masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgOrioles manager Buck Showalter received a standing ovation from season-ticket holders this morning before his Q&A with executive vice president Dan Duquette.
Here are a few nuggets from the session:
* Reliever Darren O’Day isn’t here, but the club is close to announcing his four-year deal. It should happen on Monday.
Manny Machado also isn’t here, which Showalter noted after a fan asked about the club’s attempts to sign the third baseman to an extension.
“Well, if he was here, we could…

Orioles manager Buck Showalter received a standing ovation from season-ticket holders this morning before his Q&A with executive vice president Dan Duquette.

Here are a few nuggets from the session:

* Reliever Darren O’Day isn’t here, but the club is close to announcing his four-year deal. It should happen on Monday.

Manny Machado smiles orange.jpgManny Machado also isn’t here, which Showalter noted after a fan asked about the club’s attempts to sign the third baseman to an extension.

“Well, if he was here, we could talk about it,” Showalter said. I thought he should have dropped the microphone and walked off the stage.

Duquette said the Orioles came close to reaching agreement with Machado on an extension and could try again later.

* It took until the third question for someone to ask for an update on Chris Davis. Duquette mentioned the Orioles’ “aggressive” offer and didn’t know whether it would be enough to get a deal done. Showalter jokingly referred to a “donation bucket’ for any fans who wanted to contribute.

Duquette said the money offered to Davis could be used instead to acquire other players, though perhaps not all of it this winter.

What about signing Justin Upton?

“That’s another bucket right there,” Showalter said. “We have bucket one and bucket two.”

* Duquette defended the Orioles’ minor league system.

“Don’t believe the crap from some of these national publications,” he said.

* Duquette said re-signing Steve Pearce is “under consideration.”

* Shortstop J.J. Hardy met with reporters later on the third level of the Convention Center and said his left shoulder and back feel great. He started working out earlier than usual to get ready for spring training.

Hardy also said he was pleasantly surprised by the Orioles’ offer to Davis – seven years and $150 million – and remains hopeful that the first baseman will be in camp next spring.