Here's an early look at how the Orioles' 25-man roster could shape up on Opening Day.

The Orioles' crowded outfield mix gained another member on Monday when the team signed veteran Eric Young Jr. to a Minor League contract with an invitation to Spring Training.

Since the Rays debuted "the opener" last May, no fewer than eight teams have helped transform the concept from a fad into a mini-movement. Consider the Orioles a candidate to dive in next.

For Brandon Hyde, the days and weeks leading up to Tuesday were filled with phone calls to friends, to former colleagues, to mentors he's made across more than two decades in the game. A constant theme emerged from the ensuing chats: What, exactly, should Hyde expect from his first Spring Training as a big league manager?

As pitchers and catchers reported Tuesday to Ed Smith Stadium, it marked the end to an offseason of overhaul in Baltimore, and the dawn of a new era. The focus will shift even further, from the front office to the field, when the club's first full squad workouts commence on Monday.

As we inch closer and closer to Opening Day, we'll continue to take a position-by-position look at the Orioles roster options and remaining questions. Now that pitchers and catchers have officially reported to Spring Training, now feels like a good time to take a look behind the plate, where the Orioles have a ton of options but no clear answer.

With more than a dozen pitchers seemingly in the mix for bullpen jobs this spring, it'll take weeks of assessment before candidates for certain roles begin to emerge. Even the club's few veteran holdovers will have to wait. That includes Mychal Givens, who finished 2018 as the Orioles' closer and arrived at camp the overwhelming favorite to reclaim that job.

Looking to preempt questions about his work ethic in a nightmare 2018 season, Chris Davis reported to Spring Training in Florida more than a week before Orioles position players were required to. That's when his efforts to rebound hit their first minor snag.

The Orioles' cloudy infield picture gained some clarity Saturday when the team signed veteran shortstop Alcides Escobar to a Minor League contract with an invitation to Spring Training.

Like so many pitchers in Major League camps, Orioles hurlers have extra sets of eyes on them this spring. The Edgertronic cameras, perched on tripods, are set about a stride's length beyond the backfield bullpen mounds at the club's Ed Smith Stadium complex, as conspicuous as the coaches standing cross-armed behind them.

The next five weeks will see lots of shuffling on Major League rosters. Here are the most intriguing positional battles on each of the 30 MLB clubs.

Orioles right-hander Hunter Harvey had hopped off a backfield mound at the club's Spring Training complex and exhaled. He was one of 14 pitchers scheduled to face hitters as part of the club's first full-squad workout on Monday, and now that he had, Harvey was asked to recall when was the last time he threw competitive pitches.

In holding their first full-squad workout on Monday, the Orioles ushered in the first official phase of a spring set to surprise. Fresh faces flood Ed Smith Stadium. Questions litter the roster. Battles abound at nearly every position.

Pitch clocks are set to make their Spring Training debuts this week, and it will be in games featuring hordes of players for whom playing on a timer is nothing new.

The Orioles will honor late icon Frank Robinson during Grapefruit League play and will continue to do so throughout the season, with a patch on the sleeves of their uniforms. The patch features Robinson's No. 20 in orange against a black background.

The ability to switch fuels for oxidation in response to changes in macronutrient composition of diet (metabolic flexibility) may be informative of individuals’ susceptibility to weight gain. Seventy-nine healthy, weight-stable participants underwent 24-h assessments of energy expenditure and respiratory quotient (RQ) in a whole-room calorimeter during energy balance (EBL) (50% carbohydrate, 30% fat) and then during 24-h fasting and three 200% overfeeding diets in a crossover design. Metabolic flexibility was defined as the change in 24-h RQ from EBL during fasting and standard overfeeding (STOF) (50% carbohydrate, 30% fat), high-fat overfeeding (HFOF) (60% fat, 20% carbohydrate), and high-carbohydrate overfeeding (HCOF) (75% carbohydrate, 5% fat) diets. Free-living weight change was assessed after 6 and 12 months. Compared with EBL, RQ decreased on average by 9% during fasting and by 4% during HFOF but increased by 4% during STOF and by 8% during HCOF. A smaller decrease in RQ, reflecting a smaller increase in lipid oxidation rate, during HFOF but not during the other diets predicted greater weight gain at both 6 and 12 months. An impaired metabolic flexibility to acute HFOF can identify individuals prone to weight gain, indicating that an individual’s capacity to oxidize dietary fat is a metabolic determinant of weight change.

