Brandon Snyder News

Jon Paul Morosi is a national MLB writer for FOXSports.com. He previously covered baseball for the Detroit Free Press and Seattle Post-Intelligencer. He began his journalism career at the Bay City Times in his native Michigan.

BA writer John Manual ranked the farm systems of all 30 teams for CNNSI. It is intersting tha the did it on teirs more than individual rankings.

All grades are EXTREMELY PRELIMINARY and subject to change. Don't get too worried about exact rankings at this point, especially once you get beyond the Top 10.

CLOSER: Baltimore saw its bullpen collapse after the midseason trade of closer George Sherrill last year and would prefer to slot setup man Jim Johnson right back into an eighth-inning role.

The 40-man additions here are duplicated in our team-by-team rundown . Elsewhere, we find news of a few free agents signing and also the Giants formally going about adding Angel Villalona to the restricted list.

The Orioles graduated a lot of their top young players to the majors this season - Wieters, Tillman, Matusz, Bergesen, Reimold, Hernandez, Mickolio - but there's still some talent left in the system.

The Orioles haven't been shy about what's on their offseason list: corner infielders and starting pitchers.

Whenever the O's are mentioned by the general baseball media, I tend to take notice.

The Orioles announced Wednesday that they have added right-handed pitchers Brandon Erbe and Luis Lebron and infielders Josh Bell, Pedro Florimon, Rhyne Hughes and Brandon Snyder to the 40-man major league roster, putting it at capacity.

For most of their careers, Baltimore's Josh Bell and Brandon Snyder have been known as defensive liabilities.

The fourth annual Arizona Fall League Rising Stars Showcase is scheduled for Saturday night in Surprise, Ariz., and two Orioles minor leaguers will be representing the Phoenix Desert Dogs in the event.

Brandon Snyder just wanted to know what it would be like to step into the shoes of a perceived god in some eyes.

Last week, several people asked if any of the games in the Arizona Fall League would be televised, and I wasn't sure about an answer at the time.

The $8 million club option on third baseman Melvin Mora's contract likely won't be picked up, and first base is currently wide open, so the Orioles will probably be in the market for some corner infield help this offseason.

Yesterday's stats: 2-for-3, 2B, HR , , 3 RBI , BB , K It's rare to talk about a teenagers playing in the Mexico Pacific League, which is usually filled with local veterans and Triple-A prospects, but Valle is a bit special, as he's playing in his hometown.

The Rangers shouldn't have drafted Matt Purke 14th overall in June if they weren't going to spend to sign him, and there were indications from the start that he might be as unsignable as any of the first-round talents.

Eight Orioles prospects are looking to sharpen their skills in this year's Arizona Fall League, which kicked off on Oct.

The Phoenix Desert Dogs defeated the Scottsdale Scorpions, 9-4, for their second consecutive victory in the Arizona Fall League.

Before I get into the top five second basemen in the Orioles' minor league system, I wanted to thank everyone who offered their input on my list of the top first basemen in the organization .

FIVE YEARS AGO 1. Brandon Snyder, c/3b, Bluefield 2. *Colby Rasmus, of, Johnson City 3. Eric Campbell, 3b, Danville 4. Brandon Erbe, rhp, Bluefield 5. *Max Ramirez, c, Danville 6. *Jesse Litsch, rhp, Pulaski 7. Juan Portes, 2b/of, Elizabethton 8. Josh Flores, of, Greeneville 9. *Aaron Cunningham, of, Bristol 10.