BOSTON (CBS) – The Baltimore Orioles may be interested in hiring Red Sox bench coach Demarlo Hale as their third base coach, according to a Baltimore Sun report.

Hale is still under contract with the Red Sox, but his future with the team won’t be clear until the Red Sox hire a new manager.

If he signs with Baltimore, the 50-year-old Hale would be reunited with O’s manager Buck Showalter. He spent three years with the skipper while in Texas from 2003-2005.

Hale served as the bench coach in Boston for the last two seasons, and the team’s third base coach under Terry Francona from 2006-2009.

By Ross Karl

The lure of Major League Baseball isn’t just catching the eye of Black Sox defectors.

Young softballers have the chance to trial in front of Baltimore Orioles scouts in January and they’re more than willing to take it up.

Toronto Blue Jays signing Scott Campbell’s one step from Major League Baseball and he’s desperate to see more Kiwis have the chance.

“There’s so much athletic ability in this country. You know it’s just good to see that we’re starting to take some of those kids into baseball and give them an opportunity to do something with this game,” says Scott Campbell.

Campbell’s travelling the country with New Zealand under-18 Coach Matt Mills trialing any young athletes interested.

Perform well and they can play in front of the Baltimore Orioles scouts.

“These guys have a head start because softball skills are so translatable to baseball. But there are some raw skills, the foot speed, the arm strength, the way that someone is built, that you just can’t teach,” says Mills.

Wellington’s trial featured solely softballers who see greater opportunities in baseball.

“Over in America and Japan and all around the World. But in softball I don’t really know of many big softball competitions,” says trialist Joe Perez.

Campbell who plays the level below the Majors knows its hard work getting to the top.

“You gotta pay your rent, you gotta pay your bills, it’s not an easy life. I come back to New Zealand and work every off season when I can,” says Campbell.

But he continues to chase a dream that appears to be catching on around the country.

3 News

Baltimore Orioles first base prospect Joe Mahoney suffered through an injury marred 2011 campaign. The big league hopeful played in just 85 games for the Bowie Baysox of the Eastern League. Mahoney was productive when he played as he posted a .845 OPS with 11 home runs and 65 RBI for Bowie.

In an attempt to get him some more at bats the Orioles sent Mahoney to the Arizona Fall League (AFL). Mahoney was the standout performer in Arizona for the Orioles organization. In a curious move Baltimore didn’t send any of its top prospects to the AFL which left Mahoney as the team’s most intriguing fall storyline. The towering 6’7″ first sacker didn’t disappoint.

In 83 at bats for the Mesa Solar Sox Mahoney had an impressive .542 slugging percentage and a .360 on base percentage. His combined OPS of .902 topped his regular season performance for Bowie. Mahoney also clubbed four homers and drove in 22 runs in just 20 games in the desert.

Most importantly for both the Orioles and Mahoney, the big fella stayed healthy through the full schedule and made up for some of the at bats he lost due to injury this season. Mahoney is generally considered a mid-level prospect and has been on average a little old relative to his leagues. He’ll start next season at 25 years old. With two partial seasons at AA and a successful Arizona Fall League season under his belt Mahoney should begin the 2012 season at Baltimore’s AAA affiliate in Norfolk. From there he’ll be just a long fly ball from Camden Yards.

Orioles fans haven’t had much to cheer for over the past decade but Mahoney’s AFL performance is reason for hope. Mahoney likely won’t make anyone forget Rafael Palmeiro but, if he can stay healthy, he may give the Orioles the left side of a first base platoon in the near future, or provide trade fodder for new General Manager Dan Duquette as he takes on the Herculean effort of turning around the Orioles.

* Information gathered from http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/index.jsp

Dan Soderberg is a freelance writer, lover of pancakes and lifelong baseball fanatic. You can read some of Dan’s other work at http://mudville9.blogspot.com/ Follow Dan on Twitter @dan_soderberg

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In late September word “leaked” that the Toronto Blue Jays would be returning to the wonderful logo we became so accustomed back when the Jays were selling out games at the Sky Dome as frequently as they were winning them. Well today I’m happy to report that fellow inhabitants of the AL East cellar, the Baltimore Orioles, will be following Toronto’s lead. Yes, the cartoon bird is back and plumper than ever.

The jovial fellow will be making his heroic return as the centerpiece of the team’s hats beginning next season under the following two color schemes: a black hat with an orange bill and, my favorite, the timeless white front and black back with an orange bill.

The only games during the 2012 season in which the popular bird won’t be seen will be on Fridays where he’ll be given the night off in favor of the far less inviting “O’s” cap.

While this decision is sure to make fans of the Orioles experience an unusual sensation of giddiness, it’s also somewhat depressing that this piece of news will likely end up being the most uplifting story of the offseason.

[Via Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Sports Report]