FORT MYERS, Fla. – The final composition of the Orioles’ 26-man roster likely will remain unresolved until the team reconvenes in Baltimore.

Manager Brandon Hyde mentioned in today’s media scrum that Jordan Westburg made the club. He wasn’t prepared to share more than the obvious.

“We still have a lot of decisions to make,” Hyde said. “The usual guys are on the team. Just the last couple spots that we’re still going through some things.”

Ryan McKenna and Tyler Nevin are out of options and in the running. Colton Cowser is in a 3-for-21 skid and hasn’t been told that he’s at Camden Yards for Opening Day.

Until we receive confirmation, we're left with scenarios that include McKenna and Cowser, Nevin and Cowser, or McKenna and Nevin for the last two openings among position players.

FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Orioles released second baseman Kolten Wong and pitcher Julio Teheran this morning after the pair opted out of their minor league contracts, moves that contributed to the narrowing of the camp roster to 33 players and simplified the remaining competitions.

Reliever Bryan Baker was optioned, and left-hander Andrew Suárez and catcher Maverick Handley were reassigned to minor league camp.

Removing Wong apparently leaves the final bench spot between Ryan McKenna and Tyler Nevin, barring a late outside addition. The Orioles are checking the waiver wire.

Infielder Nick Maton and catcher Michael Pérez also remain on the camp roster.

With Baker gone, the final bullpen spot comes down to Jacob Webb or Jonathan Heasley. Webb is out of options, while Heasley has one remaining.

SARASOTA, Fla. – The Orioles played two games yesterday and made zero cuts.

You can split squads but you can’t always slice a camp roster.

Moves are coming today that will reduce it from 35. Opt-out decisions are pending on infielder Kolten Wong and pitchers Julio Teheran and Andrew Suárez.

Wong played yesterday in Port Charlotte and hit a leadoff home run, his first of the spring. He’s 6-for-30 in 12 games, able to outlast Jackson Holliday but uncertain whether a left-handed hitting second baseman remains a priority for the Orioles.

Executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias had expressed his preference for one over the winter, someone to replace veteran Adam Frazier, but all the talk about opposing left-handed pitchers early in the season makes it harder to get a true read on the situation.

SARASOTA, Fla. – The Orioles pared their camp roster to 38 players this afternoon. The cuts are presented for everyone. Who’s made the club isn’t as transparent.

The media isn’t alone in the dark. Colton Cowser, Ryan McKenna and Tyler Nevin haven’t learned their fates, mainly because the front office is checking on external options with contract opt-outs arriving today.

Cowser is baseball’s version of a slam dunk, but he’s waiting for official word.

“You never know,” he said. “Just going to continue to work and continue to do what I’m called upon to do.”

There isn’t much more that Cowser can do, with his at-bats and defense setting him up for fourth outfielder duties.

SARASOTA, Fla. – Three months after Orioles executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias described Jackson Holliday as “definitely a very strong possibility” to make the Opening Day roster, baseball’s No. 1 prospect was told that he’s beginning the season at Triple-A.

A promotion that wasn’t etched in stone crumbled in Sarasota. The dust was thick.

Holliday was counted among seven cuts but got the bulk of the attention and fan reaction after batting .311/.354/.600 with three doubles, two triples, two home runs and six RBIs and 15 games. His comfort level expanded at second base, where he figured to get the vast majority of his work with Gunnar Henderson entrenched as the starting shortstop.

“Obviously a very tough decision on all these guys,” Elias said, making certain to include outfielders Heston Kjerstad and Kyle Stowers, who were optioned, and infielders Coby Mayo and Connor Norby, pitcher Albert Suárez and catcher David Bañuelos, who were reassigned to get the camp roster down to 38.

“We have a lot of players with a lot of really good statistics in camp, and a lot of them were sent out today, so that’s hard because these guys have put themselves in such a good position in terms of their performance and the kind of shape they came in. Making spring training evaluations, it’s more art than science, and all these guys did a great job of putting themselves in the thick of the competition and distinguishing themselves, even with this talented camp.”

SARASOTA, Fla. – Playing second base isn’t dumping Jackson Holliday in unfamiliar territory. He’s been there and done it: 25 starts as a professional, 20 last year scattered among four affiliates.

