Beat reporter Brittany Ghiroli answers fans' questions in the latest edition of Orioles Inbox.
Are the Orioles going to trade Manny Machado?
-- Scott L., Eldridge, Md.
Probably not. I get asked this several times a day, but I really don't have any kind of Machado update. (If I did, I'd write it.) There are some teams still interested. Nothing is imminent.
I've always thought if they didn't trade him by early January, they probably wouldn't unless a team with a deep system suffers an injury that makes paying the steep price for Machado doable. But that's purely my opinion. I wish I had more for you, I really do. But there's nothing to update. He's not on or off the proverbial trading block. The O's are still listening and not lowering their demands. They want controllable young pitching.
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Why didn't the O's trade Machado last year at the Trade Deadline? They waited too long.
-- Tim L., Washington
Because they thought they were in it. Right or wrong, they were in Wild Card contention around that time. (Though certainly the case can be made that with their rotation, they weren't built for a deep playoff run.) They ended up adding a pair of players, much to most people's surprise.
Could they have gotten two Major League-ready arms for Machado if they dealt him in July? Ehhhh, maybe. The real time to trade him with serious value would have been last winter -- when he still had two years under control remaining -- but, again, the Orioles were intent on trying to compete. Hindsight is always 20-20.

Wouldn't it be wise to trade Jonathan Schoop now? If the Orioles don't, they'll be in the same situation with Schoop next year as they are with Machado this year.
-- Ron B.
That's definitely an interesting scenario, when you consider Schoop is coming off a career season and is headed into the second of three arbitration-eligible years.
There's been little talk of an extension for Schoop -- though there's plenty of it in the media -- because, quite frankly, now is the time. I agree with you in that if they wait another season, they run the risk of Schoop having no interest in staying because he's so close to free agency. If the Orioles want to lock him up long term, which they haven't done with a core piece, really, since Adam Jones in 2012, they have to get it done in the next few months.
If the O's fall out of contention early this year and become sellers at the Trade Deadline, what then? They have to decide whether he's a cornerstone of the organization for years to come. If the answer is yes, they need to negotiate now before his value goes up.
Will the O's ever add pitching?
-- Kim R., Norfolk, Va.
Yes. They have to. I know fans are impatient, but, to be fair, it's been a pretty slow offseason for everyone.
What kind of year should O's fans expect from Chris Davis?
-- Henry D., New York
A bounce-back one, if Davis has anything to say about it. The slugger is coming off a down year and has been brutally honest in assessing the fact that he needs to strike out less and make contact more. Of course, that's easier said than done, but Davis has been hitting since Christmas and made it a point this offseason to work on some things that will enable him to be more aggressive and more of a dual threat.
He's not going to all of a sudden become a high-on-base guy who lacks power, though. At the Major League level, it's hard to totally overhaul things. If Davis can make just small improvements with his strikeouts and batting average, it could go a long way toward balancing out the lineup.