Base Hits: The Offseason Begins, Sarasota Hits a Snag and the Strange Case of Vito Fabrizio.

The Oriole designated a few players for assignment this week and three opted for free agency. Farewell to Guillermo Rodriguez and Jeff Fiorentino. Rodriguez will continue his journeyman career elsewhere. I think Fiorentino would make a nice 4th outfielder in the National League. I don't think he's any worse than a lot of bench players in that league.

Rich Hill seems to be open to returning to the Orioles and the Orioles seem to be willing to give him another shot. As long as that shot starts in Norfolk, I would be fine with that.

Unfortunately, Alfredo Simon accepted his assignment to Norfolk.

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A potential snag in Sarasota? Last week, I mentioned that citizens who live near Ed Smith Stadium were concerned about pollution at the site of the complex. There has been more light shed on that situation but there is a concern that those questions may delay funding for the stadium renovation and pollution clean up. Could this jeopardize Baltimore's move to Sarasota? Stay tuned...

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Way back in September, I highlighted some top performances by player in the low minors of the Oriole farm system. I wondered who on Earth Bluefield pitcher Vito Fabrizio was and where he came from. Recently, a commenter provided some information. Kepp in mind, it's from an anonymous commenter and I cannot verify this information but I wanted to share it anyway.

ok this is the story on frabizio... he did not graduate high school in 08 he was a high level prospect as both a short stop and an outfielder the orioles found his spot and that was on the mound ... he is a low 90s guy with a big league curve ball and a plus plus change up he throws 4 pitches for a strike .. he was not able to be drafted because of high school.. he got 8th round money as a free agent with no high school diploma witch is unheard of .. he is legit . he knows how to pitch and the boy can do it well .

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Roch Kubatko was venting over at School of Rock on MASN.com and said one thing that struck me as odd...

Case in point: The MLB.com story (not produced by beat writer Spencer Fordin) with the headline "O's hope to re-sign two free agents"

I've read it twice and can't find where the Orioles are expressing their desire to bring back reliever Danys Baez. For whatever reason, he's lumped in with Mark Hendrickson, perhaps causing the confusion. But all we have is Baez's agent stating that his client has "very much enjoyed his time with the organization and would certainly entertain the prospect of returning."

Roch is right, the headline is misleading. However, by pointing out that the article was not produced by regular beat writer Spencer Fordin, he implies that the writer of the article jumps to incorrect conclusions. But that's not how it works. MLB.com writers submit the stories but do not write the actual headlines. The story itself is consistent and factual but the headline is misleading..which is not the writer's fault.

It is my understanding that this is how most newspapers work too...given Roch Kubatko's history at The Baltimore Sun, you would think he might have known that.

Just seemed an odd thing to call someone out on.

Or maybe he was just venting too hard.

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So, I went to do some research on the Hawaiian Winter Baseball league but could find nothing. That's because there is not one!

I completely missed this but according to this article from Baseball Prospectus last winter, the league has folded.

I guess after the Hawaiians saw Matt Wieters last winter, that normal prospects would just not do.