First Baseman

ARLINGTON, TEXAS -- Mark Teixeira wanted to make one thing clear. He is a member of the Texas Rangers and will be at least for another season and a half, unless the organization trades him. Before that, any talk about the Severna Park native coming home to help the Orioles return to prominence remains a fantasy. "It's a good story," said Teixeira, the Rangers first baseman who has been on the disabled list since June 9 with a strained left quadriceps. "It really is. I grew up a die-hard Orioles fan. There's no secret about that.

ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. -- There was the starting pitcher who couldn't throw strikes, a defense that made three errors on one play and a first baseman whose return home was playing out more like a nightmare. By the end of the fourth inning at Tropicana Field, the Orioles trailed by six runs and all the momentum they had built up in an abbreviated series sweep of the Kansas City Royals over the weekend appeared to be gone. But with big swings by Freddie Bynum and Melvin Mora, contributions from several others and another lockdown performance by the bullpen, the Orioles overcame it all, rallying for five runs in the seventh last night to beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 9-7, for their fourth straight victory.

Barry Bonds, Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn might dominate headlines this week, but for the rest of the baseball world it's time to cram for the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. And so far it seems as if no one's even in study hall. One major league general manager called trade talks "oddly quiet," while another said discussion is warming, but few teams are dangling difference-makers. The biggest fish on the hook is Chicago White Sox outfielder Jermaine Dye. He's a free agent at season's end and a legitimate power threat despite a subpar first half.

FORT MYERS, FLA.-- --With all the things he had to do this winter, the countless interviews, appearances and rubber-chicken banquets, Minnesota Twins first baseman Justin Morneau said there was only one awkward moment. Nothing was stranger than boasting to a rolling TV camera and several young baseball stars, "I'm the MVP." He had little choice. It's tough to say no to Spike Lee. "I didn't want it to come across too cocky so the first couple takes I didn't even say the lines," Morneau said.

The Orioles got only a couple of innings from the starting rotation and quickly fell behind by four runs last night, but this apparently isn't the same team that departed Baltimore in disarray 10 days ago.Obviously, somewhere between Miami and Atlanta the club stopped off for a heart transplant, because something has to account for the steady beat that the Orioles have developed over the past week.They shook off the early trouble last night and climbed back to score a 6-5, extra-inning victory over the Kansas City Royals, extending their season-long winning streak to six games before a crowd of 41,377 at Camden Yards.

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The Orioles acquired Albert Belle for his numbers but could hardly anticipate the relative power drought he has so far endured.The Orioles right fielder has nine home runs and a team-leading 31 RBIs, numbers that project to well over 30 home runs and 115 RBIs for the season. But by Belle's own definition, they are below par.Few, if any, individual statistics this season rank with Belle's one double in 157 at-bats. A year after slamming 48 doubles with the Chicago White Sox, Belle has one fewer double than utility infielder Jeff Reboulet in 105 more at-bats.

The Orioles may have little tangible left to play for this season, but Jeff Conine is fighting to regain his reputation.A former National League All-Star and 100-RBI outfielder, Conine extended his late-season audition as a pending free agent with four hits in the Orioles' 9-3 win over the Minnesota Twins before an afternoon crowd of 38,320 at Camden Yards. Having spent most of this season waiting to play based on the availability of others, Conine does not shy from making a statement."I've felt like I could still contribute to a team every day. When you're in a role where that's not possible you want people to know that you can still do it every day," he said.

Cal Ripken will have missed 46 of the Orioles' first 117 games if he comes off the disabled list on schedule.He faces the possibility of postseason back surgery.What he can offer in 2000, no one knows.The Orioles made the right call in exercising Ripken's $6.3 million option for next season. But that doesn't mean they're obligated to again pencil him in as their regular third baseman.Incredible as this sounds, the Iron Man no longer is reliable, at least not in terms of his availability. Surgery could return him to his old, 162-game self.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Will Clark arrived at spring training Wednesday and participated in yesterday's first full workout for position players. He had followed the same routine for 13 years but this month threatened a painful departure.Clark, who initially planned to report Feb. 19 with Orioles pitchers and catchers, said he nearly postponed this week's arrival when his wife, Lisa, underwent open-heart surgery two weeks ago to repair the quarter-sized hole in the organ. A three-hour operation repaired the congenital condition, which caused shortness of breath and fatigue and had to be addressed within a year.

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Having already consummated the first trade of the annual winter meetings, the Orioles are close to securing one of their own free agents despite being unable to hand him a regular position or the promise of a significant number of at-bats.The agent for Jeff Conine said a deal with the Orioles could be finalized as early as today, but player personnel director Syd Thrift said an agreement more likely will come toward the end of this week.The Orioles have offered Conine two years plus an option for 2002 that most likely would pay him between $2.5 million and $3 million a season.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - -Michael Aubrey's 2009 was already a whirlwind. Now it could become a season of redemption, with a second chance for the former first-rounder to play in the majors. "It's a good feeling," said Aubrey, 27, a left-handed-hitting first baseman who was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk on Tuesday. "This is what you play for. You play to play in the big leagues." Aubrey, who came to the Orioles from the Cleveland Indians for future considerations June 24, batted .290 with eight homers, 29 doubles and 52 RBIs in 101 games for the Tides and Cleveland's Triple-A affiliate, the Columbus Clippers.

