Baltimore Orioles

The 2014 winter meetings have come and gone, and for the Baltimore Orioles, no transactions occurred that could have improved the team aside from a few Rule 5 draft selections.

I know what you're thinking.

"Fix" is a silly word to use for a team that won the American League East by 12 games last year, clubbed more than 200 home runs for the third consecutive season and swept the Detroit Tigers in the American League Division Series.

Still, after losing Nelson Cruz, Andrew Miller and Nick Markakis to free agency and with Delmon Young possibly on the way out as well, the O's have some work to do if they want to compete for another division crown in 2015.

The 2014 MLB winter meetings in San Diego arrived. Rumors flew. Teams signed players and dealt others. Plenty of action went down.

Then, the winter meetings went, just as quickly as they arrived.

The Baltimore Orioles have already undergone many changes this offseason, so it's no surprise the rumor mill is churning out more buzz for the American League East Champions.

According to Dan Connolly of The Baltimore Sun, left-handed pitcher Wei-Yin Chen is the hottest commodity on the Orioles' roster. 

It's early yet, but so far this offseason, the Baltimore Orioles sure are acting like a team that just went 96-66 and won the American League East by a dozen games. You'd expect a team like that to play it cool, and that's what the Orioles are doing.

On the heels of a season that saw the Baltimore Orioles cruise to their first American League East title since 1997, Buck Showalter has been named the AL Manager of the Year:  

Major League Baseball confirmed the news:

Scott Miller of Bleacher Report passed along the voting results:

Baltimore Orioles executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette was named Sporting News' 2014 MLB Executive of the Year on Monday.

The club's official Twitter account congratulated Duquette on the award, which was announced at the annual general manager meetings in Phoenix:

On October 8, Shortstop J.J. Hardy agreed to a contract extension that will keep him in black and orange until 2017, per John Perrotto of USA Today. The deal contains a vesting option for 2018, assuming Hardy reaches a predetermined number of at-bats.

The Baltimore Orioles have secured their spot in the 2014 MLB playoffs as they clinched the AL East division crown last Tuesday against the Toronto Blue Jays.

While the Orioles have lost a few vital pieces, the club has embraced the "next man up" mentality. It's not a question whether someone may be a good replacement—he needs to be.

Momentum. This time of year, every contender is looking for it. The magical elixir that can spark a deep October run.

So, one line of thinking goes, it can be bad (or at least dangerous) to secure a playoff spot too early. Shore up a division title, pop your champagne, then coast across the finish line—it's a recipe for complacency and an early postseason exit.