masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgThere’s a good chance that the Orioles will finalize their coaching staff by Monday or Tuesday.

The club has four of the coaches under contract: Jim Presley, Mark Connor, Wayne Kirby and Rick Adair. John Russell is close. It’s just a matter of completing some paperwork.

It still hasn’t been determined whether Russell will serve as bench coach or third base coach. Again, it depends on the last hire.

I’m told that the Orioles are waiting on unspecified “deadlines” that the candidates…There’s a good chance that the Orioles will finalize their coaching staff by Monday or Tuesday.

The club has four of the coaches under contract: Jim Presley, Mark Connor, Wayne Kirby and Rick Adair. John Russell is close. It’s just a matter of completing some paperwork.

It still hasn’t been determined whether Russell will serve as bench coach or third base coach. Again, it depends on the last hire.

I’m told that the Orioles are waiting on unspecified “deadlines” that the candidates have, which will carry through the weekend.

It appears that the two leaders remain Willie Randolph and Bobby Dickerson, both capable of working with the infielders, and that it would be difficult to handicap one ahead of the other.

Yankees third base coach Rob Thomson has warranted strong consideration, but there’s a feeling that he won’t want to walk away from the yearly playoff money and that he’s happy staying in the Bronx.

Also, pitcher Armando Gabino refused his outright assignment to Triple-A Norfolk and elected to become a free agent.

Update: The Orioles added left-hander Zach Britton, infielder Joe Mahoney and outfielder Matt Angle to their 40-man roster today, raising their total to 35.

The Orioles can add more players until 12:01 a.m., though it would be odd to announce more changes later tonight. They appear to be done.

The most glaring omissions are reliever Wynn Pelzer and infielders Ryan Adams and Billy Rowell (not that I expected Rowell to be included.) Also, pitcher Steve Johnson has again been exposed to the Rule 5 draft. So have infielder Brandon Waring and reliever Pedro Beato.