Spring Training Autographs- Non-Prospects

Here are (almost) the rest of the autographs I got on my spring training trip. Most of these guys are off-season minor league free agent signings or from the lower levels of the minor league system. I don't mean any offense by labeling them non-prospects, but I don't think you would find many people that would include them among the organization's top talent. 

Travis is the son of Orioles' pitching coach, Rick Adair. I'm sure that was at least part of the reason he came here this past off-season. 

Thanks for these Aldridge cards, Paul! I especially like your '88 Donruss inspired creation!

Actually- I have heard David Baker's name included in O's top 30 prospects, so maybe he should have been in yesterday's post. Oh well.

The O's signed Josh Banks, who is a local Baltimore guy, about a week before my trip. 

I had purchased this Greg Burke card online and it arrived the day before I left for the trip. I'm glad it did!

My dad and I were standing with another gentlemen who was from Illinois, where Adam apparently had gone to college, and the guy told us a lot about Adam and the Illinois baseball team. He mentioned that the O's made a mistake in letting Kyle Hudson, another Illini Alumni, get away.

I kept just missing Allan as he walked past; it must have happened two or three times. As you fellow graphers know, that can be quite frustrating, but at least I finally got my card signed.

Yoshihiro Doi has one of the more enjoyable names to say that I've ever come across. It just brings a smile to my face to say it. Go ahead, you try. And Yoshihiro was happy to see this old card of his.

FYI-Casey Fossum does NOT look like this anymore. His hair is pretty long and really sticks out around his cap. It was an interesting look, and I barely recognized him.

Chris George was nice enough to sign for me after throwing a quick bullpen session following one of the O's games at Ed Smith Stadium.

Kyle Hoppy, your name makes me think of beer.

Riley Hornback would be a pretty solid name for a dragon, if they existed. Sidenote-my dog's name is Riley.

Antoan Richardson is a pretty intriguing signing, and will provide some improved depth at AAA.

It was hard to recognize Wynston Sawyer since this is the only picture I had of him. Luckily, they have these things called uniform numbers that also help with identifying players.

Scott Thomas seemed pleasantly surprised that I had a card of his, but he didn't know that I come prepared.

Chris Tremblay seemed like a pretty nice guy, and he will likely start the season with Frederick or Bowie. Neither team has a logo nearly as awesome as the Lake Elsinore Storm.

Aaron Wirsch's autograph doesn't consist of much, which is a surprise for such a young player.

Ross Wolf is back in the organization, and he did not seem too excited about signing when I asked. But at least he did it.

Spring Training Orange Uni Autographs

You might or might not know that one of my mini autograph collections focuses on Orioles/O's affiliate cards that picture players wearing orange uniforms. I don't generally like to spend much money on the collection but will get orange uni cards signed when I can. Here's my haul for my Spring Training trip.

I'll start out with a few players who have played for the O's at some point.

Headlined by current/former Oriole Brian Roberts.

Chris Hoiles was in camp as a special catching instructor and he signed a number of cards for me.

As I mentioned the other day, Alan Mills is back in the organization as a pitching coach. 

And Ryan Minor is still around as the manager of the Shorebirds. 

Josh Bell was kind enough to sign a couple cards for me on my trip. 

Next up are some top prospects...

Xavier Avery really seems like he doesn't like signing and it shows in his signature. It's insane how different his autograph is from that pre-printed version.

Dan Klein is continuing to recover from surgery (tommy john maybe?) that he had last year. 

Next up are a few guys battling for roster spots in big league camp...

Including John Hester, who is one of Kalina's favorites since he is a nice guy.

And Steve Johnson, who is trying to become a second generation Oriole, following in the footsteps of his dad, Dave. 

One of my personal favorites it Caleb Joseph, who should make the jump to AAA this season. 

And probably Kalina's absolute favorite O's minor leaguer, Car-los Ro-jas!

The 2011 Norfolk Tides team set was absolutely rife with orange uni cards, so I was obviously a big fan!

