Orioles News, Notes, and Links

• Since MLB, for the most part, shuts down over the holidays, there hasn't been a lot going on recently... and that's pretty much par for the course. And that's ok with me - I was still in my roast beef-coma until yesterday afternoon. My wife is a grade-A cook, and I'm expected to eat... I obliged.
• Jeff Zriebec at the Baltimore Sun blogged on Orioles Insider yesterday about the free agents the O's are still looking at (LaRoche, Lee, and Gregg), and what their current roster needs-list looks like. It's pretty much the same as it has been throughout December: 1st base, bullpen help, and starting pitching depth.
• Zreibec also posted about relievers that the O's might move their focus to, if Kevin Gregg doesn't accept their offer. He doesn't think Rafael Soriano is a realistic option (agreed), and instead suggests lower-cost options in RHP's Jon Rauch and Grant Balfour (I like both), and LHP Brian Fuentes (Uckk... I just don't trust him. At all.)
• Michael Werley at The Sports Jury prophesizes on the Orioles starting rotation for 2011. I don't completely disagree with him about the candidates (who really knows, at this point?), but he's predicting a total of 54 wins from rotation of Guthrie, Matusz, Bergesen, Arrieta, and Vanden Hurk. I think that's probably about 10 too many, at least from that group. I do find myself wishing that Zach Britton will be the #5, and they'll use Vanden Hurk in a bullpen/spot-starter swing role.
• The word around baseball is that Derrek Lee really has his choice between the Orioles and the Nationals... and is weighing his options. If I was Lee, I'd probably stick in the NL, where I'd played my whole career, and avoid the AL East. My guess is he'll sign with the Nats, unless there's another option that we don't know about (which there usually is).
• Steve Melewski at MASN wrote a piece yesterday about the top of the Orioles lineup. With the pieces in place now, he prefers a 1-2-3 of Roberts, Jones, and Markakis. I kind of hate that... but I get it. I just don't like Jones in the #2 hole unless he's hot, because he just doesn't get on base enough.
• Today, Melewski talked about how you can never have enough starting pitching... he thinks the team will add at least one or two back-of-the-rotation types, but believes the current rotation candidates are Guthrie, Matusz, Arrieta, Bergesen, Britton, and Chris Tillman.
• David Brown at Yahoo Sports talk about how Luke Scott's comments were one of the most interesting moments of the year.
• The folks at MLB Trade Rumors speculate that the Orioles, along with 7 or 8 other teams, might have some interest in 32 year-old free-agent RHP Chris Capuano, who went 4-4 with a 3.95 ERA with the Brewers last year, coming off Tommy-John surgery. He's won as many as 18 games in the majors, but missed all of 2008 and 2009.
• According to MASN's Roch Kubatko, the daughter of former Oriole Marty Cordova is in a coma, after being involved in a car accident while riding to school. Cordova played for the O's in 2002 and 2003.
• Ray Guilfoyle of Minor League Ball asked readers to speculate on whether the Brewer's Mat Gamel or Orioles 3B prospect Josh Bell is more likely to reach their potential. Before last season I would've said Bell, for sure... so I'll stick with that. One bad 1/4 season from Bell at the major-league level really doesn't mean much.