First Baseman

Two of the Orioles' five potential free agents, left-handed pitcher Omar Daal and first baseman David Segui, took their next steps toward leaving the organization by filing yesterday. Team officials said the Orioles won't attempt to re-sign either player, and it's possible that Segui will retire after having another surgery on his left knee. Daal signed a two-year, $7.5 million contract in January 2003, but he appeared in only 19 games because of injuries, going 4-11 with a 6.34 ERA. He missed all of 2004 after having surgery on his left shoulder.

Walter Young has learned to go the other way hoping it will lead to the road that takes him to the big leagues. Young, who is a 6-foot-5, 295-pound left-handed-swinging first baseman for the Orioles' first-place Triple-A club at Ottawa, is best known for his power. However, a recent adjustment that began at Bowie last year has him near the top of the International League in batting average. It was only in the past few days that Young, 25, relinquished his batting lead to teammate and fellow first baseman-designated hitter Alejandro Freire, a veteran minor leaguer who will be 31 in August.

ARLINGTON, Texas - Reporters covering the Texas Rangers trickled into the visiting clubhouse at Ameriquest Field yesterday, hoping for a reunion with Orioles first baseman Rafael Palmeiro, wanting a piece of the intrigue attached to his first return since serving a 10-game suspension for failing his steroid test. But they won't get it. After a phone conversation with interim manager Sam Perlozzo, Palmeiro apparently has decided to remain at his Colleyville home while rehabilitating his sore right knee.

His contributions to Boston's first World Series title team in 86 years will forever link him to Red Sox Nation. He has spent more time with the Florida Marlins than with any other club. Yet Kevin Millar, the fun-loving, trash-talking, gear-grinding veteran first baseman, thinks of himself as an Oriole. He has been one since 2006. And, despite facing free agency this offseason, he wants to be an Oriole again in 2009. Like everything with Millar, that's not a secret. "Truthfully speaking, I want to be here," Millar said.

A player the Bowie Baysox call "The Rock" may finally be on the roll that will get him to Triple-A. David Gibralter, the slugging first baseman who will represent the host team in the Eastern League All-Star Game at Prince George's Stadium on Wednesday, obviously has nothing left to prove at his current level after surpassing the 300-RBI mark in his fourth season in the league. And conditions may be fertile for a promotion with Rochester scrambling for a first baseman, now that struggling Calvin Pickering is in Florida trying to resurrects himself.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- With his entire clubhouse convened for the first time, manager Ray Miller delivered a simple but potent spring message, reminding everyone that this year's Orioles will be a veteran group and that no one need feel responsible for shouldering the entire load.Miller meant the message for all but he could be forgiven for standing close to his first baseman's locker while relaying it.Rafael Palmeiro heard. Perhaps hurt most by last year's playoff loss to the Cleveland Indians and admittedly weighed down by a regular-season numbers chase, Palmeiro says he plans to change an approach that last year brought him 38 home runs, 110 RBIs but little fulfillment.

MIAMI - New York Yankees manager Joe Torre has been agonizing over the struggles of leadoff hitter Alfonso Soriano throughout the postseason, and he finally decided to do something about it yesterday. Soriano, batting just .209 in 67 postseason at-bats before Game 5, was replaced in the lineup by utility man Enrique Wilson, who batted second in the order. Derek Jeter replaced Soriano at the top of the lineup. "Right now, it just looks like he's feeling for it and not necessarily picking the ball up," Torre said.

While the Albert Belle watch continued through last night without the left fielder agreeing to terms, the Orioles apparently have learned that it will be more difficult to retain their first baseman.In recent days the Orioles have raised their offer to Rafael Palmeiro to $45 million over five years, but a club source said yesterday the three-time All-Star has raised the bar. Rather than seeking $10 million annually, the source said Palmeiro wants "close to Mo Vaughn money" to remain in Baltimore.

DALLAS - Mark Grace wanted to retire a Chicago Cub. He even had Wrigley Field ivy painted on his motorcycle. It's rare for any player to remain in one organization, however, and Grace didn't prove to be an exception. He also didn't seem to mind. Grace signed a two-year, $6 million contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks yesterday, ending his tenure with the Cubs after 13 seasons. The deal includes a mutual option for $3 million. "It's going to be excitement," Grace said about the first time he slips on a Diamondbacks uniform.

At 6 feet 5, 283 pounds, Delmarva Shorebirds first baseman Calvin Pickering is tough to miss. And when the offensive firepower the Orioles came to expect suddenly went, it too was conspicuous.Hampered by an injury that sapped his power and skewed his mechanics, the 20-year-old from the Virgin Islands wallowed through most of the season's first half. But now Pickering finally is healthy, focused and hammering the ball again.And with the second half under way, he's looking forward with the same fervor as the Shorebirds team that lost the first-half title of the South Atlantic League's Northern Division (and automatic playoff berth)