You Say Goodbye, I Say Hello

On Tuesday, the Orioles announced that righty reliever Jim Hoey was added to their 40 man roster, presumably to protect him from the Rule V draft. Jim pitched for the O's in parts of the 2006-07 seasons and has been fighting his way through various injuries since then. I would certainly expect that there will be more additions and subtractions to the O's 40 man over the coming weeks and my guess is that Matt Albers, Armando Gabino, Chorye Spoone, Pedro Viola, Pedro Florimon and Rhyne Hughes are the most likely to be removed, but time will tell. 

The O's also allowed a number of players to become Minor League free agents, including...

 Mike Hinckley

 Chris George

 Joel Guzman

 Scott Moore

and Dennis Sarfate.

Hinckley, George, and Guzman were all signed as Minor League free agents before the 2010 season and never made it to Baltimore.  

Moore and Sarfate both played for the Orioles at times over the past three seasons.  

None of these moves surprised me besides letting Sarfate go. The O's have a pretty deep bullpen and he didn't crack the 2010 Major League roster but he saved 20 games and had a 2.73 ERA for the AAA Tides. 

Spring Training Successes- Non Roster Invitee Autographs

Some of you particularly astute Orioles fans might note that a few of the autographs that I showcased yesterday are also non-roster invitees in the O's camp. But the difference between them and these guys is that I don't have Orioles cards of anyone in this post. Some of them have been featured in various Orioles Minor League releases but none of them yet have an Orioles card, outside of possibly Jake Arrieta.


And speaking of Jake, here is the card he signed. Kalina also got a card signed by him and he was definitely the first player she noticed shagging fly balls at the first game we went to. That's weird, since it's not like he is her favorite prospect or anything (he unequivocally is).


Armando Gabino was, by far, the most excited I have ever seen a player to see a card of his. I asked if he would sign and tossed this card to him, which he excitedly showed off to Alberto Castillo and Frank Mata. He was speaking in Spanish but seemed to be saying something like "See I told you that I actually have a baseball card!".
When the Orioles selected Gabino off of waivers from the Twins in the offseason, I searched online and found literally 2 cards of his for sale anywhere. They were both Twins Minor League cards and this one looked like it would look better signed. I know that he now has a card in the 2010 UD set, but I wasn't able to get it before my trip.


I don't know much about Chris, but I know that the combination of this card, his uni in the shot, and his autograph look pretty good together.


Caleb is now my mom's favorite player. In full disclosure, I'm not positive that she has had a favorite to replace, at least since Cal was around, but she was standing next to me when Caleb signed this card and he said something about it being the first card he had signed at Spring Training. She liked that, and thinks that he seems like a nice guy. I agree, Caleb seems pretty cool.


Frank is another player that I know little about, other than that he clearly spent time in the Twins organization. I guess it really doesn't Mata what I know about him. And you know I just had to go there, it was way too easy.


I saw Josh pitch at Bowie last season, and I believe he spent part of the season as the Baysox' closer. His last name is pronounced Per-oh, as opposed to how it looks, Per-alt.


Tuck is one of my favorite Minor Leaguers. He has always been a great signer, he hustles on every play, and I have seen him make a few outstanding catches. He also plays multiple positions, which is backed up by the card listing his position as INF/OF, and has spent most of his time in LF and at 3B. Scrappy is also a pretty small guy for a baseball player and is listed at 5'8'' which either means the he is actually 5'7'' or that he's one of the few honest players about his height. Either way, he is having a good Spring Training and I know that he has caught Trembley's eye once or twice.


On my trip to Norfolk last year, I incorrectly thought that Ross was Bob McCrory. While they do look a little bit alike, I'm normally good with faces, so I felt bad when I handed Ross the wrong card. I finally made up for it this spring when I boldly called out his name and he came over to sign. Again in full disclosure, McCrory is no longer with the O's so that boosted my confidence level.