...and missing your inning-by-inning updates this weekend, check out this story from the Associated Press in Las Vegas. The NASCAR Cafe at the Sahara Hotel and Casino is offering a six-pound burrito for $19.95 that is free if you can finish it. As an added bonus, diners who polish off the whole thing also get an unlimited roller coaster pass, which creates janitorial possibilities you don't even want to think about.

Okay, I'm not really going to Vegas, but I'll be popping in here a little less frequently today and tomorrow because I'm celebrating my 25th anniversary this weekend with my wonderful wife, who -- coincidentally -- has been married to me for 25 years.

I think you'll agree that anyone who could stay married to me for a quarter century deserves a weekend doing anything she wants regardless of the cost, unless what she wants is a new husband with a better wardrobe.

Maybe, if you're real nice, Jeff Zrebiec will pop in with a news item or two to keep things interesting. I'll be sending in a few things, but I need a couple days off after racing Roch Kubatko back and forth from the Orioles clubhouse all day for two weeks. He's a lot younger than I am, though when he produced his birth certificate many of us were surprised to discover that he was born in Santo Domingo.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 12:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (24)
Categories: Schmuck being Schmuck
        

The Orioles players who are taking part in the World Baseball Classic are scheduled to report to their teams tomorrow, but Lou Montanez (left) will not be one of them. He was on the provisional roster for the Puerto Rican team, but was cut when the team decided to take 40-year-old Bernie Williams instead.

"I'm a little disappointed,'' Montanez said. "I was kind of counting on going. The guy told me I was the last cut. On the last day (setting the roster) they went with a couple of other guys."

Montanez is trying to be philosophical about the situation.

"Maybe it will end up being a blessing in disguise,'' he said. "Maybe I'll get to play a lot here.

Meanwhile, Jeremy Guthrie (USA), Melvin Mora (Venezuela) and Cesar Izturis (Venezuela) will be headed for their WBC training sites today or tomorrow. Orioles bullpen catcher and batting practice pitcher Ruben Felix also has been invited to be on the Team USA staff.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 10:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Just baseball
        

Jeff Zrebiec checked with Dave Stockstill for an update on Alfredo Simon's visa situation, but there is little new to report. The Orioles were hoping to make some progress yesterday, but it was a holiday in the Dominican Republic and the American embassy was closed. The club hopes there will be better news on Monday.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 9:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
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Catcher Gregg Zaun liked what he saw of Koji Uehara today, and he had the best view of anybody.

"It was pretty impressive," Zaun said. "Fastballs to both sides of the plate, split finger was there, ahead or behind on the count. He commanded both sides to both hitters, righty and lefty. It looks like he's pretty quick to the plate, so he's going to control the running game as well."

Zaun said the command was nice to see, but he also was impressed with Uehara's demeanor on the mound.

"I expected him to have good command," Zaun said, "but I also saw a bit of the competitive fire in him. He gave up that line-drive out to [John] Baker, and the next pitch he reared back and he cut it loose. You could see there was some fire there. He wasn't really happy with giving up that hard-hit ball."

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 3:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (15)
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Koji Uehara pitched two scoreless innings in his Orioles exhibition debut, and they would have both been hitless if Luke Scott had not lost a routine fly ball in the sun.

Uehara struck out three batters, all on called third strikes, displaying the command of the strike zone he was known for in Japan. Even when he walked Jorge Cantu to open the second inning, it was a 10-pitch battle in which he threw six strikes.

"It was really fun,'' Uehara said when asked about his outing a few minutes ago.

He said before the game that he would throw mostly fastballs and forkballs, and he followed through with that. The next step is to incorporate his other pitches more and work on improving his control, though he seemed to have pretty good command for a first outing.

When asked what his emotions were taking the mound in a major league exhibition game, he didn't waste any words.

"Joy,'' he said.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 1:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)
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Japanese pitcher Koji Uehara had little trouble getting through his first competitive inning for the Orioles, needing just 12 pitches (8 strikes) to retire the first three Florida Marlins hitters. He got leadoff man John Raynor on a pop up to second base. Catcher John Baker followed with a flyout to right field and Uehara struck out third baseman Dallas McPherson looking.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 1:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Orioles

Ryan Freel RF
Felix Pie CF
Luke Scott LF
Melvin Mora 3B
Ty Wigginton 1B
Matt Wieters DH
Chris Gomez 2B
Gregg Zaun C
Jolbert Cabrera SS

Koji Uehara RHP

Marlins

John Raynor LF
John Baker C
Dallas McPherson 3B
Jorge Cantu DH
Cody Ross RF
Gaby Sanchez 1B
Robert Andino SS
Alejandro De Aza CF
Alfredo Amenzaga 2B

Ryan Tucker RHP

Felix Pie's debut: Felix Pie struck out on a high fastball in his first competitive at-bat as an Oriole.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 1:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Former Orioles outfielder Jay Gibbons (left) seemed happy to see all the members of the Baltimore media that tracked him down in the Marlins clubhouse today. He was mildly disappointed, however, that he is not in the lineup for today's game against his old teammates.

"I was kind of looking forward to playing against (my) old friends,'' he said.

Gibbons took a circuitous route back to major league training camp. He played for the independent Long Island Ducks and spent time at the Double-A and Triple-A levels with the Milwaukee Brewers last year. Now, he's competing for an outfield role with the Marlins.

"So far, so good,'' he said. "I can't complain. They're treating me great over here."

Jay also has no complaints about how he was treated by the Orioles, who released him last spring.

"I'm disappointed the way it ended,'' he said. "I didn't fulfil the contract the way I wanted to, There is no resentment. They were great to me."

He was asked if he felt like he was made a scapegoat for his involvement in baseball's steroid scandal, but he wouldn't really go there.

"If I hit .300 and they released me, yeah'' he said, "but I'm not a scapegoat because I hit .230."

Getty Images

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 12:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)
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The Orioles broke out their spring road uniforms today and for the first time in a very long time, they have Baltimore on the front of their jerseys..

"It's beautiful,'' said third baseman Melvin Mora.

The spring road version is not the same as the regular season jersey, which is gray. The spring tops are black with orange script and will also be the road batting practice jerseys during the regular season.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (12)
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The reason Felix Pie is starting in center field instead of DHing is because regular center fielder Adam Jones has been sidelined with soreness in his forearm. The club does not think it's a serious problem and it isn't clear whether it is related to his spectacular rolling catch on Wednesday.

Jones made a running catch in the exhibition opener against the Mets and did a somersault. He came up seemingly favoring his shoulder, but he told me after the game that he did not get shaken up on the play. However, he has been wearing an ice pack on his elbow the past few days.

Koji update: Japanese pitcher Koji Uehara told the Japanese reporters that he will likely throw almost all fastballs and split-finger pitches in his first exhibition start. He may mix in a few of his other pitches, but wants to concentrate on the mainstays of his pitching repertoire.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 10:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (11)
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Just got to Roger Dean Stadium, where we're hoping to see our old friend Jay Gibbons, who's competing for an outfield role with the Florida Marlins. Jay played in Venezuela this winter, but had to come early to be there for the birth of his new twins. Too early to gauge his chances of returning the majors this year.

The Orioles aren't exactly fielding their "A" lineup behind Koji. Ryan Freel will play right field, Jolbert Cabrera will be at shortstop, Felix Pie, just two days after arriving in camp, will start in center field.

Matt Wieters is in the lineup at DH, even though the Orioles are visiting a National League ballpark, but the DH rule has been loosened in spring training so that it can be used in any game by mutual agreement of the managers.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 9:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
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Japanese pitcher Koji Uehara is scheduled to make his exhibition debut today against the Florida Marlins at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Fla. The spring routine usually calls for starters to pitch a maximum of two innings the first time through the rotation, but we'll have to wait and see with Koji, who has asked for more work at every turn during the first two weeks of training camp.

The biggest question right now is how they're going to accommodate all of the Japanese media for the game. There are about 20 seats in the Roger Dean press box and it's generally full, even in this age of media staff reductions. There probably will be about 30 members of the Japanese media, so it should be interesting.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 7:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
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Right fielder Nick Markakis left today's 11-3 victory over the Cardinals after his second at-bat to be with his wife Christina for a medical examination related to the pending birth of the couple's first child. It appears that doctors may induce labor over the next 24 hours, which would mean that Markakis might be away from the team for a few days getting to know his new baby.

That certainly won't be a problem from a team perspective. Training camp is nearly a week longer than usual because of the World Baseball Classic and Markakis came to camp in great shape, so he probably won't be any worse for a little family time.

Shameless radio plug: Be sure and join me at six for Sportsline on WBAL (1090 AM). I'll be talking both spring training and the opening of the NFL free agent market. Keith Mills will be in for part of the show and we'll have some of Keith's interview with Eric DeCosta and postgame comments from Orioles manager Dave Trembley. If you are out of signal range, go to WBAL.com and click on the "Listen Live" icon.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 4:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)
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Matt Albers also made his first appearance on the mound since going on the disabled list with a labrum tear last summer, and had much better results than teammate Danys Baez. He needed just 26 pitches to pitch two perfect innings, striking out one.

That's got to be encouraging, since there was some doubt that Albers would be able to come back from the labrum injury without undergoing surgery.

The final member of the injury trifecta that was scheduled today, reliever Chris Ray, pitched a perfect inning that required just nine pitches.

Scoring update: Third baseman Scott Moore just hammered a three-run home run to right that was right into the teeth of a stiff wind. The Orioles now hold a 10-2 lead over the Cardinals in the sixth inning.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 2:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (23)
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Yes, I did use a variation of that headline yesterday, and may do it again tomorrow. This is the kind of freedom you get with a blog.

Nolan Reimold just drove in two runs with a soft single, giving him four RBI after only three innings and giving the Orioles a 7-2 lead over the St. Louis Cardinals after three innings.

If you were wondering why Reimold was in the No. 9 hole in the lineup behind Justin Christian and Chad Moeller, well, apparently Dave Trembley is some kind of lineup savant. He must have known something, because Reimold was in the right place at the right time in each of his first two at-bats.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 2:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (17)
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Orioles pitcher Danys Baez just met with reporters after his one-inning performance and declared it a qualified success. He acknowledged his control problems after getting the first two outs of the first inning, but was thrilled to be back on the mound after a year and a half recovering from Tommy John surgery.

"I felt good,'' he said. "I got I the first two outs pretty quick, then tried to hard to get the third out. But it felt good and my arm felt great...It was a great feeling to be out there, but a weird feeling after so long."

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 2:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
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Starting rotation candidate Danys Baez got the first two outs of the first inning rather handily, but struggled with his control and walked the bases loaded before giving up a two-run double to Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina.

Baez threw 34 pitches and only 16 strikes. He finally got DH Brian Barton out on a fly ball to right and gave way to reliever Alberto Castillo.

The Orioles tied the game in bottom of the second inning on a single by Aubrey Huff and a two-run home run by outfielder Justin Christian, then took lead later in the inning when Nolan Riemold jacked a two-run shot into the screen above the left field fence.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 1:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
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It was an interesting concept. Cardinals manager Tony La Russa and Orioles manager Dave Trembley cooked up the possibility of the O's lending a few pitchers to the Cardinals to ease the O's innings squeeze and help the Cards with a shortage in the same department, but it didn't get far.

Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak shot it down in a hurry.

"That's not going to happen,'' he said, chalking up the difference between him and his manager on the subject as "a disconnect."

Instead, the Cardinals are going to bring some more minor league pitchers into the major league mix to alleviate the problem.

The concept never got to Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail, who was surprised when it was brought to his attention. He said earlier he would have been open to talking about it, but was non-committal on what he characterized as a very unusual idea.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 12:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
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It's not what you think. Former Orioles pitcher Dennis Martinez is not a guest instructor with the Orioles. He's here with the Cardinals. El Presidente is now the pitching coach with the organization's Class-A Jupiter club.

"They (the Orioles) didn't have a team down here,'' Martinez said, "and I wanted to be close to home. The Cardinals offered it, and I took it."

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 12:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
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Cardinals

Joe Thurston 2B
Joe Mather 3B
Colby Rasmus CF
Ryan Ludwick RF
Chris Duncan 1B
Yadier Molina C
Brian Barton DH
Jon Jay LF
Tyler Greene SS

Kyle Lohse RHP

Orioles

Brian Roberts 2B
Cesar Izturis SS
Nick Markakis RF
Aubrey Huff 1B
Melvin Mora 3B
Craig Brazell DH
Justin Christian CF
Chad Moeller C
Nolan Reimold LF

Danys Baez RHP

Looking ahead: Manager Dave Trembley said newly arrived outfielder Felix Pie will go on the trip to Jupiter tomorrow and get a couple of at-bats as a DH.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 12:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)
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Pitcher Brad Hennessey apparently will not require an MRI on his sore elbow. The Orioles medical staff does not believe, at this time, that there is any structural damage in the elbow, and he'll be evaluated on a day-to-day basis.

"I told him to tell me when he's 100 percent,'' Trembley said. "We talked four or five times in the offseason and he wanted to know that he would have an opportunity here. I told him to be honest with me and tell me when he's 100 percent and our deal will stay the same."

Hennessey said his arm felt "about the same" when he woke up this morning, but seemed reassured that he'll still have a chance to win a job in the rotation if it clears up.

"He said 'Don't rush yourself and when you're ready get back at it,'" Hennessey said. "That's reassuring, but as a competitor, you want to do everything you can to get back on the field."

In the interim, Trembley said minor league prospect Brad Bergesen will take over Hennessey's place in the spring rotation.

Trembley also said that reliever Kam Mickolio (groin strain) has been cleared for full activities.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
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Never accuse Orioles manager Dave Trembley or Cardinals manager Tony La Russa (right) of not being about to think outside the box. The Orioles have a huge pitching surplus -- from a spring training innings standpoint -- and the Cardinals have a shortage, so the two managers have discussed a plan where the Orioles lend the Cardinals a pitcher or two.

"I have a relationship with Dave,'' La Russa said. ""I don't know if he can get all the innings for everybody, and I don't know if it could be done, but take Friday for instance. Their guy could give us an inning or two. I think we could work it so the guy that gets lent, he is sure to pitch."

If it sounds crazy, it really isn't, though the teams would need permission from Major League Baseball for the exchange program. La Russa said he'd have to run it by his GM first. So would Trembley.

"My gut is there would be nothing wrong with it,'' La Russa said. "We're in different leagues."

It would certainly solve a problem for the Orioles, who have 37 pitches in camp and are already looking ahead to big innings squeeze during the middle of spring training.

"It's an interesting concept,'' Trembley said. "He asked if I had a problem with him going back to his GM to check on it, and then they would call Andy (MacPhail). I told him I had no problem. It's an interesting idea. I don't know what the rules are or how it would be received."

Associated Press photo

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 10:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)
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There is a lot on the line for the Orioles and Danys Baez this spring. The club would like some return on the $5.5 million he's guaranteed in the final year of his three-year, $19 million contract, and Baez wants to re-establish himself as a quality pitcher.

Today's start against the St. Louis Cardinals at Fort Lauderdale Stadium could be the first real step in that direction. Baez is coming back from Tommy John surgery and reached the same conclusion as the team this winter -- that his best shot might be as a starter.

If you want to read more on the subject, check out Jeff Zrebiec's story in today's Sun sports section.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 9:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
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Jeremy Guthrie got a large package delivered to him in the clubhouse today and was very proud of the contents. It contained a pair of fancy blazers -- one of them in black velvet -- by Robert Graham.

The designer name didn't mean anything to me, but Jeremy was pretty impressed with himself and his choice of jackets. I went on the Internet and found out that a good velvet sport coat can run you anywhere from $350 to $800, which explains why I've never owned a good velvet blazer. Frankly, I thought only Prince wore velvet blazers, but maybe I'm just out of touch.

I should point out that the blazers were a gift and I have no idea how much they actually cost. Jeremy strikes me as more of a shorts and flip-flops kind of guy, but maybe he's hoping to win an ESPY this year and he wants to look sharp for the awards show.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 4:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)
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Former Red Sox prospect David Pauley, another candidate for the starting rotation, also didn't have an auspicious Orioles exhibition debut. He lasted just a third of an inning and got shelled by the Mets in the fourth. He gave up five hits, a walk and four earned runs before being removed from the game.

The only out he got was on a spectacular running catch by Adam Jones, who took a shoulder roll after robbing Jose Valentin of a bloop hit in shallow center field. Jones looked like he was favoring the shoulder when he got up, but apparently was fine.

Game update: The Orioles are coming to bat in the ninth trailing, 9-3. Luis Castillo has a pair of two-run singles and Ryan Church has three RBI for the Mets.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 3:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)
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The New York Mets now hold a 7-3 lead in the game, thanks to a pair of two-run hits by second baseman Luis Castillo. The Orioles have scored on RBI singles by Ty Wigginton and Oscar Salazar and a run-scoring double by reserve catcher candidate Robbie Hammock, who was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple.

Just got a report from Mets PR on the reason why starter Sean Green left the game in the first inning. He suffered a cracked fingernail on his pitching hand that apparently was affecting his grip on the ball.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 2:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
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The Orioles announced that Brad Hennessey left the game in the second inning with elbow soreness. Just talked to him and he said that his forearm (near the inside of his elbow) began to tighten up while he was warming up for the second inning.

He was examined in the clubhouse and will be re-examined tomorrow. It could just be fatigue-related, but a sore elbow is always reason for concern, especially for a guy fighting for a spot at the end of the rotation.

"I hope that's all it is, but we're going to re-evaluate tomorrow,'' he said. "Hopefully, it's not serious. Hopefully, I'm going to be fine and get back out there in the near future."

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 2:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
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O's manager Dave Trembley light-heartedly bristled at questions before the game about his lineup, which only included three regulars -- Adam Jones, Luke Scott and Gregg Zaun.

"We want to see the new guys play,'' he said. "It’s a long spring training. For me, it’s important that Izturis and Roberts and Mora and Huff get in a lot of fundamental work in the back and they bond, getting to know each other, working on the little things that are going to be a big part of our game – infield defense, bunting, baserunning, a lot of the fundamentals."

He said the loss of infielders Melvin Mora and Cesar Izturis also has impacted his plans for the lineup early in the exhibition season..

"We’re losing Mora and Izturis on the first, so as much practice time as I can give those guys is to our benefit,'' he said. "I think you’ll see that when we’re all playing the game, they’ll be playing at the same time. That will be the set – Huff, Roberts, Izturis and Mora. You’ll probably see that tomorrow."

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 2:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
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New York Mets starter Sean Green lasted just four hitters before calling out the trainer to discuss what apparently was a problem with his pitching hand. He confered with the trainer and manager Jerry Manuel before being sent to the clubhouse.

Orioles starter Brad Hennessey also left after trainer Richie Bancells was summoned to the mound to talk to him, but he was probably at his pitch count after give up a single and two walks to load the bases in the second inning. He walked three and gave up two hits, getting out of trouble in the first with a double-play ball.

Green wasn't pitching particularly poorly, but gave up a run on an infield hit by Ryan Freel and a two-out single by Ty Wigginton. Nice debut by the new utility guys. Freel stole second to get in position to score.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 1:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
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Though I knew the answer already, I asked Dave Trembley whether there was any chance of him putting top prospect Matt Wieters into a camp game at first base. He looked at me as if I told him we'd just landed a man on the sun.

"I'd like to keep my job for awhile,'' he said. "If I sent him out there and he got hit in the face with a ball, it would be "bye, bye baby.'"

The reason I asked the question was for all the fans who have written in and asked me if the Orioles could extend Wieters' career by moving him to first base. That may be possible in seven or eight years, but I think the club is more interested in having the top young catcher in baseball for awhile. He's much more valuable behind the plate. If wear and tear becomes an issue down the road, the team can cross that bridge then.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 12:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)
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Count former Orioles manager Mike Hargrove among the baseball observers who are very impressed with the Orioles minor league pitching depth. He watched eight of them take the mound on Tuesday when the O's played the Italian national team.

"They've got some really nice arms,'' Hargrove said. "The ball comes out real well from all of those kids. I liked (Jake) Arrieta a lot and Tillman is real good."

Hargrove was already familiar with Tillman, who was drafted by the Seattle Mariners while Mike was the manager in 2006 and was the M's Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2007.

"He's the one they didn't want to give up,'' Hargrove said.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
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Here's an update on Dominican pitcher Alfredo Simon from Orioles beat reporter Jeff Zrebiec:

The Orioles still don’t have a definitive date for the arrival of right-handed pitcher Alfredo Simon, who has been detained in Dominican Republic with Visa issues. However, minor league director David Stockstill said that he is hopeful that Simon, who was a longshot to make the Opening Day roster even before his Visa problems, will arrive in camp within a week.

“He needs an annual waiver and once he has his appointment with the U.S. embassy, it takes a certain amount of time for this waiver to get processed,” Stockstill said. “Right now, we’re 12 days into this process. We’re hopeful that it’s only going to take a short amount of time. It could take a few more days, it could take another week. But t his is an annual process that most major league clubs go through. There are a lot of players in this situation.”

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)
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Baltimore Orioles

Ryan Freel 2B
Adam Jones CF
Luke Scott LF
Ty Wigginton 3B
Oscar Salazar 1B
Chris Gomez SS
Lou Montanez RF
Gregg Zaun C
Robbie Hammock DH

Brad Hennessey SP

New York Mets

Luis Castillo 2B
Daniel Murphy LF
Angel Pagan CF
Ryan Church RF
Ramon Castro C
Alex Cora SS
Nick Evans 1B
Jose Valentin 3B
Fernando Martinez DH

Sean Green P

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 10:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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When Baseball America named Matt Wieters the publications' top major league prospect of 2009, he became the first Orioles player so honored since BA started doing its top 100 list in 1990.

The closest any Oriole ever came before was pitcher Ben McDonald, who was ranked second on the very first list after being considered perhaps the most coveted draft player in history the year before.