We're going to miss Aubrey Huff, and not just because of his entertaining antics on satellite radio or his groundbreaking discovery that offseason conditioning is seriously overrated. We're going to miss him because he is a proven run-producer who held down one of the corner infield positions on a team that doesn't have anybody ready to take his place at first base. Don't get me wrong. I'm not blasting the trade that sent Huff to the Detroit Tigers on Monday in exchange for Single-A relief pitcher Brett Jacobson.

There was a time earlier this season when the Orioles were content with offering would-be free agent Aubrey Huff arbitration and bringing him back for the 2010 season on a lucrative one-year deal. However, Huff's failure to come close to replicating his numbers from last year changed the organization's plan, and the first baseman was traded Monday to the Detroit Tigers for minor league reliever Brett Jacobson. Huff, who signed a three-year, $20 million deal with the Orioles in January 2007, was named the Most Valuable Oriole last season and won a Silver Slugger Award after hitting .304 with 32 home runs and 108 RBIs.

As the nonwaiver trade deadline approaches Friday, the Orioles are moving further away from making a noteworthy deal - unless it involves closer George Sherrill. The Orioles have other trade pieces available, but according to several baseball sources, there is little, if any, interest in the club's trio of high-salaried pending free agents: reliever Danys Baez, first baseman Aubrey Huff and third baseman Melvin Mora. That leaves Sherrill, the club's 2008 All-Star who has converted 20 of 23 save opportunities this season, as the primary target.

CHICAGO - -For the past three months, Orioles players and coaches have lauded rookie right-hander Brad Bergesen for his brisk pace on the mound. In the fateful fifth inning of Saturday's 4-3 loss to the Chicago White Sox, Bergesen's rapidity got the better of him, and he quickly allowed a shaky situation to mushroom. By the time he walked off the mound, he had surrendered six straight hits and, essentially, had been tagged with his fourth loss of the season. "He works very fast and there are times in the game where you want to slow the tempo of the game down," Orioles manager Dave Trembley said.

Matt Hobgood, the Orioles' first-round pick in Tuesday's amateur draft, expects to take a physical in Baltimore in two weeks, and barring any unforeseen developments, he will sign a contract June 27. "That's the plan. We've pretty much got [the contract] set," said Hobgood, a 6-foot-4, 245-pound right-handed pitcher from Norco High in suburban Los Angeles. "Nothing is final, but [the Orioles] presented us a deal and we'll work something out. I'll for sure sign on that Saturday." Hobgood, the fifth overall pick in the draft, presumably will be introduced to the Camden Yards crowd June 27 during a game against the regional rival Washington Nationals.

In three consecutive days, Matt Hobgood won a national baseball award, attended his high school's spring sports banquet and was selected fifth overall by the Orioles in Tuesday's amateur draft. "If you'd sit me down and asked how to plan out the week, I don't think you could plan it out any better than that," said Hobgood, a hard-throwing right-hander from Southern California who became just the second high school pitcher in two decades to be selected by the Orioles with their first pick.

WASHINGTON - -Orioles outfielder Lou Montanez is expected to undergo surgery next week to repair a torn ligament in his right thumb, an injury that could keep him out for a good part of the season. Montanez, who hurt his thumb making a diving catch in Toronto three weeks ago, will likely remain on the active 25-man roster and not go on the disabled list until Tuesday, when the Orioles need to add a starting pitcher to replace the released Adam Eaton. The Orioles also could decide to keep him on the roster until Luke Scott is ready to come off the disabled list, which could be in about four or five days.

The Orioles' team plane bounced, dipped and rattled while passing through a thunderstorm on its way to Kansas City, Mo., early Thursday morning. Later that evening, Orioles manager Dave Trembley asked first baseman Aubrey Huff about the experience. Prepared for a rough flight, Huff said that when he got on board he downed a couple drinks, sufficiently chilled out and then went to sleep. "Couldn't have told you it was storming," he said with a sly smile. Welcome to Huff's world, where outside tumult - even occasional self-created chaos - doesn't seem to affect his easygoing attitude.

Alex Rodriguez will report Monday to the New York Yankees' spring training complex in Tampa, Fla., to continue his rehabilitation from right hip surgery. The three-time American League Most Valuable Player had surgery March 9 in Vail, Colo., to remove an impingement in the joint and drain a cyst in the hip. Yankees manager Joe Girardi said Rodriguez would stretch, do agility work, jog, take grounders, hit off a tee and take soft-toss swings Monday. The third baseman is expected to return to the lineup in May. "So much depends on how he feels the next day," Girardi said Sunday.