Hearing from Davis, Norris and Wright

The Baltimore Convention Center is packed today with fans attending the annual FanFest event. Enthusiasm is running high despite the free agent losses and national projections that the team won't return to the playoffs.

"They're picking us last again, which is beautiful," said manager Buck Showalter.

First baseman Chris Davis confirmed that he received an exemption to take Adderall after being denied in 2013. He's annoyed by the perception that his 53 home runs in 2012 were fueled by steroids.

"Anabolic steroids and Adderall or stimulants, whatever you want to call them, are two completely different things," Davis said. "For me, I was under the gun in 2013 because I was successful. It was like, 'Oh, OK, this guy finally figured it out so he must be on steroids.' And it's a shame that our game has come to that. Where guys can struggle like Jose Bautista for years and then figure it out and it's like, 'Oh, he must be on something.'

"For me, the biggest thing is when you have ADHD, when you have ADD, when you have these conditions, it's not a performance-enhancing drug. It doesn't give you the same effect that it would for someone who doesn't have the same disease. You're going to get criticized no matter what happens, whether you're good or whether you're bad."

Davis clearly has missed being part of the team.

"Having, I don't know if you want to call it an extra month off, being away from it a month longer than the rest of these guys, it was tough at first, but I used it to my advantage to get into my workouts and start hitting a little bit earlier," he said. "I definitely think last year I kind of got off to a slow start and this year I wanted to make sure I started off on the right foot. Been doing a little bit different workout this year. Working on my bunting down the third base line a lot. But I'm ready to get started. I wish we started tomorrow."

Davis was joking about the bunting, but it's not a bad idea.

Asked earlier today about new commissioner Rob Manfred being open to eliminating shifts, executive vice president Brady Anderson replied, "If you want to eliminate the shift, learn how to bunt. You don't have to be good at it. Just push it to third base."

Bud Norris said he was happy to settle on a 2015 contract without the distraction of a hearing in February.

"Absolutely," he said. "It's a crazy process, arbitration, but it's part of the business that's been put in place. The negotiations went really smooth with the Orioles, so I'm glad that's all put behind me. Happy with the number, but I don't play the game for the money. I'm excited to get to camp and go out there and put up another good year."

Norris, a pending free agent, said he's not aware of any extension talks.

"I haven't heard anything about that," he said. "I love it here in Baltimore. Last year, what we did and what we accomplished was amazing. I don't see a reason why I'd want to leave, but that's out of my control. I'm just going to go out there and pitch and hopefully get an opportunity to do it again."

Norris, who set a career-high with 15 wins last season, spoke highly of pitching coach Dave Wallace and bullpen coach Dom Chiti.

"They gave me the confidence to go out there and play," he said. "You learn a lot every year. You can retool your game and kind of figure things out. Truly the confidence every day of Wally out of the bullpen, good or bad, he'd say, 'Hey, you've got your stuff today. Go get them.' And Chiti, what he did with the bullpen group, just keeping it loose. It's a collective group out there, especially the staff, and they gave me the confidence every fifth day to go out and do my job."

Norris doesn't seem concerned about losing Nick Markakis, Nelson Cruz and Andrew Miller to free agency, saying the Orioles are good enough to win the World Series.

"I believe so," he said. "I don't know if you guys saw my tweet earlier in the offseason where I got mad at somebody, but when you get a healthy (Manny) Machado and a healthy (Matt) Wieters, hopefully Davis gets back to the potential that he can play at, those are three staples in the lineup. Then you put in a (J.J.) Hardy, you put in a (Adam) Jones and a Steve Pearce, as well. The Baltimore lineup has been there for the last four or five years and that comes from the organization that we have in front of us.

"As a pitcher, we've got to go out there and pitch and watch those guys, and I think we have such a young core group that can play that the sky's the limit."

Left-hander Wesley Wright, signed as a free agent on Dec. 19, said he's excited to join the Orioles.

"Last couple of years, I've played against them on the other side and briefly with Tampa and also with Houston, and then last year they came to Wrigley when I was with the Cubs," he said. "It's a great organization, winning team coming off a great season. Just want to come in and do what I can to continue that winning situation. It's a great opportunity for me at this stage of my career to kind of show what I can do in the AL East against some great competition."

Wright didn't waste much time choosing a new team, agreeing to terms with the Orioles during the second week of December.

"I think the sooner the better for the player, because you can just focus on training and getting ready for the season to start," he said. "I'm the type of person who likes to get things done as soon as possible and when it got done, I was just able to focus on getting ready for the season.

"It was kind of a situation where I felt like things were up in the air. You never really know what type of interest is going to be out there when you get non-tendered, and when I heard that the Orioles were a team that was interested in me, it piqued my interest because of the situation here and how good they've been over the past couple of years. When we got close to making this deal happen, I was really excited about the future and the possibilities of coming here and getting a chance to get back in the postseason."

Asked what he does best, Wright said, "A little bit of everything."

"I consider myself kind of a jack of all trades," he said. "I'm pretty good against lefties and I hold my own against righties. I'm a guy who likes to compete. That's one thing you know if you watch me pitch all the time. I like to compete and get out there and I'm not really afraid of any situation. I'm an emotional guy, but I don't show a lot of emotions while I pitch. I try to stay calm as possible. I'm just a guy who likes to compete."

Wright isn't sure of his role coming out of the bullpen. Showalter always tells his pitchers to just be ready and get guys out.

"I just want to go out and pitch," Wright said. "That's what I enjoy doing and I really don't care what inning it is. I just want to go out there and help this bullpen. They had a great bullpen the last couple of years, so just want to fit in and do what I can do."