Orioles News, Notes, and Links

• According to an article in today's Baltimore Sun, Buck Showalter has asked 1B Brandon Snyder to work on re-developing his catching skills, to increase his versatility. Snyder was drafted as a catcher in 2005, but a shoulder injury moved him out from behind the plate in 2006. Snyder seemed enthusiastic about the idea, as it would definitely add to his value; his offensive game doesn't project well as a corner-infielder.
• Showalter also listed Josh Bell as one of the guys competing for a ML roster spot as a utility player; I think that's probably just motivational talk from Buck. Bell needs to play every day at this point in his career, and probably belongs at Norfolk (AAA). And they already have Cesar Izturis, Brendan Harris, Robert Andino, and Jake Fox in the mix for utility roles...
• Vlad Guerrero took his physical today (Wednesday); this is the last hurdle involved in making his signing official. Supposedly, the team will formally announce the signing on Friday.
• Project Prospect, an organization that I respect because of their conservative approach and emphasis on project floor rather than ceiling, ranked two Orioles amongst the top 100 prospects in all of baseball for 2011. Zach Britton was ranked 18th, and Manny Machado was #27.
• Good story on B Free Daily about 2 Orioles fans who ran amuck after being locked in Camden Yards after a game, a few years back. The article includes pictures of them hanging on the foul pole, and sliding on a wet tarp over the infield.
• Stacey Long over at Camden Chat compiled community projections for 3B Mark Reynolds in 2011, which can be found here.