Only two other Orioles have ever made the top five. Outfielder Jeffrey Hammonds was listed as the No. 3 prospect in 1994 and Arthur Rhodes was the No. 5 prospect in 1992.

Don't know if you can say that being the top guy makes you a can't-miss major league star, but the people at Baseball America apparently know what they're doing. Only once in the 20 years they've done the list has the No. 1 guy been a total bust. That was Brien Taylor, the highly touted Yankees prospect who was No. 1 on the list in 1992 and never made it to the majors.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 9:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)
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The Orioles open the Grapefruit League schedule -- and the seemingly wide-open competition for the late slots in the starting rotation -- in about four hours, when Brad Hennessey takes the mound against Sean Green and the New York Mets.

If it's true that you never get a second chance to make a good first impression, this likely two-inning stint actually might be pretty important for Hennessey. Pitching coach Rick Kranitz explained why the other day.

The Orioles have so many pitchers in camp that they'll have to narrow the field pretty quickly to make sure they have enough innings for the guys who have a real chance to be in the three, four and five holes in the rotation.

Injury update: Pitcher Kam Mickolio is scheduled to pitch a bullpen session today, but he's still got some residual soreness from the groin strain he suffered last week. He has not yet been told when he will make his first appearance of the exhibition season.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 9:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
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Left-hander Rich Hill, who is coming off one of his better workouts today, will make his first Grapefruit League start on Sunday against the Washington Nationals at Viera. He'll be the fifth guy up in the rotation, which starts with Brad Hennessey tomorrow (Mets), Danys Baez on Thursday (Cardinals), Koji Uehara on Friday (at Marlins) and Jeremy Guthrie on Saturday (Marlins).

The rotation will probably not be easy to predict for the next couple of weeks, since there are so many candidates and Guthrie leaves after his first start to join Team USA for the World Baseball Classic.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 2:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)
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Last year's organizational pitcher of the year, Brad Bergesen, pitched two innings and gave up just one hit. He threw 22 pitches, 19 for strikes, and struck out three, though he really isn't known as a strikeout pitcher.

Chris Tillman pitched a perfect fifth inning, throwing 14 pitches (10 strikes).

The Orioles scored three runs in the third inning. Donnie Murphy and Scott Moore each doubled in a run and Craig Brazell drove in the third run with a single.

Highly regarded right-handed Jake Arrieta just completed a scoreless sixth and Wilfrido Perez is warming up in the bullpen.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 1:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)
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Orioles catcher Matt Wieters was named Minor League Player of the Year by Baseball America at the end of last season. Today, the magazine released its top 100 prospects for 2009 and he was at the top of that list, too.

Guess that shouldn't come as a great surprise, but Wieters was chosen over Tampa Bay Rays pitcher David Price, who came up late in the season and starred in last year's American League Championship Series. Here's the link to the entire list.

"It's a great honor, but you have to look at it as what I did last year and this is a whole new year,'' he said. "You can look at that kind of stuff in the offseason, but when spring training comes around, you've got to really get back going and focus on this year."

The Orioles have three prospects in the top 25 -- the other two are Chris Tillman (No. 21) and Brian Matusz (No. 25). Jake Arrieta is ranked No. 67.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 1:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)
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Former Orioles manager Mike Hargrove is helping coach the Italian team, but he said again today he wouldn't mind getting one more chance to manage in the major leagues. He quit in Seattle while the Mariners were still in contention a couple of years ago -- supposedly because he had lost the desire to manage the team -- so he acknowledges that he'll have to convince a team he still has the fire to be an effective manager.

There is a backstory in Seattle that Hargrove will not talk about, but it became apparent later that the team was in turmoil at several levels, including the front office. Since then, the M's have fired GM Bill Bavasi and manager John McLaren.

Hargrove spent last summer managing a summer league team in Liberal, Kan. (right), and is set to do that again this year, but he's available to manage in the big leagues if an opportunity arises.

"Yeah, I'd like to give it one more try,'' he said.

Associated Press photo

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 12:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)
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Matt Wieters batted in a competitive situation for the first time in the second inning of the game against the Italian national team. He walked on five pitches.

"I guess the word on him has gotten back to Italy,'' said Orioles announcer Joe Angel, who is watching from the stands.

Troy Patton pitched the second inning. He threw 19 pitches, 11 for strikes, and gave up a hit and a walk. Brian Matusz threw 20 pitches in the first inning, 14 for strikes.

The focus here is almost entirely on the parade of young pitchers the Orioles will send to the moudn today, but -- for the record -- Lou Montanez stroked a sharp one-hopper through the right side in the second inning for the first O's hit in the game..

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 12:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
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Orioles top pitching prospect Brian Matusz pitched a scoreless first inning in the pre-exhibition game between the Orioles and the Italian national team. He jumped ahead on the first batter with two quick fastball strikes and then gave up a single on an offspeed 0-2 pitch.

He did not strike anybody out, getting the first out by picking the runner off first base, then coaching a bounce out to third and getting Orioles minor leaguer Mike Costanzo to fly out to medium-deep left field.

Matusz looked comfortable and confident and showed good velocity. Troy Patton will take over in the second inning.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 12:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
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Felix Pie met briefly with the Orioles media a few minutes ago and said he's very excited to be in camp and ready to get acclimated to left field.

"I'm very excited,'' he said. "I was scared because they took my passport like that. Yesterday they gave it to me and I'm happy to be here today and play baseball."

Sorry for the paraphrasing, but Pie speaks mostly Spanish. He said that he's ready to move over from center field to left field and wants to get out and start working out in left. He added that it was a little strange to be traded away from the Cubs -- who signed him as a very young prospect -- but he's happy to go somewhere he has a chance to play every day.

"I'm an Oriole now and I'm very excited to be here,'' he said.

WBC update: There's a lot going on around here right now. Tommy Lasorda is in camp for a news conference about the WBC, and the Italian national team is working out on the back field. Got a chance to say hi to Tom Trebelhorn and Mike Hargrove, who are coaching for Team Italia. Mike Piazza also is with the team in a coaching capacity, though he looks like he could play for the team -- and probably should.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
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Now that newly acquired outfielder Felix Pie is expected momentarily in camp, it's probably a good time to clear up some misconceptions about his delayed arrival. It apparently was not the result of some kind of screwup by Pie and certainly was not because of any intransigence on the part of Dominican government officials.

Pie, and other foreign players living in their home countries, have to go through the American consulate to get a work visa before every season. It's a fairly routine procedure, but is subject to the fits and starts of government bureaucracy and has become more complicated and time-consuming in the post-9/11 world.

The reason Pie's got hung up: He was traded to the Orioles late in the offseason and had to refile his application because of the change of employer. The government moves at it's own pace, though I wouldn't be surprised if there are times when the process moves faster for the better-known players or if someone influential intervenes on behalf of the applicant. You can visit the U.S. government visa site on the Web to get an official explanation of the process.

Update within an update: Pie has arrived at Fort Lauderdale Stadium and is expected to speak to the media after he undergoes his physical.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 9:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)
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Former Orioles star B.J. Surhoff arrived for his annual stint as a spring training instructor, and barely got settled before one of the young clubhouse attendants started to chide him about Maryland's big overtime win over North Carolina.

Surhoff, the former Tar Heel, was having none of it.

"You lost to Morgan State,'' he replied.

End of conversation.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 9:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (23)
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Outfielder Felix Pie has cleared up his visa issues and is scheduled to arrive in Miami from the Dominican Republic at 8:30 this morning. He could be in camp by 10 to take his physical and begin preparing for the exhibition season.

Yesterday, Orioles officials seemed to think the situation was about to get straightened out and expressed optimism he would arrive in the next day or two. Apparently, the problem stemmed from Pie changing teams late in the winter and having to file new information with immigration officials.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 7:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (22)
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Major League Baseball Players Association executive director Donald Fehr spoke to the Orioles media after holding a one-hour meeting with the players. Not surprisingly, he said, the players were largely concerned with the implications of the national economic downturn and the slow free agent market.

"Basically, we spent some time talking about the economy,'' Fehr said. "People are interested in what is happening with the free agent market and salaries and also the disclosures last week about what went on in 2003."

Fehr didn't use the word collusion, but he did say that the union has monitored the free agent market carefully since the owners were caught colluding to hold down free agent salaries in the mid-1980s.

"We can't talk about internal discussions, but essentially, every year since the middle 1980s we've looked at the market closely,'' he said. "When you have a market like this one -- that seemed to take very long to develop and had fits and starts with significant numbers of players that have yet to sign or haven't -- obviously you look at it a lot more closely.

"When we're finished with that, if there's anything to say, we'll say it. I don't want to make a public comment about it because people would try to draw inferences one way or the other. I'm not ready to have that happen.

He also addressed the call for the release of the 104 names on the list of players who tested positive for steroids during the survey testing of 2003, saying that the players were promised confidentiality and it's the responsibility of the union to protect it.

Looking ahead: I'll have a lot more on this later on the Web site and in tomorrow's print editions of The Sun. I'll have comments from Fehr on my show tonight on WBAL (1090 AM) at six. If you are outside of signal range, go to WBAL.com and click on the "Listen Live" icon.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 3:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)
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Pitching coach Rick Kranitz agreed to an impromptu press briefing a little while ago and explained the club's rationale for starting Brad Hennessey in the first Grapefruit League game on Wednesday. Hennessey benefits from Jeremy Guthrie's selection to Team USA.

"All of Guthrie's inning will be given to someone else,'' Kranitz said. "Jeremy was going to start that game, but [now] he's going to throw two simulated innings tomorrow."

That doesn't mean, however, that moving Hennessey into the first start is not significant. Kranitz says that it is very meaningful, and that Hennessey is going to get a very long look this spring.

"We're going to take a real good look at him,'' Kranitz said. "We're going to give him an opportunity."

There are at least two openings in the Orioles rotation, but those slots apparently haven't been left blank. Kranitz revealed today that he already has five starters in mind, though that obviously could change over the course of training camp.

"I have an idea of what it's going to be, but that's just right now,'' he said. "I had five in my mind last year at this time and it was wrong."

Judging from his comments, I'd speculate that the first three are Jeremy Guthrie, Koji Uehara, Rich Hill and the fourth would be either Hennessey, Hayden Penn or David Pauley. He said he also has a "sleeper" that is not on anybody's radar just yet.

Who do you think that might be?

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 1:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (69)
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Here's the Orioles lineup for tomorrow's game against the Italian national team that will participate in the World Baseball Classic:

Justin Christian CF
Donnie Murphy 2B
Scott Moore 3B
Oscar Salazar 1B
Matt Wieters C
Craig Brazell DH
Lou Montanez RF
Nolan Reimold LF
Justin Turner SS

Brian Matusz P

Manager Dave Trembley told us not to get spoiled by the 24-hour notice on the lineup. It won't happen like that again.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 1:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)
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Club officials are optimistic that the Felix Pie visa situation will be rectified in the next day or two, perhaps allowing him to join the team in time for the start of the exhibition season. Still no word on when the Alfredo Simon situation will shake out.