The whitening and loss of brown adipose tissue (BAT) during obesity and aging promote metabolic disorders and related diseases. The imbalance of Ca²⁺ homeostasis accounts for the dysfunction and clearance of mitochondria during BAT whitening. Capsaicin, a dietary factor activating TRPV1, can inhibit obesity induced by high-fat diet (HFD), but whether capsaicin inhibits BAT loss and the underlying mechanism remain unclear. In this study, we determined that the inhibitory effects of capsaicin on HFD-induced obesity and BAT whitening were dependent on the participation of SIRT3, a critical mitochondrial deacetylase. SIRT3 also mediated all of the beneficial effects of capsaicin on alleviating reactive oxygen species generation, elevating mitochondrial activity, and restricting mitochondrial calcium overload induced by HFD. Mechanistically, SIRT3 inhibits mitochondrial calcium uniporter (MCU)-mediated mitochondrial calcium overload by reducing the H3K27ac level on the MCU promoter in an AMPK-dependent manner. In addition, HFD also inhibits AMPK activity to reduce SIRT3 expression, which could be reversed by capsaicin. Capsaicin intervention also inhibited aging-induced BAT whitening through this mechanism. In conclusion, this study emphasizes a critical role of the AMPK/SIRT3 pathway in the maintenance of BAT morphology and function and suggests that intervention in this pathway may be an effective target for preventing obesity- or age-related metabolic diseases.

Adipose tissue macrophages (ATMs) are involved in the development of insulin resistance in obesity. We have recently shown that myeloid cell–specific reduction of HMG-CoA reductase (Hmgcr^m–/m–), which is the rate-limiting enzyme in cholesterol biosynthesis, protects against atherosclerosis by inhibiting macrophage migration in mice. We hypothesized that ATMs are harder to accumulate in Hmgcr^m–/m– mice than in control Hmgcr^fl/fl mice in the setting of obesity. To test this hypothesis, we fed Hmgcr^m–/m– and Hmgcr^fl/fl mice a high-fat diet (HFD) for 24 weeks and compared plasma glucose metabolism as well as insulin signaling and histology between the two groups. Myeloid cell–specific reduction of Hmgcr improved glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity without altering body weight in the HFD-induced obese mice. The improvement was due to a decrease in the number of ATMs. The ATMs were reduced by decreased recruitment of macrophages as a result of their impaired chemotactic activity. These changes were associated with decreased expression of proinflammatory cytokines in adipose tissues. Myeloid cell–specific reduction of Hmgcr also attenuated hepatic steatosis. In conclusion, reducing myeloid HMGCR may be a promising strategy to improve insulin resistance and hepatic steatosis in obesity.

The signing of veteran outfielder Michael Brantley by the Astros came a week after the Winter Meetings and only a few days before Christmas, meaning it didn't exactly garner much attention on national, or even local, news cycles. For the Astros, Brantley was exactly the player they needed at exactly the right price -- two years and $32 million -- and the kind of addition that should fire up the fanbase.

There won't be many roster battles when the Astros open camp later this week, and they won't be decided until the final days of the team's stay in West Palm Beach, Fla. Houston has an open competition for its fifth starter spot heading into Spring Training, and the club also has to sort out a crowded outfield and the final spots in the bullpen.

The reality is setting in for Astros star second baseman Jose Altuve, who's shared a clubhouse with close friend Marwin Gonzalez for the previous seven springs. They became confidants on and off the field, which is what makes this spring so strange.

With this many stars and this much talent, you can't help but have visions of playing baseball deep into October. And considering it was only a year ago the Astros were talking about defending their World Series title, their window to win another one remains wide open.

All-Star right-hander Gerrit Cole won his arbitration case against the Astros on Wednesday, meaning he will make $13.5 million this season. The team offerred $11.425 million, a difference of $2,075,000.

The Astros logo outside the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches really is something to see, all the way from Haverhill Rd. The closer you get the bigger it gets, the white "H" right there in front of the huge orange star. Underneath the "H" is the following message, white against orange: "2017 World Champions." It would have been a simple matter to put "2018" down there, too. There was room.

We're reluctant to finalize our list of offseason winners because, as you may have heard, there are some prominent unsigned free agents. Not just Bryce Harper and Manny Machado, either.

By winning his arbitration case against the Astros, pitcher Gerrit Cole stands to make $2,075,000 more this season than if he'd lost. That's a significant victory for Cole, who will double his salary this year and make $13.5 million, and a significant victory for other players to come, the veteran pitcher said.

With Dallas Keuchel and Charlie Morton leaving in free agency and Lance McCullers Jr. on the mend following Tommy John surgery, Collin McHugh is returning to his roots this year and is back in the Houston rotation. He said his experience as a reliever will only help him evolve as a starter.

