Right now, the Orioles employ four coaches for 2012: Rick Adair, Wayne Kirby, John Russell and Jim Presley.

Presley will be the hitting coach and Russell will be the bench coach. That much is certain.

Kirby, the outfield instructor who also coached first base, may switch to third if the Orioles end up hiring a rookie infield instructor/base coach. Coaching first is a little easier – or a little less stressful, anyway – than third base coach.

Adair likely will remain as pitching coach unless the Orioles hire a veteran for that slot, and then Adair would move back to bullpen coach where he started 2011.

My sense is Buck Showalter likely will keep Adair at pitching coach and hire someone for the bullpen. Not sure who that will be. I mentioned yesterday that new executive VP Dan Duquette met with former Oriole pitcher and long-time big-league pitching coach Joe Kerrigan on Thursday.

They had lunch – and it’s possible it was nothing more than two old friends getting together. I suspect it is more than that -- Duquette employed Kerrigan as pitching coach in Montreal and Boston -- but Kerrigan is a long shot to join the Orioles’ big-league staff for 2012. He is having double knee surgery on Jan. 30 and will be out of commission for six to eight weeks.

As for the infield/base coach, it’s possible, maybe even likely, that it comes from within the organization’s minor-league system.

Former Oriole shortstop Mike Bordick, last year’s offensive fundamentals coordinator, met with Showalter this week to discuss the job and has long been rumored as a rising coaching candidate. Another name to keep in mind is Jose Hernandez, Delmarva’s infield coach who spent 15 years in the big leagues and was an all-star in 2002 with the Milwaukee Brewers. He’s considered an up-and-comer in the organization as well.

Other potential internal candidates include Bobby Dickerson, the minor-league infield coordinator, and minor league instruction coordinator Brian Graham, although he could end up in a front office role.