Japanese pitcher Koji Uehara threw 52 pitches during his batting practice session today, which drew one of the smaller contingents of Japanese media. Matt Wieters was behind the plate. The hitters were Lou Monatez, Scott Moore and Oscar Salazar.

Former Oriole Phil Bradley is in camp with the contingent from the Major League Baseball Players Association, which will brief the players on union business in a little more than an hour. MLPBA executive director Donald Fehr has not arrived in camp, but should be here very shortly.

Hall of Fame manager Tom Lasorda will be at the Orioles facility tomorrow at 11 a.m. to hold a news conference about the World Baseball Classic.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 12:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)
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Representatives of the Major League Baseball Players Association will brief the players on union business this afternoon at 1:30. MLBPA officials annually make a tour of major league camps to update and advise membership on the major issues facing the union.

Love to be a fly on the wall during that meeting. I'm pretty sure the union guys will ask the players to refrain from making public comments about the steroid scandal that might affect future collective bargaining negotiations. They couldn't have been happy when Red Sox star David Ortiz said last week that steroid users should be suspended for an entire season for a first positive test.

Under the current plan, first-time offenders get a 50-game ban. The penalty doubles for a second offense and a player can be banned for life for testing positive a third time.

No doubt, commissioner Bud Selig would be happy to increase penalties again, but the union was resistant to the original testing plan (which imposed only a 10-game suspension for a first positive) and had to be leveraged by Congress and public opinion to go along with the increased penalties in place now.

If we can corner one of the union officials before or after the meeting, I'll be curious to hear the union's take on the Stanford Group investment scandal, which has impacted several Orioles players, including top prospect Matt Wieters, and also the union's reaction to this winter's soft free agent market.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
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Non-roster pitcher Brad Hennessey played down his assignment to be the starter in the Orioles' exhibition opener against the New York Mets.

"It's spring training,'' he said. "I guess you just try to go with it. Not a big deal."

Got to disagree with him on that. He's getting the first opportunity to open some eyes in a very crowded camp. It's probably good that he doesn't think he needs to try to do too much, but it's a meaningful juncture in his audition for the starting rotation.

"It'll be nice to get the first one out of the way and get going,'' he said. "I just going to try and command the strike zone ... take it cool and not rush yourself to be Opening-Day-ready."

Baltimore Sun photo by Doug Kapustin

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 9:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
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The New York Mets will send set-up man Sean Green to the mound to start the exhibition opener against Orioles on Wednesday at Fort Lauderdale Stadium. The Cardinals will start Kyle Lohse on Thursday and also have scheduled Chris Perez, Jess Todd, Brad Furnish, Chris Manning and Ian Ostlund to pitch in that game.

Bonus Mets update: Pitcher Tim Redding, who was one of the pitchers the Orioles pursued in the free agent market, has been shelved temporarily with what the team describes as minor discomfort in the back of his shoulder.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 9:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
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First, my apologies to all of you who thought this was going to be an Oscar Salazar update. This morning's first subject -- since I haven't gotten to the ballpark yet -- is related to the Academy Awards show last night and my opinion that Sean Penn and O's catcher Gregg Zaun were separated at birth.

I know the resemblance is sketchy, and I'm pretty sure Zaun isn't likely to start lecturing everyone in the clubhouse who is opposed to gay marriage about how ashamed their grandchildren are going to be of them, but I thought I'd let you join in a fun little game we play in the press room once in awhile and ask you to pick the cast for a movie about the Orioles.

If Penn would play Zaun, who would play Aubrey Huff? Melvin Mora? Brian Roberts? Nick Markakis? Adam Jones?

Bonus Oscar rant: I'm not commenting on the gay marriage issue here one way or the other. I'm just tired of being lectured on politics and ethics by Hollywood, though I appreciate Penn taking time out from punching photographers to let us know how he feels about peace, love and understanding. I also found it funny that in the same Oscar speech, this year's Best Actor condescendingly condemned opponents of gay marriage and talked about how happy he was to finally have an "elegant" new president, forgetting -- apparently -- that Barack Obama and vice president Joe Biden said repeatedly during the campaign that they are personally opposed to gay marriage.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 7:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (90)
Categories: Just baseball, Schmuck being Schmuck
        

Chris Ray said there was no suspense when he got to training camp this spring because he had answered all the questions about the condition of his reconstructed elbow over the previous year.

"All my doubts were pretty much gone before I started throwing again,'' Ray said. "I went four or five months without throwing a baseball (after the surgery), but I knew I was going to be fine after that first day of throwing."

He hasn't forgotten the date of that workout, because it was the first day of spring training last year.

"That was one of the happiest moments of my career when I went out there and threw like that on the first day of spring training,'' he said. "It was such a relief."

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 1:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)
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Reliever Chris Ray is very happy with the progress he's made since undergoing Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery, but he's not getting ahead of himself. He said yesterday he has no problem with manager Dave Trembley's projection that George Sherrill will be the primary closer when the season begins.

"I haven't really talked to him about that, but I would assume so,'' he said. "I'm just trying to get in shape and get in some big league games. I haven't played in a year and a half, so obviously you're not going to go on what I did before. You've got to go out now and do it."

Ray said he's excited about the possibility of both he and Sherrill being healthy enough so Trembley can go to one of them if a potential game-saving situation arises in the seventh or eighth inning.

"Any time you have options like that -- as far as who can close -- I don't think it's ever a bad thing. I've got as much faith in Sherrill as everyone else."

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
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The Orioles spring training complex is a city-run facility and is monitored by a small contingent of Fort Lauderdale police officers, two of which stopped by early today wearing their bullet-proof vests.

I really don't think that's necessary now that Daniel Cabrera doesn't pitch for the Orioles any more.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
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Jeff Zrebiec relayed a funny scene in the Orioles clubhouse the other day. New pitcher Mark Hendrickson walked across the clubhouse and chided Brian Roberts about the friction that developed between them last year when Roberts stole third base on Hendrickson in an exhibition game.

Roberts defended himself by reminding Hendrickson that Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez stole third base earlier in the game.

The exchange was light-hearted and -- with the encouragement of noted peacemaker Aubrey Huff -- Roberts got up from his seat and gave Hendrickson a big hug.

Upon further review of my previous blog item, I think Brian should be grateful Hendrickson is not a huge box turtle.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
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The expression "No good deed ever goes unpunished" was never more true for me than it was earlier this morning on my way to the ballpark. I was headed down Atlantic Boulevard when I had to swerve to miss a large box turtle trying to cross the six-lane road. Even on Sunday morning, Atlantic is a heavily traveled street and there was no way the turtle was going to get over the curb, so I made a U-turn and went back to move it into the adjacent open field.

Don't know why I did it. Guess I was just looking for a little Karma. Maybe someday a giant turtle will show up just in time to bail me out of a major scrape. But that's not where I'm going with this story.

I put on the emergency flashers and sprinted across the median, or what passes for sprinting when you look like me, then picked up the turtle and started to carry it off the road.

If you're a turtle expert, you know what happened next. The little fellow apparently had about five ice teas before he hit the road and his special turtle defense mechanism kicked in.

So, why did the turtle cross the road?

To pee all over my nice, newly dry-cleaned Aloha shirt.

Accuracy in blog media dept: Just want to point out that the picture above is not the actual turtle involved in this account. I'm not even sure it's the same turtle species. If you'd like to get independent confirmation of this anecdote, here's Roch Kubatko's take on incident.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 8:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (19)
Categories: Schmuck being Schmuck
        

Tuesday's game against the Italian national team will be a showcase for the Orioles pitching youth movement. Last year's top draft choice, Brian Matusz, will start and be followed by Troy Patton, Brad Bergeson, Chris Tillman, Jake Arrieta, Wilfrido Perez, David Hernandez and Jim Hoey.

Every pitcher will throw one inning except Brad Bergeson, who is scheduled to pitch the third and fourth.

They will face a couple of Orioles prospects on Italy's entry in the World Baseball Classic. Jeff Fiorentino and Mike Costanzo are expected to be in the Italian lineup.

The Italian coaching staff also includes some familiar names -- former Orioles manager Mike Hargrove and future Hall of Fame catcher Mike Piazza.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 8:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
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If you haven't checked it out yet, take a look at the story by Jeff Zrebiec and me about Matt Wieters and Jake Arrieta, who might be impacted by the massive securities investigation that has frozen the assets of New York Yankees stars Johnny Damon and Xavier Nady.

Both Arrieta and Wieters said they are hopeful that their investments are safe, but there are more questions than answers right now.

“It’s really sad that a lot of big league players and minor league players are having to deal with this at the start of spring training,’’ Arrieta said. “It’s going to be a major distraction. I just hope everyone involved is taken care of.”

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 7:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)
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Since I've been getting some questions about Brian Roberts' contract and the level of no-trade protection included in it, I went and actually cornered a couple of Orioles officials and found out.

Roberts had a very limited no-trade clause for the final year of his previous contract, allowing him to designate four teams to which he could not be traded. That was rolled in when the final year of the old deal was rolled into what essentially is a new five-year contract.

So, this year, there are four teams that Brian can't be traded to, though I have to admit I have not confirmed the list. I'm pretty confident that two of the teams are the Kansas City Royals and Toronto Blue Jays, but that is conjecture based on a peripheral conversation, so you can't take that to the bank.

The no-trade protection graduates through the next three years of the contract. He will be allowed to designate eight teams he doesn't want to play for next year and 12 teams the following season.

The no-trade clause becomes blanket protection a couple months before Roberts would get it anyway as a 10-5 player. The 10-5 rule in baseball's collective bargaining agreement allows every major league player to veto a trade after he has spent 10 full years in the major leagues and has five full years of service with his current club.

Though the club retains a fairly unfettered right to deal Roberts at the moment, I've been assured by O's officials that the club has no intention of pursuing any trade talks involving him.

Contract update: The Orioles have come to terms with reliever Bob McCrory, leaving eight players still unsigned.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 1:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
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Japanese pitcher Koji Uehara threw his first batting practice session against live hitters a little while ago, and -- as usual -- he extended his workout longer than the rest of the pitchers. The plan is for each pitcher to throw 25 pitches, but Uehara threw 37.

He gave up a couple of gappers to minor league shortstop Blake Davis, but it's really not about the kind of contact the hitters make at this point. It is purely pitching practice, and the hitters are there to provide a target for the pitching workout.

Uehara threw all his pitches -- forkball, cut fastball, breaking ball, fastball -- and said afterward that he felt it was his best workout of the spring.

The batting practice session brought out the largest contingent of Japanese media since the start of camp, and he also had a couple of special guests observing his performance. His wife, Miho, and three-year-old son, Kazuma, attended the workout.

On the personal side, Uehara continues to make friends whereever he goes. He made it a point to call each of the American reporters by name and said that now that he has all the names ingrained in his mind, he will never forget them. The best part is that he has no idea that Schmuck is a funny name.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (12)
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Potential starter Matt Albers walked off the field with one of the trainers during the workout this morning, raising some antennae. He's coming back after rehabbing a torn labrum, but the early indication is that his early exit was not related to that.