This isn’t the Orioles experimenting with third baseman Billy Rowell in right field or catcher Javy López at first base, for our older readers. Many of them still traumatized by it.

Has baseball’s No. 1 prospect mastered the art of playing the right side, which he did again last night against the Tigers? No, but he keeps working at it and showing that he’s capable of making the necessary adjustments.

No one doubted it, of course, but still good to see.

“I think it’s been going good,” Holliday said Friday after completing his latest interview with a national baseball writer, his accessibility, maturity and politeness also rating highly in camp.

SARASOTA, Fla. – The time has come to march into a new month with a spring training mailbag.

(March. You see what I did there.)

This is the latest sequel to the beloved 2008 original. So many have been published that there’s no reason to go over the format, rules and disdain for tinkering with style, clarity, length, brevity or anything else.

Also, and this is real important, my mailbag relaxes underneath an umbrella at the Siesta Key beach and your mailbag sells warm beers in a brown paper bag. (I may have bought one.)

In the little bit I've read about Corbin Burnes, it seems like he does things a certain way - his way. Based upon his success it seems to be working, but does this come across as leadership or a bit pompous?
I haven’t heard a single harsh word about Burnes from anyone. Quite the opposite. Teammates have the upmost respect for him, including how he goes about his work and prepares for the season. Guys with his experience and resume know how to get ready for Opening Day. They don’t need a helicopter parent.

NORTH PORT, Fla. – Gunnar Henderson is taking live batting practice this morning back in Sarasota, his first sessions since reporting to camp on a reduced schedule.

Henderson felt some tightness in his left oblique in January while long-tossing at home. He’s hit in the cage during regular batting practice.

The presence of a real pitcher should be the final step before his exhibition debut. But his return isn’t imminent.

“I would imagine wouldn’t be too many more days before I get out there,” he said. “I don’t have the exact day, but I would say sometime this coming week.”

Manager Brandon Hyde said Henderson and second baseman Connor Norby should get into their first game in the “next three to four days.”

SARASOTA, Fla. – The Orioles might not be a last-chance stop for pitcher Julio Teheran and second baseman Kolten Wong. However, they’re grateful to be detached from the free-agent market and the uncertainty in their futures, and hope to seize the opportunity as late arrivals in camp.

Their minor league deals became official yesterday and they found their lockers this morning at the Ed Smith Stadium complex.

Wong, 33, is trying to bounce back from a hugely disappointing 2023 season, when he batted .165/.241/.227 in 67 games with the Mariners and was released Aug. 3. The Dodgers signed him six days later and he went 9-for-30 to earn a spot on the Division Series roster.

The Brewers signed Wong to a two-year, $18 million contract in February 2021 and picked up his $10 million option for 2023 before trading him to Seattle.

“I learned a lot about how to go through adversity,” he said. “The first time for me going down the DFA route. Just learned a lot about that and took it into the offseason. It kind of gave me a little extra fuel to train harder and do the things I’ve got to do to be ready.”

SARASOTA, Fla. – The Orioles are back home this afternoon to play the Pirates, with baseball’s No. 3 prospect, Paul Skenes, starting opposite Corbin Burnes.

Yes, everyone is primed for the expected Skenes-Jackson Holliday matchup - the first-overall picks in the last two drafts going head-to-head. A potential sneak peek of the Spring Breakout game next month in Bradenton that features top prospects from both organizations.  

Or, as I call it, “a double header in Bradenton that I didn’t ask for,” but this isn’t about me.

Always keep in mind that it’s spring training. This is the time to overhype and to obsess.  

Holliday didn’t make the trip to Fort Myers yesterday. He’s rested and ready, and probably back at second base.

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Gunnar Henderson took batting practice again this morning in Sarasota and remains on track to make his 2024 spring debut in the near future.

Henderson was held back in workouts and games due to soreness in his left oblique. He made it through yesterday’s batting practice without incident.

“He did a lot of defense yesterday, also, and everything’s going great,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “It’s just a matter of getting him a little bit more on-the-field stuff, and you should see him pretty soon.”

Second baseman Connor Norby said the soreness in his left side is gone and he’s increasing baseball activities.

“Feels good,” he said. “Hitting is picking up more and more every day. My workload’s picking up more and more every day.”

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