masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgOrioles vice president Dan Duquette and manager Buck Showalter held their annual “State of the Orioles” address today with the club’s season ticket holders.

It didn’t take long for Duquette to get asked if the club is considering calling up Cuban outfielder Henry Urrutia.

“Buck and I discussed our needs on the major league team and we thought we’d send him to Triple-A and it looks like he’s got a lot of natural ability with the bat,” Duquette said. “After the Futures Game, that is…Orioles vice president Dan Duquette and manager Buck Showalter held their annual “State of the Orioles” address today with the club’s season ticket holders.

It didn’t take long for Duquette to get asked if the club is considering calling up Cuban outfielder Henry Urrutia.

“Buck and I discussed our needs on the major league team and we thought we’d send him to Triple-A and it looks like he’s got a lot of natural ability with the bat,” Duquette said. “After the Futures Game, that is something we need to keep an eye on very closely.”

Both men were asked about the possibility of more trades.

“I think we have the wherewithal to make some trades if we need to, to make the playoffs,” Duquette said. “The clubs like our players – Urrutia, Eduardo Rodriguez. They like Kevin Gausman and Dylan Bundy. We hope some of those guys will be the core of our team for years.

“We don’t want to be trading those type of players for a couple of months (of a pending free agent). But if we’re close, we want to be trading for what we need to get to the top.”

Showalter reminded the fans that the team is aware of their passion and support.

“What we do is important. I tell our players when we are on the West Coast, it’s midnight back in Baltimore and someone is sitting in front of the TV missing sleep they need to work the next day,” Showalter said.

“I think our best baseball is ahead of us. The players are very upbeat, our guys are into it. They share your passion and feed off the fans. I like seeing all this orange in the crowd today.”

Duquette was asked about his working relationship with Showalter and what makes it work well for both men.

“We share a lot of the same fundamentals about winning baseball,” Duquette said. “Buck came up in the Yankee organization and when I got to Boston, that was the model we had to beat so I studied how they did it. We both want to win. That is what really drives us. We know to win we have to work together.”

The last question was to Showalter and it was about Chris Davis and Monday’s Home Run derby.

“You know the pressure is on (O’s coach) Einar Diaz, throwing batting practice for him,” Showalter said. “He throws great batting practice. I told Chris, when you get enough to go to the next round, dribble a couple off the bat.

“You can get hurt in the parking lot. I’m proud of Chris and he’ll be representing the Orioles well. I hope he hits them 700 feet,” Showalter added as the crowd roared its approval.