The Orioles have had some flu issues during the first week of training camp and Albers apparently is the latest victim. Earlier in the week, non-roster pitcher Scott Chiasson was held out of workouts for a couple of days with what club officials described as a virus. The team had a near epidemic of flu-like illness a year ago at this time, so this is mild by comparison.

Don't know for sure if that's what's going on with Albers, because medical information has to be funneled through manager Dave Trembley, so I'll update the situation as soon as possible.

Update: Jeff Zrebiec just checked with Trembley and got confirmation that Albers was removed because he's suffering from a chest cold.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 10:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
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Former major league star Reggie Smith was in the Orioles clubhouse this morning. Smith is the hitting coach for the Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, but was here representing a company that makes custom-fitted bats..

Smith brings back memories. I covered the Los Angeles Dodgers in the early 1980s and Reggie was a big part of those Dodgers teams that were so successful then. He was a fearsome player and an intimidating personality, but he was also very intelligent and could be charming when he wasn't scaring the hell out of a young sports writer or an opposing pitcher.

He's been a coach for Team USA since the late 1990s and has worked with the team through three Olympic cycles. (He's shown at right coaching first base in the bronze medal game at the Beijing Olympics) The WBC experience is a little different, however, since the team is made up of established players who don't require a great deal of coaching.

"I just want to get to know their routines and be there if they need something,'' he said. "Where we can help them a lot is with information on the opposing pitchers and what they can expect from them."

Getty Images

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 9:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
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Melvin Mora seems pretty stoked about playing in the World Baseball Classic. He didn't take part in the first one, but he has had a lot of experience over the course of his career in international competition.

The WBC, however, probably is not comparable to the type of atmosphere Mora has experienced in the Caribbean winter leagues.

"I talked to a couple of friends,'' Mora said. "It's exciting because you get to play together and meet the stars from every country ... Japan ... Korea. ... It's something you enjoy because because you don't know when you're going to do that again."

Here's Mora's take on the difference between playing in the Latin American baseball leagues and the American major leagues.

"It's more fun than playing here,'' he said. "The people, they don't like to lose. The emotion. The passion they have. It's crazy. Here, if you play bad, all they do is boo you. If you play bad there, they throw stuff at you."

If you want to read more about Melvin, check out the sports section on the Web site later this weekend for a feature on him by Orioles beat reporter Jeff Zrebiec. It'll be in the print edition Monday morning.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 9:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (14)
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Former Cincinnati Reds general manager Wayne Krivsky, who is now a special assistant to Andy MacPhail, was not surprised at how difficult it was for superstar Ken Griffey Jr. to make a decision between the Atlanta Braves and the Seattle Mariners. Krivsky got to know Griffey while they were together in Cincinnati, so he has some insight on the subject.

Faced with the choice of being on a seemingly more competitive team in Atlanta -- and a team that trains very near his Florida home -- and the team with which he established himself as a near-certain Hall of Famer, Griffey chose to go back to Seattle, where he can play both in the outfield and as a designated hitter.

"He's a very thoughtful guy and very respectful of the game,'' Krivsky said. "I could see where it's a very tough decision for him. His family means a lot to him, so signing with Atlanta would have been six extra weeks with the kids. Going to the American League will mean he can get some at-bats at DH and going back to Seattle is a good story."

Krivsky said he had a great relationship with Griffey and he's rooting for him to have a big year for the Mariners.

"I feel fortunate to have been around him.''

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 4:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)
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There's no new word on the timetable for Felix Pie's arrival in camp, but the Orioles are being proactive with his roster situation. Dave Stockstill is in the Dominican Republic trying to help move things along. Andy MacPhail said he doesn't think much will happen until Monday, since the consulate is already closed today.

Manager Dave Trembley further clarified the closer situation during his post-workout press briefing. He had already indicated that George Sherrill arrived at camp as the primary closer, but that doesn't mean that he will be the only closer. Chris Ray will get closing opportunities and, of course, the situation will evolve over the course of the spring and the early part of the regular season.

Non-roster infielder Jolbert Cabrera was in uniform for the second full-squad workout. He was a little late getting to camp on Thursday, but got some extra work at the end of today's session.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 2:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)
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The Brian Roberts news conference lasted about 20 minutes, with Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail and manager Dave Trembley saying all the right nice things about Brian and Brian saying all the right things about the Orioles and the city of Baltimore.

"Obviously, this is an extraordinarily happy occasion for the club,'' MacPhail said. "I just want to thank ownership. I'm very grateful to Peter [Angelos] we can be here and do this."

Brian downplayed any frustration with how long the process took and said he always wanted to play his entire career in Baltimore.

"The city of Baltimore is my second home,'' he said. "With looming free agency and the lure of looking at every team in Major League Baseball to see where you wanted to play, this is the place I wanted to play.

"I think the organization -- under Andy MacPhail's leadership -- is moving in the right direction and I believe that over the next four or five years we're going to be in a position to play some meaningful games."

He added that he always envisioned himself as a player who spends his entire career with the same team.

"That's what I wanted to do,'' he said, "but I wanted to do that on terms that were agreeable to both sides."

Sun photo by Doug Kapustin

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 1:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (20)
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Japanese pitcher Koji Uehara had to submit to his first American drug test today and it created another small case of culture shock. Uehara told the Japanese reporters afterward that it was administered differently than the random steroid/drug tests in Japan. The players here must disrobe from their shoulders down to their knees and the person monitoring the test stands in front of the player while he fills the cup.

In Japan, the monitor stands directly behind the player to give him a small modicum of privacy.

Apparently, the Japanese baseball officials haven't heard of the Whizzinator -- the phallic device sold illegally (in the U.S.) on the internet that can be filled with clean urine to defeat drug tests.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (11)
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Guess this makes it official. The Orioles sent out a press release a few minutes ago announcing the signing of Brian Roberts. Glad to hear it. Never would have guessed.

Roberts will take part in a news conference this afternoon, though he basically confirmed the deal and talked about it at length yesterday. He certainly looks like a happier player than the one who showed up at camp a year ago after nearly being traded to the Chicago Cubs.

The deal is believed to have limited no-trade protection for Roberts, but I'm only saying that because it's logical. Not because I know. Can't imagine he would sign a deal that gave the Orioles the right to deal him to the Kansas City Royals next week. He almost certainly has some say over where he could be dealt.

Don't misunderstand. Trading him is not an option anyone is considering right now. The club has made a couple of attempts in the past -- the Braves deal that was vetoed by Peter Angelos and the Cubs talks that eventually evaporated a year ago.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (11)
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We aim to please at The Schmuck Stops Here, so when somebody makes a reasonable request, we do everything in our extremely limited power to grant it. This one from Paul R was pretty easy.

Paul R's request: I realize it might be too late, but are there any photos of Luke Scott's grizzly man facial hair?

Pete's reply: Indeed there are, and I'm posting one right here. It's up to you to figure out which one is Luke and which one is manager Dave Trembley.

As you probably know, Luke was this year's ambassador from the facial hair club who tried to convince manager Dave Trembley to change the club's policy banning beards and restricting mustaches to the outer edges of the upper lip. The policy is not Dave's, it has been in effect as long as owner Peter Angelos has owned the club, but Trembley said yesterday that he probably wouldn't change it if he could.

Sun photo by Doug Kapustin

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (11)
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Utility man Scott Moore was waived off the 40-man roster when the Orioles finalized the deal for Ty Wigginton, but he says that doesn't have any effect on how he goes about his business this spring.

"I think whether I come in here on the roster or not, I've got to come in here and play good and help the team win. If I do that, things will work out," Moore said.

It will be an uphill climb after the Orioles spent the winter adding players to compete with him. The arrival of Wigginton and Ryan Freel and the return of Chris Gomez make it a very tough numbers game to crack.

"I didn't follow the transactions (every day), but you hear about them,'' Moore said. "There are two ways of looking at that. You check out the team, because you care about the team, but I'm not trying to see the future. Just trying to take care of business. I just have to make sure I'm ready every day to help the team win."

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 10:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)
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The Brian Roberts news conference will not be delayed after all. The lab work came back and his news conference will take place some time after today's workout.

First baseman Aubrey Huff is fast becoming the illustrated man. He got four new tattoos in the offseason, including a very prominent Sagittarius-like man-horse on his right upper arm.

"They're kind of addictive,'' Huff said, "but I think that's it for me."

Koji Uehara was the first to notice this morning that MLB writer Spencer Fordin shaved his goatee. That might be because nobody else looks that closely at Spencer's face, but give Koji credit for being very observant.

Non-roster pitcher Scott Chiasson left today's workout a little early. He has been battling the flu the past few days, so the trainers cut short his activities about halfway through the defensive drills.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 9:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (14)
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Newly acquired pitcher Rich Hill (right) was out on the practice mound at 8:30 a.m. today, getting in some extra work with pitching coach Rick Kranitz and bullpen coach Alan Dunn. The Orioles are hoping that reuniting Hill with two coaches he has worked with earlier in his career will help him get past some serious control issues.

Hill told Jeff Zrebiec he already feels like he's made progress because of the relationship, and that the bullpen session was very encouraging. Kranitz has spent a lot of personal time around him, also, trying to keep him relaxed and loose.

Though Hill claims his control problems are rooted in a back injury that dogged him last year, it seems apparent that there are some mechanical issues Kranitz and Dunn are trying to correct. If they succeed, he could be a key addition to the pitching staff and open the season as the No. 3 starter.

Sun photo by Doug Kapustin

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 1:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (24)
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The only significant Orioles absence on the first day of full-squad workouts is newly acquired outfielder Felix Pie, who is the second O's player to have his arrival delayed by visa problems.

Pie was acquired to fill out what is expected to be one of the speediest outfields in the major leagues, so I guess you could see some irony in his slow arrival in camp. No word yet on the specific issue that is holding up his paperwork or when he might show up.

Manager Dave Trembley said this afternoon that he doesn't know when Pie will join the club, but indicated that it won't be a problem if he's only a few days late. Much more than a week is another story.

Infielder Jolbert Cabrera also did not make the first full-squad workout because he was delayed leaving home, but eventually did report today.

Pitcher Alfredo Simon has been delayed in the Dominican for the same reason and could still be a week away.

OK, now you can start with the jokes about how much I am going to miss Pie.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (21)
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Brian Roberts, as promised, spoke to the media minutes ago and basically confirmed that his four-year, $40 million contract extension is all but done. It's down now to getting back lab tests from his physical and holding the news conference tomorrow.

"Obviously, it's fairly close to done,'' he said. "I think we're all excited about the possibility it is where it is. It's a long process, but in the end both sides are happy."

Roberts (at right with manager Dave Trembley) clearly is relieved to be at the end of a multi-year process that nearly led to him being traded to the Chicago Cubs before spring training a year ago. He had made it clear that he wanted to get something done quickly this spring and team officials obviously felt the same way.

"It'll be a relief at some point,'' he said, "but if something hadn't worked out, I'd still go out and play. If it works out the way we want it to, it's great for me and my family. It's something we put a lot of time and effort into on both sides."

For fans who are interpreting this as an endorsement of the Orioles' rebuilding plan, Roberts said that's a fair interpretation.

