masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgCaleb Joseph greeted a small group of reporters and media members yesterday with the usual smile and quips. He loves the interaction. The man’s personality never takes a day off. It can’t be punctured by sharp words.
He heard a bunch of them this year after failing to drive in a run in 141 plate appearances.
Joseph is tired of talking about RBIs, or the lack of them, but he remains a good sport about it. The 2016 season was a bust, for sure, with a month lost to a gruesome testicular injury…

Caleb Joseph greeted a small group of reporters and media members yesterday with the usual smile and quips. He loves the interaction. The man’s personality never takes a day off. It can’t be punctured by sharp words.

He heard a bunch of them this year after failing to drive in a run in 141 plate appearances.

Joseph is tired of talking about RBIs, or the lack of them, but he remains a good sport about it. The 2016 season was a bust, for sure, with a month lost to a gruesome testicular injury and a slash line that read .174/.216/.197 in 49 games. But his 49 RBIs in 2015 ranked fourth on the team behind Chris Davis (117), Manny Machado (86) and Adam Jones (82). He’s capable of better than what he showed this summer.

“It’s a season I’m ready to put back in the rearview mirror,” he said at the Orioles’ annual holiday party at the Arundel Mills Mall. “I’m looking forward, I’m looking ahead. I really believe I can contribute. I contributed defensively and I know I can contribute offensively.

“I had a really good season in ’15. I contributed a lot, so I know this is a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately sport and it’s my job to control that lately part. I’m preparing right now.”

joseph-swing-orange-home-close-sidebar.jpgAnything else?

“And excited to go play some video games with the kids right now.”

Classic Caleb.

* Joseph, Davis and reliever Darren O’Day took turns yesterday expressing their hope that the Orioles can re-sign catcher Matt Wieters and outfielder Mark Trumbo.

Davis hasn’t talked to Wieters since the Orioles lost to the Blue Jays in the wild card game.

“Matt and I are a little bit closer than Mark and I are just because of the fact that we’ve played together for a number of years,” David said. “We kind of keep up with each other. Not in regards to baseball.

“Since the season has ended I haven’t really had very much contact with either one of them as far as free agency is concerned. I talked to Mark a little bit at the end of the season. There were some things that he kind of wanted to pick my brain about and some things he wanted to ask me about as far as free agency is concerned, but I know both of those guys are going to do well for themselves. They’ve obviously had a lot of success and hopefully they’ll be wearing our colors for the next few years.”

O’Day’s offseason chat with Wieters veered more toward non-baseball subjects, “just catching up and having two kids and playing man-to-man defense versus zone defense on your kids,” he said.

So which parental defense is more effective?

“Well, Matt has two kids, so he can still do man-to-man, but I’ve heard that when you have to switch to zone is when you have three kids. It can be pretty challenging,” O’Day said.

“Right now, we’re double-covering my daughter and we’re overmatched. I look forward to having three. It should be fun.”

That’s one way to look at it.

* The Associated Press reported yesterday that Major League Baseball is banning the hazing ritual of veteran players forcing rookies to dress up in costumes. The policy prohibits “requiring, coercing or encouraging” players to dress up as women or wear costumes that “may be offensive to individuals based on their race, sex, nationality, age, sexual orientation, gender identify or other characteristic.”

Blame social media. Teams grew increasingly uncomfortable with photos being posted on Twitter and other outlets.

“I was just updated on that,” said Tyler Wilson. “I think that the whole hazing process is, why would we make it any more difficult for a rookie or somebody that’s just coming in the league, why would we make that transition any more difficult? They’re part of the team, we’re all in it together and we have the same unified cause, so any type of hazing or negligence toward respecting the other person, I don’t think that’s going to be a problem for our organization.”

In a related story, Wilson is one of the best quotes in the clubhouse.

Hyun Soo Kim dressed up as one of the Teletubbies, with interpreter Danny Lee posing as Pikachu. Dylan Bundy fit right in as Willie Robertson from “Duck Dynasties.” Wilson was Lloyd Christmas from “Dumb and Dumber.”

No Hooters Girls this year.

Wilson dressed as the Boy Wonder in 2015 for the Orioles’ flight to Boston. Mike Wright was the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man.

Former Orioles reliever Armando Benitez refused to wear a ridiculous outfit left in his locker, threw a major tantrum and threatened to quit the team after discovering that his clothes were missing. Cal Ripken Jr. had to calm him down, and as the story goes, Benitez eventually wore a dress shirt and his uniform pants. So the rookie ritual isn’t for everyone.

“I’ve been around long enough that I’ve been dressed up a couple times,” O’Day said. “I’ve dressed people up many more times and I think it’s kind of silly. The way it was before, you had to depend on club leadership to not put guys in bad situations. It’s mostly fun loving.

“I get it. It’s a different world now with social media and instant access to everything. It is what it is. I’m not going to lose sleep over it. We’ll find other ways to make these guys feel uncomfortable.

“It’s part of the team bonding, to feel like once you’ve gotten over that obstacle, you feel a little bit closer to the team. You’ve gotten through your rookie year. It’s kind of fun. It’s not an easy year, I can tell you that.”

Former Orioles outfielder and current executive Brady Anderson told me in spring training 2015 that he hated the hazing.

“I never did that to anyone,” Anderson said. “I don’t believe in rookie hazing or status based on tenure and that nonsense. Hated it then and wouldn’t put up with it as a rookie, and certainly didn’t carry on a tradition I thought was absurd.

“I didn’t do it and wouldn’t allow it done to me. I’ve always felt that it’s hard enough to feel comfortable as a rookie and a veteran’s job was to include them and make them feel a part of the team. We want them to perform and help us win games and I never understood how being dismissive of them or dressing them up in silly costumes was a logical path to that desired outcome.”

* I wrote yesterday that the Orioles re-signed Garabez Rosa, 27, to a minor league deal, as first reported by Baseball America’s Matt Eddy. Rosa is a favorite of manager Buck Showalter, who got his wish with Rosa’s return.

Showalter kept summoning Rosa from minor league camp in spring training. Rosa responded by going 12-for-21 with a home run and 10 RBIs. Feed him a fastball and he’ll devour it.

Rosa is the Baysox career leader in games played (466) and hits (488) and was chosen to the Eastern League All-Star team this summer. He’s played every position in the infield and outfield in the minors.

Rosa has played only 24 games at the Triple-A level. It’s time to get him out of Bowie.

* In case you missed it, here’s the current order for the competitive balance picks in Round A and B. It could change depending on future trades:

Round A
31. Rays
32. Reds
33. Athletics
34. Brewers
35. Twins
36. Marlins

Round B
67. Diamondbacks
68. Padres
69. Rockies
70. Indians
71. Royals
72. Pirates
73. Orioles
74. Cardinals

* And finally, for everyone asking, reliever Logan Ondrusek has one minor league option remaining. The Orioles can send him down if he doesn’t break camp with the team after signing a one-year deal this week that included an option for 2018.