All eyes were on right-hander Forrest Whitley, MLB Pipeline's top pitching prospect, when he threw in the bullpen for the first time Friday in Major League camp. Astros manager AJ Hinch, assistant general manager Brandon Taubman and director of player development Pete Putila were all watching intently as Whitley threw 21 pitches -- fastballs, changeups and cutters.

You can't help but learn a few things when you had the kind of year Astros star shortstop Carlos Correa experienced last season, when a nagging back injury derailed him in the second half and forced him to deal with the biggest adversity of his career.

Astros third baseman Alex Bregman continues to progress from the arthroscopic elbow surgery he had a month to remove bone chips.

The question would come shortly after Cy Sneed would write his name on the chalkboard. A young hand would rise into the air, and Sneed would brace himself for the chuckles that were sure to soon fill the classroom. "Are you a lumberjack?"

The next five weeks will see lots of shuffling on Major League rosters. Here are the most intriguing positional battles on each of the 30 MLB clubs.

They wrestled with the decision to start a family for five years. It's something most young couples discuss at some point. Timing is important, and considering their busy lives, even more so for Astros pitcher Joe Smith and his wife, TV sports reporter Allie LaForce. The issue facing the couple is far more momentous than most others have to deal with -- one that's a matter of life and death.

It took only two words for Alex Bregman to send 9-year-old Jax Nystrom into a frenzy, but this kind of reaction -- young people freaking out at the slightest bit of attention from him -- has become commonplace for the Astros' All-Star third baseman.

Airbnb says it is laying off 25% of its workforce as it confronts a steep decline in global travel due to the new coronavirus pandemic. It’s a serious setback for the 12-year-old home-sharing company, which just a few months ago was...

HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania (AP) — A Pennsylvania inmate whose dreadlocks violated a jail’s haircut policy has been released from solitary confinement after more than a year, although his federal lawsuit is still pending. A federal...

Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) director, Dr Carissa Etienne, is warning that lifting COVID-19 restrictions too soon could accelerate the spread of the virus and open the door for a dramatic upsurge in countries of the region. The warning...

HYDERABAD, India (AP) — A gas leak at a chemical factory owned by a South Korean company in southern India early Thursday left at least 11 people dead and about 1,000 struggling to breathe. The chemical styrene, used to make plastic and...

Dozens of United States children have been hospitalised with a serious inflammatory condition possibly linked with the coronavirus and first seen in Europe. New York authorities announced Wednesday that 64 potential cases had been reported to...

JERUSALEM (AP): Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formally received the support of a majority of lawmakers to lead a new government yesterday, paving the way for a controversial power-sharing deal with rival-turned-partner Benny Gantz....

MOSCOW (AP): United States (US) President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed progress in combating the coronavirus pandemic, along with arms-control issues and oil prices, in a phone call Thursday, the White House and the...

LONDON — Britain’s minister for the environment, food and rural affairs says Prime Minister Boris Johnson won’t be announcing immediate changes to the country’s coronavirus lockdown when he addresses the nation on Sunday....

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal health officials have revoked US authorisation for masks made by more than 60 Chinese manufacturers after they failed to meet standards needed to protect health care workers. The Food and Drug Administration had...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump, who’s taken to calling the US the “king” of ventilators, is making plans to ship 8,000 of the breathing machines to foreign countries by the end of July to help in their fight...

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — A Colombian advertising company is pitching a novel, if morbid, solution to shortages of hospital beds and coffins during the coronavirus pandemic: combine them. ABC Displays has created a cardboard bed with metal...

ROSEAU, Dominica (CMC): A top West Indies Cricket Umpires Association (WICUA) official says regional umpires have also been heavily impacted by the cessation of cricket, stemming from the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Vivian Johnson, who...

BASSETERRE, St Kitts (CMC): ST KITTS AND Nevis Patriots have made some significant changes to their line-up for the upcoming Caribbean Premier League (CPL) season. Captain Carlos Brathwaite has gone to the Jamaica Tallawahs, while the Patriots have...

Western Bureau: A number of swimming officials in western Jamaica say that the region’s struggles with underdevelopment will continue even if the COVID-19 pandemic is brought under control. They say this is because they still lack proper pools to...

FORMER NATIONAL footballer Aldrick ‘Allie’ McNab is concerned about the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Caribbean’s football development. The coronavirus has caused the postponement, suspension, and cancellation of a number of sporting...

Western Bureau: THE MOBAY City Run organisers have reconsidered the event’s cancellation. Organising committee chair­person Janet Silvera said on Sunday, the day the event was to have taken place, that the seventh staging of the 5K/10K Walk and Run...