"I don't think I would have made the commitment to begin negotiations if I didn't think in the course of the process over the next four or five years, we would have a chance to win. It's not going to be easy. It's never easy in this division, but we've seen Tampa Bay do it."

Another thing that clearly had an impact on Roberts was the club's ability to sign teammate Nick Markakis to a six-year, $66.1 million extension.

"To see that commitment to him for six years is great,'' Roberts said. "He's somebody who's going to be here for a long time. If I get to play the rest of my career here, I hope he's the next guy to do that."

Sun photo by Doug Kapustin

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 10:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (24)
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There's a lot of YouTube stuff out there showing Koji Uehara pitching in Japan and various international tournaments, but this particular six-minute video is a career compilation of his biggest strikeouts and it includes some notable strikeout victims.

If you hang in for about two minutes, you can see him tie Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi in knots during one of the postseason All-Star tours of Japan a few years ago. Don't know if the Orioles are getting the same guy at this point in his career, but he has an impressive repertoire of pitches.

Here's the video, with Japanese play-by-play and -- in some cases -- metric radar gun readings:

If you don't have a calculator handy, the fastball to Bonds that flashed up as 143 kilometers per hour would be 89 miles per hour, but remember that Uehara was quite a bit younger then. And, you might notice, Barry was quite a bit slimmer.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 8:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (21)
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I'd just like to close out the day with a shout out to Orioles beat writer Jeff Zrebiec, who doggedly pursued the Brian Roberts contract negotiations the past several days and helped me let Orioles fans know yesterday that the long wait for the Orioles to sign him to a long-term extension was almost over.

Zrebiec was so locked in on the story that it enabled me to tip readers off to the possibility of a settlement here yesterday and write two columns on back-to-back days about the pending deal well before it was obvious to all that it was going to get done. The deal, by the way, is a four-year extension added on to the final year of Brian's current contract, so he'll be under contract for the next five seasons.

Here's Jeff's story from earlier today, firming up most of the details of the pending deal. Former Sun columnist and FoxSports baseball guy Ken Rosenthal also gets credit for being the first to come up with the financial terms of the contract.

If you're going link crazy, here's my column from earlier today about the long-term ramifications of the deal and its impact on every aspect of the Orioles organization.

Minor league update: O's minor league director Dave Stockstill confirmed today the team finalized a minor league deal with Japanese pitcher Ryohei Tanaka. Some Japanese baseball publications had reported the deal was done a week ago, but the O's denied at that time that it was final. Tanaka was once the top overall draft pick out of high school in Japan.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 7:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (16)
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Outfielder Lou Montanez, who earned a late call up last season after putting up Triple Crown numbers at Double-A Bowie, arrived at camp to face a very crowded outfield situation in the wake of the offseason acquisition of Felix Pie and Ryan Freel.

Not that he is surprised by any of it. He monitored Andy MacPhail’s offseason reconstruction project and knows that it could dramatically affect his chances of making the 25-man roster out of spring training.

“I’m always paying attention,’’ he said. “It’s kind of like reality TV for me. I follow everything that comes out.”

Rather than be disappointed about it, he said he is more determined than ever to prove he belongs at the major league level.

“It’s expected – in the big leagues – there’s going to be competition. I think that makes you better. It’s a long spring and a lot of things can happen. You always come in trying to outdo the other guys. You wish everybody luck, but you want to be the luckier one.”

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 3:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (21)
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Japanese pitcher Koji Uehara threw his second bullpen this morning, drawing the usual number of Asian and American journalists. His command was good and he showed off his sharp-breaking forkball.

He was flanked on one side by Jake Arrietta, whose fastball was crisp, and Jamie Walker, who looked like Jamie Walker. Don't kid yourselves. Walker will have a good spring. His struggles last year notwithstanding, he is a particularly tough guy to face this type of year.

Luke Scott said he will shave his bushy lumberjack beard before the start of the first full-squad workout tomorrow. I think he's just waiting for the environmental impact report.

The Orioles will hold open ballboy and ballgirl tryouts at noon on March 7 at Oriole Park. Former O's pitcher Dave Johnson and longtime umpires attendant Ernie Tyler, along with some members of the front office staff, will evaluate the candidates. Bring your own glove.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 1:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)
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Just got a heads-up from Orioles beat writer Jeff Zrebiec that closer George Sherrill has had his activities restricted because of a mild hamstring strain. He's still able to throw, but is being held out of some conditioning drills to let his leg calm down.

In other non-serious injury news:

Pitcher Mark Hendrickson has been dealing with some hip soreness.

Reliever Kam Mickolio had to leave the field with a groin strain. He's obviously day to day, as are the rest of us.

Non-roster right-hander Scott Chiasson was held out of today's workout because he was ill.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 12:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)
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Reliever Chris Ray looked very good on the practice mound yesterday, but maybe it's more important how good he felt today when he woke up. He said his arm feels great and he's very happy with the results of his surgery and rehab.

"I had already thrown about 12 bullpens before yesterday,'' he said. "Everything feels great."

Of course, he was pitching at the end of last year, so it's no surprise that he's throwing without restriction now. He probably could have come off his rehab assignment to pitch last September, but the club slow-played him to make sure he would be in optimum shape -- both physically and mentally -- this season.

"I probably could have pitched, but I didn't think my command was as good as it could have been,'' Ray said, "The last thing you want to do is go out there and get hit around at the end of the year."

So he's been chomping at the bit to get here this spring.

"This offseason felt like forever,'' Ray said. "Usually, players talk about how it seems too short, but it felt like it would never end."

Sun photo by Doug Kapustin

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
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First baseman Aubrey Huff is in camp and swung by the press trailer for a casual conversation with the writers. He says he went about the offseason pretty much the same way he did before last year's comeback season, minus the sports hernia surgery.

Huff said he's impressed with the moves that Andy MacPhail has made -- particularly the Nick Markakis extension -- but hasn't given much thought to his own contract situation. His contract expires after this year.

He was asked if he was uncomfortable with the likelihood that he'll come up in trade speculation at midseason if he doesn't sign an extension himself.

"No," he said. "I've been a trade target every year of my career."

Though he sparked controversy with a comment critical of the city of Baltimore during the offseason a year ago, he said he has enjoyed playing for the Orioles and would like to stick around to see through the rebuilding effort.

"I spent six years in Tampa and then they got good,'' he said. "If I left here and the Orioles did the same thing, I think I'd shoot myself."

Somebody pointed out that newly acquired infielder Ty Wigginton seems to be following the same career path as Huff. He joined the Devil Rays when Huff was there, then went to Houston after Huff was there and now he has come to the Orioles. Which led to an obscure reference to the stalker movie Single White Female.

"Yeah, he's my fat male stalker,'' Huff said.

That's just a small taste of a fairly long interview session. We'll have more from Aubrey in the print edition and today's Orioles notebook on the Web site.

Baltimore Sun photo

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 9:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (11)
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Everybody will be on the Brian Roberts watch today, after he told reporters that he would not talk about his contract situation until Thursday and Andy MacPhail said yesterday that the club and agent Mark Pieper were "narrowing the gap."

MacPhail also was quoted as saying that it wasn't crucial to get a deal done by the day of the first full-squad workout, but it seems like it's important to Brian to sweep away all this uncertainty -- one way or the other -- before he hunkers down for a long training camp and gets ready for what's either the first year of a new deal or his option year.

It'll probably become more clear very soon.

Today is the full-squad reporting date, so I've got to believe we'll see Nick Markakis, Melvin Mora, Aubrey Huff and Cesar Izturis in the clubhouse today, along with the rest of the non-catching position players who have not yet reported.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 7:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (17)
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Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts (left) has arrived in camp and quickly deflected questions about his contract negotiations, saying that he won't have anything to say on the subject until Thursday, the day of the first full-squad workout.

Conclude from that anything you want, but I'm going to interpret that to mean the team and Brian are trying to get something done in the next 48 hours.

When I asked Andy MacPhail about the situation earlier today, he didn't have too much to say, except that the club and Brian's agent (Mark Pieper) are talking and "narrowing the gap." Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but Andy -- who seldom tips his hand -- seemed fairly optimistic.

I'm starting to think this gets done, but I've been back and forth so many times, I feel like a porch swing.

If you want to read a lot more on this subject, check out my column on the subject, which posted at 6 p.m.

Getty Images

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (51)
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Orioles outfield prospect Nolan Reimold is in major league camp for the first time and he's ready for his screen test, even if a great audition probably won't get him the part..

"It feels good,'' he said. "I'm excited to get started and to be here and get ready for my season."

Notice, he didn't say THE season. He'll need a lot of things to break his way to be in the major leagues on Opening Day. The Orioles acquired outfielder Felix Pie and utilityman/fourth outfielder Ryan Freel during the offseason. Designated hitter Luke Scott could still show up in left field, too, which makes for a pretty crowded outfield situation.

Combine that with the possibility of a 13-man pitching staff and Reimold has to figure he's going to start at Norfolk.

"I don't project at all,'' he said. "I take it day to day and hope for the best. I'll just play hard and see what happens."

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (16)
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Congratulations to Orioles pitcher Jeremy Guthrie, who has been chosen for the Team USA roster for the World Baseball Classic. And, of course, congratulations to Jeff Zrebiec for breaking that news a few minutes ago.

Jeremy is a great story ... going from waiver claim (or, as we like to call it, the steal of the decade) to Orioles No. 1 starter in the course of just a couple of seasons. Now, he gets to represent his country in the WBC and he's both thrilled and humbled by the opportunity.

"It's neat to have the opportunity," Guthrie told Jeff this morning. "I've never put a jersey on that says USA. So that's a great honor. It's obviously very humbling."

Check out Jeff's story here.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 9:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (27)
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While we're planning ahead, here's the throwing schedule for Japanese pitcher Koji Uehara for the next week or so:

Tomorrow: Side session.
Thursday: Off.
Friday: Off.
Saturday: Live batting practice.
Sunday: Off.
Monday: Live batting practice.
Tuesday: Off.
Wednesday: Side session.
Thursday: Off.
Friday: First exhibition appearance.

The Orioles released that for the benefit of the Japanese media, but gave it to the American reporters, too, so I thought I'd put it up here. Plan your own schedules accordingly.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 9:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
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Just about everybody agrees that George Sherrill's extended appearance in last year's All-Star Game contributed to the shoulder soreness that reduced his effectiveness over the remainder of the season. But Sherrill isn't second-guessing anything about his first career All-Star appearance.

"It was just something that had to be done,'' he said. "Luckily, it went into extra innings so I could get into the game, but I'm sure there are people in Baltimore who were not to happy about that.

"They had a guy out there with the Devil Rays who pitched two days before. They didn't want to use (Scott) Kazmir. They asked me to be honest with them and I told them I could go. That wasn't the only thing (that led to his later problems), but it was my longest outing since '04. It was a lot of things. Still, it was a fun experience. I don't think I would change it, but I'm sure Andy (MacPhail) and skip (Dave Trembley) might want to change it."

