammed his pitching arm while diving back to second base to beat a pickoff throw. He was fine for his next two starts, but the morning after his second start he couldn't straighten his arm. The team doctor diagnosed "traumatic arthritis," a form of osteoarthritis caused by a traumatic injury. The doctor told him right then he would not have a long career. Some days his elbow blew up to the size of his knee. I'm guessing Koufax wanted to pitch as much as he could while he still could. Maybe Alston sped up the problem, maybe it didn't. After losing his final game to Palmer in the second game of the '66 World Series, reporters asked him what would have happened if his outfield hadn't committed the errors that allowed the O's runs to score. "We'd still be playing," was his response.

Koufax had arthritis in his pitching elbow. He retired because he was afraid he would lose the use of his left arm.

Impossible to get below $50 million with Davis and Cobb on the team. $55 million might be a good target.

I think he's the new Pitching Czar, with all pitching coaches following his lead on all pitching matters.

Good to see that Manny's hustle is among the least of SD's problems.

He also has dozens of positions to be filled.

Happy to say I was there for game 3, Bunker's masterpiece supported by a Paul Blair solo home run. As the billboard on E. 33rd St. said (in it's best Maxwell Smart), Would you believe four straight?

Trading arb-eligible players before the non-tender deadline may also be a priority for Elias in November. I expect look to reduce payroll and add more young talent to the pipeline.

I suspect it's also how you find players you can afford whose skills are at the lower end of what's being valued at the moment. Kind of like the A's focusing on OBP before other teams.

Also by how teams choose to weight their data. Everyone has the same numbers, but deciding what's important affects the statistical modeling.

The only thing their success means to me is that I have no need to watch the NLCS.

That day Andy caught Buck rummaging through his sweater drawer.

They got along great.

You mean, like someone fixes their cat? Jeez, I didn't know ball teams could do that.

O's baseball. Nine guys take the field. Six guys hit.