andrew miller

As this year's winter meetings came to a close Thursday, the Orioles left the Manchester Grand Hyatt with only a couple Rule 5 draft picks as new additions. But Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette's message to fans Thursday was clear: We'll be OK.

The Orioles have engaged in preliminary trade talks with the Pittsburgh Pirates about swapping lefty Brian Matusz for outfielder Travis Snider, according to industry sources.

With the sudden loss of three major pieces from a team that won the Orioles' first division title in 17 years and advanced to the American League Championship Series, manager Buck Showalter realizes he has work to do to duplicate this past season's success.

This is an uncomfortable time for job speculation to be engulfing the guy who is supposed to be totally immersed in improving the Orioles for next season, especially when the other team involved is a close division rival that already has made some big moves in its attempt to jump over them in the standings.

Teams are spending big money on relievers, but given the Orioles' model, don't expect them to sink significant payroll into the bullpen.

We sports fans let our emotions get the best of us and ignore the well-known realities of professional sports. The players that we deify are all too human. And the teams we love — the Orioles and the Ravens — are businesses that make decisions with a singular goal: profit for their owners.

As the winter meetings open Monday, the biggest question regarding the Orioles has little to do with actual players, but whether Dan Duquette, the team's top baseball executive, will remain in Baltimore.

The Orioles' offseason to-do list looked dramatically different a week ago.

The Orioles have lost three free agents this week. Come to Connolly's Bar and say which one hurts the most.

The Orioles will have much more work to do at next week's Winter Meetings in San Diego than they did at the beginning of this week, one that saw the club lose three key pieces of its 2014 playoff team.

Andrew Miller reached an agreement on a four-year, $36-million deal with the New York Yankees on Friday, capping a week in which the Orioles also lost free-agent outfielders Nick Markakis and Nelson Cruz.

As expected, the Orioles offered contracts to their 11 arbitration-eligible players before Tuesday night's tender deadline.

If the point of the Orioles' recent renaissance is to get to the World Series, the emphasis this particular winter has to be on getting better rather than treading water and hoping to roll the dice again next October.

The Orioles have acquired left-handed reliever Scott Barnes from the Cleveland Indians for cash considerations, the club announced.

Lefty Andrew Miller has 8 to 10 teams still in the mix, but the Orioles aren't one of them, source said.

The Orioles haven't made any needle-moving signings so far this offseason, and that's not a surprise.

The Orioles announced Thursday that they have claimed outfielder Alex Hassan off waivers from the Oakland Athletics.

Among several meetings Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette had on Wednesday at the general manager meetings in Phoenix was one with the agent for longest-tenured Oriole and current free-agent Nick Markakis.

Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette appeared on MLB Network's "High Heat" with Christopher Russo on Wednesday afternoon from the general managers' meetings in Phoenix and addressed the club's hopes to retain free agents Nick Markakis and Nelson Cruz.

A day after Dan Duquette won the Sporting News Executive of the Year award, Orioles manager Buck Showalter can win the BBWAA AL Manager of the Year award.

Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette was named the Sporting News Executive of the Year on Monday evening at the general managers' meetings in Phoenix.

Despite Friday's announcement that the Orioles declined right fielder Nick Markakis' option for next season, discussions to keep team's longest-tenured player in an Orioles uniform on a multiyear deal are progressing.

As expected, the Orioles on Friday declined their $17.5 million option for 2015 on right fielder Nick Markakis, essentially making the team¿s longest-tenured player a free agent.

Koji Uehara re-signed with Boston. It could have an affect on Andrew Miller's marketplace

Seven Orioles are unrestricted free agents

The Orioles will probably have nine players become free agents, headed by Nelson Cruz, Andrew Miller and likely Nick Markakis.

The Orioles didn't fall short of the World Series by much this year, and the obvious case can be made that the return of some key players will make them a stronger team in 2015. But this is no time to take the pedal off the metal.

Just 172 days to Opening Day

Here are five things the Orioles can do between now and Opening Day, April 6, to keep the 2015 season alive throughout October.

Most players has already cleared out of the Orioles clubhouse by Friday afternoon when reporters were allowed inside. The team arrived home from Kansas City ¿ swept by the Royals on four games in the American League Championship Series -- on Thursday evening so most players packed up their lockers then.

Manager Buck Showalter and executive vice president Dan Duquette plan to meet, along with team brass, to begin looking to next season. Pitchers and catchers are slated to return for spring training three months from Saturday, and the Orioles face many difficult roster decisions in the meantime.

Free agency will be interesting for the Orioles, but before they get to that point, they have to attend to their own business. What's your top priority move involving a current Orioles player?

As the Orioles prepared to leave the visitors' clubhouse Wednesday night after being swept in the American League Championship Series, they understood the harsh reality of today's industry: This group, in its entirety, will never again be together as a team.

As the Orioles' season ended in Kansas City on Wednesday, there was a lot of reflecting on the series and the season in the visiting clubhouse of Kauffman Stadium.

The Orioles' "We Won't Stop" season finally came to a screeching halt Wednesday at Kauffman Stadium when the won't-be-beat Kansas City Royals won another nailbiter, 2-1, in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series.

After the Orioles' season-ending 2-1 loss to the Kansas City Royals in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series on Wednesday, outfielder Nelson Cruz realized he might have played his final game in an Orioles uniform.

Even if the Orioles end up losing to the Kansas City Royals in the American League Championship Series this week, there's a sense that the experience itself will help the club going forward -- especially for the younger players who didn't participate in the 2012 postseason.

The Orioles will have to wait another day to attempt to cut into the Kansas City Royals' 2-0 lead in the American League Championship Series.

As the bliss slowly ebbed out of Camden Yards on Saturday, the victim of another grinding effort by the unsinkable Kansas City Royals, a new reality set in for Orioles fans.

With two passionate fist pumps Saturday evening, Kansas City Royals center fielder Lorenzo Cain punctuated an evening when he swung nearly every big moment in a tense 4-hour, 17-minute game in his team's direction.

Darren O¿Day had not only been one of the most instrumental parts of the Orioles' stellar bullpen, but he¿s also the unquestioned leader of the Orioles relief corps.

Having spent their entire careers in cavernous Kauffman Stadium and the spacious ballparks of the American League Central, longtime Kansas City Royals Alex Gordon and Billy Butler always have welcomed trips to the comparatively cozy Camden Yards.

So much for the Kansas City Royals living up to their reputation as a light-hitting, fleet-footed team that manufactured runs with typical Midwest small-ball.

The power of the Kansas City Royals' bullpen against the versatility of the Orioles' should make for an American League Championship Series that could be decided early in each game since the relievers don't often break.

Who do you think is executive vice president Dan Duquette's best acquisition as an Orioles executive so far?

Whether you're an Orioles fan or you're executive vice president Dan Duquette, it's hard not to be pumped about what left-hander Andrew Miller has done in his two-plus months in Baltimore.

Nelson Cruz broke a scoreless tie in the sixth inning with a two-run homer off left-hander David Price, giving the Orioles a 2-1 clinching victory over the Detroit Tigers in Game 3 of the American League Division Series.

Orioles right-hander Bud Norris finally received the chance Sunday on a blistery afternoon at Comerica Park against the celebrated Detroit Tigers offense. He seized it, throwing 6 1/3 scoreless innings in a 2-1 victory, catapulting the Orioles into a second postseason round.