FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) -Left-hander Brian Burres will be the Orioles’ fifth starter, right-hander Matt Albers will pitch in long relief and rookie right-hander Randor Bierd won a role in Baltimore’s bullpen.
“It feels good,” said Burres, whose first start will be April 6 against Seattle. “The roles are all set up and it’s nice to know where everybody stands.”
Daniel Cabrera will follow opening-day starter Jeremy Guthrie in the Orioles’ rotation, manager Dave Trembley said Friday. Cabrera will be followed by Steve Trachsel and Adam Loewen.
Guthrie, who takes the mound Monday in the opener against Tampa Bay, gets another turn on April 5 against Seattle before Burres makes his first start.
Trembley said his familiarity with Burres, who will be available out of the bullpen Monday and Wednesday, was a factor in his decision.
“I think right now Burres is a little ahead of Albers,” Trembley said.
Albers will be joined in the bullpen by right-handers Bierd, Dennis Sarfate, Chad Bradford and Greg Aquino, and left-handers Jamie Walker and George Sherrill. Though Sherrill will be the closer, Trembley said Aquino would get occasional save opportunities to prevent Sherrill from pitching three days in a row.
The Orioles had to keep Bierd, a hard-throwing winter-meeting draft selection from Detroit who had never pitched above Class-A or offer him back to the Tigers. The 24-year-old worked had a 2.38 ERA in 10 relief outings and bought a suit Thursday night – just in case he made the club and needed to meet the travel-day dress code.
“(Bierd) told me this was the best day of his life today, and that made it all worthwhile for me,” Trembley said. “We’re very fortunate, the way he’s pitched.”
While the Orioles’ pitching staff has come into focus, Trembley has refused to name his starting shortstop. Luis Hernandez and Brandon Fahey have been competing for the position, with Fahey displaying a better bat and Hernandez struggling while committing six errors.
“I won’t announce the lineup until it’s posted Monday morning,” Trembley said.
Baltimore’s bench is in flux following an agreement between the commissioner’s office and the players’ union to put the suspension of Jay Gibbons on hold for 10 days. Gibbons was to serve a 15-day suspension for accepting a shipment of human growth hormone in 2005.
Andy MacPhail, the Orioles’ president of baseball operations, said he might not make a decision on the final roster spot until the 3 p.m. Sunday deadline.
“I understand that sometimes you can’t get it all resolved to your satisfaction at a particular time,” MacPhail said. “We’re working our roster down. We have until Sunday. We’ll try to figure out what makes the most sense and try to prepare.”
If Gibbons is active, the Orioles cannot keep infielder Scott Moore, who finished Grapefruit League play with a .342 average, two homers and a team-leading 13 RBIs.
“I can’t get upset because if I get upset, I’ll go down (to Triple-A) and not have the focus I should have,” Moore said. “Whatever decision’s made on Sunday, I’ve got to deal with it.”
Trembley wouldn’t address whether the Orioles would consider releasing Gibbons, who is owed $11.9 million for the final two season of a four-year contract but is not expected to be an everyday player.
In other roster news, right-hander Rocky Cherry was placed on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to March 22, with a right shoulder strain, and outfielder Tike Redman was sent outright to Triple-A Norfolk.
Right-hander Jim Hoey traveled to the team’s minor league camp in Sarasota to rehabilitate a right arm injury. Hoey remains on the roster, and will either be optioned to the minors or placed on the disabled list.
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