BALTIMORE (AP) — The Baltimore Orioles have agreed to sign veteran right-hander Félix Hernández to a minor league contract. Hernández won an AL Cy Young Award, two ERA titles and made six All-Star teams over 15 seasons with Seattle before becoming a free agent last offseason. The 34-year-old signed a minor league deal with Atlanta and looked sharp during spring training, but ultimately opted out of the pandemic-shortened 60-game season. In his last big league action, Hernández went 1-8 with a 6.40 ERA in 2019. He hasn't finished with an ERA under 4.00 since 2016, and his last All-Star appearance was in 2015. He has won 169 games and owns a 3.42 career ERA. Hernández could earn a rotation spot with the rebuilding Orioles, who have 2019 All-Star left-hander John Means locked in as a starter but not much else. They traded Alex Cobb to the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday, leaving Keegan Akin, Dean Kremer, Jorge López, Wade LeBlanc, Thomas Eshelman and Bruce Zimmermann as the only returning players to start at least one game in 2020. Baltimore also announced Wednesday it has agreed to minor league deals with infielders Seth Mejias-Brean and Malquin Canelo, right-handers Dusten Knight, Konner Wade and Spenser Watkins and left-hander LeBlanc. ___ More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

BALTIMORE (AP) — The Baltimore Orioles have agreed to sign veteran right-hander Félix Hernández to a minor league contract. Hernández won an AL Cy Young Award, two ERA titles and made six All-Star teams over 15 seasons with Seattle before becoming a free agent last offseason. The 34-year-old signed a minor league deal with Atlanta and looked sharp during spring training, but ultimately opted out of the pandemic-shortened 60-game season. In his last big league action, Hernández went 1-8 with a 6.40 ERA in 2019. He hasn't finished with an ERA under 4.00 since 2016, and his last All-Star appearance was in 2015. He has won 169 games and owns a 3.42 career ERA. Hernández could earn a rotation spot with the rebuilding Orioles, who have 2019 All-Star left-hander John Means locked in as a starter but not much else. They traded Alex Cobb to the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday, leaving Keegan Akin, Dean Kremer, Jorge López, Wade LeBlanc, Thomas Eshelman and Bruce Zimmermann as the only returning players to start at least one game in 2020. Baltimore also announced Wednesday it has agreed to minor league deals with infielders Seth Mejias-Brean and Malquin Canelo, right-handers Dusten Knight, Konner Wade and Spenser Watkins and left-hander LeBlanc. ___ More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

If Baltimore Orioles general manager Mike Elias was to assess his rebuilding project on results alone, he'd take no satisfaction in finishing 10 games under .500 and in fourth place in the AL East. Elias, however, remains focused on the long term. So he sees reason to be enthusiastic about the improvement the Orioles showed in the second year of his quest to bring glory days back to Baltimore. Young starters Keegan Akin and Dean Kremer shined in their first season in the majors. Second-year starter John Means got in a groove in September, and Hunter Harvey and Tanner Scott took the next step in their development as effective relievers. The offense received a boost from the power of former No. 1 draft pick DJ Stewart, the all-around play of Anthony Santander and the surprising consistency of 23-year-old Ryan Mountcastle, who batted .333 with five homers and 23 RBIs in 35 games after making his long-awaited debut in August. The Orioles were 20-21 on Sept. 8 before fading, but despite the... [More]

Dean Kremer is a budding celebrity in Israel and a developing star in the big leagues. Kremer this month became the first Israeli citizen to pitch in the majors. Not only that, the Baltimore Orioles prospect tossed six innings of one-hit ball in a starting role against the storied New York Yankees, striking out seven in a 5-1 victory. Several reporters and friends from Israel participated in the postgame Zoom call, offering congratulations and even getting Kremer to speak a little Hebrew in a message to followers far from Baltimore. Now, four games into his big league career and done pitching in a season that ends Sunday for the Orioles, Kremer took delight in reflecting upon a whirlwind three weeks of fame and success. “It’s been a dream come true, to say the least," he said. “It’s been really fun. The guys have welcomed me into a warm clubhouse. Anything and everything you could imagine it would be, it is -- except for no fans." Kremer, 24, was born in California to Israeli parents. In... [More]