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)
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The Orioles have released the schedule of spring games for their minor league camp in Sarasota, Fla., which is reproduced below, but let me explain what it all means. There actually are four minor league games every day starting on Mar. 17, two at Twin Lakes Park in Sarasota and two at the minor league facility of the team listed. The team on the left side of the schedule hosts the Triple-A and Double-A games that day and the team on the right hosts the high Single-A and the low Single-A games.

BALTIMORE ORIOLES

2009 MINOR LEAGUE SPRING TRAINING SCHEDULE

March 17th Baltimore/Cincinnati 1:00pm

March 18th Camp Day

March 19th Tampa Bay/Baltimore 1:00pm

March 20th Baltimore/Boston 12:30pm

March 21st Cincinnati/Baltimore 1:00pm

March 22nd Baltimore /Cincinnati 1:00pm

March 23rd Camp Day

March 24th Baltimore /Tampa Bay 1:00pm

March 25th Baltimore /Boston 12:30pm

March 26th Tampa Bay/Baltimore 1:00pm

March 27th Baltimore/Cincinnati 1:00pm

March 28th Camp Day

March 29th Tampa Bay/Baltimore 1:00pm

March 30th Baltimore/Minnesota 1:00pm

March 31st Baltimore/Cincinnati 1:00pm

April 1st Minnesota/Baltimore 1:00pm

April 2nd Camp Day

April 3rd Tampa Bay/Baltimore 1:00pm

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 2:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
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Orioles pitching coach Rick Kranitz told the large media contingent from Japan that Koji Uehara's first bullpen session was one of the best he's ever seen from a pitcher throwing for the first time in the spring. There might have been a bit of hyperbole there, but Kranitz was impressed with Koji's command and pleasantly surprised that he displayed a cut fastball.

"That'll be a big asset for him in this league,'' Kranitz said.

When Kranitz was through, he saw Uehara approaching the media throng and called him out through his interpreter.

"Tell him, I just did my interview in Japanese so he has to do his in English,'' Kranitz said.

"No problem,'' replied Uehara, in English.

The guy has a great sense of humor that comes across even with the language barrier. That much was apparent as far back as his introductory news conference, but he throws in a quip in almost every interview.

He said, in Japanese, that he was satisfied with his throwing session, though he struggled a bit to control his breaking pitches. When he was asked if the difference between the American baseball and Japanese baseball might affect the breaking ball more, he nodded and said the major league ball is a little more slippery than the ball used in Japan. But he also said he doesn't expect it to be a problem very long.

"It's not the first time I've used that ball,'' Uehara said. "I used it in the WBC and the Olympics. It's not that hard to adjust."

Injury update: Pitcher Wilfrido Perez was kept out of today's workout after being removed from the field because of dehydration yesterday.

Sun photo by Doug Kapustin

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 12:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)
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Adam Jones worked out for the first time today and showed off his new body, which isn't quite as big as everybody expected. He came in, by his estimation, at 225 pounds, but said that he played at 215 last year. That's a little different than the reports that he went from 200 to 225 in one offseason.

Jones said he was interested to see how the new outfield alignment will mesh and applauded the contract the Orioles gave to outfield mate Nick Markakis. He also said he'd like to see the club sign Brian Roberts to a four-year deal.

"I would love to see him here for a long time,'' Jones said. "They signed Markakis for six years. Why not sign Brian for four. I think that's what he wants."

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (19)
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Japanese pitcher Koji Uehara had quite an audience for his first bullpen session of the spring. There were about 30 media members in attendance, as well as almost the entire Orioles front office staff, as he threw about 50 pitches to catcher Gregg Zaun.

It was probably the most-watched bullpen session in Orioles history, but there is at least one I can remember that was probably as intriguing. That, of course, was when Jim Palmer attempted a comeback in the spring of 1991, but I'm pretty sure there weren't two dozen Japanese reporters and cameramen there for that one.

Uehara displayed good velocity and great command of his fastball. He threw his first 35 pitches next to Hayden Penn and non-roster pitcher Ross Wolf on the practice mounds, then asked to work a little longer on his breaking pitches. As he has said several times already, he's used to much longer workouts because players work from morning to night during training camp in Japan.

The session ended with a slight bump. Uehara walked down off the mound and tossed the ball to Zaun, but Zaun wasn't paying attention and it hit him on the shoulder and seemed to glance off his face. He was fine and still gave Koji a high five to wrap up the session.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)
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The huge number of pitchers (37) in camp already have forced manager Dave Trembley to alter his workout schedule. It's only the second day, but Trembley added several extra fielding drills to the routine to keep the camp moving.

"There were too many guys standing around,'' Trembley said. "Yesterday, there were times when there were 12 guys lined up behind a mound."

So, yesterday, there were pitchers taking ground balls at shortstop to get some extra hand-to-eye work. It was the kind of thing Daniel Cabrera should have been required to do early in his career to improve his athleticism. If the young pitchers struggle to field those balls cleanly and effortlessly, they will get a little extra tutoring in the morning.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 10:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
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Hayden Penn isn't complaining about the bad luck he's had over the past few years. Maybe it's part of the growth process, but he is choosing to look at the bigger picture as he prepares for what might be his last, best chance to stick in the major leagues.

It seemed like there was some great cosmic force making sure he didn't get back last year. He was right on the verge of being called up when he was injured by a flying bat shard, then came up with a sore shoulder. Just two more frustrating incidents in a star-crossed career that has reached a crossroads, now that he's out of options.

"I think everything happens for a reason,'' he said today. "I got called up early and got an opportunity, so I guess things even out. It's just part of baseball. Things happen. As weird as it seemed at the time, things happen to a lot of people. Not just me."

So, he's hoping the antidote to his bad run of luck is focus and hard work this spring. He's a candidate for both the rotation and the bullpen, so the opportunity is there for the taking, and the organization clearly wants him to succeed.

"It's coming out here and working my butt off every day,'' he said. "Don't give them or anybody else a reason to hold you back. Come here and leave no doubt for anybody."

Associated Press photo

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 9:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (11)
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Everybody is excited about top prospect Matt Wieters, and rightfully so. He dominated the competition just about everywhere he played last year, which makes it easy to imagine he will do the same at this level as soon as the Orioles allow him to join the major league starting lineup.

Of course, that's a possibility with a young player of his potential, but there is only one logical reason to push him out there on Opening Day and there are plenty of good reasons to send him to Norfolk to dominate another level of the Orioles player development system.

The reason you start him ASAP is because you need people to come back to the ballpark after more than a decade of attendance in decline. He's got a chance to be the catching version of Evan Longoria and who better to lure back a disaffected fan base?

The reasons you don't:

1. He's not ready, which is something the Orioles have to care about even if you don't.
2. He needs more experience handling pitchers and it won't hurt him to get another hundred minor league at-bats.
3. He's got six years under club control and you don't want to waste a minute of that on a false start.
4. The O's can actually increase that to nearly seven years by holding him back for a couple of months.

I'll stand by for all the angry and sarcastic barbs about the Orioles caring only about saving money, but there's more to it than that. There is real economic and strategic logic in slow-playing Wieters, since his effort this year -- no matter how good -- probably would not have a major impact on the competitive potential of the team.

If he turns out to be as good as everybody thinks he might, then keeping him tied to the Orioles for his seventh year in the majors is way more valuable than having him in the lineup for every minute of his first year at the big league level. Scoff at the front office for thinking that way if you want, but it makes perfect sense.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 6:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (53)
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Top 2008 draft choice Brian Matusz wasn't exactly a stranger when he arrived in training camp. Teammate Jeremy Guthrie reached out to him during the offseason and is lockering next to him in the spring clubhouse.

"For a guy like myself who is only 22 years old, my first spring training to have a veteran, a No.1 starter on the staff, to kind of take me under my wing is pretty exciting,'' Matusz said. "It shows a lot about Jeremy as a guy as well as a player."

Matusz (shown competing for Team USA in 2007) also got well-acquainted with top prospect Matt Wieters when the two of them played together for the Surprise Rafters of the Arizona Fall League.

"I worked with Matt,'' he said, "He was my catcher in the Arizona Fall League so I had a lot of time with him. He’s an awesome guy, great catcher. You can’t beat throwing to a guy that size. He really makes it seem like you’re throwing 50 feet rather than 60 feet. Matt’s a great guy. I’m really looking forward to that."

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 5:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (15)
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In his first post-workout press briefing of spring training, manager Dave Trembley addressed the inordinately large number of pitchers in camp (37) and explained that the club brought in so many in part because of the number of pitchers coming off injuries.

It's going to be difficult to get innings for all of them during the exhibition season, but the extra week of training camp that was added because of the World Baseball Classic should help.

"I hope they make it as tough for me as possible,'' Trembley said. "If they do, that will mean we had a very competitive camp."

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 3:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)
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Koji Uehara is the top attraction in camp, of course, since the Japanese media greatly outnumber the handful of American reporters and bloggers that cover the Orioles regularly. That won't change all spring. He looked sharp during the afternoon fielding drills, but did not throw off a mound. His next throwing session will be tomorrow.

Uehara held court with the Japanese media, then took a few questions through his interpreter. He said the drills are "basically the same" as they do at training camp in Japan, but repeated that the major differences are the length of the workouts -- they are much shorter here -- and the.fact that the players move from station to station here.

More roster stuff: Non-catching position players continue to filter in, though they don't have to report until Wednesday. Luke Scott was in the clubhouse. So were non-roster invitees Scott Moore and Justin Christian.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 1:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
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I'll stick with my projected rotation, but newly acquired pitcher Rich Hill looked tentative in his first workout with the other pitchers. He threw a couple of balls away during the comebacker drills that opened today's on-field activities, but his first throwing session at the practice mounds went fine.

Hill, as everyone knows, struggled badly with his command last year, though he claims that was entirely related to a back injury that altered his mechanics. He says he's fine now and the Orioles certainly hope he's right, because he would be a steal if he can replicate his performance from his first full major league season with the Chicago Cubs.

Roster update: Pitcher Alfredo Simon is not in camp. Team officials say he's still trying to get all his visa-related issues worked out and could be a week or two late. Since he played in the Dominican Winter League, the team is less concerned about the lost time than it would be if he had taken the winter off.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 12:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)
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We're about two hours into spring training and the writers already are arguing amongst ourselves about the projected starting rotation, which isn't easy to project when there really are only two guys in it.

Obviously Jeremy Guthrie is set and the Orioles have committed to Japanese pitcher Koji Uehara, even though a lot of major league teams projected him as a reliever. Everybody is assuming left-hander Mark Hendrickson will be in the mix -- which is probably a fair assumption -- but there are at least 12 pitchers (including non-roster guys) vying for the remaining three spots.

Early predictions are a tricky business, as evidenced by my inclusion of Braden Looper in my first projected rotation a few weeks ago. Haven't seen Braden around the clubhouse, so I guess he missed his chance. I'll replace him with Rich Hill, which isn't exactly a stretch, though there's plenty of reason to wonder if he can rebound from last year's injury issues and control problems.

So here's my new projected starting rotation:

Jeremy Guthrie
Koji Uehara
Rich Hill
David Pauley
Mark Hendrickson

What's yours?

