Garrett Atkins

With three of their biggest offseason needs seemingly filled a week before Christmas, the suddenly aggressive Orioles are now expected to adopt a wait-and-see approach before putting the final touches on their 2010 roster. After adding veteran starter Kevin Millwood in a trade with the Texas Rangers last week and agreeing to terms with left-handed closer Mike Gonzalez and former Colorado Rockies third baseman Garrett Atkins on Wednesday, team officials acknowledged that their next move probably won't come until 2010.

After five straight starts, struggling first baseman Garrett Atkins was on the bench for Thursday night's series finale against the Texas Rangers, and it appears he could stay there through the weekend. "Luke Scott right now is swinging the bat well for us. Going in to play the Nationals, where there is no DH, I have to try and find a way to get a lineup where the best eight guys are in there for us," Orioles manager Dave Trembley said. "I think that's why you see Luke playing first base tonight in anticipation of him doing that against the Nationals.

- Orioles outfielder Nolan Reimold arrived at spring training a day early and put his left Achilles through the most extensive tests since having surgery in late September. Reimold ran the bases and did some sprints in the outfield and emerged confident that he'll be ready for Opening Day. "It feels all right," said Reimold, who had left Achilles tendon surgery Sept. 23, prematurely ending an impressive rookie season in which he hit .279 with 15 homers and 45 RBIs. "It's going to take a little while for my legs to get underneath me, but I'll be fine."

- Three of the Orioles' four veteran acquisitions this offseason - starting pitcher Kevin Millwood , third baseman Miguel Tejada and first baseman Garrett Atkins - will surely play tonight on Opening Day at Tropicana Field. The fourth - new closer Michael Gonzalez - will have his debut dictated by how the games unfold. His first regular-season performance, however, couldn't come soon enough for both Gonzalez and the Orioles. "Opening Day is the day you can get it done.

— If this indeed was Dave Trembley's final game as Orioles manager, it was a fitting end to his three-season run. The Orioles' 6-3 loss to the New York Yankees before an announced 44,927 Thursday, the team's eighth straight defeat, had all the elements of so many other games during Trembley's tenure. They got a poor outing from a starting pitcher, this one by the normally effective Kevin Millwood. The offense was mostly overwhelmed by CC Sabathia, managing only three hits, though two of them were home runs.

Here's a position-by-position breakdown for the 2007 World Series (Colorado is listed first in each capsule. Statistics are from the regular season.) Catcher Colorado's Yorvit Torrealba (8 HRs, 47 RBIs, .255 BA) vs. Jason Varitek (17 HRs, 68 RBIs, .255 BA) The energetic Torrealba has provided an emotional spark as well as a clutch bat this postseason with 13 total bases and a .414 on-base percentage. But Varitek is the glue that keeps the Red Sox together, both offensively and calling the game.

The Orioles' pool of potential free agents expanded this week, but none of the newly available targets has shot to the top of the club's wish list. President of baseball operations Andy MacPhail said his front office has contacted the representatives of several players who were not tendered contracts by their previous clubs at Saturday's deadline. That group includes corner infielders Garrett Atkins, Ryan Garko and Mike Jacobs and closers Matt Capps and Mike MacDougal. "It was pretty much what we anticipated," MacPhail said.

Garrett Atkins has hit at least 21 homers in three of his five full big-league seasons. He averaged 110 RBIs from 2006 to 2009, and he's a career .289 hitter. Yet, as the third baseman joins a new organization for the first time in his professional career, he finds himself in a position that he hasn't been in since his rookie year. "No doubt, I have a lot to prove," Atkins said Tuesday after passing his physical and finalizing a one-year, $4.5 million free agent deal with the Orioles.

It didn't seem so long ago when Brian Matusz was one of the exceptions, the rare Oriole consistently performing and giving fans hope during the second-worst start in team history. But after yet another short and ineffective outing Wednesday night, Matusz has become the latest in a long line of Orioles giving team officials cause for concern. In the Orioles' 6-1 loss to the Oakland Athletics before an announced 19,153 at Camden Yards, Matusz allowed six earned runs and eight hits and was gone before he was able to get an out in the sixth inning.

— The Orioles decided to shake up their slumbering offense Saturday, reaching down to Triple-A Norfolk for first baseman Rhyne Hughes and immediately inserting him into the starting lineup in place of offseason free-agent addition Garrett Atkins. Hughes, 26, was hitting .353 with three homers, five doubles and 11RBIs in 51 at-bats for the Tides. Perhaps most important, he was 6-for-14 (.429 average) with runners in scoring position. Heading into Saturday night, the Orioles as a team were 18-for-120 (.150 average)