Baltimore Orioles Tickets - And The Roster Says...

Whos on the roster? Whats that say? Lets see, Spring preparation is just around the corner. Three players are knocking on the door of arbitration hearings and the non-roster invitees list is a mile long with pitchers Albert Castillo, Scott Chiasson, Fredy Deza, brad Hennessey, Ryan Keffer, Andy Mitchell, Chris Tillman and Ross Wolf, catchers Adam Donachie, Robby Hammock, Chad Moeller, Guillermo Quiroz, Jose Reyes, Guillermo Rodriguez, Matt Wieters, infielders Craig Brazell, Jolbert Cabrera, Blake Davis, Chris Gomez, Donnie Murphy, Brandon Snyder and Justin Turner and lone outfielder Justin Christian.

Maybe it goes nearly without saying that the Baltimore Orioles manager Dave Trembley is already brainstorming roster structure and possible lineups for Spring preparationand beyond. Trembley says hes leaning towards having 13 pitchers but deems theyre really going to have to take a look at the guys.

With the attainment of Mark Hendrickson and signing of Japanese free agent Koji Uehara, the alternation is still only a couple of arms deep, which means Trembly will be assessing several back-end runners in Spring Training.

Without damage, there are already reserve spots for George Sherrill, Jim Johnson, Chris Ray, Dennis Sarfate, Hendrickson and Jamie Walker are all in the mix. There will be 7 or 8 nominees to consider for the remaining 2 relief positions.

One of the things that Ive learned in the last year and a half is that we really need our starters to go longer, Trembley said. Otherwise it just definitely takes its toll especially late in the season on your bullpen.

The Orioles will keep on shopping the open market for starters too but with a mail target being to attain a initial first baseman and a expert catcher who can tutor Matt Wieters throughout the seasons. Considerations: Todd Wigginton, who was non-tendered by the Astros back in December.

I dont think were done yet. Hopefully before Spring Training well address that, Trembley said. The care of the order of business is to take care of the catching situation and then the first-base situation.

Some intrasquad games have been scheduled for Spring Training so Trembley expects a few opportunities to evaluate the arms on the pitching group. Trembley believes Aubrey Huff can be the everyday first baseman if the season started today but that theres also a few different ways to go about assembling the batting order.

With warm temperatures on the horizon for the Fort Lauderdale, Florida Spring Training season, the warm weather should provide ample opportunities for Trembley to exact whatever plan he needs to in order to get an accurate assessment and make the best rotational order for the season ahead. And with approximately 150 men still out, its possible that Trembley can make his dream come true with just the right combination of veterans and youngsters on the field, at bat, up to pitch and even in the bullpen. Perhaps time, which is something Trembleys still got some of, will tell the answer to the questions on the table.