Both Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail and interim manager Juan Samuel said prospect Josh Bell's stay in the majors could be a short one. Outfielder Felix Pie is expected to be activated from the disabled list Monday in Detroit, and Bell will be one of the candidates to go down to the minors at that point.

"We told him to not buy an apartment here, just to keep your options open," MacPhail said. "Certainly, [that's] one of the possibilities, obviously, depending on what happens on the field."

That's just fine to Bell, who got the news of his promotion last night and acknowledged he was surprised.

"It’s a blessing, I guess. I’m ready," Bell said. "Hopefully I’ll be able to contribute for right now, and we’ll see what happens."

MacPhail and Samuel said they still want Felix Pie to play a couple of games in the outfield before he rejoins the club. When they scanned the rest of their options, Bell stood out because he has been swinging the bat well.

"The more you looked at it and the position you had to potentially fill, the clearer the picture became," MacPhail said.

MacPhail said he has nothing on the immediate horizon on the trade front, so you can put that theory on Bell's call-up to bed for a couple of days. He also said the club has had zero talk about moving Miguel Tejada to shortstop full time, sending Cesar Izturis to the bench and playing Bell regularly at third base.

So for now, Bell will try to take advantage of the opportunities that he gets, even though there might only be a few.

"I definitely feel that I’m doing better, but I still know that there are things that I need to work on," he said. " I’m not exactly where I wanted to be, but I feel good and I’m ready. "