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 10:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (62)
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The Orioles already are taking their physicals and will begin their first pitcher/catcher workout shortly. The first player I saw today was pitcher Danys Baez, who clearly is itching to get started after missing all of last year after Tommy John elbow reconstruction.

"My arm feels great,'' he said. "I'm getting ready to pitch 150 innings this year."

I guess that answered my next question. Baez is coming to camp to compete for a place in the starting rotation and he's all for it.

"You have a little more time to adjust and make up for your mistakes,'' he said. "When you're relieving, you can't recover from a mistake."

The important thing now is how he has recovered from the surgery, and he seems confident that his injury problems are behind him. He has some evidence that will be the case. He said he already has thrown 10 bullpen sessions without any problems.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 8:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)
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Jake Arrieta (left) missed part of the season in the minor leagues last year to pitch in the Olympics, but he doesn't think he lost any time in his development as a potential member of the Orioles starting rotation.

"People don't think I pitched that much [for Team USA], but I got four or five starts,'' Arrieta said this afternoon. "I might have gotten two or three more starts in Bowie. I've heard people say they didn't think I should have gone to the Olympics, but that's something virtually nobody gets an opportunity to do.''

Arrieta said he was really excited about coming to major league spring training, but he wasn't surprised. He is not projected to be on the Opening Day roster this year, but he said he's going to enjoy the chance to open some more eyes during the next few weeks.

"Being a non-roster player doesn't matter to me,'' he said. "I'm going to go out there and try to outpitch everybody, but at the same time I'm not going to overdo it. I'm just going to compete. I've always been a competitor."

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 5:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)
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Left-hander John Parrish showed up looking a lot different than the last time anybody around here saw him. He's lost a lot of weight -- as much as 30 pounds -- and he looks like he got into a scuffle with Bigfoot on the way to Fort Lauderdale. He has some cuts on his face that apparently were from some kind of vehicle accident, but he's ready to go.

The non-catching position players report later in the week, but a couple already are in camp. Ryan Freel has been working out here for several days, and utilityman Donnie Murphy has reported.

Just about everybody has reported, though we're still waiting to see Jeremy Guthrie, Chris Ray and Brian Matusz.

Koji Uehara on the difference between major league spring training and training camp in Japan: "Everybody (here) seems to be happy. Everybody's laughing. The workouts are very short. Japanese workouts are much longer."

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 2:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)
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New pitcher Rich Hill was in the clubhouse today and clarified some things in a short conversation with Jeff Zrebiec. He insists that he spun out of control last year because of a back problem and not because of any issue involving his mindset or mechanics.

"Last year was a season lost to injury,'' Hill said. "My back the whole season was never really healed. I never really gave it a chance to let it settle down. It was always go, go, go, go, but getting home and working with some of the trainers, we were able to figure out what the problem is and get it right.

"I don't think there is anything that needs tinkering with my mechanics. I was changing my mechanics because I didn't feel right with my shoulder or whatever it was bothering me. Now that I'm healthy, it allows me to get back to the way I was throwing the ball."

Associated Press photo

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 12:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)
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Top prospect Matt Wieters (right) reported to camp looking a little bigger than last year, and clearly carrying himself with added confidence after his terrific season at Class-A Frederick and Double-A Bowie. He said today that he knows what the score is, but he's still coming to camp to compete for the starting job on Opening Day.

"I think you've got to go into every spring that way,'' he said.

Right now, however, he's looking forward to getting acquainted with veteran Gregg Zaun and getting into the spring training routine.

"It's always good to get started again,'' he said. "I'm looking forward to getting going. It was a short offseason, but it's good to get back and start playing again."

Why was it a short offseason? For one thing, because he got married in December, and he wasn't the only one. Brian Roberts and Nick Markakis also tied the knot, though not with each other.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 10:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)
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Orioles training camp officially is open today, but players have been filtering in for the past few days, and the Japanese media has been here since early in the week monitoring pitcher Koji Uehara. The first full workout for pitchers and catchers is tomorrow.

The medical staff is setting up for tomorrow's physicals. The coaching staff is putting the final touches on the training schedule. The writers are wondering what to do with themselves already.

I'll have some player stuff shortly, but while you're waiting, you might want to look at this Yahoo! Sports story out of the new Los Angeles Dodgers training camp, where Joe Torre held court yesterday and threw down the gauntlet by calling Alex Rodriguez's numbers "tainted."

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 10:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
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The best part about being a baseball writer is the six weeks or so you spend in Florida or Arizona each spring, though it’s not like you’re on vacation. I always bring golf clubs down here and then use the bag as the world’s biggest paperweight. Training camp starts early in the morning – at least that’s what Jeff Zrebiec and Roch Kubatko tell me – and it’s a seven-day week, so you’re spending a lot of time in a media trailer cranking out baseball notes (me and Jeff), baseball features (Jeff), baseball columns (me) or trying to fake your own birth certificate between MASN shoots (Roch).

The fun starts tomorrow, when the pitchers and catchers officially are required to report to the facility, except that they aren’t really required to report. They are required to be in town and make contact with the team, which could constitute as much as showing up early and working out to calling the team administrative office from a hotel room or condo to confirm attendance at Sunday’s first official workout. Theoretically, it could also consist of calling a team official from the Bahamas on a cell phone and saying that you’re in town. No one would be any the wiser.

But just in case, Jeff and I will hang around the camp and see who shows up, and we’re pretty sure we won’t be alone in that. The Koji Uehara media contingent (shown above greeting Koji earlier today) figures to be in full force, so it’ll also be an opportunity to get acquainted. Should be fun.

Manager Dave Trembley got acquainted with a group of about 20 Japanese media today, holding an impromptu news conference just for them this afternoon at the facility.

Associated Press photo

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 6:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)
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Today's featured comment comes from Andrea Bradley, who you might know better as the mother of Orioles center fielder Adam Jones:

Andrea's take: "Just to let you know that you all will be pleasantly surprised at Jonesy weight gain. He looks good and is ready to do his thing! Go out there and have a great year Jonesy!"

Mommy~!

Pete's reply: I was never worried, mom. It was obvious last year that Adam had room to grow. I just hope he doesn't think he has to press to hit more home runs because of his new muscle mass. He needs to keep developing a sweet swing with Terry Crowley and let the power numbers take care of themselves over the next few years.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (24)
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If you haven't done so already, take a look at Jeff Zrebiec's Q&A with Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail. Though Andy is never going to give up the farm, there are some interesting insights and confirmation of something we've been talking about for a couple of months now -- the fact that Mark Teixeira and agent Scott Boras made it clear to the Orioles early on that they weren't high on the list of teams in the running for the All-Star first baseman.

"I would say to that we made our offer, indicated that we were flexible and there was never any engagement back on their side. They never came back to us to alter the deal. As I said earlier, I'm pretty confident that they got the deal they were looking for, where they were looking for it."

MacPhail also confirmed that Teixeira and Boras never misled him or hid their intentions when he met face-to-face with them in Washington early in the process.

TV update: MASN released its TV schedules for the Orioles and Nationals today. The network continues to increase its high definition offerings and this year will present a total of 210 games in HD -- 104 regular season games for each team and two exhibition games.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 9:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (35)
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It's not an accident that there was no comment here about Roberto Alomar yesterday, and it wasn't because I was too busy to get around to it or too lazy to tackle a tough issue. I really didn't know what to think and I'm still not sure what to say.

When Alomar (left) was playing for the Orioles, I was the national baseball writer for The Sun and, frankly, I didn't have a great relationship with him. We tangled over a couple of issues related to his behavior both on and off the field, though obviously nothing related to the possibility -- claimed in a lawsuit filed by his ex-girlfriend -- that he is in the advanced stages of AIDS.

Frankly, he just seemed like a big, immature kid, but there never seemed to be any malice in him and you couldn't deny the Hall of Fame talent. Since we're talking about a health issue here, there's no reason for this week's revelation to affect his chances of getting into Cooperstown, and I hope he's healthy enough to enjoy the occasion when he gets elected in the next few years.

I don't have to tell anybody it has been a very strange month so far in sports, especially here in the Baltimore area, from the Michael Phelps bong photo to the Michael Bogdan/Larry Bigbie steroid expose by The Smoking Gun to former Orioles shortstop Miguel Tejada pleading guilty yesterday to lying to congressional investigators. And, of course, this, though I hope and pray Robbie is okay.

Hopefully, it really is darkest before the dawn, because they're going to break out the bats and balls this weekend and we can only hope that things can not get any worse.

Tonight on WBAL: Former Orioles executive Jim Duquette will join me in studio for a special Sportsline spring training preview starting at 6 p.m. Go to 1090 AM or go to WBAL.com and click on the "Listen Live" icon.

Associated Press photo

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 11:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (28)
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You know it's been a bad week or so for baseball when Jose Canseco comes forward and offers his assistance in ridding Major League Baseball of its steroid scourge. Canseco has long been a central figure in the game's steroid scandal, and his steroid expose, Juiced, helped force both management and the players union to own up to the problem and implement a tougher testing program for performance-enhancing drugs.

Still, the article on the Newsweek Web site Tuesday that revealed Canseco's offer of help is just another example of how strange and complicated this issue has become. Jose likes to fancy himself as a whistle-blower who should get credit for peeling the cover off the scandal, but it's hard to view him that way when he played such a huge role in creating the original problem.

He brags in the book that he introduced a lot of players to steroids. In my book, that doesn't make him a whistle-blower. It makes him no better than some guy on a street corner pushing drugs. He got some religion during the March 17, 2005, congressional committee hearing and repudiated some of the positive things he said about steroids in Juiced, but I'm guessing his desire to help is more about getting back in the limelight than offering anything useful to help baseball escape its tawdry past.

Just a hunch.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 5:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (26)
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Orioles pitchers and catchers report to Fort Lauderdale in just three days, and you know what that means. I've got to break out the silk shirts and start packing so I can be there right from the beginning to bring you up-to-the minute updates from training camp.

I'll be arriving on Friday afternoon to join Orioles beat writer Jeff Zrebiec and monitor the reporting day Saturday. They'll break out the bats and balls for real on Sunday and we'll step up the frequency of the blog entries to keep you informed.

Meanwhile, I'll let my friend Roch Kubatko keep you informed with this excerpt from his blog School of Roch. It's a quote from Brian Roberts on 105.7 FM today about his on-going contract discussions with the Orioles:

"I think we're trying to have a resolution one way or another pretty soon, and I don't really know there's a specific date yet. I think on both sides, we've had quite a bit of time to try to figure this out one way or another and I think we would both probably like to move forward one way or another pretty soon. We're looking to get toward the end here and figure it out. I think that's best for myself and the organization."

Glad that's settled.

Radio update: Be sure and join me tonight and tomorrow night on WBAL (1090 AM). We'll have a short show tonight leading into WBAL's coverage of Towson basketball, then bring in former Mets and O's exec Jim Duquette tomorrow evening to preview Orioles training camp and talk about the issues facing baseball as spring camps open. As always, if you are out of radio range, go to WBAL.com and click on the "Listen Live" icon.

Posted by Peter Schmuck at 5:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (12)
Categories: Just baseball