Fort Lauderdale

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -The booing was the furthest thing from Danys Baez's mind. As he walked off the mound after an outing that typified his trying 2007 season, all Baez could think about was the pain in his right elbow. He didn't pitch again in 2007, his lasting memory his Sept. 12 appearance against the Los Angeles Angels in which he allowed two hits - including a homer - walked three, surrendered two earned runs and got jeered by what remained of the home crowd. Baez, 31, will finally be back on the mound in an Orioles uniform today with a surgically repaired right elbow and his eyes on a new role.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -When Major League Baseball Players Association chief Donald Fehr showed up at Fort Lauderdale Stadium to meet with the Orioles on the first day of his annual tour of major league spring training camps, he was met with many of the same questions from the players he has been getting from the media. The predictable subjects du jour: the moribund free-agent market and the latest chapter in baseball's long-running steroid scandal. "Basically, as you might expect, we spent some time talking about the economy," Fehr said.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -Nonroster pitcher Brad Hennessey is not reading too much into his starting assignment in the first exhibition game of the Grapefruit League season, but that doesn't mean there isn't much to read into. "It's spring training," he said. "I guess you just try go to with it. Not a big deal." That's probably the best way to approach your spring debut, but it actually might be a big deal. Pitching coach Rick Kranitz didn't downplay the significance of the former San Francisco Giants right-hander making the first exhibition start against another major league club, though he conceded that Jeremy Guthrie would have made the start if he hadn't been preparing to join Team USA this week.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Melvin Mora arrived at Fort Lauderdale Stadium last week, and in what has become his annual rite of spring, predicted his numbers for the coming season. ".340, 20-plus and 100-plus, and help the team win," Mora said of his projected batting average and home run and RBI totals, a wide smile stretching across his face. Mora, the emotional third baseman who has worn an Orioles jersey longer than any other current player, had plenty to digest this offseason. He had shoulder surgery in November, saw two of his closest friends (Ramon Hernandez and Daniel Cabrera)

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -Saying that Baltimore was the only place he wanted to be, second baseman Brian Roberts yesterday signed his four-year, $40 million contract that could allow him to fulfill his goal of being an Oriole for his entire career. "It's a day I'll never forget, that's for sure," Roberts, 31, said at a news conference at Fort Lauderdale Stadium. "I hope the fans realize that I won't take this contract for granted. I'm going to use it for the good of this organization and for the good of the community in Baltimore.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Brian Roberts stamped his personal seal of approval on the new direction of the Orioles' franchise yesterday as he waited for some medical tests to be completed and his new four-year, $40 million contract extension to be finalized. "I don't think I would've made the commitment to even begin negotiations if I didn't think that at some point in this process of the next four or five years that we [would] have a chance to win," Roberts said before the Orioles' first full-squad workout yesterday.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Aubrey Huff gripped a bat and a ball for the first time since late September yesterday, hoping that months of inactivity again result in one of the finest offensive seasons in the American League. Huff, who reported to Fort Lauderdale Stadium yesterday with a bleached blond hairdo and several new tattoos, acknowledged his offseason preparation basically amounted to his doing very little. And that was by design. After the 2007 season, Huff had hernia surgery, which prevented him from doing any baseball-related activity until he arrived at spring training.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - For much of the past two years, Brian Roberts' future seemed to be somewhere besides Baltimore. But now the second baseman is about to be locked up as an Oriole for five years. According to team sources, the Orioles are finalizing a four-year, $40 million contract extension with Roberts, a homegrown talent who has developed into a two-time All-Star, one of the game's best leadoff men and one of the city's most beloved athletes. Roberts will make $8 million in 2009, and the four-year extension would start in 2010, meaning he would be under contractual control of the Orioles through 2013.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -After another long workout, Koji Uehara walked into the Orioles' clubhouse yesterday morning with his translator, trainer and masseuse following closely behind. Uehara smiled at a reporter who was near his locker and then joked with a couple of his new teammates as about a dozen Japanese reporters watched his every move. Several minutes later, Matt Wieters arrived at Fort Lauderdale Stadium flanked by fellow Orioles prospects Brad Bergesen and David Hernandez. Wieters unpacked his equipment bag before several team officials, players and reporters made their way to his locker.

Top spring break destinations 1 Orlando, Fla. 2 South Florida (West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Miami) 3 Las Vegas 4 Fort Myers, Fla. 5 Denver 6 Phoenix 7 Tampa-St. Petersburg, Fla. 8 Cancun, Mexico 9 Los Angeles 10 San Juan, Puerto Rico Based on advance Travelocity.com bookings for Feb. 9- April 20, 2009.